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264https://historysoa.com/items/show/264Index to The Author, Vol. 05 (1895)<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.+05+%281895%29">Index to <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 05 (1895)</a><a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Publication">Publication</a>; <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>1895-The-Author-5-index<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=78&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Horace+Cox">Horace Cox</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=89&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=5">5</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=76&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1895">1895</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/4/264/1895-The-Author-5-index.pdfpublications, The Author
265https://historysoa.com/items/show/265The Author, Vol. 05 Issue 01 (June 1894)<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=%3Cem%3EThe+Author%3C%2Fem%3E%2C+Vol.+05+Issue+01+%28June+1894%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 05 Issue 01 (June 1894)</a><a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Publication">Publication</a>1894-06-01-The-Author-5-11–32<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=89&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=5">5</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=76&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1894-06-01">1894-06-01</a>118940601C be El u t b or,<br /> (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)<br /> CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESAN. T.<br /> VoI. V.-No. 1.]<br /> JUNE 1, 1894.<br /> [PRICE SIXPENCE.<br /> Por the Opinions earpressed in papers that are<br /> signed or initialled the Authors alone are<br /> responsible. None of the papers or para-<br /> graphs must be taken as eaſpressing the<br /> collective opinions of the committee unless<br /> they are officially signed by G. Herbert<br /> Thring, Sec.<br /> HE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all<br /> remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and<br /> requests that all members not receiving an answer to<br /> important communications within two days will write to him<br /> without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union<br /> Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered<br /> letter only.<br /> Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on<br /> all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub-<br /> jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are<br /> returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS.<br /> WARNINGS AND ADWICE,<br /> I , T is not generally understood that the author, as<br /> the vendor, has the absolute right of drafting the<br /> agreement upon whatever terms the transaction<br /> is to be carried out. Authors are strongly advised to<br /> exercise that right. In every form of business, this among<br /> others, the right of drawing the agreement rests with him<br /> who sells, leases, or has the control of the property.<br /> 2. SERIAL RIGHTS.—In selling Serial Rights remember<br /> that you may be selling the Serial Right for all time; that<br /> is, the Right to continue the production in papers. If you<br /> object to this, insert a clause to that effect.<br /> 3. STAMP YOUR AGREEMENTS. – Readers are most<br /> URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements<br /> immediately after signature. If this precaution is neglected<br /> for two weeks, a fine of £10 must be paid before the agree-<br /> ment can be used as a legal document. In almost every<br /> case brought to the secretary the agreement, or the letter<br /> which serves for one, is forwarded without the stamp. The<br /> author may be assured that the other party to the agree-<br /> ment seldom neglects this simple precaution. The Society,<br /> to save trouble, undertakes to get all the agreements of<br /> members stamped for them at no ea pense to themselves<br /> eacept the cost of the stamp.<br /> 4. ASCERTAIN WHAT A PROPOSED AGREEMENT GIVES To<br /> BOTH SIDES BEFORE SIGNING IT.-Remember that an<br /> arrangement as to a joint venture in any other kind of busi-<br /> ness whatever would be instantly refused should either party<br /> WOL. W.<br /> business men.<br /> refuse to show the books or to let it be known what share he<br /> reserved for himself.<br /> 5. LITERARY AGENTS.—Be very careful. You cannot be<br /> too careful as to the person whom yow appoint as your<br /> agent. Remember that you place your property almost un-<br /> reservedly in his hands. Your only safety is in consulting<br /> the Society, or some friend who has had personal experience<br /> of the agent. Do not trust advertisements alone.<br /> 6. CoST OF PRODUCTION.——Never sign any agreement of<br /> which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part,<br /> until you have proved the figures.<br /> 7. CHOICE OF PUBLISHERS.—Never enter into any cor-<br /> respondence with publishers, especially with those who ad-<br /> vertise for MSS., who are not recommended by experienced<br /> friends or by this Society.<br /> 8. FUTURE WORK.—Never, on any account whatever,<br /> bind yourself down for future work to anyone.<br /> 9. PERSONAL RISK.—Never accept any pecuniary risk or<br /> responsibility whatever without advice.<br /> Io. REJECTED MSS.—Never, when a MS. has been re-<br /> fused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises<br /> they may put forward, for the production of the work.<br /> II. AMERICAN RIGHTS.—Never sign away American<br /> rights. Keep them by special clause. Refuse to sign any<br /> agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the<br /> publisher, unless for a substantial consideration.<br /> I2. CESSION OF COPYRIGHT.-Never sign any paper,<br /> either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright,<br /> without advice. -<br /> 13. ADVERTISEMENTS. —- Keep some control over the<br /> advertisements, if they affect your returns, by a clause in<br /> the agreement.<br /> I4. NEVER forget that publishing is a business, like any<br /> other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy,<br /> charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with<br /> Be yourself a business man.<br /> Society’s Offices :-<br /> 4, PORTUGAL STREET, LINCOLN&#039;s INN FIELDs.<br /> *~ * ~ *<br /> e-<br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.<br /> I. VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive<br /> advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-<br /> lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his<br /> business or the administration of his property. If the advice<br /> sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member<br /> has a right to an opinion from the Society’s solicitors. If the<br /> case is such that Counsel’s opinion is desirable, the Com-<br /> mittee will obtain for him Counsel’s opinion. All this<br /> without any cost to the member.<br /> B 2<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 2 (#16) ###############################################<br /> <br /> 2 THE AUTHOR.<br /> 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright<br /> and publisher&#039;s agreements do not generally fall within the<br /> experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple<br /> to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually<br /> engaged upon such questions for us.<br /> 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past<br /> accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in<br /> order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree-<br /> ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively<br /> so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any<br /> agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor-<br /> mation thus obtained may prove invaluable.<br /> 4. If the examination of your previous business trans-<br /> actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should<br /> take advice as to a change of publishers.<br /> 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro-<br /> posed document to the Society for examination.<br /> 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in<br /> the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish-<br /> ing firm in the country.<br /> 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you<br /> are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are<br /> reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing<br /> the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen-<br /> dence of the writer.<br /> 8. Send to the Editor of the Author notes of everything<br /> important to literature that you may hear or meet with.<br /> *-- ~ *-*<br /> a- - -<br /> THE AUTHORS’ SYNDICATE,<br /> literary or artistic work are invited to communicate with<br /> the Manager.<br /> There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services<br /> will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It<br /> is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the<br /> Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in<br /> the Syndicate.<br /> *- - --&gt;<br /> NOTICES.<br /> EMBERS are informed :<br /> 1. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate takes charge of<br /> the business of members of the Society. With, when<br /> necessary, the assistance of the legal advisers of the Syndi-<br /> cate, it concludes agreements, collects royalties, examines<br /> and passes accounts, and generally relieves members of the<br /> trouble of managing business details.<br /> 2. That the expenses of the Authors&#039; Syndicate are<br /> defrayed solely out of the commission charged on rights<br /> placed through its intervention. Notice is, however, hereby<br /> given that in all cases where there is no current account, a<br /> booking fee is charged to cover postage and porterage.<br /> 3. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate works for none but those<br /> members of the Society whose work possesses a market<br /> value.<br /> 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiation<br /> whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia-<br /> tions are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all<br /> communications relating thereto are referred to it.<br /> 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by<br /> appointment, and that, when possible, at least four days’<br /> notice should be given.<br /> 6. That every attempt is made to deal with the corre-<br /> spondence promptly, but that owing to the enormous number<br /> of letters received, some delay is inevitable. That stamps<br /> should, in all cases, be sent to defray postage.<br /> 7. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate does not invite MSS.<br /> without previous correspondence, and does not hold itself<br /> responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice.<br /> 8. The Syndicate undertakes arrangements for lectures<br /> by some of the leading members of the Society; that it has<br /> a “Transfer Department” for the sale and purchase of<br /> journals and periodicals; and that a “Register of Wants&#039;<br /> and Wanted ” has been opened. Members anxious to obtain<br /> 39 48.<br /> HE Editor of the Awthor begs to remind members of the<br /> Society that, although the paper is sent to them free<br /> of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very<br /> heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great<br /> many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest<br /> 6s. 6d. subscription for the year.<br /> The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and<br /> communications on all subjects connected with literature<br /> from members and others. Nothing can do more good to<br /> the Society than to make the Awthor complete, attractive,<br /> and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this<br /> work send their names and the special subjects on which<br /> they are willing to write P<br /> Communications for the Author should reach the Editor<br /> not later than the 21st of each month.<br /> All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether<br /> members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate<br /> to the Editor any points connected with their work which<br /> it would be advisable in the general interest to publish.<br /> Members and others who wish their MSS. read are<br /> requested not to send them to the Office without previously<br /> communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable<br /> despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in<br /> which they are received. It must also be distinctly under-<br /> stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances,<br /> undertake the publication of MSS.<br /> The Authors’ Club is now open in its new premises, at<br /> 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary<br /> for information, rules of admission, &amp;c.<br /> Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they<br /> have paid their subscriptions for the year P. If they will do<br /> this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker&#039;s<br /> order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the<br /> trouble of sending out a reminder.<br /> Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the<br /> warning numbered (8). It is a most foolish and may be a<br /> most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding<br /> for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they<br /> would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five<br /> years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest<br /> or dishonest ? Of course they would not. Why then<br /> hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them-<br /> selves into literary bondage for three or five years P<br /> Those who possess the “Cost of Production ” are<br /> requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15<br /> per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble<br /> of “doing sums,” the addition of three shillings in the<br /> pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding<br /> is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be<br /> added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at<br /> The figures in our book are as near the exact truth<br /> as can be procured ; but a printer&#039;s, or a binder&#039;s, bill is so<br /> elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at.<br /> Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged<br /> in the “Cost of Production” for advertising. Of course, we<br /> have not included any sums which may be charged for<br /> inserting advertisements in the publisher&#039;s own magazines,<br /> or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 3 (#17) ###############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 3.<br /> often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from<br /> sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket,<br /> by inserting any number of advertisements in his own<br /> magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are<br /> who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those<br /> who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it.<br /> *~ * →<br /> g- -*<br /> THE AUTHOR,<br /> N the commencement of the fifth volume<br /> of the Author, it seems desirable that we<br /> should repeat the purpose for which the<br /> paper was founded and for which it exists. The<br /> fore words in the first number contain a state-<br /> ment of that purpose, which has always been kept<br /> steadily to the front.<br /> The Author is founded to be the organ of literary<br /> men and women of all kinds—the one paper which will<br /> fully review, discuss, and ventilate all questions con-<br /> nected with the profession of literature in all its branches.<br /> It will be the medium by which the Committee of our<br /> Society will inform its members generally of their doings,<br /> and it will become a public record of transactions conducted<br /> in the interests of literature, which have hitherto been<br /> secret, lost, and hidden for the want of such an organ.<br /> The chief aim of the Society—this has been advanced<br /> again and again—is to promote the recognition of the fact,<br /> hitherto most imperfectly understood, that literary property<br /> is as real a thing as property in every other kind of busi-<br /> mess: that it should be safeguarded in the same manner,<br /> and regarded with the same jealousy.<br /> Hitherto the mere existence of literary property even in<br /> the face of such patent facts as the enrichment of publishers,<br /> has been carefully concealed and even denied. Risks of<br /> publishing, costs of publishing, have been dangled before<br /> the eyes of authors, so that they should regard the subject<br /> as one of extreme peril and pure speculation. One can<br /> never even now read a leading article about publishing<br /> without being solemnly assured that the trade is one in<br /> which frightful risks are constantly run, and that the<br /> success of any book is pure speculation. -<br /> Now, as a matter of fact, there is very little speculation<br /> indeed in publishing, and there are very, very few publishers<br /> —only the leading houses—who ever run any risks at all,<br /> either by buying books or by bringing out books at a risk.<br /> Risks are run when a house starts a magazine, or when it<br /> embarks on illustrated editions of an expensive kind, or<br /> when educational books are published. The ordinary risk<br /> run in the production of books is, as a rule, next to nothing.<br /> For, first, the author is seldom paid except by results; next,<br /> the author, when a house consents to “take the risk,” is,<br /> for the most part, one who commands a certain sale. With<br /> the smaller houses books about which there is the slightest<br /> risk are always paid for by the authors in advance, either<br /> wholly or in part. And very, very seldom indeed, do the<br /> ill-advised authors who advance their money ever see it<br /> back again. .<br /> Again, as to the actual cost of production. By carefully<br /> keeping this a profound secret, interested persons have<br /> succeeded in establishing a kind of taboo, as of some holy,<br /> sacred thing which must not be so much as touched. We<br /> have, however, thoroughly investigated the whole question,<br /> and are now in a position to throw complete light upon the<br /> cost of producing any kind of book that can be named, in<br /> any type and in any form.<br /> This is a very important step. Its importance cannot be<br /> over-estimated. It enables the awthor, for the very first<br /> time in the history of literature, to know what it is he is<br /> asked to concede to the publisher, and what it is he reserves<br /> for himself. .<br /> We have also done more : we have collected together a<br /> vast amount of information as to publishers&#039; agreements:<br /> especially as to what, in reality, is the meaning of the<br /> clauses contained in them ; we have ascertained what it is<br /> they ask the author to surrender and for what consideration.<br /> And we have acquired a knowledge of various frauds, made<br /> possible by the terms of these agreements, in the different<br /> methods of publishing.<br /> This knowledge is so beneficial to the author that its<br /> existence ought to be widely spread and made known to<br /> every person who is engaged in the production of literature<br /> of any kind.<br /> Again, the Society is constantly engaged in answering<br /> questions connected with every branch of literature and its<br /> practice. Many of these questions are answered by letter<br /> over and over again, taking up a great deal of the Secretary’s<br /> time. They would be answered much more effectively in a<br /> journal.<br /> It follows from these clauses that we may have a good<br /> deal to say about the seamy side of the publishing trade.<br /> It must, however, be borne in mind very carefully that<br /> the Society has not, and never has had, any quarrel with<br /> honourable publishers. It has always asked for one thing<br /> only—just and homest treatment, fair and open agreements,<br /> and honourable observance of those agreements.<br /> In further illustration of this programme let it<br /> be remembered that the Society, in its very first<br /> public utterance, and ever since, has always<br /> pointed out and repeated over and over again<br /> the fact that the literary and the commercial<br /> value of a book need not necessarily bear any<br /> relation to each other ; in other words, that the<br /> literary value of a book is not to be measured by<br /> its commercial success, and that the commercial<br /> success of a book is no gauge of its literary value.<br /> This, it would seem, is a self evident proposition,<br /> and would not need to be repeated but for the<br /> misrepresentations of those who wish to attack<br /> the Society and its organ. Let us therefore<br /> repeat one or two of the passages in which this<br /> distinction was clearly and unmistakably laid<br /> down. The same thing has been repeated over<br /> and over again :<br /> I. Literature, in all times, has had two sides—the artistic<br /> and the commercial kind. The singer expects to be paid,<br /> the poet is rejoiced at solid recognition of his genius. What<br /> is more, the artistic work of the highest genius in no way<br /> suffers from a careful attention to its material interests.<br /> Does anyone in his senses pretend that the work of Byron,<br /> Scott, Dickens, Thackeray, George Eliot, Wilkie Collins,<br /> Charles Reade, lost anything in Art because these writers were<br /> good and careful men of business P -<br /> II. Let us not confuse these two sides of the literary pro-<br /> fession. They are equally important, because unless the latter<br /> is looked after, the artist perishes. Both must be guarded<br /> jealously, the one because Literature is Art, and the other<br /> because the artist must be a free man—not the slave of the<br /> man who has the money, nor a hack, nor one who drives his<br /> pen all day long for a daily pittance, nor a man continually<br /> fretted by a sense of wrong and injustice, real or fancied.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 4 (#18) ###############################################<br /> <br /> 4. THE AUTHOR.<br /> When, therefore, we insist continually upon the necessity of<br /> safe-guarding literary property, of understanding what is<br /> meant by an agreement before we sign it, we are working in<br /> the highest and best interests of literature.<br /> III. Consider again. In no other branch of Art is a voice<br /> ever raised against those who fight for its material interests.<br /> The sculptor, the actor, the singer, the musician, the painter<br /> —all alike are understood to be working honestly at their<br /> art, even though at the same time they are watching care-<br /> fully over their material interests. No one accuses Meisson-<br /> nier of bad workmanship, because every one of his pictures<br /> is worth a pyramid of gold. Yet, directly a serious attempt<br /> is made to put these interests on a proper basis as regards<br /> letters, there is raised at once an outcry about degrading<br /> Art, taking all the joy out of Art, destroying the nobility of<br /> Art, and the rest of it.<br /> We mix up these two sides of literature. It is absurd to<br /> suppose that George Eliot was thinking of her commercial<br /> value when she wrote “Romola..” Yet she thought very<br /> much of it afterwards. That is the way of it. The true<br /> artist thinks about nothing but his work while he is engaged<br /> upon it. The man who is not an artist cannot understand<br /> how he can ever think about the business side of his work<br /> at all. Yet he always can, and does, as soon as he is<br /> satisfied that there is a business side to his work.<br /> -s:crºcº-<br /> Three or four accusations are, from time to<br /> time, brought against the Society or the Author<br /> or both.<br /> I. We are charged with saying that all pub-<br /> lishers are dishonest. When this accusation was<br /> last made, in the Athenæum, the publisher who<br /> advanced it was challenged to produce his autho-<br /> rity. He found a statement in one of the<br /> pamphlets published by the Society to the effect<br /> that “fraud and corruption were widespread.”<br /> That was perfectly true; it was more true ten<br /> years ago than it is now, thanks to the action of<br /> the Society. “Widespread,” however, is very<br /> different from universal. Over and over again<br /> it has been repeated that the Society has no<br /> quarrel with honourable houses. Those, there-<br /> fore, who endeavour to distort a plain statement,<br /> proved to the hilt by our exposures, into a<br /> universal charge clearly betray themselves. One<br /> never hears a respectable solicitor trying to distort<br /> the perfectly true statement that his profession<br /> contains a great number of black sheep into a<br /> charge that all solicitors are black sheep.<br /> 2. The next charge is, that we say that pub-<br /> lishers take no risks. We say no such thing.<br /> Over and over again we have said that in dealing<br /> with authors publishers take as few risks as they<br /> possibly can. In other branches of business, as<br /> when a publisher puts forth a new magazine,<br /> an encyclopædia, a dictionary of biography, a new<br /> atlas, he may incur very great risks. Since we,<br /> as authors, are not generally proprietors or<br /> venturers in this kind of property, we need not<br /> inquire into the nature of the risks thus incurred.<br /> But, in the production of books, the risk in-<br /> curred very rarely exists at all. In any case it is<br /> the difference between the cost of production and<br /> the number of copies subscribed at first, a mini-<br /> mum of which may be approximately known. If<br /> by risk the publisher means chance of great<br /> gains, then we are talking of different things.<br /> 3. The third charge is that of sordidness in<br /> looking after literary property at all.<br /> This is answered by the passages already<br /> quoted.<br /> 4. The fourth charge is that we measure literary<br /> value by commercial success.<br /> We have just shown how the contrary has been<br /> clearly laid down in the Author.<br /> Other charges will doubtless be invented and<br /> brought against us, but, so far, the repetition of<br /> one or other of these four is the only weapon<br /> which has been found by the gentry who object<br /> to the light of day. -<br /> Perhaps the policy of the committee during the<br /> Society’s existence may be fairly stated as this:<br /> The present conditions which belong to the<br /> acquisition and the administration of literary<br /> property are chaotic. Even with the best houses,<br /> no one, not the greatest historian, the greatest<br /> man of science, knows when he sends a MS. to a<br /> publisher on what terms he should confide to him<br /> the administration of his property. Nor does he<br /> know what terms the publisher will propose. Nor<br /> has he hitherto known what any terms mean. It<br /> is, on the other hand, highly desirable that he<br /> should know what terms may mean, and that<br /> he should know as much as possible about the<br /> reality and the extent of literary property, and<br /> particularly that of his own kind of literary<br /> property.<br /> The committee therefore have acquired and<br /> published, partly in pamphlets and partly in their<br /> organ, the Author, a tolerably complete explana-<br /> tion of these points:<br /> I. The cost of printing, binding, and advertis-<br /> ing various kinds of books.<br /> 2. The meaning of the “published price ’’ to<br /> the publisher or manager of a literary<br /> property.<br /> 3. Some of the various pitfalls and traps laid<br /> to catch the ignorant and the unwary<br /> author. -<br /> As regards the first point, one or two publishers<br /> have alleged that our estimates were too low.<br /> They were silenced by the offer to get their print-<br /> ing done on those terms. On the second point<br /> nothing has been disputed, for the simple reason<br /> that the figures given in the Society’s papers were<br /> actually lower than the truth. As to the pitfalls<br /> and traps, experience shows that it is necessary<br /> to examine jealously every agreement offered to<br /> an author, not always, be it understood, to detect<br /> a way open to fraud, but generally to detect some<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 5 (#19) ###############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 5<br /> clause by which the author, through ignorance, is<br /> tempted to surrender rights and to give up an<br /> unfair proportion of his property. In other<br /> words, the man of business is always tempted to<br /> use his superior knowledge for his own benefit.<br /> We do our best to place the author on the same<br /> level as regards the facts of the case.<br /> To throw a flood of light upon every point con-<br /> nected with the management of literary property<br /> is, and has always been, the settled policy of the<br /> committee.<br /> The next step, that of arriving at a modus<br /> vivendi recognised as fair by both sides will be<br /> taken, it is hoped, before long, and when the<br /> ersons chiefly concerned, viz., the producers,<br /> shall have thoroughly learned the facts revealed<br /> by this light.<br /> *= a -º<br /> LITERARY PROPERTY.<br /> I.—CANADIAN COPYRIGHT.<br /> HE question of Canadian Copyright has in<br /> the past few weeks again been brought<br /> into publicity, owing, in the first instance,<br /> to a rumour that the Canadians were once more<br /> pushing forward their claims. The question is<br /> naturally one of great importance to the English<br /> author on account of the great interests in-<br /> volved.<br /> As regards the present state of Canadian Copy-<br /> right, any member of the Society who is interested<br /> in the subject is referred to the November number<br /> of the Author, 1890, containing a very useful<br /> paper written by W. Oliver Hodges, honorary<br /> secretary of the Society&#039;s Copyright Committee,<br /> and to an opinion in the January number 1893,<br /> given at the request of the Society by J. Rolt,<br /> 3, New-square, barrister.<br /> With regard to the steps at present being<br /> taken, it will be as well to put forward a short<br /> statement.<br /> As soon as the rumour of the Canadian move<br /> had been substantially verified, the secretary of<br /> the Society, at the request of the chairman, wrote<br /> to the Colonial Office, and in due course received<br /> a reply, which was as follows:<br /> Downing-street, May 18, 1894.<br /> SIR,-Lord Ripon desires me to acquaint you that the<br /> Society is in error in supposing that there is any new Bill on<br /> copyright in Canada now before Her Majesty&#039;s Government.<br /> His Lordship presumes your letter refers to a clause in the<br /> Tariff Bill of the Canadian Parliament which is intended to<br /> remove the duty on foreign reprints of British copyright<br /> works. -<br /> I am to enclose a copy of the clause in question, which it<br /> is understood is not intended to come into operation until the<br /> end of the next session of the Dominion Parliament. In the<br /> meantime Lord Ripon has invited the attention of the<br /> Government of Canada to the effect which the second<br /> section of the Colonial Laws Walidity Act, 1865, may have<br /> upon this clause in the Tariff Bill.<br /> I am to add that a communication on the general question<br /> of copyright in Canada has been received, and will be sent<br /> to the Society when printed for any remarks they may have<br /> to offer.—I am, sir, &amp;c.<br /> The following is the clause referred to :<br /> Books and Papers.-British copyright works, reprints of,<br /> six cents per pound, and in addition thereto 12% per cent.<br /> ad valorem until March 27, 1895, and thereafter six cents<br /> per pound.<br /> The importance, however, of the letter lies in<br /> the last paragraph.<br /> At about the same date the Secretary of the<br /> Society received a letter from the London<br /> Chamber of Commerce stating that a meeting<br /> of the copyright interests was going to be held,<br /> and requesting that the Society would appoint<br /> delegates to attend. At once a meeting of the<br /> committee was called, and Mr. Thring, the<br /> Secretary of the Society, together with Mr. W.<br /> Oliver Hodges, Hon. Secretary of the Society&#039;s<br /> Copyright Committee, and Mr. Emery, of Messrs.<br /> Field, Roscoe, and Co., the Society&#039;s solicitors,<br /> was appointed to attend. On Wednesday,<br /> May 23, the delegates met at the London<br /> Chamber of Commerce, where various copyright<br /> interests were represented, namely, the musical<br /> publisher, the photographer, the Copyright Asso-<br /> ciation, and the Society of Authors. Mr. Daldy,<br /> the Honorary Secretary of the Copyright Associa-<br /> tion, was voted into the chair, and, after a few<br /> preliminary remarks, he read through a series of<br /> letters written by himself to the Colonial Secretary<br /> and the replies from the Colonial Office. Mr.<br /> Thring, the Secretary of the Society, then read<br /> the letter he had received from the Colonial Office,<br /> which was dated later than Mr. Daldy&#039;s last letter<br /> from the same source, and which contained infor-<br /> mation with regard to the steps the Canadian<br /> Government were taking, which was not included<br /> in Mr. Daldy&#039;s letters. Then followed a discus-<br /> sion upon what was the fittest course to take, and<br /> it was finally decided to appoint a committee to<br /> hold as it were a watching brief upon the Anglo-<br /> Canadian copyright question. The following<br /> resolutions were then agreed to, placed before the<br /> meeting, and unanimously carried :—<br /> I. Proposed by Mr. Ashdown, and seconded by<br /> Mr. Thring (Secretary of the Society of Authors) :<br /> That a special committee representing all copyright<br /> interests be appointed to watch the question of Anglo-<br /> Canadian copyright, and to take such steps to protect that<br /> property as may to them seem best.<br /> 2. Proposed by Mr. Thring (Secretary of the<br /> Society of Authors), and seconded by Mr.<br /> Mendlesohn :<br /> That the said committee consist of two representatives of<br /> each of the undermentioned bodies and interests : The<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 6 (#20) ###############################################<br /> <br /> 6 THE AUTHOR.<br /> Copyright Association, the Society of Authors, musical<br /> interests, fine art interests, photographic interests, dramatic<br /> publishers and authors, with power to add to their numbers<br /> from their own or other bodies as they think fit.<br /> The next step for the Society to take will be, of<br /> course, to elect delegates to attend upon the com-<br /> mittee. This committee, when formed, will care-<br /> fully go into whatever papers may be laid before<br /> them by the Secretary of State for the Colonies,<br /> and will consider the advisability of sending a<br /> deputation to the Marquis of Ripon on the<br /> matter.<br /> Further information will be conveyed to the<br /> members of the Society through the Author, as the<br /> question and the steps taken are proceeded with.<br /> II.--THE WORKING OF THE COPYRIGHT IAw.<br /> I. Mr. George Haven Putnam&#039;s thoughtful<br /> article on “Results of the Copyright Law,” in<br /> the January Forum, was an excellent summing up<br /> of the situation as developed since the passage of<br /> the Copyright Act of March 4, 1891. To my<br /> mind, his opinion that, in spite of the law’s<br /> defects, “it would be unwise at this time to make<br /> any effort to secure amendments * is the correct<br /> one. At the same time, the fact that a petition<br /> has been brought into the German Parliament<br /> calling for the abrogation of the copyright agree-<br /> ment between the United States and Germany,<br /> and that this petition has been approved by the<br /> committee having it in charge, gives a serious<br /> turn to the copyright situation. Mr. Putnam, in<br /> his article, noted that “it is almost impossible<br /> for a French or German author to arrange to<br /> issue his book in this country (either in the<br /> original or in a translation) simultaneously with<br /> the publication abroad. The re-setting in the<br /> Original language, for such limited sale as could<br /> be looked for here, would be unduly expensive,<br /> while time is required for the preparation of a<br /> satisfactory translation.” The great trouble, Mr.<br /> Putnam tells me, is that to secure copyright in a<br /> work in a foreign language, it must be re-set<br /> here in the original language. The copyright of<br /> a translation protects that translation only, and<br /> if the book is not also published in the original,<br /> anyone is at liberty to issue a new translation.<br /> This state of affairs was brought about by the<br /> eagerness of the typographical unions to grasp<br /> every advantage. The French Society of Authors<br /> made this discovery some time ago, and now that<br /> Germany threatens to take the matter up, the<br /> result of the immense amount of labour per-<br /> formed by our copyright leagues is somewhat dis-<br /> couraging. After all, I presume that our copy-<br /> right relations with Great Britain are the chief<br /> issue at stake, and these are progressing in a fairly<br /> Satisfactory manner at present. It is curious to<br /> observe how closely the success of books by new<br /> English authors is watched by the American<br /> reprinters. Of course, the successful English<br /> author&#039;s second book at once finds an authorised<br /> publisher in the United States, and is copy-<br /> righted; but the way every new English success<br /> is pirated in this country shows plainly the need<br /> of a time clause in the Copyright Act as long as<br /> the printing clause remains. -<br /> Another vexatious copyright question has been<br /> raised in a recent interview with Mr. Spofford,<br /> Librarian of Congress. I have not the slightest<br /> doubt that ninety in a hundred of those interested<br /> will be immensely surprised to learn from that<br /> interview that in the United States the name or<br /> title of a book is not protected by copyright.<br /> “The law is, said Mr. Spofford, “that the sub-<br /> stance, the literary contents, of a book or publica-<br /> tion may be protected by copyright, but not the<br /> name—not the title.” The filing of title-pages of<br /> books in this country, which is required by law, is<br /> not, then, for purposes of protection, but for<br /> identification merely. This seems to be a great<br /> injustice, and I asked Mr. Putnam if a change in<br /> this respéct were not needed when the Copyright<br /> Act is next amended. Mr. Putnam assented, and<br /> gave me some interesting information as to the<br /> present condition of English copyright law on<br /> this point, and as to certain proposed changes. In<br /> England, Mr. Putnam said, the law as to book<br /> titles goes as far in the contrary direction as does<br /> ours, in that it permits anyone to copyright all<br /> the titles he can think of with or without any real<br /> intention to use them for actual books. This<br /> copyright in a title or titles lasts for the full<br /> English term of forty-two years, or seven years<br /> after the copyrighter&#039;s death. In many cases,<br /> authors of books have had to pay such copy-<br /> righters to relinquish titles on which they<br /> unluckily had stumbled. Mr. Putnam thinks<br /> that authors should be at liberty to copyright the<br /> titles of their proposed books, but that such copy-<br /> right should be completed by the publication of<br /> the book within a reasonable period (six months or<br /> a year), and that failing of this the copyright<br /> should become void. Also he thinks that copy-<br /> right in a title should lapse if the book which it<br /> represents is out of print for a long period. The<br /> proposed new English law, introduced by Lord<br /> Monkswell in the present Parliament, and still<br /> pending, covers these points very fully. Copy-<br /> right in a title must be perfected by publication<br /> of the book within six months, and is lost in the<br /> case of books which remain out of print over two<br /> years. -<br /> II. The copyright questions touched upon in<br /> my last letter have brought me further information<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 7 (#21) ###############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. . 7<br /> as to the working of the Act of 1891. A sufficient<br /> time has now passed to enable publishers generally<br /> to understand what methods of procedure to<br /> follow in securing themselves and their authors<br /> here and abroad. Single stories, poems, and<br /> articles in English periodicals, which have not<br /> been “placed ” in the United States, are now sent<br /> over in advance to this country, put in type, and<br /> issued in pamphlet form on the day of the<br /> periodical&#039;s publication in England, thus securing<br /> copyright here for the same matter when subse-<br /> quently issued in book form. It is becoming<br /> more and more dangerous to reprint such articles<br /> from English magazines, especially if the authors<br /> are distinguished. All this has, of course, become<br /> the A B C of the trade among publishers, but it<br /> will be in the nature of information to many of<br /> the writing guild. Such copyrighted matter as<br /> that just mentioned is published here in three<br /> different ways: first, by the American branch of<br /> the English house; second, by an American pub-<br /> lishing house, which is the agent of the English<br /> firm; third, by the private agent of the English<br /> publisher. In any case protection is legally<br /> secured.<br /> So thoroughly do the English houses under-<br /> stand this question, and in so many cases have<br /> they established branch firms here for the publi-<br /> cation of their own books, that a leading Boston<br /> author was tempted to remark to the head of a<br /> large American publishing house that the chief<br /> effect of the International Copyright Act seemed<br /> to be to enable English publishing firms to<br /> establish branch houses here, manufacture dupli-<br /> cate plates, and flood the market with English<br /> books. This is only partially true, however, as<br /> most English publishers still prefer to issue their<br /> books through American houses, who manufac-<br /> ture the plates for both sides of the ocean.<br /> As to American authors, they no longer have to<br /> compete with five-cent. editions of current<br /> books by leading English authors, but issue their<br /> works in even competition with the latter. In<br /> view of the working of the Act, there may be a<br /> modicum of wisdom in requiring plates to be<br /> manufactured in this country, as otherwise we<br /> might be swamped by cheap English sheets in a<br /> way to shut off American authors and publishers<br /> from fair competition. These are the views of a<br /> protectionist, however, and I understand that<br /> those interested in copyright reform insist that<br /> protection and free trade ought not to enter into<br /> the question.<br /> International copyright is now secured between<br /> the United States and Great Britain, France,<br /> Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, and<br /> Italy. The American Copyright League, so its<br /> secretary tells me, is now working for copyright<br /> WOL. W.<br /> with Greece, Norway, and Sweden, Spain, and<br /> Austria. Russia is considered hopeless on<br /> account of the press censorship. Austria, I<br /> believe, objects to the printing clause. Oddly<br /> enough, the printing clause is not considered a<br /> grave objection by the Spanish authorities, but<br /> they do object seriously to the requirement that<br /> American editions of Spanish books be registered<br /> at Washington and the fee paid before copyright<br /> can be secured. In most international copyright<br /> agreements between European countries, regis-<br /> tration in the author&#039;s country is all that is<br /> necessary for protection in other countries. Our<br /> late Minister to Spain, the Hon. E. Burd Grubb,<br /> was unable to overcome this objection on the<br /> part of the Spanish authorities. It has been<br /> suggested that a certificate of copyright from<br /> the United States Consul at Madrid, or from<br /> the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, could<br /> be made to serve at Washington by a special Act<br /> of Congress. The benefit would accrue chiefly to<br /> Spanish authors, so that Spanish hindrance seems<br /> absurd. — ARTHUR STEDMAN in the Chicago<br /> Dial.<br /> III.-FoED v. SMITH.<br /> (Before MR. JUSTICE MATHEw and a Special<br /> Jury.)<br /> This was an action (May 30) by Mr. Thomas<br /> Murray Ford, a dramatic author and journalist,<br /> against Mr. Valentine Smith, a theatrical<br /> manager and actor, arising out of the produc-<br /> tion of an English version of Adam&#039;s opera. “Si<br /> j’étais Roi.”<br /> The plaintiff&#039;s case, as stated by counsel, was<br /> that in December, 1888, he was asked by the<br /> defendant to translate and prepare an English<br /> version of “Si j’étais Roi.” No remuneration<br /> was fixed for the work, as the plaintiff said he<br /> could not tell how long it would take, but it was<br /> agreed that a reasonable price should be paid.<br /> The original libretto was by MM. Dennery and<br /> Brésil, and this was handed to the plaintiff by<br /> the defendant. Dr. Storer and Miss Harte-<br /> Potts assisted him, and, when finished, the<br /> English lyrics were written into a full score of<br /> the opera, by Dr. Storer. The work occupied<br /> two months, and was of a difficult nature, as first<br /> a translation had to be made of the French verse,<br /> and then English lyrics fitted to the music.<br /> When the words were completed they were sent<br /> to the defendant, who sent plaintiff a sum of £5<br /> some time afterwards in reply to an application<br /> for payment. Plaintiff, however, wrote back and<br /> said that such a sum was quite insufficient. He,<br /> however, heard no more for four years, when he<br /> heard that defendant was performing an opera<br /> C<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 8 (#22) ###############################################<br /> <br /> 8 THE AUTHOR.<br /> entitled “King for a Day,” which he suspected<br /> was his work. He accordingly procured a book<br /> of the words, which were identical with his version,<br /> and found that the defendant had registered both<br /> the opera and the book.<br /> The defendant&#039;s case was that he had only<br /> asked defendant to “write up ’’ a music score;<br /> that the version the defendant used was written<br /> up and adapted by him and Dr. Storer from what<br /> he remembered of the American version; that he<br /> had never used anything that plaintiff had<br /> written; and that he was unaware the plaintiff<br /> had prepared any version at all.<br /> Evidence was given on both sides in support of<br /> these statements.<br /> Mr. Justice MATHEw, in summing up, said the<br /> questions for the jury were--(1) Was the plain-<br /> tiff employed to do the work? If so, he was<br /> entitled to be paid for doing it. (2) Was the<br /> manuscript sold to the defendant P If it was, he<br /> was entitled to register it. (3) Was the version<br /> the defendant used substantially the one prepared<br /> by the plaintiff P and (4) Had the plaintiff, in<br /> fact, accepted the £5 in full payment or was he<br /> entitled to anything more ? The learned Judge<br /> then proceeded to review and criticise the evi-<br /> dence in detail.<br /> The jury immediately found a verdict for the<br /> plaintiff, damages 3850.<br /> ON ROYALTIES.<br /> INCE a great many of our members have<br /> S joined during the last four years—in 1890<br /> the number of members was 4oo, at the<br /> present moment, May, 1894, it is nearly 1300–<br /> the facts and figures published in the early<br /> numbers of the Author are practically inaccessible<br /> to the younger members. But some of these are<br /> of the highest importance. Also, some of them<br /> require revision in consequence of slight changes.<br /> We purpose, therefore, to reproduce them. Per-<br /> haps the most important of all are those which<br /> relate to royalties. Nothing is more chaotic than<br /> the royalty system; but, since it is, for many<br /> reasons, the plan generally preferred by both<br /> authors and publishers, it is one that must be<br /> thoroughly understood. The figures given in the<br /> Author (Vol. I., p. 39, and Vol. III., p. 7) have<br /> been carefully revised.<br /> I. Cost of Production:<br /> As before, an ordinary six-shilling book is taken<br /> as an example. It may be a book of essays, a<br /> biography, a novel. Since a large circulation is<br /> contemplated, the figures will, in general, be found<br /> more useful for the novelist than for the essayist.<br /> But the latter will do well to consider the results<br /> on a single edition only.<br /> We take a very common form : it is one used<br /> for the greater number of six-shilling novels. The<br /> type is called Small Pica : there are twenty-nine<br /> lines in the page, and there are about 250 or 26o<br /> words to the page ; there are seventeen sheets,<br /> or 272 pages. The following is tendered as an<br /> approximate cost; that is to say, we could our-<br /> selves get the work done at these figures.<br /> It must be understood that a book of greater<br /> length will cost more; if, for instance, there are<br /> twenty-four sheets instead of seventeen, the cost<br /> of production would be increased, and the figures<br /> modified throughout. Illustrations would also<br /> increase the cost.<br /> <br /> I. A first edition of IOOO copies costs<br /> about £92<br /> 2. A first edition of 3000 copies costs<br /> g - about £180<br /> 3. A second edition of IOOO copies costs<br /> about £52<br /> 4. A second edition of 3000 copies costs<br /> about £135<br /> In other words, in a first edition of S. d.<br /> ... IOOO copies, each copy costs about... I Io;<br /> 3OOO 25 5 x 2 3 » . . . I 2;<br /> , In a second edition of s. d.<br /> IOOO copies, each copy costs about... I o<br /> 3OOO 5 y 55 35 32 - - O<br /> The above is approximately the cost of produc-<br /> tion. The publisher now has IOOO copies in his<br /> hands—what does he get for them P. We reckoned<br /> in our last published figures 3s.6d. for an average<br /> price. We have since learned, on closer inquiry,<br /> that this is too low an average.<br /> There are slight variations with different firms,<br /> and sometimes special terms may be made. Thus,<br /> there are four or five firms who “subscribe’” their<br /> six-shilling books, i.e., issue them to the trade, on a<br /> first subscription at 4s., counting 13 as 12, and with<br /> 5 per cent. discount at the quarterly settlement.<br /> This is just over 3s. 6d. But a first subscrip-<br /> tion generally means a very small proportion of<br /> the whole afterwards taken in the case of a suc-<br /> cessful book.<br /> Other firms subscribe their 6s. books at 4s. 2d.;<br /> 25 as 24; or 13 as I 2 ; and 5 per cent. On the<br /> quarterly settlement.<br /> Thus we have, at 25 as 24, the price at<br /> 3s. 9%d., say 3s. 9%d.<br /> nd at 13 as 12 the price at 3s. 7+}d., or very<br /> nearly 3s. 8d.<br /> There are other variations.<br /> Some firms give a large discount for an order<br /> of so much. - -<br /> Stated generally, the average price to the trade<br /> 4.<br /> IO;<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 9 (#23) ###############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. - 9<br /> of a 6s. book is 3s. 8d., and in all calculations as<br /> regards royalties this price may be taken as the<br /> basis of calculation. g -<br /> Thus with an edition of -<br /> IOOO copies the difference between<br /> return and cost is ... ... ... ...<br /> 3OOO copies the difference between<br /> return and cost is ... ... 2 5<br /> Thus with a second edition of<br /> IOOO copies the difference between<br /> return and cost is ... ... ... ... 2 8<br /> 3OOO copies the difference between<br /> return and cost is ... ... ... ... 2 9%<br /> We can thus get an idea of what the royalty<br /> system means when an edition is completely<br /> exhausted.<br /> I. On the sale of an edition of IOOO only :<br /> - . Per cent.<br /> On a royalty of......... IO I5 2O 25<br /> s. d.<br /> I 9<br /> #<br /> #<br /> * smºs<br /> Publisher ........................ 360 ... 345 ... 330 ... 31.5<br /> Author ........................... 383O ... 3845 ... 36O ... 3875<br /> 2. On the sale of a first edition of 30OO :<br /> Per cent.<br /> IO I5 2O 25 3O<br /> Publisher...... £280 ... 3240 ... 3190 ... 31.45 ... 38 IOO<br /> Author......... £90 ... 3135 ... 3180 ... 3225 ... 3270<br /> 3. On the sale of a second edition of IOOO :<br /> Per cent.<br /> IO I5 2O 25 3O<br /> Publisher............ £IOO ... 385 ... 370 ... 355 ... 3840<br /> Author............... 483O ... 345 ... 386O ... 375 ... 3890<br /> 4. On the sale of a second edition of 3000:<br /> Per cent.<br /> IO I5 2O 25 30<br /> Publisher...... £325 ... 3280 ... 3235 ... 3190 ... 31.45<br /> Author......... £90 ... 3135 ... 3180 ... 3225 ... 3270<br /> These figures show that for a half-profit<br /> system, supposing a book to be successful, a<br /> royalty of about 22% per cent. on such a work, of<br /> such a length, without illustrations, means half<br /> profits to author and to publisher.<br /> But it may be objected, very few books<br /> indeed attain to such a circulation as is here<br /> presented. As a matter of fact, many more books<br /> attain to wide circulation than we suspect. We<br /> are too much accustomed to think of novels alone<br /> as successful books. There are, however, educa-<br /> tional, religious, scientific, historical, biographical<br /> books which obtain very great success. We do<br /> not hear much about them ; of the novel we hear a<br /> great deal. Let us next, then, reserving this<br /> important fact, speak of books which cannot<br /> expect a large circulation. A philosophical<br /> treatise, for instance; a book of essays by a<br /> writer who is not popular; a book of poems by<br /> a poet not yet popular; can hardly expect a large<br /> WOL. W.<br /> sale. Indeed, in some cases, the writer is fortunate<br /> in getting published at all; and there are many<br /> cases in which a publisher has produced a book<br /> by which he cannot hope to do more than recoup<br /> his expenditure.<br /> Let us return to a book, of which a single<br /> edition of IOOO copies represents the whole. If it<br /> is a volume of essays it is generally longer than<br /> the example quoted. Suppose it contains twenty<br /> sheets. The cost of production, not counting<br /> moulding, would be about £1oo. This cost is<br /> covered with a sale of 550. If, however, it is<br /> saddled with a royalty of 15 per cent. to the<br /> author, the book is not covered until a sale of<br /> 723 copies. Now, the publisher may see his way<br /> to dispose of something like this number, but<br /> not of many more. Where, then, is his own share<br /> in the return ? It is manifestly impossible, with<br /> a sale so limited, to give so large a royalty. This<br /> consideration seems to introduce the deferred<br /> royalty; and, indeed, if the accounts are honestly<br /> presented, on an agreed understanding as to the<br /> proportion or share, a deferred royalty would<br /> seem the fairest. Thus with our figures a royalty<br /> would begin after 550 copies were sold. What<br /> should be the amount of the royalty P Clearly,<br /> the sale of every copy in the edition of Iooo,<br /> except the presentation copies, after 550 are gone,<br /> is so much profit. Therefore a royalty of 50 per<br /> cent. is only the old-fashioned half profit plan<br /> honestly carried out.<br /> Unfortunately the deferred royalty has been<br /> —and is—the easiest and the most common way<br /> of conveying the whole of the property into the<br /> publisher&#039;s hands. For instance, a case occurred<br /> some time ago in which such a book as we are<br /> considering was to be charged with a royalty<br /> of a shilling a copy after I 600 copies had been<br /> sold. Now, the book was of such a nature that<br /> its sale would probably never reach, or only<br /> just reach, I 600 copies. Suppose, however, an<br /> edition of 2000 copies were produced and all<br /> were sold. The cost of the book would be about<br /> 3130; the returns, at 3s. 8d. a copy, would be<br /> about £350. The author would receive Is. On<br /> 4OO copies, i.e., 32O ; the publisher would receive<br /> over £2OO. The figures are only approximate,<br /> but they are not far wrong. How does such<br /> an agreement as this strike the reader for<br /> equity ? Again, a very distinguished writer<br /> sought the advice of the Society sofme time ago<br /> on the following proposal. He was to give a<br /> certain firm a book—a little book which would<br /> cost a trifling sum to produce, and would be<br /> absolutely certain of success from the name<br /> alone of the writer. The firm proposed that a<br /> royalty of one-sixth should be given to the writer,<br /> to begin after 2000 copies had been sold / There<br /> • C 2<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 10 (#24) ##############################################<br /> <br /> IO THE AUTHOR.<br /> is no need of figures in this case in order to show<br /> the beauty of the arrangement.<br /> A third case. It was concerning a three-<br /> volume novel. The author accepted terms which<br /> promised large returns after the sale of 350<br /> copies. He never got anything. He found out<br /> afterwards that the publisher, guessing that there<br /> would be no demand for the book over and above<br /> 350 copies, had not only named that number as<br /> the starting point for the royalty, but had also<br /> printed that number and no more, and had then<br /> distributed the type. He gave away about twenty<br /> copies and the libraries took the rest, and he<br /> made the little profit of £150 or so on the trans-<br /> action. How does this strike the reader for<br /> loyalty and honour?<br /> Under these circumstances a proposal of a<br /> deferred royalty must be regarded with great<br /> suspicion. This paper does not advance any<br /> opinion as to the royalty which should be regarded<br /> as fair. It gives the facts, approximately, as<br /> regards cost of production and returns. Readers<br /> must remember that, though it is always neces-<br /> sary to consider the case of a great success, it<br /> does not by any means follow that their own<br /> books are going to be greatly successful. They<br /> must also remember that to recoup the cost of<br /> production alone is not exactly satisfactory to<br /> the publisher. These considerations belong to<br /> the application of the figures given above.<br /> *— — —”<br /> P- - -e<br /> TWO AFTER DINNER SPEECHES,<br /> N responding to the toast of the “Trade,”<br /> proposed by the Lord Mayor at the book-<br /> sellers&#039; trade dinner, held on April 14, Mr.<br /> John Murray said:<br /> “As regards that section of the trade with<br /> which I am personally connected, I will say<br /> that we publishers get a great deal of abuse,<br /> but up to the present we have not perished<br /> under that abuse. I believe there are certain<br /> people writing against us frequently. I believe<br /> there is a periodical devoted more or less to our<br /> shortcomings. But you know an author would<br /> not be an author if he were not a man of brilliant<br /> imagination. Well, gentlemen, when I think of<br /> what has passed, I am reminded ºf a little inci-<br /> dent which may have come within your know-<br /> ledge. There was an American gentleman—one<br /> of those whose tendencies lead them to come to<br /> other nations and teach other people their busi-<br /> ness—who came to Scotland and addressed some<br /> tenants against the landlord, and, feeling he had<br /> the sympathies of his audience, he asked if any-<br /> one would like to ask him a question. An old<br /> farmer arose and said, ‘Well, Mr. George, I<br /> think you are an owner of land yourself?’<br /> ‘No,&#039; was the reply. “Never interested in one?’<br /> said the farmer. “No ; I am neither agent or<br /> landlord, I have never had anything to do with<br /> land or landlords.” “No ; I thought so,” said the<br /> farmer and sat down. Now this is the way to<br /> treat our critics, and I offer them a hint not<br /> offered before. There were plans which in the<br /> long run would require the sanction of the<br /> courts to be enforced. I make a better sugges-<br /> tion: I say find me a man to write down in legal<br /> phrase, ‘Good feeling, mutual confidence, and<br /> friendship.&#039; I say find me a man prepared in a<br /> right minded spirit to enter into an agreement<br /> honourably conceived, and I will show you the<br /> man who will draw up an agreement which will<br /> not require the courts to enforce it. That is the<br /> basis on which such a business should be<br /> made.” -<br /> It is fair to suppose that Mr. Murray directed<br /> these remarks against this paper—in fact, lest the<br /> audience should think that some other paper was<br /> intended, Mr. Macmillan afterwards explained<br /> that it was the Author. If so, one has to point<br /> out that the Author has never, at any time, or<br /> in any place, abused publishers. The Society of<br /> which it is the organ has pointed out most clearly<br /> and distinctly that it has not the slightest quarrel<br /> with honourable publishers. The Society has<br /> investigated and has exposed, partly in this<br /> paper, certain practices which make publishing<br /> in certain hands a mean and a dishonest trade.<br /> If Mr. Murray “has found certain persons<br /> writing against us,” I think he may fairly be<br /> called upon to explain more clearly what he<br /> TT168,1].S. -<br /> Next he relates a parable, by which he seems to<br /> imply that the Author tries to teach publishers<br /> their business. The Author does nothing of the<br /> kind; it does, however, try to teach authors their<br /> business. With this object in view it publishes the<br /> facts as to the actual cost of production, the trade<br /> allowances, the methods of advertising, the<br /> extent of copyright, the law of copyright, the<br /> meaning of royalties—all the points, in short,<br /> necessary to teach the author what the various<br /> clauses of an agreement may mean. Does Mr.<br /> Murray object to this kind of light? Finally,<br /> Mr. Murray offers to do the very thing which the<br /> Society most ardently desires and has always in<br /> view. I know not whether he was present at a<br /> meeting held in December, 1892, at which the<br /> chairman, Sir Frederick Pollock, stated plainly<br /> that it was incredible that honourable men could<br /> not meet and recognise some method or methods<br /> of publishing as fair and acceptable to both sides.<br /> That statement still stands unanswered—what is<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 11 (#25) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. I I<br /> In the way ? Frankly, the chief obstacles are the<br /> men who, being the leaders of the publishing<br /> trade, assume, at such meetings as the Book-<br /> sellers&#039; dinner, that exposures—exposures which<br /> must be made—of over-reaching or sharping by<br /> the baser sort—are meant as attacks upon them-<br /> selves. If Mr. Murray will turn to page 9 of<br /> this number he will find there, as illustration,<br /> three agreements, not fraudulent, but sharp,<br /> recently offered to authors. One would ask him<br /> if they are such agreements as he approves. One<br /> would further ask him if he does not approve of<br /> the exposure and explanation of such agree-<br /> ments. I will show Mr. Murray, if he cares to<br /> See them, one or two other curious little agree-<br /> ments and accounts. And I will tell him, if<br /> he wishes, in confidence, the names of the firms<br /> concerned.<br /> The Committee, one is quite sure, will gladly<br /> consider any agreement which Mr. Murray may<br /> communicate in the very spirit which he desires.<br /> But, one would ask, how can there be any agree-<br /> ment which can be outside, and independent of,<br /> the law P Are publishers unique among mankind<br /> in being, as a body and individually, beyond<br /> reproach P Does Mr. Murray really believe<br /> this P<br /> For myself, I have always thought it a great<br /> misfortune for literature that such a publisher as<br /> Mr. John Murray does not welcome the Society<br /> with open arms. I have often said this privately.<br /> I now say it publicly. For—consider—if we tell<br /> a solicitor of standing that there are many black<br /> sheep in his profession; if we expose the tricks<br /> and sharpings of these black sheep, does that<br /> Solicitor get up in public and complain that<br /> certain people are always abusing “us?” Our<br /> experience of the methods of publishing is wide,<br /> and, in fact, unique. It is nothing less than a<br /> knowledge of the methods pursued by every pub-<br /> lishing house in London. And of certain houses<br /> —I must not say in this place which they are or<br /> how many they are—I declare that I cannot<br /> Conceive it possible that a single sentence in the<br /> Author (not counting correspondence) should be<br /> able to offend or irritate any member of any one<br /> of these firms.<br /> At the same dinner, Mr. Frederick Macmillan<br /> also spoke at greater length about the Author. He<br /> is reported to have said: “The relations between<br /> publishers and authors have always been satisfac-<br /> tory, and I believe the contrary opinion is chiefly<br /> due to the Author, which I believe has hitherto<br /> been thoroughly misunderstood. When this<br /> periodical first made its appearance before the<br /> world, and put before us preposterous statements<br /> based on elaborately collected information, varied<br /> by vague but offensive charges of dishonesty, there<br /> were many respectable persons who had passed<br /> their whole lives producing books who were much<br /> surprised, and some went so far as to be annoyed.<br /> I gave it some consideration, and tried to find<br /> what this periodical was. . In fact, if<br /> it is once established that the Author is a<br /> comic periodical, no doubt its circulation will<br /> very much increase. This is a digression merely<br /> suggested by Mr. Murray&#039;s reference to the<br /> Author.”<br /> I cannot agree that the relations of author<br /> and publisher are, or ever have been, satisfactory,<br /> for the simple reason that they are absolutely<br /> undefined, and that an author has to go and ask<br /> a publisher what terms he proposes. This is<br /> simple fact, and not an opinion at all. It is a<br /> fact in no way due to the Author, but is known<br /> and lamented among all authors whose work has<br /> any commercial value. As for the “preposterous<br /> statements,” one would like to know in detail, and<br /> with reference to page and volume, what these<br /> are. “Vague, but offensive charges of dis-<br /> honesty.” What are these ? Our charges of<br /> dishonesty are not vague, but perfectly clear and<br /> precise. For instance, he who makes a false<br /> return of accounts to his partner—how should he<br /> be described P. In general terms, what would the<br /> world call such a man? This is not vague. Will<br /> Mr. Macmillan explain how such a charge is<br /> Offensive P Or, since we cannot assume that he<br /> could be offended by such a charge as this, what<br /> and where are the “offensive ’’ charges? There<br /> are other practices which have also been quite<br /> clearly defined, and will be so again.<br /> As for the facts published, they chiefly consist<br /> of the facts as to the cost of production. Does<br /> Mr. Macmillan refer to these ? Does he object<br /> to this kind of light? One cannot assume that<br /> it is possible. In that case, what are the offend-<br /> ing statements P<br /> The part of Mr. Macmillan&#039;s speech which was<br /> directed personally against myself, I have taken<br /> out ; it does not concern our readers. He con-<br /> cludes with the soothing reflection that the<br /> Author is a comic paper. It is astonishing how<br /> much consolation has been obtained by persons<br /> who, for this or that reason, are angry with a<br /> paper by the consideration that, after all, it is only<br /> a comic paper. Since that is so, let us laugh and<br /> go on our way. There are many more little jokes<br /> coming along which will, we hope, preserve the<br /> comicality of our columns. Meanwhile, I repeat,<br /> what are those preposterous statements which have<br /> made Mr. Frederick Macmillan so very angry<br /> with the Author?<br /> EDITOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 12 (#26) ##############################################<br /> <br /> I 2 THE AUTHOIR.<br /> BOOK TALK,<br /> HE report in the newspaper London, of<br /> April 19, dealing with the metropolitan<br /> and suburban free libraries has received<br /> much attention from those interested in the free<br /> library movement, because statistics are there<br /> given which tend to show that the working of<br /> the Free Libraries Acts is not as successful as<br /> had been expected. To begin with, there are<br /> some parishes which will not adopt the Acts at<br /> all, and, whatever may have been their original<br /> reasons, it would be short-sighted and impolitic<br /> not to ask whether these statistics supplied in<br /> the article “What Londoners Read,” furnish<br /> these parishes with any new arguments for con-<br /> tinuing in the same course.<br /> The article states that the “free library move-<br /> ment in London seems to have come to a dead<br /> stop. It was late in starting, and only made<br /> satisfactory progress for a short period. Recently<br /> there have been discouraging defeats. It looks<br /> as if all the energy and enthusiasm thrown into the<br /> movement in 1887 and 1889 had been exhausted.<br /> . . .” Only half the people have yet the<br /> benefit of these valuable educational institutions.<br /> What is read in these libraries P Turning to<br /> the statistics themselves, there is only one thing<br /> to be said—readers of fiction are the class who<br /> have been able to find their wants most easily<br /> satisfied. Fiction in all the libraries has always<br /> the highest percentage. The writer of the article,<br /> who seems to think that people ought not to read<br /> novels, adds a special warning to show that the<br /> “conclusion that the public libraries are mainly<br /> used for the dissemination of fiction is erroneous,”<br /> for, and these are the three chief reasons: (1)<br /> Libraries possess more novels than other works<br /> quite as much because they are cheap as that<br /> they are often asked for. (2) Novels take a much<br /> shorter time to read than serious works. (3)<br /> Many novels borrowed and recorded in the per-<br /> centages are not read at all. And then follow<br /> three other minor reasons. The writer then goes<br /> on to make a comparison between the free library<br /> novel reader and the subscriber to Mudie, Smith,<br /> and the Grosvenor. Nothing, however, can be<br /> gained for the free library movement by such a<br /> course. If the free library readers have their<br /> weaknesses, they are not excused because the<br /> patrons of Mudie and Smith have theirs. In the<br /> next column the writer shows us what he considers<br /> the special weakness of the free library, for he gives<br /> us the names of the six most popular novelists.<br /> By a process of exhaustion it seems as though<br /> we could always find one of these libraries<br /> in which one or more of the novelists, popular<br /> elsewhere, received but little attention ; but we<br /> ning through them all.<br /> should find one name—Mrs. Henry Wood—run-<br /> If we proceed in the<br /> same way with particular novels, there is but<br /> one novel which seems to be read everywhere—<br /> Chelsea, Holborn, Bermondsey, Clerkenwell—they<br /> must have “East Lynne.” Saint Martin’s-in-the-<br /> Fields requires eight copies. “It is the demand<br /> for ‘East Lynne&#039; which gives Mrs. Wood the first<br /> position. “East Lynne’ being the favourite, it is<br /> perhaps, after all, a fair comparison to say that the<br /> free library is to one class of people what Mudie<br /> and Smith are to another. How very unwise then<br /> it is to pit the masses against the classes in this<br /> matter of reading, when really their tastes overlap.<br /> The outcome of this clearly is that, judged as<br /> an educational institution, the education furnished<br /> by the free library is chiefly conveyed through<br /> the modern novel; a form of text-book which<br /> teaches history, manners, customs, religion,<br /> morals, taste, and a great many things besides.<br /> It must, of course, be very trying to the autho-<br /> rities of public libraries to see so many works,<br /> which would well deserve a place on their shelves,<br /> published at prices far beyond the reach of the<br /> free library resources. We have before us a<br /> small volume, “The Life of Fra Paolo Sarpi,” by<br /> the Rev. Alexander Robertson, which is enjoying<br /> a large sale, and which seems to us to be suitable<br /> in every way for our free libraries. It is the<br /> history of a very great man which is here brought<br /> into a small compass without losing sight of<br /> either the material facts of his life, or, what is<br /> the essence of biography the spirit with which<br /> he went about his own and his country’s affairs.<br /> It is not usual to find a manual of history and<br /> biography which can be recommended as a guide<br /> and a stimulus to our own people in their<br /> attempt to be perfectly clear minded on the two<br /> most difficult political ideas of our time—pro-<br /> gress and patriotism. It is just possible that<br /> those who have hitherto been content to take<br /> their knowledge of Fra Paolo Sarpi from Miss<br /> Campbell’s life will be disappointed with Mr.<br /> Robertson&#039;s monograph, because, except in the<br /> last chapter, he does not appear to give any<br /> very fresh information. The chief reason for<br /> recommending the book just Inow is that it brings<br /> out most clearly how English sympathies have<br /> hitherto been entirely on the side of true freedom,<br /> both in action and in thought, whenever the sup-<br /> port of England has been sought by States<br /> struggling against religious tyranny. If there<br /> are any who are inclined to question the support<br /> given by England to the formation of the Italian<br /> kingdom—a united Italy, catholic, patriotic, and<br /> anti-papal, will not fail to note how easily the<br /> struggle could be misrepresented by the misuse of<br /> our current political terms or Tories and Liberals.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 13 (#27) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. I 3<br /> It is almost impossible not to consider this<br /> volume as a political manual intended to show<br /> the triumph of the Liberals (using the word in a<br /> foreign sense) or constitutional party over the<br /> clerical party, the upholders of the absolute<br /> authority of the ruler of the then existing Papal<br /> States. Such an opposition of parties may seem<br /> strange to us who are, perhaps, accustomed to<br /> consider constitutionalism more as the property of<br /> Tories, or, let us say, Conservatives, than Liberals.<br /> Nevertheless, there is one reflection to be made, if<br /> we in England have not hitherto had a clerical<br /> party there are good reasons for believing that<br /> such a party may spring up and declare itself in<br /> the near future; and it will be interesting to see<br /> how the name Liberal, as we now use it, will have<br /> to be extended to include many who at the<br /> present time would style themselves Conserva-<br /> tives. It is from this consideration — the<br /> possibility of a clerical party arising in England<br /> —that Mr. Robertson&#039;s book will derive another<br /> element of popularity. He leaves us in no doubt<br /> whatever as to the vitality of the struggle.<br /> When we consider the varied literary and scien-<br /> tific achievements of our day, there is always a<br /> danger of overlooking the importance of pro-<br /> portion in time, especially in things political.<br /> For instance, we have here a conflict between<br /> liberty and tyranny which has been waged since<br /> the time of Dante. If we are considering the<br /> history of Man from Abraham to Darwin that is<br /> not a very long time, but if we are thinking only,<br /> as is here the case, of the development of con-<br /> stitutionalism, it is impossible not to contrast the<br /> quick growth of our free political institutions in<br /> England, after we had substituted the Sovereign<br /> for the Pope, with their growth in those countries<br /> which had still to reckon with the papal claims.<br /> To recognise that a constitution is a growth and<br /> not the creation of a minister—even a Sarpi–is<br /> the political lesson of this biography. It is<br /> shown that to be free to develop is the simple<br /> requirement of a constitutional commonwealth<br /> like the Venetian, or a constitutional monarchy<br /> like the kingdom of Italy.<br /> Mr. Robertson has written a most interesting<br /> book. As it is not our duty here to do more than<br /> find reasons for recommending its purchase to<br /> private buyers, and justifying the same by public<br /> ones, we may draw attention to the heads of the<br /> chapters showing the method adopted. We have<br /> three chapters dealing with Sarpi, as scholar,<br /> professor, and then provincial of the Servite<br /> Order of Friars. Chapter 4 describes him as<br /> scientist and philosopher, in which his position<br /> with regard to the discovery of the circulation of<br /> the blood and the amount of Harvey’s indebted-<br /> mess to him are noted. We observe that Mr.<br /> Robertson appears to take a somewhat different<br /> view of that question than Miss Campbell does.<br /> Up to this point Sarpi is shown rather as making<br /> preparation for the duties which afterwards<br /> devolved upon him; while the three following<br /> chapters are devoted to the noble and successful<br /> struggle of his political life. He is described as<br /> theological counsellor, as martyr, and as states-<br /> man-author. The last chapter, “In tomb and on<br /> pedestal,” tells how Sarpi&#039;s enemies tried to<br /> revenge themselves even on his remains, and gives<br /> their attempts—which were very successful—to<br /> prevent the statue decreed by the Senate and Doge<br /> On Feb. 7, 1623, being set up. This was not dome<br /> till 1892. Mr. Robertson writes: “In recognition<br /> of the fact that Fra Paolo embodied the spirit not<br /> only of the old republic of Venice, but also of the<br /> new kingdom of Italy, the day chosen for the<br /> unveiling of the statue was the auspicious one,<br /> Sept. 20.” The volume has a photograph from a<br /> picture of Sarpi, and another of the statue; there<br /> is also a fac-simile letter in Sarpi’s handwriting.<br /> * * *<br /> a- - -º<br /> CALIFORNIAN NOTES.<br /> HE following notes on two or three Cali-<br /> fornian writers, furnished by a Californian,<br /> may serve to infroduce them to the readers<br /> of the Author. The first is on Mrs. Margaret Collier<br /> Graham, whose stories in the Atlantic Monthly<br /> and in the Century magazine have attracted<br /> some attention during the past eighteen months.<br /> She is a California woman, having her home at<br /> Pasadena, in Southern California. Mrs. Graham<br /> first made her appearance in literature twelve<br /> years ago with a story which appeared in the<br /> California Magazine, a publication which after-<br /> wards became merged in the new series of the<br /> Overland. This story, “Jamie,” attracted much<br /> attention at the time, and was followed only by<br /> one or two fugitive efforts, after which the writer<br /> dropped into obscurity. The real cause for this<br /> suspension of literary effort was the prolonged<br /> illness of her husband, who died three years ago.<br /> The twelve years that intervened between Mrs.<br /> Graham&#039;s earlier and later work were filled with<br /> work and sorrow and love. But meanwhile the<br /> writer was unconsciously preparing for strong and<br /> purposeful effort in letters. This is why she<br /> seems to have sprung full fledged into literature.<br /> Her stories show the subtle discernment of cha-<br /> racter, and the happy sense of humour peculiar<br /> to Miss Mary E. Wilkins, whom she resembles<br /> without imitation. As Miss Wilkins belongs to<br /> the east, so Mrs. Graham belongs to the west.<br /> Where Miss Wilkins introduces us to the New<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 14 (#28) ##############################################<br /> <br /> I4. THE AUTHOR.<br /> England sewing circle, Mrs. Graham tells us of<br /> the outdoor life of the Far West. While Miss<br /> Wilkins shows us the homely furrows ploughed<br /> on the stony hillsides of the Granite Hills, Mrs.<br /> Graham pictures the freshly upturned virgin<br /> soil, full of latent possibilities, bathed in<br /> sunshine. The pathos of life is in her tales, yet<br /> what most captivates us is their humour. She<br /> has a fine touch, and the little she has published<br /> has been talked about, thought about, and dis-<br /> cussed, like the work of few writers during these<br /> last two years. Yet one who knows her well,<br /> ventures the prediction that these exquisite<br /> pictures of western life that she has given the<br /> reading public, will seem but child&#039;s play when<br /> compared to the strong and serious work of which<br /> she is capable, and which she will yet accomplish.<br /> Another writer, as yet not popular with English<br /> readers, is Mr. Cromwell Galpin, a newspaper man<br /> of Los Angeles.<br /> chiefly by his contributions to the child-literature<br /> of the day. He has now nearly completed a<br /> novel whose scenes deal with the ancient life of<br /> the Pueblo Indians, of which he has made a<br /> special study. The subject is a unique one, and<br /> the novel is certain to have a literary and<br /> historical value.<br /> Mr. Galpin is the writer who conceived the<br /> very original undertaking of publishing a folk-<br /> lore tale of several thousand words, which should<br /> Tead pleasantly and with euphony, without the<br /> employment of a single word that was not of<br /> pure Saxon origin. This feat he accomplished<br /> successfully, and the result was published in<br /> Wideawake two years ago.<br /> The Overland Monthly, California&#039;s best<br /> known literary publication, and from which Bret<br /> Harte sprang from obscurity to fame, has lately<br /> changed hands, becoming the property of Mr.<br /> Rounseville Wildman, a consular representative<br /> and writer of some repute, who takes the editorial<br /> chair. It is understood that Mr. W. W. Foote, a<br /> San Francisco criminal lawyer of repute, will have<br /> a voice in the management, and will become a<br /> regular contributor to the magazine.<br /> *— - —”<br /> TO A DISCOURTEOUS BEAUTY.<br /> (From CoRNEILLE.)<br /> Although my features, fair marquise,<br /> A trifle weatherworn have grown,<br /> The day will come, remember please,<br /> When you’ll find furrows on your own<br /> Naught upon earth, however bright,<br /> Can brave the scathing touch of Time;<br /> My wreath, now wan with winter&#039;s blight,<br /> Had once, like yours, its April prime !<br /> He has hitherto been known<br /> The same just stars in yonder blue,<br /> Life&#039;s course for both of us decree ;<br /> My past I gaze upon in you,<br /> Your future you behold in me !<br /> Yet charms I own which, sooth to speak,<br /> When yours have perished, shall endure,<br /> Against the worst that Time can wreak,<br /> Proudly, impregnably secure :<br /> Tricked in mere beauty’s transient gloss,<br /> My charms in chill disdain you hold;<br /> Yet, when all yours are worthless dross<br /> Mine still shall gleam intrinsic gold !<br /> They could preserve those lustrous eyes,<br /> Or bid their light extinguised be ;<br /> They could award you Helen&#039;s guise,<br /> Or hand you down as Hecate |<br /> Ay, with posterity, who&#039;ll lend<br /> Some slight regard to what I’ve writ,<br /> Your boasted beauty will depend<br /> On just what I may say of it !<br /> Lay this to heart, then, fair marquise—<br /> When next with “hauteur’ superfine<br /> You’d fain some hapless oldster freeze,<br /> Choose one whose pen&#039;s less sharp than mine !<br /> WILLIAM TOYNBEE.<br /> *-- ~ 2–?<br /> r—- * ~s<br /> NOTES AND NEWS.<br /> HE Report of the Dinner of the 31st ult.<br /> will appear in the July number.<br /> “Les éditeurs catholiques Letouzey et Ané com-<br /> paraissent aujourd&#039;hui devant la cour d’assises<br /> de la Seine, présidee par M. Potier, sous l&#039;accusa-<br /> tion de faux en écritures de commerce au préjudice<br /> de M. Léo Taxil.<br /> L&#039;expertise aurait 6tabli que M. Léo Taxil avait<br /> été frustré, de la part de ses éditeurs, a propos du<br /> tirage de ses publications, d&#039;une somme dépassant<br /> 38,000 fr.<br /> M* Pouillet et Georges Maillard assistent MM,<br /> Letouzey et Ané.<br /> M. l&#039;avocat-général Van Cassel soutient l’accu-<br /> sation. - - -<br /> L&#039;affaire a 6té renvoyée.”—Siècle, May 30.<br /> We are called upon to thank certain Americans<br /> for a graceful act. They have quite privately and<br /> secretly collected a sum of money. With this they<br /> have caused to be made a marble bust of Keats,<br /> which is to be placed in Hampstead church. Mr.<br /> Gosse was informed of the plan as soon as the bust<br /> was completed, and was permitted to communicate<br /> it to the Times of May 25. The bust has<br /> arrived. It was brought over by Mr. Day, the<br /> projector of the gift. I suppose we ought, long<br /> ago, to have put up such a monument to the<br /> poet; certainly no poet lives more surely and<br /> more lovingly in our hearts than Keats; yet, on<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 15 (#29) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. I5<br /> the whole, it seems a good thing that we have<br /> left this offering to the Americans. We read in<br /> it a claim, or, if you please, an acknowledgment,<br /> that everything good and great written in our<br /> common language belongs to all who speak that<br /> language. We recognised this truth when we<br /> put up the monuments to Lowell and to Long-<br /> fellow in Westminster Abbey. I wish we could<br /> do more. We might present a statue of Haw-<br /> thorne to the pretty little town of Concord. We<br /> might put up a bust of Washington Irving in the<br /> City Hall of New York. We might give a statue<br /> of Oliver Wendell Holmes to the great hall of<br /> Harvard. Let us consider the subject. Mean-<br /> time we must welcome our American friends.<br /> The Weekly Sun has discovered a poet in a<br /> coal mine. That is to say, he has been in a coal<br /> mine, but ill-health keeps him in the light of day.<br /> He is quite young, about twenty-two years of<br /> age; his education has been slender; he is very<br /> poor. The Weekly Sun has published one of his<br /> poems, called “Life at Play.” The following<br /> stanzas, which seem to me graceful, simple, and<br /> promising, are taken from this poem :—<br /> The field-flowers rise from out their beds<br /> Of undulating green,<br /> And shyly lift their pretty heads<br /> To look upon the scene.<br /> All things are gay !<br /> For earth has doffed her garb uncouth,<br /> And beauty crowns and kisses youth,<br /> And Life&#039;s at play.<br /> The breeze blows gaily o&#039;er the land,<br /> And whispers in the trees,<br /> And tosses with a playful hand<br /> The corn to tumbling seas.<br /> All things are gay !<br /> A thousand waves in concert run,<br /> And glare and glitter in the sun,<br /> While Life’s at play.<br /> The world looks young, as golden gleams<br /> Of sunshine wreathe her brow ;<br /> And Nature’s wealth of fruitage teems,<br /> And Age seems younger now.<br /> All things are gay !<br /> The living rules the dead again,<br /> The dreams of youth pulsate the brain,<br /> While Life’s at play.<br /> An attempt is being made to raise a small fund<br /> for this young poet. It is to cultivate his know-<br /> ledge. The editor of the Weekly Sun, Tudor-<br /> street, E.C., is willing to receive contributions.<br /> Will the readers of this paper, who should, above<br /> all others, love poetry and poets, respond to the<br /> appeal? The man may be another Burns—<br /> another Keats.<br /> I read in the Westminster Gazette that there<br /> will shortly be issued a History of the Riving-<br /> tons from the year 1711. There have been<br /> VOI,. W.<br /> published from time to time several books on the<br /> history of publishers and booksellers, but never,<br /> so far as I know, any complete history of any one<br /> house. We want in such a record, not only an<br /> account of the books published, and the general<br /> success, enterprise, and glorification of the firm,<br /> but also a history of its relations with authors.<br /> In the year 1711, for instance, and for a hundred<br /> years afterwards, the men who lived by literature<br /> were a miserably poor and, for the most part, a<br /> despised race; they were called Grub-street poets,<br /> publishers’ hacks, starveling authors, and other<br /> agreeable names; the luckless tribe were game for<br /> everybody, and especially for their more successful<br /> brethren. Will the historian of the Rivington<br /> House tell us something of the actual conditions<br /> under which literature was then produced ?<br /> What, for instance, was the extent of the market<br /> for English books? Was there any export to<br /> America P. Were the poor scribes paid for their<br /> work in anything like a fair proportion to its<br /> marketable value P When Oliver Goldsmith got<br /> 2960 for the “Vicar of Wakefield,” what did the<br /> purchaser make out of it? When Pope received<br /> the sum of £9000 for his translation of Homer,<br /> what did his publishers make P When was the<br /> practice of buying a work outright changed to<br /> that of a profit sharing agreement P When and<br /> by whom was a royalty system introduced?<br /> What losses show the existence of the risks that<br /> were certainly encountered in the last century? I<br /> have in my possession a bundle of accounts<br /> showing how publishers associated for the pro-<br /> duction of one book, each taking a proportion of<br /> the expense of production. I believe that, until<br /> quite recently, the practice was common. Then<br /> one would like printers’ accounts of the last<br /> century; others of fifty years ago, and others<br /> of to-day, showing the changes in that respect.<br /> And there should be an account of dealings with<br /> the country bookseller. In this way the history<br /> of the Publishing House of Rivington might<br /> become a most important contribution to the<br /> history of the commercial side of literature.<br /> The proposals for a collected edition of Steven-<br /> son&#039;s works are before me. They have been<br /> issued by several publishers in varying forms, and<br /> it has hitherto been rather difficult to put together<br /> a complete collection. Arrangements have<br /> been made with all his publishers, and the result<br /> has been a general consent to the issue of a<br /> uniform edition. Mr. Sidney Colvin will super-<br /> intend the edition; Mr. W. Hole, R.S.A., will<br /> provide an etched portrait ; Messrs. Constable,<br /> of Edinburgh, will print the work—their name is<br /> a guarantee that the printing will be the best<br /> D<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 16 (#30) ##############################################<br /> <br /> I6 THE AUTHOR.<br /> possible.; and Messrs. Chatto and Windus will<br /> distribute the books when they are ready. The<br /> edition is limited to 1035 copies, of which thirty-<br /> five will be reserved for presentation copies; the<br /> remainder will be offered to the public in twenty<br /> volumes, at 12s. 6d. each. Of the thousand, 300<br /> have been subscribed for America and the colo-<br /> nies. It is evident that the desire of the editors<br /> is to produce an edition which will become scarce<br /> and costly from the very commencement. Any<br /> bookseller will receive an order. I shall be very<br /> much surprised if there are any left within a week<br /> of this date.<br /> The Ossianic problem is to be reopened. It is<br /> like the “Man with the Iron Mask,” or the<br /> “Letters of Junius,” always waiting to be re-<br /> opened and discussed over again. The world<br /> should be thankful to Mr. Macpherson for pro-<br /> viding one more subject for the discussion of<br /> every successive generation. This time it is<br /> Mr. Bailey Saunders who revives the dispute, with<br /> a life of Macpherson in which to set it.<br /> “An Oxford Graduate” sends his literary<br /> experience. He says that he has for many years<br /> attempted to obtain entrance into the magazines,<br /> but with very discouraging results. The best<br /> magazines always return his MSS. ; he some-<br /> times succeeds in the second-rate papers. But<br /> he says: “However bad my work may be, it is at<br /> least as good as one-half of the average articles<br /> published even in first-class magazines. There<br /> is the sting ; this the bitterness one cannot get<br /> over.” Here lies, as the Oxford Graduate puts it,<br /> the true bitterness of failure, that the writer who<br /> cannot get in is unable to discern in what respects<br /> his work is worse than that accepted. It is not<br /> enough to say that MSS. offered by unknown<br /> writers are returned unread. A vast number of<br /> writers, from Boz downwards, have begun by<br /> offering their unknown work. Nor is it enough to<br /> say that editors do not read what is offered them.<br /> Editors may sometimes make mistakes; they may<br /> not always have the time to read all the MSS.<br /> sent to them; but it is a certain fact that editors,<br /> as a rule, do read contributions sent in to them,<br /> and do try to get good work. Otherwise they<br /> would not be editors, but mechanical clerks.<br /> There seems no reply possible to the “Oxford<br /> Graduate,” except the suggestion that long-con-<br /> tinued and almost unbroken failure must mean<br /> something—it may be in the form or the style—<br /> which militates against his success. §<br /> A correspondent asks the following question:<br /> “Could the Society give any indication to young<br /> writers as to the character of publishing houses,<br /> so as to avoid the great waste of time in sending<br /> work &amp; priori unlikely to suit them P’’<br /> The Society cannot possibly do this. It can<br /> advise, and daily does advise, authors in all<br /> branches of literature what houses are likely to<br /> consider their work, and what houses are likely<br /> to treat them fairly if they are inclined to accept<br /> their work. So that, if the writer confines himself<br /> to these houses, and is careful not to sign agree-<br /> ments without advice, he is at all events kept out<br /> of harm. But our correspondent means more<br /> than this. He is of opinion that publishers have<br /> certain leanings in this direction or that. This is<br /> not generally the case. Those publishers who<br /> publish novels will publish novels of any kind,<br /> provided they are not contra bonos mores and are<br /> likely to be in demand. And the same may be<br /> stated of every kind of book, except technical<br /> works, e.g., a general publisher should not be<br /> asked to produce new books on Arabic Philology,<br /> or on Medicine, or on Law, or on Cuneiform<br /> Inscriptions. But history, poetry, fiction, voyages,<br /> travels, and belles lettres generally of all kinds<br /> fall into the work undertaken by any publisher.<br /> The Society has to deplore the death of Mr.<br /> Edmund Yates. He had been a member of our<br /> council since the formation of the Society. He<br /> always took a deep interest in the welfare of the<br /> Society. At the outset, when our future was<br /> uncertain and extremely dark, the adhesion of every<br /> single man or woman of letters was important,<br /> and especially of such a man as Edmund Yates,<br /> novelist, journalist, and editor. His literary<br /> career, which practically ended with- the success<br /> of the World, was wide and varied. He was editor,<br /> One after another, of half a dozen magazines; he<br /> wrote many admirable novels, some of which<br /> still keep their place, and will continue to live a<br /> great deal longer than the space generally allotted<br /> even to successful novels. And he was a man of<br /> most kindly heart. With him has gone one of the<br /> few links remaining to connect the men of the<br /> Nineties with the men of the Fifties. Edmund<br /> Yates was from his birth associated with literary<br /> and dramatic folk. He was a personal friend of<br /> men much older than himself—Dickens, Albert<br /> Smith, Frank Smedley, Anthony Trollope. He<br /> began to write very early, and some of his novels<br /> still retain their hold upon the public. To the<br /> younger generation he is known chiefly as the<br /> editor of the World, which he himself founded in<br /> 1874. When one considers that the World is<br /> always regarded as a “personal ‘’ paper; that he<br /> was almost considered as the sole writer of it,<br /> though his staff was large, and included many<br /> writers of the very first order, it is wonderful<br /> that he made so few enemies. There are papers,<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 17 (#31) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 17<br /> for instance, whose editors make more enemies in<br /> a single year than Yates made in twenty years.<br /> The crowd of mourners—representing all kinds of<br /> people — which filled the Savoy Chapel at his<br /> funeral, and the grief that was marked on every<br /> face, proclaimed the loss that his death has caused.<br /> It was perhaps in kindness of heart that he once<br /> opened the pages of the World to a couple of men<br /> who were trying an experiment in collaboration.<br /> That was in 1876, and the turning point in that<br /> experiment proved to be that appearance in the<br /> World. I have always regarded this event in my<br /> little literary history not so much a stroke of good<br /> fortune as a personal favour bestowed, out of<br /> sheer kindness, upon my collaborateur, whom he<br /> knew slightly, and upon myself, whom he did not<br /> then know at all. —<br /> Another loss to letters is the death of Henry<br /> Morley. No two men could be more opposite<br /> than Edmund Yates and Henry Morley. The<br /> former an artist of the true artistic temperament;<br /> the latter a worker, always at work—learning,<br /> writing, teaching, transcribing, editing, inditing,<br /> histories of literature. We want such men as<br /> Henry Morley; they are most useful in their<br /> generation. Literature is like an army always<br /> on review. First and foremost are the fighting<br /> men; they are represented by the authors them-<br /> selves, the poets, dramatists, novelists, essayists,<br /> historians; then there are the critics, who repre-<br /> sent the bystanders and lookers on ; then the<br /> commissariat, represented by the publishers —<br /> some of the soldiers complain that the uniform of<br /> the commissariat is much finer than their own,<br /> and that their mess is much superior to the<br /> regimental mess; then there are the men like<br /> Henry Morley, who are represented by the clerks<br /> and keepers of the regimental records. Henry<br /> Morley was not one of the regiment, a fighting<br /> man, an original writer; nor was he a critic ; his<br /> work was to keep the records of the regiment,<br /> and he kept them very well. As a professor, and<br /> as the Warden of University Hall, he was widely<br /> and deservedly popular.<br /> Yet a third. Dr. Richard Morris is dead.<br /> With the single exception of Professor Skeat, no<br /> man living or dead has ever done so much for<br /> the study of our own old literature. It was<br /> fortunate for us, as well as the Early English<br /> Text Society, that his services were available,<br /> as well as those of Professor Skeat, during the<br /> early years of its existence. Very few societies<br /> have been able to command the work—gratuitous<br /> work, I believe—of such eminent scholars and<br /> patient workers as those two contributors, who<br /> simply created the success of the Society.<br /> The book of the month is Mr. Conway&#039;s Hima-<br /> layan Exploration. There has been universal<br /> agreement in all the papers on that point. One<br /> thing, at least, may be said concerning critics.<br /> When they all agree that a book is good the<br /> verdict may be accepted without a question.<br /> WALTER BESANT.<br /> *—— — —”<br /> -*.<br /> FEUILLETON,<br /> A PIOUS FRAUD. -<br /> Y the railway system irreverently known as<br /> the “Flying Watkin,” two gentlemen,<br /> with whom we are about to become<br /> acquainted, were travelling down into Kent.<br /> One was a man in the prime of life; a well-made<br /> fellow, with a pleasantly obtrusive waistcoat, and<br /> an evidence of comfortable prosperity about him.<br /> He had a merry eye, with attachments of white<br /> crow&#039;s-feet, as though he had been for a long time<br /> past smiling and laughing in a strong sunlight.<br /> And yet in spite of all this lurking mirth there<br /> was something hard about his face. His mouth<br /> was scornful, and there was something of the<br /> cynic apparent in spite of his look of bonhomie.<br /> His companion—or rather his fellow traveller, for<br /> they were not acquainted—was a much younger<br /> man, not more than twenty-five; rather above the<br /> middle height, and with a fine pair of intelligent<br /> eyes in his head. He was not good looking, but<br /> yet he was undeniably attractive. How, it would<br /> be perhaps impossible to explain. Grim determi-<br /> nation was his chief characteristic, tempered with<br /> a quiet air of disgust and weariness. These two<br /> travellers had the compartment to themselves,<br /> for it was a midday train, and almost empty.<br /> The younger traveller had exhausted his paper<br /> before they had travelled many miles, and then,<br /> with a muttered curse at the line in general, he<br /> rose, put his hat in the rack, and taking down<br /> down from that altitude something rolled in<br /> brown paper, began to undo the string. “I<br /> wonder what is wrong now,” he said under his<br /> breath, as he opened a small note inclosed in the<br /> parcel. He read the note and laughed, while<br /> his vis-à-vis looked at him in some amazement.<br /> It was not a pleasant laugh by any means, and it<br /> was not good to hear. Next he unrolled the<br /> document contained in the brown paper roll, and,<br /> as the elder traveller saw at a glance, it was a<br /> type-written play. He turned over certain leaves,<br /> removing certain marks as he did so, and laughing<br /> each time—if possible more unpleasantly than<br /> before. He soon, however, resumed his accus-<br /> tomed looked of weariness, and, leaning back in<br /> his corner, proceeded to read again. But by this<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 18 (#32) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 18 THE<br /> AUTHOR.<br /> time he had excited the interest of the elder man,<br /> who, putting on his glasses, read the name of the<br /> play on the cover. He became uneasy, and rather<br /> excited—why he did not quite know. At length<br /> he could contain himself no longer.<br /> “Allow me, sir, to congratulate you on the<br /> name of your play.”<br /> The younger man looked up curiously and<br /> suddenly. The elder continued,<br /> “Hope you don&#039;t think me rude, but I’ve been<br /> watching you ever since you undid your roll. I<br /> watched your disgust, I heard your laugh. I am<br /> well acquainted with that sort of thing. I’m a<br /> playwright myself. My card.”<br /> The young man took the pasteboard smilingly.<br /> Looked at it. His face immediately became<br /> serious. He was so astonished that he was momen-<br /> tarily incapable of any other remark than “Oh.”<br /> For he read “Herod Wingiffle,” and knew then<br /> that he was sitting opposite to perhaps the<br /> leading playwright of the day<br /> “It’s rather a formidable name I’ll allow,” said<br /> Wingiffle apologetically.<br /> “It is, indeed,” said the young man, “I<br /> haven’t a card with me, but my name is Herbert<br /> Grant.”<br /> “Thank you,” said the other simply. “Yes, it is<br /> rather startling, but I didn’t christen myself or<br /> I’d have managed differently.”<br /> “Oh, I wasn’t meaning that way,” said Grant,<br /> laughing; “I was rather surprised at finding a man<br /> in such a position as yours”—Wingiffle inclined<br /> his head—“taking any notice of a new hand.”<br /> “Inoticed the title of your play, and whether<br /> it is a good name for that play or not of course I<br /> can’t say, but it&#039;s an attractive title anyway.”<br /> “You are very good.”<br /> “Not at all. I suppose you have had it<br /> returned P’’<br /> “Yes—that’s it.”<br /> “They don’t like it?”<br /> “So they say here,” putting hand on note,<br /> “but I used certain marks which have not been<br /> disturbed at all !”<br /> “You mean ?” queried Wingiffle.<br /> “That it can’t have been read at all.<br /> have changed the wrappers, and that is all<br /> “Ah, there are a lot of funny little ways con-<br /> nected with theatrical management. Er—How<br /> old are you, and when did you begin to write for<br /> the stage?” He asked these two questions very<br /> abruptly.<br /> “I’m twenty-five, and I began to scribble when<br /> I was nineteen.”<br /> “Oh,” said Wingiffle, rather heartlessly, as<br /> Grant thought. Wingiffle continued musingly,<br /> “I began at seventeen, and my first produc-<br /> tion happened when I was thirty-five.”<br /> They<br /> 122<br /> It was Grant&#039;s turn to say “Oh,” and he said.<br /> it with considerable fervour.<br /> “I don&#039;t want to discourage you,” Wingiffle<br /> was going on when Grant laughed—that hard<br /> hopeless laugh of his.<br /> “Ah! I see,” said the sympathetic playwright,<br /> “you have had a good deal of it; perhaps I had<br /> better say no more.”<br /> “Oh, please do,” said Grant, stopping his<br /> laugh suddenly. “I have had a good deal of<br /> discouragement, and I have been robbed, but you<br /> are the first playwright I have ever met, and—<br /> and—please go on.”<br /> Wingiffle smiled at the ingenuous young man.<br /> “Robbed, eh?” he queried.<br /> “Aye, robbed. I sent a play—not this one—<br /> up to a certain manager, say in the late spring.<br /> I got it back in August with an intimation that<br /> it was unsuitable, as “women did not do such<br /> things.’”<br /> “You had made use of the eternal woman<br /> question?” asked Wingiffle.<br /> “I had and I hadn’t. I had used woman—<br /> oh, well then—as she never was yet used. But<br /> that wasn’t to say that she won’t be so used<br /> Some day. Can you, can any man, get up and<br /> declare that there is anything a woman will<br /> not do P” -<br /> “You mustn&#039;t put me on my oath,” said<br /> Wingiffle, laughing.<br /> “Anyhow,” continued Grant, smiling in spite<br /> of his indignation. “Anyhow I got my play<br /> back in August. In the following January was<br /> produced—at this very theatre—a play by a<br /> crack author—Ishan’t mention names—dealing<br /> broadly with my subject, with the difference that<br /> it placed women in an absolutely impossible<br /> light. And I know for a fact that this play was<br /> not commenced until the late autumn after the<br /> return of my MS.”<br /> “Possible,” said Wingiffle. “It isn&#039;t always<br /> the playwright&#039;s fault. Managers, you see, are un-<br /> doubtedly inundated with MSS.; those belonging<br /> to unknown authors are perhaps scamped through.<br /> There are details, say, in a play by a new hand<br /> that are not liked while the main idea is approved.<br /> Then, instead of writing to the luckless author,<br /> saying, “I like your play, will you make certain<br /> alterations, and so forth,’ the fellow calmly returns<br /> your screed while he gives out an order to a<br /> dramatist, whose work he knows is generally<br /> approved, for a play to be written round an idea<br /> and some scenes. Your idea and your scenes.<br /> It is the greatest fluke for a novice to gain a<br /> footing. Be his work ever so good, someone<br /> is sure to object to something. His dialogue,<br /> his characterisation, his dramatic action, his<br /> Scenes, his curtains—all can be attacked. If he’s<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 19 (#33) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. I9<br /> right in one, A. says he&#039;s wrong in another, while<br /> B. reverses A.’s verdict. I candidly tell you that<br /> I got my first footing by fluke; the story is too<br /> long to tell now. I’ve been snubbed just as you<br /> have been ; but I beat you in one particular ”—<br /> and he laughed heartily—“I have actually been<br /> criticised before production—the production was<br /> delayed at the last moment, but the criticism<br /> came out ; and so did the recompense—out of the<br /> rascal&#039;s pocket.” Here both passengers laughed<br /> in concert until Wingiffle spoke again, for Grant<br /> was altogether too fascinated to utter a syllable.<br /> Wingiffle continued, -<br /> “But all this talk of myself isn’t touching you<br /> much. I don’t know how you’ll take it—you<br /> may be suspicious, I couldn&#039;t express surprise at<br /> it—but if you like, as a practical, accepted play-<br /> Wright, I’ll read your play and see if I can give<br /> you any hints that might be useful.”<br /> Grant thanked his new-found friend very much<br /> for his kindness.<br /> Wingiffle took no notice at all of this except by<br /> a bow. He said, “Written much P”<br /> “A good deal,” Grant replied, “but it all<br /> comes back to me; but I know—(here he looked<br /> dreamily out of the window)—I shall get a hear-<br /> ing some day.”<br /> His companion gazed at him critically ; he<br /> seemed interested in the young man.<br /> “I believe you will,” he said rather impres-<br /> sively. “I couldn&#039;t tell you why I say so or why<br /> I believe it, but—I believe you will.”<br /> “Really, this is very encouraging,” said Grant,<br /> brightening up, “and I think I shall try again,<br /> after all.”<br /> “Of course you&#039;ll try again—you weren&#039;t going<br /> to give up P”<br /> “For a time I was. You see, I do a little hack<br /> work for a paper or two, and I was going to<br /> devote myself more to that. I manage to scrape<br /> together enough to live upon down in the village,<br /> but I want to be doing something better. Still,<br /> I must go back to it for a time.”<br /> “Give me your play,” said Wingiffle.<br /> Grant rolled it up and handed it over. It gave<br /> him a little pang to see his cherished play coldly<br /> set aside with newspapers and gloves, but<br /> Wºme chatted so kindly that he soon forgot<br /> that.<br /> Even a railway journey by the S.E.R. must<br /> come to an end at some time or other, and in<br /> due course Grant got down at his station.<br /> Wingiffle had to go some seven miles further,<br /> where he had taken a cottage for the summer.<br /> “Then I&#039;ll write you and let you know all<br /> about your play. Mind, I shall criticise it, I<br /> promise you, just as it seems to me, a practical<br /> dramatist. Good-bye, good-bye ’’ and the<br /> cheery fellow drew in his head after waving<br /> adieu to his late companion, on whom his ex-<br /> hilaration and heartiness had acted like cham-<br /> pagne.<br /> You may be quite sure that Grant passed a<br /> very pleasant evening with the remembrance of<br /> Wingiffle&#039;s comforting words for company. Of<br /> course he couldn’t sleep when at last he went to<br /> bed, thinking it a wonderful thing that he should<br /> have awakened sympathy in a man at the top of<br /> his profession ; and equally of course, when he<br /> awoke next morning he was disposed to take a<br /> rather gloomy view of his prospects, just by way<br /> of reaction.<br /> At eleven in the morning Mr. Wingiffle sur-<br /> prised him by a visit. -<br /> “Mr. Grant,” he said, “I was distinctly patro-<br /> nising to you last night.”<br /> This was a bold statement which could bear<br /> more than one interpretation, so Grant looked<br /> uncomfortable and said nothing.<br /> “Yes, I was,” said Wingiffle as though Grant<br /> had denied it, “and I have come to apologise for<br /> it.”<br /> “I assure you there is nothing to apologise<br /> for.”<br /> “My dear young fellow,” said the dramatist<br /> rising, “allow me to shake hands again.” Grant<br /> rose. “I patronise you ! Ha!, ha. It&#039;s laugh-<br /> able. Your play is a masterpiece.”<br /> “Good heavens,” ejaculated Grant, pale as a<br /> ghost.<br /> “Yes, a masterpiece. It&#039;s well conceived,<br /> interesting, absolutely novel in treatment and<br /> design, and—in short, my dear fellow, allow me to<br /> congratulate you on a most striking performance.<br /> I—well—I can&#039;t tell you much now, I’m feeling<br /> almost excited but—are you doing anything parti-<br /> cular to-day ?” Grant said he was not.<br /> “Then it will be a real pleasure to my wife and<br /> self if you will drive back with me to lunch<br /> —you&#039;ll come won&#039;t you?” -<br /> “I’ll come with pleasure,” then he laughed,<br /> this time pleasantly. “You must excuse me,” he<br /> added, “if I seem at all wandering in my replies,<br /> but I—this is rather a shock. It would be mock<br /> modesty on my part to pretend that I didn’t<br /> think it a real good play. I know it is. . But I<br /> didn’t know it was a masterpiece.”<br /> “You go and change your clothes,” said Win-<br /> giffle, “at once, and come along.”<br /> Away went the young man. He trod on no<br /> floor—he encountered no stairs. It was all<br /> cloudland to him, and as for his bedroom that<br /> was fairyland, and his change of clothes wishing-<br /> garments. He wasn&#039;t long you may be sure, and<br /> soon he was seated beside Wingiffle bowling along<br /> towards the latter&#039;s cottage.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 20 (#34) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 2O<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> “And now then,” said Wingiffle, after lunch,<br /> as they sat out under the trees, “will you put<br /> yourself further into my power? Ha, ha!”<br /> he exclaimed, in melodramatic fashion, “but I<br /> must dissemble or I shall frighten my prey,” and<br /> the odd creature took two or three long strides of<br /> the sort favoured by stage conspirators, while his<br /> wife and his visitor laughed at his antics.<br /> “Seriously now,” and he sat down again, “this<br /> is what I want. Will you let me have that play<br /> run out again in type ; will you put a new title<br /> to it, and will you let my name appear as the<br /> author of it?” -<br /> “If it&#039;s any use—-” Grant was beginning.<br /> “Any use ! Look here. Only my name, it is<br /> still your play, but my name appears. I will<br /> take it again to Magnus Maximus. He hasn’t<br /> seen anything but the title, and probably not<br /> that. I know it is just the play for him, and I<br /> know it will be the play of the year. I can make<br /> a better bargain, too, with him than you could ;<br /> and, upon the whole, I think we shall make<br /> Magnus Maximus look rather insignificant.”<br /> “I don’t know what to say to you, or how to<br /> thank you -<br /> “Don’t try it then—don&#039;t try it. Wait until<br /> it is launched, and then we’ll see what we shall<br /> see. You will place yourself unreservedly in my<br /> hands P” -<br /> “I will.”<br /> “T&#039;is well; ha, ha!”<br /> About a month later Wingriffle looked in upon<br /> Grant again. He was in a great state of excite-<br /> ment. -<br /> “Taken P” cried Grant.<br /> “Taken; I should just think so,” almost<br /> shouted the other. -<br /> And then Grant, forgetful of all dignity, began<br /> to perform one of the wildest dances ever seen<br /> upon this globe. His landlady, looking out of<br /> window on hearing the turmoil, withdrew shud-<br /> dering at the prospect of having a madman for a<br /> lodger.<br /> “In with you,” cried Grant. “Now tell us all<br /> about it.”<br /> “Well, you know,” said his hardly less excited<br /> friend, “I dressed the part so to speak—culti-<br /> wated a haggard look—and then rushed him with<br /> blood-shot eyes—as though I had been up all<br /> night superintending something stupendous.”<br /> “Good heavens, my dear chap,” said old<br /> Maximus, “here sit down here, sit down—here<br /> drink this,” and so on. “Oh, I played well,<br /> Herbert’” (by this time, of course, they were on<br /> front-name terms). “I laid my hand on the<br /> play. Read that. I said, read that ; if it doesn’t<br /> stagger you—if it doesn&#039;t bring you a fortune—<br /> never produce another play that I bring you.<br /> With that I walked straight out, leaving him<br /> staring after me in amazement.”.<br /> Grant laughed heartily at his<br /> description.<br /> “It won&#039;t hurt him,” continued Wingiffle, “and<br /> it&#039;s only a pious fraud. Maximus is not a bad<br /> fellow in his way, but he—well, he should attend<br /> to business better.”<br /> “But after all this?” queried Grant.<br /> “Why, he sends round to me same afternoon,<br /> is coming to supper with me that night. Never<br /> had anything like it, and so on. Well, the long<br /> and the short of it is that the play is accepted,<br /> that I have stipulated that it shall be produced<br /> friend’s<br /> within three months, and that I’ve made such terms<br /> that I can only whisper them. Now, no thanks—<br /> you&#039;re to wait, you remember that. Wait until<br /> the production Maximus likes the name—he<br /> likes his part—though I’m glad you haven’t put<br /> all the fat into one part—and he likes himself<br /> generally, for he knows, and I know, that he is<br /> going to produce a success.” -<br /> # # *: #: $:<br /> The long-expected night arrived at last. A<br /> typical first-night house had gathered to witness<br /> Herod Wingiffle&#039;s latest masterpiece. Herod<br /> himself was there in front (everyone said how<br /> calm and cool he looked, and how unusual, &amp;c.,<br /> and everyone was very much surprised), with his<br /> wife and a young friend, Mr. Herbert Grant, who<br /> for some reason was looking rather wild-eyed<br /> and pale. - *<br /> “Your friend unwell ?” whispered a critic to<br /> Herod. -<br /> “No, oh no!” Herod whispered back, “sympa-<br /> thetic, intensely sympathetic.”<br /> The critic replied by raising his eyebrows to<br /> express his surprise, and just then the curtain<br /> went up. -<br /> “Keep cool,” said Herod to his young friend,<br /> and Mrs. Wingiffle added a few soothing phrases.<br /> It soon became apparent that it was a singularly<br /> interesting play. At the end of the first act<br /> people turned to congratulate Herod, but he had<br /> mysteriously disappeared, though he returned to<br /> his seat as the curtain rose on Act II. The same<br /> thing occurred at the end of each act, and at the<br /> close there was a perfect hurricane of applause.<br /> After obeying the laws of precedent governing<br /> similar proceedings, the manager stepped before<br /> the curtain, when the author was called, with a<br /> puzzled look on his face, and a slip of paper in<br /> his hand. As soon as he could speak he said:<br /> “Ladies and gentlemen.—I have just received<br /> this note from Mr. Herod Wingiffle.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 21 (#35) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOI?. 2 I<br /> “‘Dear Maximus, I have imposed upon you<br /> piously, and with the consent of the real author<br /> of this play. I did not write it. You haven’t<br /> hurt yourself, and you have done an act of justice.<br /> I may say that the author is in front.—Yours,<br /> FIEROD.’<br /> “Does anyone know what this means ?” asked<br /> the manager of the astonished house. “Is the<br /> author in the house P” he added. And then<br /> there was a short pause. Everyone looking at<br /> everyone else.<br /> “Get up and speak,” whispered Mrs. Wingiffle,<br /> and Herbert rose. They were seated rather to<br /> the right in the last row but one of the stalls.<br /> “I am the author,” he said, and his voice, though<br /> he did not speak loudly, rang through the house.<br /> A thousand eyes were instantly bent upon him.<br /> He continued rather mercilessly, “I sent this<br /> play up to Mr. Maximus myself more than six<br /> months ago. It was returned to me by him<br /> as being unsuited to his theatre. How he knew<br /> that then it is not for me to say, for certain marks<br /> I had placed between the leaves were undis-<br /> turbed when the play was returned to me. It<br /> had not been read at all. Only the title of the<br /> play has been altered since. Luckily I met Mr.<br /> Wingiffle. He offered to read my play. He said<br /> that he liked it and would play a pious fraud<br /> upon Mr. Maximus (some people laughed here,<br /> but seeing the sternness on the young man&#039;s face<br /> they looked grave again). He took it for me to<br /> him as his own piece, and that very day it was<br /> accepted. I have only to apologise to you all<br /> for making you so long a speech.” And he<br /> bowed to the house and sat down, while cheer<br /> after cheer rose to the roof. The manager had<br /> disappeared. R. S.<br /> *-* -º<br /> ar- ~~<br /> S0-SO-SOCIOLOGY.<br /> 167. ISEASE is a medium between weaken-<br /> |) ing cause and wasting effect.<br /> - I68. When mystery becomes a<br /> luxury, misery seems a necessity.<br /> I69. It is far easier to love the unlikely than<br /> to like the unlovely.<br /> 170. Ignorance of ignorance is bad; indiffer-<br /> ence, worse; insolence, worst.<br /> I71. Civilisation is a concord of cohesion, co-<br /> operation, and culture.<br /> 172. Were the human always the humane,<br /> Man would have no despairs. -<br /> 173. The present is more miraculous than<br /> the past, but less mysterious.<br /> I74. The blend or the breed is of more avail<br /> than the brand: - -<br /> 175. Education gives Man a greater chance:<br /> evolution, a higher choice.<br /> 176. From the common conflict of options<br /> emerges the consensus of opinions. -<br /> 177. The value of machinery depends on<br /> whether it ministers or masters.<br /> I78. Gratitude is an education as well as an<br /> expediency expedience. -<br /> 179. Discipline ceases to be a duty when it<br /> becomes a tyranny. *<br /> 18O. Love will always out, but few can always<br /> recognise it. *<br /> 181. Only the wisest can ever find the best in<br /> the worst.<br /> 182. Love and contempt, though ever least<br /> akin, seem often most alike. º,<br /> 183. Spite is one of the commonest simulators<br /> of sincerity.<br /> 184. Folly is the favourite child of ignorance<br /> and of Vanity.<br /> 185. Gift without grace is like knowledge<br /> without wisdom. --<br /> 186. Truth is oftener a talent than an accom-<br /> plishment.<br /> 187. Lies complicate existence: love simpli-<br /> fies life.<br /> 188. Man makes myths, myths make mysteries,<br /> mysteries make miseries. -<br /> 189. Energy may sink with the sun, but fancy<br /> rises with the moon. .<br /> I90. The least sound too often makes the<br /> most sound.<br /> 191. Not all the godliest die young; not all<br /> the best miss fortune.<br /> I92. It is easier to convert taste than to con-<br /> trol tendency. - -<br /> 193. We wish more than we can, but will more<br /> than we may.<br /> I94. Love&#039;s shams appeal to self; its spirit<br /> to soul.<br /> I95. Men may know their own minds more<br /> than their own motives. -<br /> I96. Capacity far oftener fails than oppor-<br /> tunity.<br /> I97. Misfortunes have consolations<br /> than compensations.<br /> I98. Self-love has no scientific frontiers.<br /> 199. Man, of both sexes, is God’s best and<br /> Worst practical providence to Man.<br /> 2OO. History is the great-grandmother of<br /> prophecy.<br /> oftener<br /> PHINLAY GLENELG.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 22 (#36) ##############################################<br /> <br /> a. - THE AUTHOR.<br /> “LIFE IN LITERATURE AND LANGUAGE.&quot;<br /> “TT is the office and function of the imagina-<br /> tion to renew life in lights and sounds and<br /> (motions that are outworn and familiar. It<br /> calls the soul back once more under the dead ribs of<br /> nature, and makes the meanest bush burn again,<br /> as it did to Moses, with the visible presence of<br /> God. And it works the same miracle for<br /> language. The word it has touched retains the<br /> warmth of life for ever. We talk about the age<br /> of superstition and fable as if they were passed<br /> away, as if no ghost could walk in the pure white<br /> light of science, yet the microscope that can dis-<br /> tinguish between the disks that float in the blood<br /> of man and ox is helpless, a mere dead eyeball,<br /> before this mystery of Being, this wonder of Life,<br /> the sympathy which puts us in relation with all<br /> nature, before that mighty circulation of Deity in<br /> which stars and systems are but as the blood-<br /> disks in our own veins. And so long as wonder<br /> lasts, so long will imagination find thread for her<br /> loom, and sit like the Lady of Shalott weaving<br /> that magical web in which ‘the shows of things<br /> are accommodated to the desires of the mind.” It<br /> is precisely before this phenomenon of life in<br /> literature and language that criticism is forced to<br /> stop short. That it is there we know, but what it<br /> is we cannot precisely tell. It flits before us like<br /> the bird in the old story. When we think to<br /> grasp it, we already hear it singing just beyond<br /> It is the imagination which enables the poet to<br /> give away his own consciousness in dramatic<br /> poetry to his characters, in narrative to his<br /> language, so that they react upon us with the<br /> same original force as if they had life in them-<br /> selves.”—Low ELL in the Century.<br /> *- as as-º<br /> CORRESPONDENCE,<br /> I.—A STRANGE CorncIDENCE.<br /> ^{ONTRIBUTORS to the Author sometimes<br /> point out strange coincidences in relation to<br /> subjects treated by several persons. The<br /> French proverb, Les esprits forts se rencontrent,<br /> sums up the matter with French precision. Here<br /> is another curious instance. . .<br /> In the year 1891 I was travelling rather out of<br /> the beaten track upon the eastern frontier of<br /> Germany, and I heard of a curious religious pro-<br /> cession. Never before had I seen anything of<br /> the kind, and only the local guide mentioned it.<br /> Naturally it struck me that it would make a good<br /> subject for an illustrated magazine article. So<br /> when I returned I set to work. Early in 1892<br /> my MS. and drawing trotted about in the usual<br /> manner, and I received the usual polite letters<br /> from the editors of many first-class magazines—<br /> I never trouble the second and third-class folk.<br /> Then I threw the MS. into a drawer, where it<br /> rested for some nine months. I Ought to say<br /> that I first made a wash drawing, from which to<br /> make another in pen and ink, to accompany the<br /> MS. in its walks about town; strictly speaking,<br /> I ought to say in its globe-trottings, for it<br /> crossed the ocean, and likewise the so-called<br /> silver streak. * .<br /> In the spring of ’93 I brought out my MS.<br /> again, and towards the anniversary of the fête<br /> day described therein, I sent it on its way once<br /> more, when alas! after many days and many<br /> voyages, the MS. returned without the drawing,<br /> which is quite “lost in the post,” although my<br /> name and address were written upon the back—<br /> showing the carelessness of the returned letter<br /> department of the Post-office. Oris a drawing not<br /> of sufficient value to be worth returning P Possibly,<br /> in the eyes of officials. Well, this year I made<br /> another pen and ink drawing from my original<br /> wash one, with the same result—refusal. Only<br /> here is the gist of the business; not only was my<br /> matter stale instead of new, as I thought, but in<br /> the words of the editor : “So far from the matter<br /> being ‘untouchei you will find it all described<br /> and illustrated in of May, 1893. More-<br /> over, the sketch you send me is actually copied<br /> from the illustration we then published l’” This<br /> was rather strong ! * .<br /> I represented to the editor that my work had<br /> been done in 1891-2, and that I did not relish<br /> being accused of purloining other people&#039;s work.<br /> Here is the half-hearted apology: “I had not the<br /> least idea of making any accusation against you”<br /> (observe above “actually copied,” and the “!” at<br /> end of sentence), “what at Once occurred to me was<br /> that your sketch was made from the same photo-<br /> graph which we reproduced—a photograph which<br /> I suppose is sold in the shops l’ But note, that<br /> beyond the two illustrations representing a pro-<br /> cession, a crowd, and the same street, they differ<br /> much in detail. However, that is not the ques-<br /> tion. Why I relate this little history is simply<br /> to show that les esprits forts se rencontrent, even<br /> in matters which have lain dormant for many<br /> years, and even with a short interval between the<br /> results of les esprits. In my case, my fortunate<br /> rival forestalled me (in print) a year after my<br /> work was completed; which shows that the<br /> spirit which wafted me to in 1891, and<br /> whispered to me to write an article thereon, like-<br /> wise spoke to another scribe in 1893 after the same<br /> manner. Mean little spirit, why not have let<br /> me earn the reward of my labours ? M. S. A.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 23 (#37) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 23<br /> II.-ConsoDATORY.<br /> Will you allow me to say a few words in answer<br /> to “Experto Crede?”<br /> I have a very large experience of penny papers,<br /> and I have met from their editors and proprietors<br /> the greatest kindness, consideration, and courtesy<br /> coupled with fair prices and prompt payments.<br /> We cannot all be famous, and if long prices for<br /> a single story do not fall to our lot, modest<br /> cheques are not to be despised.<br /> I have for many years earned a very comfort-<br /> able income by my pen solely from penny papers.<br /> I never expect to be famous, or even to see my<br /> name on a three-volume novel, but I sell my tales<br /> as fast as I can write them. Unlike the more<br /> distinguished folks who publish on the royalty<br /> system, I know exactly what they will bring in,<br /> I have no anxiety and no suspense, and I do not<br /> possess a single rejected manuscript, so that I<br /> have no cause to grumble. I fancy the con-<br /> tributors who write to you and complain of failure,<br /> either expect to succeed in too great a hurry, or<br /> else write their stories and then expect them<br /> taken by the first paper they think of, instead of<br /> deciding on the paper first and adapting the story<br /> to its style. Their plan is a kind of putting the<br /> cart before the horse arrangement, which must<br /> ail. -<br /> f Girls tell me their tales are much better than<br /> many they see in print, but they can’t get on<br /> because they have “no introductions.” I don’t<br /> like to reply they are not impartial critics, but I<br /> can and do assure them that introductions are<br /> useless.<br /> My testimony is just that of an average<br /> woman worker, for I have had no advantages to<br /> help me on, I never had an introduction to<br /> editor or publisher, and I don’t even (after years<br /> of literary work), possess a single “famous.”<br /> acquaintance. - C. O.<br /> III.-GRAMMATICAL.<br /> Which is correct after not and no, or or nor 2<br /> In some extra good writers, whom one might be<br /> tempted to consider authorities, you find nor; in<br /> others as good, or. .<br /> It did not rain nor blow. It did not blow or<br /> pain. There was no rain nor wind. There was<br /> mo wind or rain. Which are correct of the above<br /> ex, mples? Neither Murray nor Mason answers<br /> the question.<br /> I used to put or until I began to think about<br /> the matter. Then it occurred to me that, as it is<br /> right to put nor after neither (an abbreviation of<br /> not either), upon the same principle it must be<br /> right to put nor after no and not (either being<br /> implied). But the other day a more knowing<br /> person than myself, when criticising a careful<br /> writer&#039;s work, said: “He makes just the mistake<br /> that so many authors—including even so fine a<br /> writer as Marion Crawford—make; he invariably<br /> puts nor after not and no, which, whether or not<br /> absolutely incorrect, is hideous,”—or something<br /> to this effect.<br /> I agree with him that or sounds better, but if<br /> nor is incorrect after not, it must have been<br /> created simply to suit the convenience of neither,<br /> and as a means of breaking the rule against two<br /> negatives, where they would naturally destroy one<br /> another.<br /> Nor sounds better than or after neither, but<br /> why should it be more correct after neither than<br /> after not either ? . .<br /> However, apart from right and wrong, eupho-<br /> nious, or non-euphonious effects, there are so many<br /> uses for the word or, that a person who does not<br /> understand the English language might be<br /> puzzled by the use of it in lieu of nor. For<br /> instance, “He is not pious, or pleasant,” might be<br /> taken to signify “He is not pious, by which I<br /> mean pleasant.” Still, of course, the thing could<br /> be differently expressed without the use of nor;<br /> and I do not feel at all sure that the word nor<br /> ought to exist. -<br /> A MEMBER OF THE SocIETY OF AUTHORs.<br /> IV.-REMAINDERs.<br /> I am obliged for your note in response to<br /> Iſl11162.<br /> You did not say whether you considered that<br /> at the present time authors were satisfied with the<br /> ordinary way of disposing of their remainders. I<br /> wrote under the assumption that they were not,<br /> and would perhaps have discussed the matter<br /> under the auspices of your Society.<br /> At present a large number of provincial book-<br /> sellers have no inducement whatever to purchase<br /> the works of numerous authors. The publisher<br /> takes little or no risk, and wants little or no<br /> trouble. If a bookseller buys from a publisher<br /> any but those books in most demand there is no<br /> possible means of getting a profit, and every<br /> chance of making a loss. If publishers will not<br /> come to the rescue, why not the authors them-<br /> selves through their business agency the Authors’<br /> Society P<br /> It ought to be to the author&#039;s interests to see<br /> that every bookseller is put into a fair way of<br /> making a profit if he cares to push the sale of the<br /> book. But as no attempt has been made in this<br /> direction, I assume that that is impossible, and<br /> that when a book does not go under ordinary<br /> circumstances at once that it must be sold as a<br /> remainder.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 24 (#38) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 24<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> Then could not the loss be lessened on re-<br /> mainders ? Why could not you or your repre-<br /> sentatives create a central agency, invite book-<br /> sellers to take up authors’ works on sale or return<br /> terms, and issue a general catalogue P E. B.<br /> W.—ExPERIENCES OF A LITERARY BEGINNER.<br /> I have had many painful experiences of the<br /> MS. that goes a begging ; yet, strange to say,<br /> they do not belong to the period when I was a<br /> beginner with the pen. The very first article<br /> which I submitted to a strange editor was<br /> accepted and printed, and the same success<br /> attended my second venture, and so on till in<br /> the course of time I had contributed quite a<br /> respectable series.<br /> But I am speaking now of nearly a quarter of<br /> a century ago, when journalistic lotteries were<br /> unknown, when the prize-giving periodical was<br /> quite in its infancy, and when the sole end and<br /> aim of an editor was not to sell the paper by the<br /> tens of thousands, so as to put money into the<br /> purse of the proprietor. And I am also speak-<br /> ing of a time when there existed one of the most<br /> generous, discriminating, impartial, and pains-<br /> taking of editors who ever lived, and one,<br /> moreover, who was always ready to encourage<br /> young authors, and help them to success if he<br /> found any good in their youthful essays.<br /> The name of that editor was Charles Dickens,<br /> and the journal which I had the honour of con-<br /> tributing to was then called All the Year Round.<br /> After Dickens&#039; regrettable death I continued to<br /> contribute to his popular periodical, and to a few<br /> others which, like his, did not refuse a manuscript<br /> simply because they were overstocked with litera-<br /> ture of all kinds, or because the article offered<br /> happened to be too long, too discursive, or too<br /> something else. But, unfortunately for myself,<br /> some of those journals came to grief, or were<br /> unable to pay the same fees as before, owing,<br /> perhaps, to the increased competition which the<br /> “new journalism,” as it is called, gave rise to.<br /> Then my troubles as an outside contributor<br /> began in earnest, for I was tempted to try my<br /> “luck” with the new papers which now com-<br /> pletely flooded the market, and in doing so I<br /> learnt what it was to send an MS. “the round.”<br /> Out often or a dozen articles which I “submitted<br /> to the consideration” of various editors only one<br /> was accepted and used, and that one had cost me<br /> so much trouble in reconstructing, or re-writing<br /> to suit the requirements of the different journals<br /> to which it was sent on approval, that the fee<br /> eventually received scarcely repaid me for the<br /> time and labour bestowed upon it, to say nothing<br /> of the time and labour bestowed upon the other<br /> nine or eleven articles which I had written and<br /> submitted before this last one was accepted.<br /> So, as I am wholly dependent upon my work<br /> for the bread and cheese of existence, I have<br /> been reluctantly obliged to abandon my literary<br /> labours, which began under such promising<br /> auspices, and to turn my attention to something<br /> far less congenial, but rather more profitable.<br /> ExPERTO CREDE.<br /> WI.-MoRE ExPERIENCEs.<br /> My first work was on the past, present, and<br /> future of a cause in which circumstances caused<br /> me to be deeply interested. I submitted the MS.<br /> to the committee of a society to which I purposed<br /> to give the profits, if any, of publication. Reply<br /> from chairman (lord-lieutenant of his county):<br /> “Committee feel honoured by being associated<br /> with such a production, and propose to be respon-<br /> sible for the cost.” This I declined. A large<br /> edition was sold, and a useful amount was paid to<br /> the society in about twelve months.<br /> This success led to my writing a larger work.<br /> It was published on the “mutual profit” system.<br /> Whole edition disposed of ; but small profit to<br /> the author, notwithstanding most flattering<br /> notices of the book. One popular author wrote<br /> to me, “I hope your inkstand will never be dry.”<br /> Then a magazine, edited by a well-known<br /> Cambridge man, came under my notice. I wrote<br /> a short tale with a purpose, which, being appre-<br /> ciated, was followed by a series, and when the<br /> editor retired, he thanked me warmly for what<br /> he was pleased to call my “valuable aid.”<br /> I next proposed to write a series of articles on<br /> various subjects, to a then popular shilling maga-<br /> zine. Reply was: “Being already acquainted with<br /> your former works (reviewed in our magazine),<br /> any contributions from your pen will be valued.”<br /> A small work on religious subjects was brought<br /> out by one of the oldest leading publishers in<br /> London, on his responsibility, and is still recom-<br /> mended in a leading journal to inquirers.<br /> My next venture was a one-volume novel (pub-<br /> lished on the “mutual profit” system). Well re-<br /> viewed in first-class journals; but financially a<br /> failure.<br /> I then competed with several authors, whos<br /> names were known to the public, for leading<br /> serial in a magazine, established over a quarter<br /> of a century. I was successful, and, of course,<br /> received the usual remuneration.<br /> I may mention, en passant, that I have received<br /> 32 for quite a short article. I continued to write<br /> for the above magazine, and my articles were<br /> favourably noticed.<br /> Meanwhile I wrote a pamphlet on a subject of<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 25 (#39) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 25<br /> public interest and importance ; took the opinion<br /> of an eminent man; sent the MS. to a publisher,<br /> who was manifestly anxious to secure the publi-<br /> cation; and it was issued quickly. The price, at<br /> the publisher&#039;s suggestion, was fixed at one<br /> shilling. In an incredibly short time, a friend<br /> said to me that he wanted a copy, and could<br /> not get one as they were all sold. I at once<br /> wrote to the publisher. He replied that he<br /> wished my information was correct. That,<br /> expecting a large sale, he had kept the type set<br /> for five weeks, and had then broken it up, as the<br /> pamphlet was not selling. I called upon him<br /> when I went to London, but could get no<br /> intelligible statement from him. I had paid him<br /> a fixed amount for publishing and advertising.<br /> Yet he intimated that if I had the unsold copies<br /> he must charge extra for advertising. So he<br /> kept all but two dozen, which I had, and the<br /> matter ended. I ought to have taken advice,<br /> but being afraid of law proceedings, I weakly, as<br /> I now think, gave up the whole affair. Some<br /> years after I showed the pamphlet to a man in<br /> London, who has some knowledge of the ways of<br /> the world as well as of letters. He read it,<br /> approved and praised it, and gave his verdict in<br /> few words, “That pamphlet was suppressed;<br /> there is too much truth in it.” w<br /> Since then I have been a constant writer for a<br /> leading journal, and my articles have been criti-<br /> cised at home and abroad.<br /> Of one recent work 2000 copies were disposed;<br /> and now my last work, which I venture to think<br /> is not inferior to what I have previously written,<br /> and which has been so highly praised, is in one<br /> sense a failure. By no means so complete a<br /> failure as the suppressed pamphlet was—and in<br /> this case no suspicion can attach to the publisher<br /> —yet I cannot understand why this novel should<br /> fail to be a complete success. I wrote it with a<br /> definite purpose, and some reviewers consider<br /> that I have fully accomplished that purpose.<br /> One ends his critique with “ Unlike most novels,<br /> this is a book to be re-read—in fact, it ought<br /> to have an index, there is so much for reference,<br /> as well as of so much besides.”<br /> Another critic says: “We have looked in vain<br /> for a single sentence that could justify these<br /> discussions being printed.”<br /> Since that was written a New York publisher<br /> has written about taking 250 or 500 copies if a<br /> cheap edition is published, as he says that they<br /> (the firm) consider it “a remarkable and inte-<br /> resting book,” and that the purpose of it is of as<br /> much value in America as in England. M. M.<br /> “AT THE SIGN OF THE AUTHOR&#039;S HEAD.&quot;<br /> R. C. H. COOK (John Bickerdyke) has<br /> published (Constable and Co.) a small<br /> volume called “Thames Rights and<br /> Thames Wrongs, a Disclosure; with Notes<br /> Explanatory and Critical on the Thames Bill of<br /> I894.” He says, by way of preface, that he is<br /> not writing as a lawyer for lawyers, but for the<br /> merry crowd who take their pleasure<br /> On the river, and his desire is that the facts dis-<br /> closed will startle the public out of its apathy, and<br /> bring about that legislation which is urgently<br /> needed.<br /> “The Plays of Sir Richard Steele” forms the<br /> new volume in the Mermaid Series (Fisher<br /> Unwin). It is edited, with a critical introduction<br /> and notes, by Mr. G. A. Aitken, who in 1889<br /> published a life of Steele.<br /> “Doctor Quodlibet, a Study in Ethics&quot;<br /> (Leadenhall Press), is a new story by the author<br /> of the “Chronicles of Westerley.” In a note<br /> the author reminds his readers that “Bishop<br /> Quodlibet’’ was a subordinate character in<br /> the above-named novel, and that now he<br /> has ventured to give him a small book all to<br /> himself. -<br /> “The Ghosts of the Guardroom,” a story by<br /> Annabel Grey, forms the first volume of the<br /> Annabel Grey Library (G, Stoneham). According<br /> to the author&#039;s preface, “the story deals with<br /> military life, of the struggles and trials of an<br /> English lad, a young recruit; it is, moreover,<br /> true.”<br /> Miss Mary Colborne-Weel has published a<br /> volume of verse entitled “The Fairest of the<br /> Angels” (Horace Cox). As the title implies,<br /> some of the poems are religious, of which there<br /> are one or two—“Jael,” for instance—which<br /> seem to us to be more successful than the one the<br /> author has chosen as a title.<br /> “The Local Government Act, 1894,” has just<br /> appeared, with introduction, notes, and index,<br /> by J. M. Lely and W. F. Craies, Barristers-at-<br /> law. The publishers are Sweet and Maxwell,<br /> 3, Chancery-lane; Stevens and Sons, I 19, Chan-<br /> cery-lane. Is. 6d.<br /> Also “The Sale of Goods Act, 1893,” with<br /> introduction, notes, and index. By the same<br /> authors, and the same publishers. -<br /> The “Goethe-Jahrbuch&quot; for 1894 will contain<br /> an account, by Dr. Suphan, of “Napoleon&#039;s<br /> Unterhaltungen mit Goethe und Wieland und F.<br /> von Müller&#039;s Memoire darüber für Talleyrand.”<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 26 (#40) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 26<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> Messrs. G. P. Putnam&#039;s Sons announce “In<br /> Varying Moods,” by Miss Beatrice Harraden;<br /> “Red Cap and Blue Jacket,” a tale of the French<br /> Revolution,” by Mr. Robert Dunn ; and an<br /> “Autonym * series of stories by well-known<br /> writers.<br /> Mr. J. J. Haldane Burgess, M.A., the author of<br /> “Rasmie&#039;s Büddie”—a second edition of which<br /> was lately issued by Mr. Gardner, Paisley and<br /> London, and to which the Scotsman alluded<br /> as “a book which is likely to make a name for its<br /> author”—has just finished a romance of the<br /> Norse time, dealing with the Viking occupation<br /> of the Shetlands in the days of Harold Fair-<br /> Hair.<br /> A new novel, in 2 vols., by Mrs. Deith-Adams<br /> (Mrs. R. S. De Courcy Laffan) will shortly be<br /> published by Messrs. Jarrold and Sons. It is<br /> entitled “Colour-Sergeant, No. 1 Company,” and<br /> the scene is laid in the South of Ireland.<br /> The story of Soho-square and its associations<br /> has been taken in hand by Mr. George Clinch.<br /> This old aristocratic quarter is full of interesting<br /> associations with celebrities of the past. Collec-<br /> tions have been made of drawings, prints,<br /> pamphlets, and books bearing upon the quarter.<br /> Many of these, including the collection of the late<br /> Dr. Rimbault, have been placed in the hands of the<br /> author, who wishes us to state that he will grate-<br /> fully receive and acknowledge any information or<br /> suggestions from residents in the district or<br /> others. The work will be a volume of small<br /> quarto, and will be limited to a small number of<br /> copies.<br /> The fifth edition of “Marcella &quot; (in three<br /> volumes) is announced. The cheap edition of<br /> “David Grieve&quot; is also ready.<br /> Mrs. Steel&#039;s new novel “The Potter&#039;s Thumb,”<br /> 3 vols., is now ready. The publishers are Heine-<br /> mann and Co.<br /> The same publishers have the three novels of<br /> “Sarah Grand.”<br /> A new work by Ruskin, called “Verona and<br /> other Lectures,” will be issued early in June.<br /> The publisher, of course, is Mr. George Allen.<br /> The book will contain five lectures, delivered<br /> between the years 1870 and 1883. It will<br /> be illustrated by a frontispiece and eleven<br /> photogravure plates from drawings by the<br /> author.<br /> The Athenæum (May 26) notes the formation<br /> of a “Transatlantic Publishing Company,” which<br /> will publish a magazine intended principally for<br /> the purpose of copyrighting in America short<br /> stories written by our people.<br /> We shall be glad<br /> to hear more about this company. Without doubt<br /> there is great need of such a medium. Fuller<br /> inquiries shall be made at once into the proposed<br /> Company and the magazine.<br /> A new and cheaper edition of “The Way of<br /> Transgressors,” by E. Rentoul Esler, will be<br /> issued shortly. (Sampson Low and Co.) Baron<br /> Tauchnitz has secured the Continental rights of<br /> this author&#039;s Willage Idylls, “The Way they<br /> Loved at Grimpat.”<br /> After three editions of “A Superfluous<br /> Woman,” in three volume form, the publishers,<br /> Messrs. Heinemann and Co., have produced<br /> the book in a cheap Colonial series, and it<br /> will be shortly produced in England in a cheap<br /> form also.<br /> The New York Critic announces the formation<br /> of a Walt Whitman Society, which is about to<br /> be incorporated. Its aims are threefold: The<br /> consolidation within a single organisation of all<br /> persons who are interested in the life and work of<br /> Walt Whitman; the establishment of centres in<br /> different parts of the world, which shall bring<br /> together the lovers and admirers of Whitman,<br /> and which, by the maintenance of correspond-<br /> ence and the exchange of views, shall tend<br /> to close fraternal relations among the members<br /> of the society; and the publication, from time<br /> to time, of Whitman literature and of such<br /> essays and other papers as may be deemed<br /> valuable in elucidation of Whitman’s philosophy<br /> of life, or in exposition of his poetry and<br /> principles.<br /> The following announcements are also made by<br /> the same paper:—<br /> “The Phantoms of the Footbridge&quot; is the<br /> title of a volume of short stories by Charles<br /> Egbert Craddock, to be published by the<br /> Harpers.<br /> Messrs. D. C. Heath and Co. are publish-<br /> ing a “History of the United States,” by Mr.<br /> Allen C. Thomas, Professor of History in<br /> Haverford College. The aim of this work is to<br /> give the main facts of the history of the United<br /> States clearly, accurately, and impartially. In<br /> the belief that the importance of the events<br /> which have occurred since the adoption of the<br /> Constitution is becoming more and more recog-<br /> Inised, much the greater part of the book is<br /> devoted to the era beginning with 1789. The<br /> earlier period, however, is treated with sufficient<br /> fulness to show clearly the origins of the people<br /> and their institutions. Throughout special atten-<br /> tion is given to the political, social, and economic<br /> development of the nation.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 27 (#41) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 27<br /> Messrs. Longmans, Green, and Co. have<br /> become the owners of Colonel T. W. Higginson’s<br /> histories and miscellaneous works, by purchase<br /> from Messrs. Lee and Shepard.<br /> Mr. John Jacob Astor is about to make his<br /> first venture in literature with a story of the<br /> year 2000, entitled “A Journey in Other Worlds:<br /> a Romance of the Future.”<br /> * - - -º<br /> sº- * -<br /> WHAT THE PAPERS SAY,<br /> I. —LITERARY STANDARDs.<br /> 4 &amp; S there such a quality in a literary pro-<br /> duction as absolute merit P” inquires<br /> W. J. L. “If so, is there a man or woman<br /> in the country of the capacity to judge it by that<br /> standard P I am moved to ask these questions by<br /> my own experience and lºy the history of literary<br /> productions which have wandered through a veri-<br /> table wilderness of editorial hands before reaching<br /> the promised land of publication. It is hardly<br /> necessary to recount the early trials of these martyrs<br /> since made glorious. As to my own work, which<br /> is journalistic rather than purely literary, I<br /> have had such queer experiences that I am<br /> beginning to lose faith in what has been called<br /> literary judgment. I have repeatedly had editors<br /> refuse my matter, only at a later date to reprint<br /> it from other papers; I have had articles refused<br /> once and accepted later; I have had one magazine<br /> refuse an article and one of higher class accept<br /> it at double the price; I have known editors<br /> correct the metre or rhyme of famous poems I<br /> may have had occasion to quote or to parody in<br /> places; I have known a newspaper of recognised<br /> literary standing refuse a poem at 5 dollars which<br /> a periodical accepted at 15 dollars; I have had<br /> good things rejected with promptness and<br /> despatch, and those of less merit accepted. And<br /> so on through a complexity of moods and<br /> measures. I don’t understand it, do you ? Is it<br /> due to the fact that publishers of literature—is it<br /> literature if not published?—are governed, not<br /> by the genuine merit of the article, but by the<br /> tastes and demands of their readers, or by a<br /> consideration of the interests of the business<br /> office P If you can throw a little light on this<br /> subject you will benefit a good many people<br /> who do not hesitate to damn the literary judg-<br /> ment of publishers with whom they have had<br /> experience.” - -<br /> The simple answer to the foregoing would be<br /> that no one is infallible. An editor is just as<br /> likely to make mistakes as any other man. Don’t<br /> you hear people say every day that, if they had<br /> only known, they would have bought certain land<br /> which had been offered to them for a few dollars<br /> and is now worth thousands P. The wise man is<br /> he who has foresight. The editor who can<br /> discover a Kipling in the callow efforts of a<br /> novice is such a one as is not often met. You<br /> oftener meet the man with foresight in matters of<br /> real estate transactions for a very simple reason:<br /> taste is never a factor in the sale of building lots.<br /> What is one editor&#039;s meat is another&#039;s poison.<br /> The editor of this magazine may have a weakness<br /> for dialect stories, while the editor of that maga-<br /> zine despises them. He may print those of a<br /> certain author because he has discovered that<br /> they have a market value, but he never would<br /> think of accepting them on their merits. Editors,<br /> I fancy, are governed by a great many things.<br /> The “genuine merit of an article” is an impor-<br /> tant factor in its favour, and “the tastes and<br /> demands of their readers” is another. How the<br /> “promulgation of the interests of the business<br /> office ’’ can be made to enter into the question at<br /> all I do not sce, beyond the matter of making a<br /> periodical that will sell. An editor who made a<br /> magazine that no one would buy would certainly<br /> be a very strange man, and one unfitted for his<br /> position. No journal can be published at a loss<br /> unless it is published by philanthropists, and<br /> even they would soon tire of the fun, for there is<br /> nothing that can swallow up umoney like an<br /> unsuccessful periodical. w<br /> As for literary judgment, who shall be the<br /> judge? A novel of which the Athenæum said<br /> that it was one of the best of 1893, the Critic<br /> declared not to have been worth publishing. The<br /> reviewers of the book were both unquestionably<br /> persons of intelligence, and yet what one pro-<br /> nounced a work of unusual merit the other<br /> pronounced unmitigated trash. The question is<br /> largely one of taste, and with posterity alone<br /> remains the decision as to what has come to<br /> stay.—New York Critic.<br /> II.-MR. TRAILL ON LITERATURE AND<br /> - Journ ALISM.<br /> Mr. H. D. Traill delivered, on Saturday after-<br /> noon, his second and concluding Royal Institution<br /> lecture on the relations between literature and<br /> journalism. The critics of journalism, he said,<br /> were prone to exaggerate its influence in respect<br /> of the undoubted over production in these<br /> days of literary matter. Of the existence of<br /> such over production there could, unfortunately,<br /> be no doubt. There never were so many people<br /> anxious to rush into print; never was the<br /> literary craft so invaded by amateurs. One<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 28 (#42) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 28 THE AUTHOR.<br /> reason, perhaps, was the excessive cheapness of<br /> the material. Pen, ink, and paper were never<br /> dear commodities, and compared with the canvas,<br /> paint, marble, and studio of the artist were infini-<br /> tesimal items. Moreover, failure or incapacity<br /> was not so glaring with the literary amateur as<br /> in the case of painting, sculpture, or music.<br /> Popular education had more, however, to do with<br /> this tendency than any other cause. The State<br /> had renounced Dogberry’s maxim that to<br /> read and write come by nature and might be<br /> charged with going too far in the other direction<br /> —that people can be taught to write what others<br /> will care to read. A day might come on which<br /> we should all be so busy writing as to have no<br /> time for reading at all, and we might be reduced<br /> to the condition of the islanders who tried to get<br /> a living by taking in each other&#039;s washing.<br /> Exaggerated, however, as is the share attributed<br /> to journalism in this result, it had to be admitted<br /> that the flood of novels poured forth day by day<br /> was partly due to the daily journals. But the<br /> circulating libraries were more to blame than the<br /> newspapers, and any or no quality was good<br /> enough to find a place in the periodical box of<br /> books. The journalist, however, did perform a<br /> useful function in guiding the taste of the public,<br /> and he could not be accused of neglecting his<br /> duty in this respect. On the whole it may be<br /> said that this duty is performed honestly and<br /> capably. The verdict of the reviewer in the daily<br /> press was usually conscientious and generally<br /> correct. As to the merits of signed and unsigned<br /> articles much might be said on both sides. But<br /> anonymity was too firmly established in this<br /> country to be disturbed, and, in his opinion, pos-<br /> sessed the balance of advantage. If the journalist<br /> on the whole encouraged good literary work, it was<br /> to be feared that he did not do enough to<br /> discourage the bad. The publishers knew their<br /> public, and that it is a book&#039;s fortune to be talked<br /> about on account of its eccentricity or glaring<br /> impropriety or suggestiveness. The best remedy<br /> would be to leave bad books alone. This might<br /> be done if we were living in Utopia, but was<br /> hardly possible in the world in which we live. In<br /> Utopia the publisher would approach the critic as<br /> a petitioner approaches a judge, and the book<br /> would be noticed or disregarded in strict accor-<br /> dance with its merits. But, as things are, news-<br /> papers are not carried on merely from the love of<br /> letters or a desire to increase knowledge. They were,<br /> above all things, commercial enterprises, and the<br /> proprietors could not afford to disregard the<br /> advertisements of the publisher. Thus a kind of<br /> professional morality was established on the basis<br /> of the relative value of the notice to the publisher<br /> and of the advertisement to the owner of the<br /> newspaper. Another charge brought against the<br /> daily journals was that they were corruptors of<br /> the English language. The term “newspaper<br /> English&quot; had become a byword. Thus jour-<br /> malists were promoted to a kind of sinister<br /> dignity as the debasers of their mother<br /> tongue—they became sinners on an heroic<br /> scale. Was this charge true P To a limited<br /> extent undoubtedly a verdict of “Guilty” must<br /> be recorded. The daily papers were not wells of<br /> English pure and undefiled. There was apt to be<br /> a lack of simplicity and directness, a tendency to<br /> circumlocution and verbosity, a wrong use of<br /> words and phrases. But it was easy to over-<br /> estimate the extent of the wrong done. The<br /> number of phrases so misemployed was after all<br /> not great; “transpire’ for “happen’; the mis-<br /> application of such terms as Frankenstein,<br /> “ comity of nations,” “benefit of clergy,”<br /> “Caudine Forks,” “ horns of a dilemma,” “cui<br /> bono,” and a few others would exhaust the list of<br /> habitual offences. Nor was the charge of corrup-<br /> tion of style based on a much larger foundation.<br /> It should be remembered that the daily paper was<br /> written against time, with no leisure for revision.<br /> The leisurely critic after breakfast, with his feet<br /> on the fender, complained of “newspaper slip-<br /> shods.” It would be more fair to use the term<br /> “in slippers” than slipshod. In any case, the<br /> style of the newspaper was a good deal better<br /> than that of the great majority of its readers.<br /> Another question is whether journalism ever<br /> makes real contributions to literature. Are its<br /> leading articles, its reviews, and its essays ever<br /> themselves really literature ?&#039; It is not true to<br /> say that what is really good literature is always<br /> written slowly and at leisure, and it is equally<br /> wide of the mark to suppose that all the work of<br /> a newspaper is hastily performed. A substantial<br /> part of what appears in the daily prints is done<br /> under most favourable conditions. Days may be<br /> occupied over the review of a book, though it<br /> too often consists of little more than a summary<br /> of the contents. At other times so much time is<br /> taken up in the composition of the critique that<br /> none is left for the perusal of the book. The<br /> newspaper essay or article bears considerable<br /> resemblance to the sermon, though the one is<br /> composed five or six times as often as the other.<br /> Sermons, as we know, form a real part, some-<br /> times excellent, of literature. Then it was an<br /> open secret that the obituary notice is often<br /> composed at leisure, with many opportu-<br /> nities of revision. Indeed, it was a jour-<br /> nalistic superstition that the composition of a<br /> biography and the recovery of an illustrious<br /> patient were frequently connected as cause and<br /> effect. Even the political leader might now and<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 29 (#43) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 29<br /> º<br /> again rise to the dignity of literature, notwith-<br /> standing the disparaging observations of Carlyle.<br /> Speed is not always the enemy of excellence. It<br /> may tend to animation, and animation may pro-<br /> duce eloquence. Unfortunately, the form of the<br /> newspaper was against it. The column seems<br /> interminable, and the writer may be haunted with<br /> the consciousness that his leaders during a short<br /> period might reach from Charing-cross to<br /> Ludgate-hill. The fate, too, of the newspaper<br /> was more rapid and humiliating than that of the<br /> printed book, however vapid the latter might be.<br /> The virtuoso with the hand-barrow at the back<br /> door came all too soon for the ephemeral pro-<br /> ductions of the journalist. To-day is—to-morrow<br /> is for the dust-heap. Journalism unquestionably<br /> might be useful to literature—it might waken the<br /> interest and hold the attention of the reader and<br /> direct him to what is more abiding than itself.<br /> The journalist might have a good deal to say in<br /> defence against all the charges that are brought<br /> against him. He might say that he regarded<br /> literature as his instructress, his playmate, his<br /> guide, his venerated mother; but he might also<br /> complain that she did not discharge all the duties<br /> of a mother, but disclaimed all responsibility for<br /> his maintenance, and failed to supply him with<br /> the material necessities of existence, and that in<br /> his hour of need it was journalism which took<br /> him in and became his foster-mother, and that<br /> therefore, whilst holding literature in respect and<br /> affection, he could not disregard the charity<br /> which had taken compassion on him in his<br /> destitution.—Times, April 30.<br /> **.<br /> NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS,<br /> Theology.<br /> BARRETT, REv. GEORGE S. Family Worship. Second<br /> edition. Jarrold and Sons. 2s. 6d.<br /> BENNETT, REv. W. H. The Expositor&#039;s Bible: The<br /> Book of Chronicles. Hodder and Stoughton. 7s.6d.<br /> Book of NEEDs OF THE HOLY ORTHoDox CHURCH, done<br /> into English by G. V. Shann. Nutt. 5s.<br /> BUTLER, REv. DR. Meditations on the Hundred and<br /> Nineteenth Psalm. With a preface by the Bishop of<br /> Lincoln. Skeffington.<br /> CAMPBELL, PROFESSOR. The Epistles of St. Paul to the<br /> Thessalonians, Galatians, and Romans. By the late<br /> Professor Jowett. Wol. I. Translation and Com-<br /> mentary. Third edition. Wol. II. Essays and<br /> Dissertations. Edited by, Murray. 7s. 6d. each<br /> vol.<br /> CHRISTIE, T. W. The Controversy of Zion, being the<br /> miscellaneous works of the late. Edited by T.<br /> Williamson. Liverpool : Edward Howell. Simpkin<br /> Marshall.<br /> EAGER, REv. ALEx, D.D. The Christian Ministry in the<br /> New Testament. S.P.C.K. Is. 6d. -<br /> FENTON, FERRAR. St. Paul’s Epistles in Modern English.<br /> Fourth edition. Digby, Long, and Co. Is. *<br /> GEIKIE, DR. The Bible by Modern Light. Vol. IV.<br /> Rehoboam to Hezekiah. James Nisbet and Co. 6s.<br /> MOULE, REv. H. C. G. The Pledges of His Love :<br /> Thoughts on the Holy Communion. Seeley and Co.<br /> Timited.<br /> STIRLING, REv. CHARLEs. The Protestant Prayer Book.<br /> Edited by. Charles J. Thynne. Is.<br /> History and Biography.<br /> ASTLEY, SIR. JoHN D. Fifty Years of My Life.<br /> Hurst and Blackett.<br /> CASSELL’s HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Wol. VII. From the<br /> illness of the Prince of Wales to the British occupation<br /> of Egypt. Cassell and Co. Limited. 98.<br /> A History of the Christian<br /> T. F. Unwin.<br /> 2 vols.<br /> CHEETHAM, ARCHDEACON.<br /> Church during the First Six Centuries.<br /> IOs. 6d.<br /> CoRPORATION OF MANCHESTER : AN HISTORICAL RECORD.<br /> Manchester: Henry Blacklock.<br /> DAVIs, R. HARDING. The Rulers of the Mediterranean.<br /> Illustrated. Gay. 6s.<br /> DIPLOMATIC REM.INISCENCES OF LORD AU GUSTU&#039;s Lorrus,<br /> 1862-1879. Second Series. 2 vols. Cassell and Co.<br /> Limited. 328.<br /> GEAREY, CAROLINE.<br /> Louise, and Eugénie.<br /> Digby and Long.<br /> GEPP, REv. C. G. A Short Memoir of Emily Minet.<br /> Edited by. Rivington, Percival. 2s.<br /> HARwooD, REv. W. H. Henry Allon, D.D., Pastor and<br /> Teacher. Cassell. 6s. -<br /> HUNTER, P. HAY. James Inwick, Ploughman and Elder.<br /> Oliphant. 3s. 6d.<br /> LEE, EDMUND. Dorothy Wordsworth. New and revised<br /> edition with portrait. Clarke. 3s. 6d.<br /> MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT : STATESMEN, by Noah Brooks;<br /> ExPLORERS AND TRAVELLERs, by General A. W.<br /> Greely. Sampson Low.<br /> PECORDS OF THE TERCENTENARY FESTIVAL OF THE<br /> UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN, JULY, 1892. Dublin :<br /> Three Empresses: Josephine, Marie-<br /> With portraits. Second edition.<br /> Hodges, Longmans. IOS. 6d.<br /> SMITH, G. BARNETT. Leaders of Modern Industry. W.<br /> H. Allen and Co. 78. 6d.<br /> SMYTHIES, CAPT. R. H. R. Historical Records of the 4oth<br /> (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment, now Ist Battalion the<br /> Prince of Wales’s Volunteers (South Lancashire<br /> Regiment). Devonport: A. H. Swiss.<br /> SouTHEY, RobHRT. The Life of Nelson. Blackie and<br /> Som. Is. 4d.<br /> WAKEMAN, HENRY O. Periods of European History.<br /> Period W., 1598-1715. Rivington, Percival, and Co.<br /> S. - - - - - - -<br /> Life of John<br /> Bentley.<br /> The<br /> 2 vols.<br /> WOLSELEY, GENERAL WISCOUNT.<br /> Churchill, Duke of Marlborough.<br /> WYNDHAM, REV. FRANCIs M. The Maid of Orleans: Her<br /> Life and Mission. From original documents. Second<br /> edition. St. Anselm&#039;s Society. -<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 30 (#44) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 3O<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> Fiction.<br /> ALAN ST. AUBYN. In the Face of the World. 2 vols.<br /> Chatto.<br /> AMYAND, ARTHUR. Only a Drummer Boy. Osgood,<br /> M*Ilvaine, and Co. 3s. 6d.<br /> ANDREA, PERCY. 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Cassell. 6d.<br /> AMPHLETT, F. H. The Lower and Mid Thames : Where<br /> and how to fish it. Sampson Low. Is.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 31 (#45) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 3 I<br /> BADMINToN LIBRARY: YACHTING. By Lord Brassey,<br /> G. L. Watson, Sir G. Leach, L. Herreshoff, and other<br /> writers. Edited by the Duke of Beaufort, assisted by<br /> A. E. T. Watson. 2 vols. Longmans. Ios. 6d. each<br /> BAEDEKER, KARL. Northern France. Second Edition.<br /> Leipsic : Karl Baedeker. Dulau. 7s.<br /> BAINEs, A. The Popular Handbook of Finance.<br /> I8.<br /> BANCROFT, HERBERT Howe. The Book of the Fair.<br /> Part XIV. Chicago : the Bancroft Company. I dollar.<br /> BARCLAY, Rob ERT. The Silver Question and the Gold<br /> Question. Fourth Edition. Effingham Wilson; Man-<br /> chester: Cornish. 2s. 6d.<br /> Saxon.<br /> BELL, R. S. W. The Businesses of a Busy Man. Leaden-<br /> hall Press. 3s. 6d.<br /> BLIss, F. Jon Es. 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Travel and Adventures in the Congo Free<br /> State and its Big Game Shooting. Illustrated from the<br /> author&#039;s sketches. Chapman. I4s.<br /> OFFICIAL YEAR-BOOK OF THE SCIENTIFIC AND LEARNED<br /> SoCIETIES OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.<br /> Eleventh annual issue. Griffin. 7s. 6d.<br /> PHIN, JOHN. Common Sense Currency. New York: The<br /> Industrial Publication Company.<br /> Root, J. W. Silver up to Date. Philip. 2s. 6d.<br /> SELL’s DIRECTORY OF REGISTERED TELEGRAPHIC AD-<br /> DRESSES.. First supplemental issue, April 1894. Henry<br /> Sell.<br /> SHERSTON, CAPT. J. Tactics as applied to Schemes.<br /> and Polden. 2s. 6d.<br /> SHUTTLEworth, REv. H. C.<br /> John<br /> Dring<br /> Gale<br /> Some Aspects of Disestab-<br /> lishment. Edited by. Innes. 38. 6d.<br /> SKEAT, PROFESSOR. The Complete Works of Geoffrey<br /> Chaucer. Edited by. Vol. II., containing Boethius<br /> and Troilus, Oxford: at the Clarendon Press. Henry<br /> Frowde. I6s.<br /> STONE, J. HARRIs, AND PEASE, J. G. A Practical Ready<br /> Reference Guide to Parish Councils and Parish<br /> Meetings. Philip. 2s. 6d.<br /> TERRELL, GEORGE. The Thames Yachting Almanac for<br /> 1894. Edited by. Horace Cox, Is.<br /> TwPEDIE, MAJOR-GEN. W. The Arabian Horse.<br /> wood.<br /> WALTER, RICHARD.<br /> Black-<br /> Anson&#039;s Voyage Round the World.<br /> Blackie and Son. 1s. 4d.<br /> WATERTON, CHARLEs. Wanderings in South America, &amp;c.<br /> Blackie and Son. Is. 4d.<br /> WILKINson, SPENCER. The Great Alternative. A Plea<br /> for a National Policy. Sonnenschein.<br /> WolverTon, LORD. Five Months&#039; Sport in Somali Land.<br /> With illustrations from photographs by Col. Paget.<br /> Chapman. 78. 6d.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 32 (#46) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 32 THE AUTHOR.<br /> Poetry and the Drama.<br /> AITREN, G. A. The Aldine Edition of the British Poets:<br /> Thomas Parnell. Edited, with memoir and notes.<br /> George Bell and Sons. -<br /> AITKEN, G. A. The Best Plays of the Old Dramatists:<br /> Richard Steele. Edited, with an introduction and<br /> notes by. T. F. Unwin.<br /> CLARK, K. M*COSH. Persephone and Other<br /> Sampson Low.<br /> CoLBORNE-WEEL, MARY. The Fairest of the Angels, and<br /> other verse. Horace Cox. 3s. 6d.<br /> DYCE, REv. A.L.Ex. Aldine Edition. The Poetical Works<br /> of Mark Akenside and of James Beattie. Each with a<br /> memoir by. George Bell.<br /> FULLARTON, R. M. Lallan Sangs and German Lyrics.<br /> Blackwood. -<br /> IBSEN, HENRIK. Brand : a Dramatic Poem. Translated<br /> into English verse in the original metres by F. Edmund<br /> - Garrett. T. F. Unwin. Ios. 6d.<br /> JEBB, PROFESSOR. Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments.<br /> Part VI., the Electra. Cambridge : at the University<br /> Press.<br /> LEE-HAMILTON, EUGENE. Sonnets of the Wingless Hours.<br /> Elliot Stock.<br /> LYNCH, ARTHUR. A. 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If this precaution is neglected<br /> for two weeks, a fine of £10 must be paid before the agree-<br /> ment can be used as a legal document. In almost every<br /> case brought to the secretary the agreement, or the letter<br /> which serves for one, is forwarded without the stamp. The<br /> author may be assured that the other party to the agree-<br /> ment seldom neglects this simple precaution. The Society,<br /> to save trouble, undertakes to get all the agreements of<br /> members stamped for them at no eaſpense to themselves<br /> eacept the cost of the stamp.<br /> 4. AsCERTAIN WHAT A PROPOSED AGREEMENT GIVES To<br /> BOTH SLDES BEFORE SIGNING IT.-Remember that an<br /> arrangement as to a joint venture in any other kind of busi-<br /> ness whatever would be instantly refused should either party<br /> WOL. W.<br /> refuse to show the books or to let it be known what share he<br /> reserved for himself. r<br /> 5. LITERARY AGENTS.—Be very careful. You cannot be<br /> too careful as to the person whom you appoint as your<br /> agent. Remember that you place your property almost un-<br /> reservedly in his hands. Your only safety is in consulting<br /> the Society, or some friend who has had personal experience<br /> of the agent. Do not trust advertisements alone. -<br /> 6. CosT OF PRODUCTION.——Never sign any agreement of<br /> which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part,<br /> until you have proved the figures.<br /> 7. CHOICE OF PUBLISHERS.—Never enter into any cor-<br /> respondence with publishers, especially with those who ad-<br /> vertise for MSS., who are not recommended by experienced<br /> friends or by this Society.<br /> 8. FUTURE WORK.—Never, on any accownt whatever,<br /> bind yourself down for future work to anyone.<br /> 9. PERSONAL RISK.—Never accept any pecuniary risk or<br /> responsibility whatever without advice.<br /> Io. REJECTED MSS.—Never, when a MS. has been re-<br /> fused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises<br /> they may put forward, for the production of the work.<br /> II. AMERICAN RIGHTS.—Never sign away American<br /> rights. Keep them by special clause. Refuse to sign any<br /> agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the<br /> publisher, unless for a substantial consideration.<br /> 12. CESSION OF COPYRIGHT.-Never sign any paper,<br /> either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright,<br /> without advice.<br /> 13. ADVERTISEMENTS. — Keep some control over the<br /> advertisements, if they affect your returns, by a clause in<br /> the agreement.<br /> I4. NEVER forget that publishing is a business, like any<br /> other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy<br /> charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with<br /> business men. Be yourself a business man.<br /> Society’s Offices :-<br /> 4, PORTUGAL STREET, LINCOLN&#039;s INN FIELDs.<br /> *— — —”<br /> e= *<br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY,<br /> I. VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive<br /> advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-<br /> lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his<br /> business or the administration of his property. If the advice<br /> sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member<br /> has a right to an opinion from the Society’s solicitors. If the<br /> case is such that Counsel’s opinion is desirable, the Com-<br /> mittee will obtain for him Counsel’s opinion. All this<br /> without any cost to the member,<br /> E 2<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 34 (#48) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 3+ THE<br /> AUTHOR.<br /> 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright<br /> and publisher&#039;s agreements do not generally fall within the<br /> experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple<br /> to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually<br /> engaged upon such questions for us.<br /> 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past<br /> accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in<br /> order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree-<br /> ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively<br /> so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any<br /> agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor-<br /> mation thus obtained may prove invaluable.<br /> 4. If the examination of your previous business trans-<br /> actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should<br /> take advice as to a change of publishers.<br /> 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro-<br /> posed document to the Society for examination.<br /> 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in<br /> the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish-<br /> ing firm in the country.<br /> 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you<br /> are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are<br /> reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing<br /> the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen-<br /> dence of the writer.<br /> 8. Send to the Editor of the Author notes of everything<br /> important to literature that you may hear or meet with.<br /> *- - -º<br /> r- - -<br /> THE AUTHORS&#039; SYNDICATE,<br /> EMBERS are informed :<br /> 1. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate takes charge of<br /> the business of members of the Society. With, when<br /> necessary, the assistance of the legal advisers of the Syndi-<br /> cate, it concludes agreements, collects royalties, examines<br /> and passes accounts, and generally relieves members of the<br /> trouble of managing business details.<br /> 2. That the expenses of the Authors&#039; Syndicate are<br /> defrayed solely out of the commission charged on rights<br /> placed through its intervention. Notice is, however, hereby<br /> given that in all cases where there is no current account, a<br /> booking fee is charged to cover postage and porterage.<br /> 3. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate works for none but those<br /> members of the Society whose work possesses a market<br /> value.<br /> 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiation<br /> whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia-<br /> tions are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all<br /> communications relating thereto are referred to it.<br /> 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by<br /> appointment, and that, when possible, at least four days&#039;<br /> notice should be given.<br /> 6. That every attempt is made to deal with the corre-<br /> spondence promptly, but that owing to the enormous number<br /> of letters received, some delay is inevitable. That stamps<br /> should, in all cases, be sent to defray postage.<br /> 7. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate does not invite MSS.<br /> without previous correspondence, and does not hold itself<br /> responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice.<br /> 8. The Syndicate undertakes arrangements for lectures<br /> by some of the leading members of the Society; that it has<br /> a “Transfer Department * for the sale and purchase of<br /> journals and periodicals; and that a “Register of Wants<br /> and Wanted” has been opened. Members anxious to obtain<br /> literary or artistic work are invited to communicate with<br /> the Manager. - *. -<br /> There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services<br /> will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It<br /> is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the<br /> Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in<br /> the Syndicate.<br /> NOTICES,<br /> HE Editor of the Awthor begs to remind members of the<br /> Society that, although the paper is sent to them free<br /> of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very<br /> heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great<br /> many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest<br /> 6s. 6d. subscription for the year.<br /> The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and<br /> communications on all subjects connected with literature<br /> from members and others. Nothing can do more good to<br /> the Society than to make the Author complete, attractive,<br /> and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this<br /> work send their names and the special subjects on which<br /> they are willing to write P<br /> Communications for the Author should reach the Editor<br /> not later than the 21st of each month.<br /> All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether<br /> members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate<br /> to the Editor any points connected with their work which<br /> it would be advisable in the general interest to publish.<br /> Members and others who wish their MSS. read are<br /> requested not to send them to the Office without previously<br /> communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable<br /> despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in<br /> which they are received. It must also be distinctly under-<br /> stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances,<br /> undertake the publication of MSS.<br /> The Authors’ Club is now open in its new premises, at<br /> 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary<br /> for information, rules of admission, &amp;c.<br /> Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they<br /> have paid their subscriptions for the year P If they will do<br /> this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker’s<br /> order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the<br /> trouble of sending out a reminder. -<br /> Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the<br /> warning numbered (8). It is a most foolish and may be a<br /> most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding<br /> for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they<br /> would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five<br /> years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest<br /> or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why them<br /> hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them-<br /> selves into literary bondage for three or five years P<br /> Those who possess the “Cost of Production ” are<br /> requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15<br /> per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble<br /> of “doing sums,” the addition of three shillings in the<br /> pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding<br /> is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be<br /> added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at<br /> 389 4s. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth<br /> as can be procured; but a printer&#039;s, or a binder&#039;s, bill is so<br /> elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at.<br /> Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged<br /> in the “Cost of Production ” for advertising. Of course, we<br /> have not included any sums which may be charged for<br /> inserting advertisements in the publisher’s own magazines,<br /> or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 35 (#49) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 35<br /> often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from<br /> sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket,<br /> by inserting any number of advertisements in his own<br /> magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are<br /> who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those<br /> who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it.<br /> *- - -<br /> r- &gt; -s<br /> LITERARY PROPERTY.<br /> I.—A CASE OF SECRET PROFITs.<br /> WHE case which was mentioned in the Author<br /> for March, 1893 (p. 353), and June, 1894,<br /> (p. 14), plain as it may have appeared,<br /> has now dragged along for some four years,<br /> The French writer, known by the nom de<br /> plume of “Léo Taxil,” had some reason or other<br /> for suspecting that his publishers were treating<br /> him unfairly as to the number of copies of his<br /> many books printed and sold, and that they were<br /> thus depriving him wholesale of his royalty per<br /> copy. He therefore called for an account which,<br /> when received in July, 1890, showed him some<br /> 438 in debt to the publishing firm.<br /> The author, naturally indignant, set in motion<br /> a criminal prosecution for “abuse of confidence.”<br /> The outcome of this move was that the publishers<br /> informed the author that they had unfortunately<br /> omitted from the account rendered two whole<br /> editions of one of his books, and that there was due<br /> to him in consequence 3133. At the same time<br /> they admitted that on his other works the number<br /> of copies sold had exceeded the figures shown in<br /> the account rendered to such an extent that the<br /> royalty due to the author was understated by<br /> 312O more, making £253 due to him instead of<br /> 398 due from him.<br /> But expert accountants were then put in by the<br /> courts to examine the firm’s books, and the total<br /> damage to the author was assessed by them at<br /> no less than £152O, for Léo Taxil&#039;s books, what-<br /> ever may be thought of them, have had a con-<br /> siderable circulation.<br /> The criminal prosecution therefore went on,<br /> though the legal proceedings are somewhat diffi-<br /> cult to reconcile. Here, however, is a resumé of<br /> the facts as taken from the Journal des Débats,<br /> the Gazette des Tribunawa, and the Siècle. To<br /> begin with, the correctional tribunal (a criminal<br /> court) acquitted the publishers, in Feb., 1892,<br /> of “abuse of confidence.” On appeal by the<br /> Public Prosecutor (and by the author also on the<br /> point of damages) a decision of the court above,<br /> in the following April, quashed the previous pro-<br /> ceedings as having been in error, because the<br /> facts as alleged would, if proved, constitute not<br /> mere “abuse of confidence,” but falsification of<br /> documents and criminal use of the same.<br /> Accordingly, in Feb., 1893, the case was sent<br /> down again (in spite of a fresh appeal from the<br /> publishers) for retrial in this sense.<br /> Eventually the publishers were again indicted<br /> for entering in their books, and in their accounts<br /> rendered, certain erroneous items, with the effect<br /> of depriving M. Léo Taxil of a portion of his<br /> “author&#039;s rights” to the extent of £152O. In<br /> the meanwhile, however, as the Gazette des<br /> Tribunaua, reports the case, the publisher had<br /> induced the author to desist, paying him £4600<br /> (115,000 francs) as damages. But the court,<br /> nevertheless, compelled him to continue to appear<br /> in the case as an interested party.<br /> The case only came on for trial at the May<br /> assizes of this year, when the defence was that<br /> the admitted errors in the books were merely<br /> clerical, and that, according to a custom of the<br /> trade, publishers had a right to print for them-<br /> selves twenty copies of a work over and above<br /> every 100 copies acknowledged to the author.<br /> That is to say, that when an author receives<br /> royalty on 5000 copies, 6000 have actually been<br /> printed and sold.<br /> The Public Prosecutor having admitted that<br /> there were “extenuating circumstances” in favour<br /> of the accused, a Parisian jury acquitted them,<br /> while M. Léo Taxil was, in consequence of this<br /> acquittal, cast in the costs. How much these<br /> may be we know not, nor are we told what<br /> offence he had committed to merit this penalty;<br /> but it would be well for English authors who may<br /> purpose any professional work in France to make<br /> a careful mote of this strange case, and of that<br /> alleged secret custom of confiscating one in six of<br /> the copies of every edition as publisher&#039;s per-<br /> quisites. J. O’N.<br /> The following is the official report from the<br /> Gazette des Tribunawa .<br /> L&#039;affaire dont a eu ä connaitre aujourd’hui la Cour<br /> d’Assizes mettait en présence, d&#039;une part, M. Léo Taxil<br /> et son gendre, M. Joubert, et de l&#039;autre, MM. Letouzey et<br /> Ané, editeurs.<br /> Il s&#039;agit, non d’un procès de presse, mais d’une affaire<br /> de faux, engagée sur la plainte de M. Léo Taxil. C&#039;est<br /> l’épilogue des nombreux incidents qui signalèrent les<br /> démélés de M. Léo Taxil avec ses éditeurs et dont le début<br /> remonte à 1892. Ceux-ci ont successivement publié un<br /> grand nombre de volumes et des brochures de M. Léo<br /> Taxil. Soupçonnant que ses éditeurs ne lui remettaient pas<br /> exactenment les droits d’auteur auxquels il avait droit, M.<br /> Léo Taxil, ne pouvant obtenir un relevé de compte exact,<br /> déposa une plainte contre eux.<br /> Une instruction fut ouverte qui se termina par la com-<br /> parution de M.M. Letouzey et Ané et de M. Picquoin, leur<br /> imprimeur, devant le Tribunal correctionnel sous la pré-<br /> vention d’abus deconfiance et de complicité. Tous trois furent<br /> acquittés (W. Gaz. des Trib. du 17 février 1892).<br /> Le ministère publie et M. Léo Taxil ayant fait appel, la<br /> Cour confirma le jugement de première instance en déclarant<br /> que les faits relevés à la charge des prévenus constitue-<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 36 (#50) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 36<br /> THE A UTHOR.<br /> raient, s&#039;ils étaient établis, des faux et non pas le délit<br /> d&#039;abus de confiance (V. Gaz. des Trib. du 15 avril 1892),<br /> La Cour de Cassation, saisie d&#039;une demande de règlement<br /> de juges et d&#039;un pourvoi de MM. Letouzey et Ané, rejeta<br /> le pourvoi et renvoya les prévenus devant la Chambre des<br /> mises en accusation (V. Gaz. des Trib. du 12 février 1893).<br /> Un arrêt de cette chambre ordonna un supplément d&#039;informa-<br /> tion à la suit de laquelle, l&#039;imprimeur Picquoin a été écarté<br /> de la poursuite et MM. Letouzey et Ané renvoyés devant la<br /> Cour d&#039;Assizes.<br /> C&#039;est dans ces condition que ceux-ci se présentent<br /> aujourd&#039;hui, devant le jury. L&#039;accusation leurs reproche<br /> d&#039;avoir porté sur leurs livres et dans leurs règlements de<br /> comptes, des chiffres inexacts, de manière à frustrer M.<br /> Léo Taxil d&#039;une partie de ses droits d&#039;auteur évaluée dans<br /> l&#039;expertise à environ 38,ooo francs. Pour arriver à ce<br /> résultat MM. Letouzey et Ané auraient, non seulement<br /> indiqué un nombre de volumes inférieur à la réalité, mais<br /> aussi omis de mentionner deux éditions entières.<br /> Les accusés prétendent pour leur défense que les irrégu-<br /> larités constatées sont de simples erreurs de comptabilité ;<br /> que, de plus, d&#039;après les usages de librairie, ils avaient le droit<br /> de tirer un nombre d&#039;exemplaires supérieur de 2o p. IOO au<br /> chiffre officiel. L&#039;expertise conteste l&#039;exactitude de ces<br /> explications. •<br /> · Au cours de l&#039;instruction MM. Letouzey et Ané ont<br /> obtenu de Léo Taxil son désistement, moyennant le paiement<br /> d&#039;une somme de I 15,ooo francs, chiffre auquel a été évalué<br /> le préjudice éprouvé par celui-ci.<br /> M. Léo Taxil n&#039;en a pas moins été assigné comme partie<br /> civile, qualité qu&#039;il a prise dès le début de ces contestations.<br /> Il est assisté à l&#039;audience par son gendre M. Joubert.<br /> Divers témoins sont entendus : M. Rossignol, expert, M.<br /> Eugène Moreau, éditeur, qui confirment les fait de l&#039;accusa-<br /> tion. M. Picquoin, l&#039;imprimeur primitivement compris dans<br /> les poursuites, fait une déposition embarrassée et très peu<br /> précise.<br /> M. Léo Taxil présente certaines explications et conteste<br /> les allégations des accusés.<br /> L&#039;audience est levée à six heures et renvoyée à demain<br /> pour les réquisitions de M. l&#039;avocat général Van Cassel, et<br /> les plaidoiries de M° Pouillet et de M° Georges Maillard,<br /> défenseurs des accusée.<br /> (Cour d&#039;Assises de la Seine.—Présidence de M. le con-<br /> seiller Potier.—Audience du 28 mai.)<br /> · L&#039;affaire de faux, suivie contre MM. Letouzey et Ané,<br /> éditeurs, sur la plainte de M. Leo Taxil, s&#039;est terminée<br /> aujourd&#039;hui devant la Cour d&#039;Assises.<br /> M. l&#039;avocat général Van Cassel soutient l&#039;accusation ; il<br /> ne s&#039;oppose pas à l&#039;admission de circonstances atténuantes.<br /> M° Pouillet et Me Georges Maillard présentent la défense<br /> des accusés, qui sont acquittés.<br /> La partie civile est condamnée aux dépens.<br /> (Cour d&#039;Assises de la Seine.—Présidence de M. le con-<br /> seiller Potier.—Audience du 29 mai.)—G. des T. 3o mai,<br /> I894.<br /> II.—PUBLISHING ON COMMIssIoN.<br /> It seems a method so fair and so simple. The<br /> author goes to a publisher and says : º Take my<br /> book and publish it. I will pay you for your<br /> trouble so much per cent. on all the sales.&#039;&#039; What<br /> can be fairer ?<br /> What, indeed ? Now, the following is an illus-<br /> tration of how the plan may work. This is an<br /> actual case which occurred yesterday.<br /> - First of all, the publisher demands payment in<br /> advance of the whole amount which, according to<br /> him, the book will cost.<br /> For himself, he pays the printer three or six<br /> months after the work is done. -<br /> If he takes six months&#039;credit, he has the money<br /> to use for his own business purposes for this time.<br /> It is an addition to his working capital on which<br /> he calculates to make something like 2o per cent.,<br /> but, if it is not to be considered working capital,<br /> it is money on which he may get interest at, say,<br /> 4 per cent.<br /> Next, he sends in an estimate lumping every-<br /> thing together, the said estimate being enormously<br /> overcharged. He explains that he has only<br /> allowed for binding of a certain number, He<br /> further notes, casually, that advertising is not<br /> included. But he points out that the sale will<br /> give the author so much for every hundred<br /> volumes sold.<br /> The luckless author falls into the trap, pays<br /> the money, calculates what he is to receive, and<br /> expects the returns. There will be so much<br /> profit, he thinks : he cannot lose anything. Alas !<br /> He knows nothing : he actually forgets the adver-<br /> tising. There will be a tremendous bill on that<br /> account. And he forgets the corrections, and the<br /> remaining copies will have to be bound. Then<br /> there are the illustrations. Finally, the author,<br /> even when the whole edition has gone, will find<br /> himself a loser to the tune of a hundred pounds<br /> Ol&quot; SO .<br /> In the case before us, the cost of production was<br /> overcharged by about 83o. The author stood to<br /> lose 87O on the most favourable result, viz., the<br /> sale of the whole edition.<br /> The publisher&#039;s profit would stand as follows :<br /> Overcharge of production s£3O O O<br /> Interest on money advanced (say)... 3 O O<br /> @ @ @ • • • • • • • • e<br /> Commission on sales .................. 23 O O<br /> Overcharge on binding the rest of<br /> the edition ........................... 3 O O<br /> Overcharge on advertisements<br /> reckoned on the same scale ...... 8 O O<br /> Illustrations overcharge on same<br /> scale ................................ I O O O<br /> Overcharge on corrections ............ 5 O O<br /> Whole profit ............ 4282 o o<br /> The reader will please observe these figures.<br /> Remark that, if not one single copy sells, the<br /> publisher makes 86o by the job, and the whole<br /> by secret profits !<br /> And yet we are accused of &quot; attacking pub-<br /> lishers &quot; when we expose these tricks !<br /> How, then, is an author to publish on commis-<br /> sion ? He must get advice from the Society on<br /> the proper firm to employ. He must then have<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 37 (#51) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 37<br /> an estimate showing the exact details on every<br /> point. This, with the agreement proposed, he<br /> must submit to the consideration of the secre-<br /> tary.<br /> # the publisher refuses to furnish the details,<br /> there is but one inference to be drawn.<br /> Meantime, let it be distinctly understood, when<br /> estimates are sent in, that the Society can get the<br /> work done at the prices given in the “Cost of<br /> Production,” with the change in the item of bind-<br /> ing, as advertised every month in the Author.<br /> III.-CANADIAN COPYRIGHT.<br /> Since the last article appeared in the Author on<br /> Canadian copyright, certain papers have been<br /> forwarded to the Society by the Secretary of State<br /> for the Colonies. The Society has taken the<br /> opinion of counsel on the papers.<br /> Mr. William Oliver Hodges, of 3, Paper-<br /> buildings, Temple, E.C., barrister, and Mr. G.<br /> Herbert Thring, secretary to the Society, have<br /> been appointed by the committee as delegates to<br /> attend the meetings of the Copyright Committee<br /> alluded to in the last number. The first meeting<br /> was held on Monday, June 25. A statement of<br /> what passed at this meeting will be printed,<br /> together with counsel&#039;s opinion on the papers on<br /> Canadian copyright, in next month&#039;s Author.<br /> IV.-AMERICAN COPYRIGHT.<br /> The Speaker, in recently reviewing an American<br /> book, said: “This book is twenty years old in<br /> America, and what is stated to be its fifth edition<br /> is now brought over here to be sold, having been<br /> printed and copyrighted in America by the<br /> American publisher, and then again copyrighted<br /> by him here, by entry at Stationers&#039; Hall, as the<br /> liberal English law allows him to do. By the<br /> unfairly unequal American law—drafted and<br /> passed so as to be unfairly unequal—it is<br /> impossible for a book printed in England to be<br /> similarly copyrighted in the United States, for it<br /> must be first printed there too. Therefore this<br /> book is one of those by which the Yankee cobbler<br /> manages to cut a whang out of our leather.”<br /> W.—LIBRARIES AND NOVELS.<br /> The following circulars were published in the<br /> Daily Chronicle of June 30. At the moment of<br /> going to press we have not yet received a copy,<br /> but it may be supposed that the text is accu-<br /> rately printed, and first, Messrs. Mudie&#039;s runs as<br /> follows:— - -<br /> Owing to the constantly increasing number of novels and<br /> high-priced books, and to the rapid issue of the cheaper<br /> editions, the directors are compelled in the interests of the<br /> business to ask publishers to consider the following<br /> suggestions:— - -<br /> I. That after Dec. 31, 1894, the charge to the library for<br /> works of fiction shall not be higher than 4s. per volume,<br /> less the discount now given, and with the odd copy as<br /> before. | -<br /> II. That the publishers shall agree not to issue cheaper<br /> editions of novels, and of other books which have been<br /> taken for library circulation, within twelve months from the<br /> date of publication.<br /> The directors have no wish to dictate to the publishers,<br /> but, in making these suggestions, they point out the only<br /> terms upon which it will be possible in the future to buy<br /> books in any quantity for library use. - -<br /> The terms of Messrs. Smith and Son’s circular<br /> are these :— -<br /> For some time past we have noted with concern a great<br /> and increasing demand on the part of the subscribers to our<br /> library for novels in sets of two and three volumes.<br /> To meet their requisitions, we are committed to an expen-<br /> diture much out of proportion to the outlay for other kinds<br /> of literature.<br /> Most of the novels are ephemeral in their interest, and<br /> the few with an enduring character are published in cheap<br /> editions so soon after the first issue that the market we for-<br /> merly had for the disposal of surplus stock in sets is almost<br /> lost.<br /> You may conceive that this state of matters very seriously<br /> reduces the commercial value of the subscription library.<br /> We are therefore compelled to consider what means can be<br /> taken to improve this branch of our business. As a result<br /> of our deliberations, we would submit for your favourable<br /> consideration :- -<br /> (1) That after Dec. 31 next the price of novels in sets<br /> shall not be more than 4.s. per volume, less the discount now<br /> given, and with the odd copy as before. You will please<br /> observe that the date we name for the alteration of terms is<br /> fixed at six months from the end of this current month, in<br /> order that your arrangements may not be affected by the<br /> suggested alterations. - -<br /> (2) In respect of the issue of the cheaper editions, and the<br /> loss to us of our market for the sale of the best and earlier<br /> editions of novels and other works, through their publication<br /> in a cheaper form before we have had an opportunity<br /> of selling the surplus stock, we propose that you be so good<br /> as to undertake that no work appear in the cheaper form<br /> from the original price until twelve months after the date of<br /> its first publication. -<br /> The libraries, certainly, have a perfect right to<br /> name their own price within recognised bounds of<br /> fairness for a form of book which only exists for<br /> them. The price now proposed is, according to<br /> the Chronicle, 4s. a volume, discount and odd<br /> volume to remain as they are, i.e., 5 per cent.<br /> discount and twenty-five as twenty-four. This<br /> means 3s. 8d., within a very tiny fraction, per<br /> volume, or I Is. a copy. +<br /> The former price was not fixed; it varied with<br /> the library and with the house. If we take it at<br /> an average of 5s. a volume, with discount and<br /> the odd copy we have an average price of a little<br /> under I 4s. Let us suppose that there is a<br /> difference under the new tariff of 3s. a copy—a<br /> loss of 3s. a copy. , - . &quot; -<br /> This loss must be met by the author as well as<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 38 (#52) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 38<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> the publisher. It can be met by changing the<br /> royalty to that extent. The advertised price of<br /> 31s. 6d. has, in this case, nothing at all to do<br /> with the question, because the circulating<br /> libraries alone need be considered.<br /> The problem is therefore very simple. Given<br /> a reduction of 3s. a copy, how is that reduction to<br /> be met by the author P<br /> Clearly, by reducing the royalty by half that<br /> amount.<br /> Thus the reduction being by one-fifth the<br /> former price the publisher and the author must<br /> each bear the loss of one-tenth.<br /> Or the royalty would be thus adjusted:<br /> Suppose the author had a royalty of 6s. a copy,<br /> i.e., a fraction on the assumed price of one-third.<br /> It would now have to be 6s. less one-tenth the<br /> former price, i.e., 6s. less one-tenth of 15s., or 6s.<br /> less Is. 6d., i.e., 4s. 6d.<br /> Bow would this work out P<br /> An edition of IOOO copies costs nearly £200,<br /> and can be produced for less. It would, under<br /> the new tariff, sell for £550. The clear profit is,<br /> therefore, 3350.<br /> The author&#039;s share at 4s. 6d. a copy is 3225.<br /> The publisher&#039;s share would be £125.<br /> The editor will be very glad to receive<br /> suggestions and opinions on the above.<br /> WI.-AN IMPORTANT CASE.<br /> The reserved judgment of the Court of Appeal<br /> delivered by Lord Justice Lindley, reversing -<br /> the decision of Mr. Justice Stirling in the<br /> “Living Pictures” case, involved a point of great<br /> importance and interest in the law of copy-<br /> right. Herr Hanfstaengl, who is a German Art<br /> publisher, brought two actions asking for injunc-<br /> tions to restrain the directors of the Empire<br /> Palace Company Limited and the proprietors and<br /> publishers of the Daily Graphic from infringing<br /> his copyright in certain pictures. In the former<br /> case he complained that his pictures were repro-<br /> duced in the form of tableaua vivants upon the<br /> stage of the Empire Theatre, but Mr. Justice<br /> Stirling held that the representations of these<br /> pictures on the stage by means of living actors<br /> were not an infringement of the plaintiff’s copy-<br /> right, and that decision was affirmed by the Court<br /> of Appeal in February last. In the case of the<br /> Daily Graphic, the complaint was that accounts<br /> were published in that paper of the represen-<br /> tations at the Empire Theatre, which were illus-<br /> trated by sketches taken by artists who attended<br /> the theatre for that purpose. Although the<br /> newspaper illustrations were sketched from the<br /> living figures employed in the representations on<br /> the stage, the plaintiff contended that they were<br /> copies of the designs of his original pictures, and<br /> therefore were infringements of his copyright.<br /> Mr. Justice Stirling adopted that view, and<br /> granted an injunction restraining the proprietors<br /> and publishers of the newspaper from printing<br /> publishing, selling, or offering for sale, or other<br /> wise disposing of, any copies or colourable<br /> imitations of the copyright pictures of the<br /> plaintiff. From that decision the defendants<br /> have successfully appealed, and judgment was<br /> directed to be entered for them with costs both<br /> of the appeal and of the application in the court<br /> below. The plaintiff based his claim for pro-<br /> tection on the International Copyright Act of<br /> 1886 and the Order in Council thereunder of the<br /> 28th Nov. 1887, and on the English Copyright<br /> Act of 1862, and it is highly satisfactory that,<br /> alike on the consideration of the facts and circum-<br /> stances, and of the law as it has been laid down<br /> and is applicable to them, the Court of Appeal<br /> has unanimously determined that the plaintiff<br /> has suffered no wrong which these statutes<br /> were intended to redress, and that he is not<br /> entitled to the protection which he claimed. Lord<br /> Justice Lindley cited and adopted the definition<br /> long ago laid down by the late Mr. Justice Bayley<br /> of a “copy” as that which so closely resembles<br /> the original as to convey the same idea as that<br /> created by the original. Both Lord Justice Lopes<br /> and Lord Justice Davey, in the brief judgments<br /> in which they assented to that of Lord Justice<br /> Lindley, quoted with approval this definition;<br /> and, tried by that test, it could not be reasonably<br /> suggested that the rough sketches in the news-<br /> paper of the tableaua vivants at the Empire were<br /> copies of the original pictures of the plaintiff, and<br /> were calculated to injure his rights or depreciate<br /> the value of the original pictures. The learned<br /> Lord Justice emphatically declared that neither<br /> intentionally nor unintentionally, neither directly<br /> nor indirectly, had the artist of the Daily Graphic<br /> copied in the correct sense of the term the plain-<br /> tiff&#039;s pictures so as to infringe his copyright in<br /> them. He had not in the slightest degree repro-<br /> duced, or attempted to reproduce, the artistic<br /> merits and beauties of the original pictures, which<br /> indeed, he had never seen. The whole intention<br /> of the sketch was to give a rough and ready<br /> impression of the representations at the Empire<br /> Theatre, and there was no design of making gain<br /> by a colourable imitation or reproduction of the<br /> plaintiff&#039;s pictures. The court founded its<br /> decision on broad grounds and on a wide view of<br /> the aspects of the case and of the law. “Copy-<br /> right law and patent law,” said Lord Justice<br /> Lindley, “conferred monopolies on individuals<br /> in certain respects, thereby preventing people from<br /> doing that which otherwise it would be lawful for<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 39 (#53) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 39<br /> them to do, and they were designed to insure to<br /> those protected the enjoyment of the advantages<br /> of their own abilities when these took the form of<br /> pictures, designs, inventions, and so forth. So<br /> far as they did this, and did this only, they<br /> were just and right, but they were not to be made<br /> the instruments of oppression and extortion.”<br /> This sound principle, will commend itself to every<br /> reasonable and fair-minded judgment.—Times.<br /> g- - -<br /> THE AUTHORS&#039; CLUB,<br /> I.-AT HOME.<br /> N the 3oth ult., at 4 o’clock in the afternoon,<br /> () the Authors’ Club were “at home * to a<br /> select number of guests of both sexes.<br /> In spite of inclement weather and frequent<br /> showers of rain the rooms were crowded with<br /> literary and artistic people. No doubt the pro-<br /> longed inclemency of the elements had hardened<br /> the heart against its dangers.<br /> Mr. Oswald Crawfurd, C.M.G., the chairman of<br /> the club, was present to welcome the arrivals,<br /> and he was seconded by Lord Monkswell, Mr.<br /> Walter Besant, and Mr. H. R. Tedder, the other<br /> directors. Lady writers were very well repre-<br /> sented, Mrs. W. K. Clifford, Madame Sarah<br /> Grand, the Misses Hepworth Dixon, Mrs. Craigie,<br /> Mrs. Humphrey Ward, Mrs. Croker, Mrs. Hodgson<br /> Burnett, and Miss Helen Mathers being among<br /> those present. ..at<br /> The meeting was a success, and no doubt the<br /> club will repeat the gathering in the winter in the<br /> same or some other similar way.<br /> Mr. Hall Caine has joined the Board of<br /> Directors, --<br /> II.-IN NEW YORK.<br /> At the Authors Club of New York the<br /> following gentlemen were in May elected<br /> honorary members:—Alphonse Daudet (France),<br /> Maartin Maartens (Holland), Maeterlinck (Bel-<br /> gium), Walter Besant (Great Britain).<br /> *- - --&quot;<br /> -- - -,<br /> THE SOCIETY OF AUTHORS,<br /> BEPORT of DINNER, 3 IST MAY, 1894.<br /> HE annual dinner of the Society of Authors<br /> T was held last night at the Holborn Res-<br /> taurant, Mr. Leslie Stephen presiding.<br /> The following is the list of the guests:<br /> E. A. Armstrong John Bumpus<br /> Mrs. Armstrong Miss Marie Belloc<br /> Oscar Browning Walter Besant<br /> WOT. W.<br /> Mrs. Walter Besant<br /> F. H. Balfour<br /> The Rev. Prof. Bonney<br /> W. H. Besant,<br /> Mackenzie Bell<br /> Poulteney Bigelow<br /> Mrs. Brightwen<br /> F. G. Breton<br /> Mrs. Oscar Beringer<br /> James Baker<br /> C. F. Moberley Bell<br /> Rev. Canon Bell, D.D.<br /> Rev. J. B. Baynard<br /> A. W. A. Beckett<br /> Thos. Catling<br /> Mrs. W. K. Clifford<br /> Miss K. M. Cordeaux and<br /> Guest<br /> Edward Clodd<br /> Miss Roalfe Cox and Guest<br /> Mrs. Craigie<br /> Mrs. McCosh Clarke<br /> Lieut.-Col. J. R. Campbell<br /> Miss Carpenter<br /> Sir. W. T. Charley<br /> R. Copley Christie<br /> Miss E. R. Chapman<br /> W. Morris Colles<br /> Mrs. Colles<br /> P. W. Clayden (President<br /> Institute of Journalists)<br /> Egerton Castle, F.S.A.<br /> Miss Lily Croft<br /> Professor Lewis Campbell<br /> Miss B. Chambers and<br /> Guest<br /> Moncure Conway<br /> Mrs. Custer<br /> E. H. Cooper<br /> H. Cust, M.P.<br /> John Davidson<br /> C. F. Dowsett<br /> Mrs. Dambrill Davies<br /> Arthur Dillon<br /> Austin Dobson<br /> A. Conan Doyle<br /> A. W. Dubourg<br /> Gerald Duckworth<br /> Miss Doyle<br /> Miss Duckworth<br /> Daily Graphic<br /> Daily News<br /> Daily Telegraph,<br /> Daily Chronicle<br /> A. Symons Eccles<br /> W. L. Ellis<br /> Mrs. Edmonds<br /> Mr. Edmonds<br /> Mrs. Walter Ellis<br /> Miss Agnes Fraser<br /> Mrs. Gerard Ford<br /> Prof. Michael Foster<br /> S. M. Fox<br /> Mrs. Gordon<br /> Henry Glaisher<br /> Alfred Giles (President In-<br /> stitute of Civil Engineers)<br /> Edmund Gosse<br /> Mrs. Aylmer Gowing<br /> J. C. Grant<br /> Mrs. Grant<br /> Dr. L. Garnett<br /> Miss Goodrich-Freer<br /> Miss H. F. Gethen<br /> Mrs. Gamlin<br /> Francis Gribble<br /> Mme. Sarah Grand<br /> Mrs. Spencer Graves<br /> Maj.-Gen. Sir F. J.<br /> smid, C.B.<br /> J. A. Goodchild<br /> A. P. Graves<br /> Miss Mabel Hawtrey<br /> Holman Hunt<br /> Bernard Hamilton<br /> Dr. Vaughan Harley<br /> E. G. Hobbes<br /> Miss W. Hunt<br /> Rev. W. Hunt<br /> Miss Hargreaves<br /> H. Holman<br /> F. de Haviland Hall<br /> Mrs. Wyndham Hill<br /> Clive Holland<br /> Comtesse Hugo<br /> Dr. Sophia Jex-Blake<br /> C. T. C. James<br /> Miss Kenealy<br /> A. C. Kenealy<br /> Rev. Dr. S. Kinns<br /> Lord Kelvin<br /> Royal Society)<br /> C. B. Roylance Kent.<br /> C. A. Kelly.<br /> Mrs. Lynn Linton<br /> Mrs. Long<br /> A. H. N. Lewers<br /> Sidney Lee<br /> Edmund Lee<br /> John Lane<br /> Sidney Low (St. James&#039;s<br /> Gazette)<br /> W. Meredith<br /> Mrs. W. Meredith • &#039;<br /> Rev. C. H. Middleton-<br /> Wake<br /> George Moore<br /> Mrs. Morgan<br /> Miss A. A. Martin<br /> Norman Maccoll<br /> Morning Post<br /> S. B. G. McKinney ,<br /> Miss Helen Mathers and<br /> Guest<br /> Cosmo Monkhouse<br /> Miss Moss<br /> Gold-<br /> (President<br /> W. E. Norris<br /> Henry Norman<br /> The Lord Bishop of Oxford:<br /> John Warden Page<br /> Stanley Lane Poole<br /> Arthur Paterson<br /> Miss E. C. Pollock<br /> Sir F. Pollock, Bart., LL.D.<br /> Lady Pollock , -.<br /> D. H. Parry -<br /> Pall Mall Gazette<br /> The Queen<br /> W. Fraser Rae<br /> C. F. Rideal<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 40 (#54) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 4O<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> Miss Ross<br /> R. Sisley<br /> Percy Spalding<br /> Douglas Sladen<br /> T. Bailey Saunders<br /> Mrs. Steel<br /> Leslie Stephen<br /> Mrs. Leslie Stephen<br /> David Stott<br /> H. G. Sweet<br /> The Standard<br /> S. S. Sprigge<br /> M. H. Spielmann.<br /> Howard Swan<br /> Rev. Prof. W. W. Skeat,<br /> LL.D.<br /> Ballard Smith<br /> Colonel Sutherland<br /> J. Ashby Sterry<br /> The Times<br /> T. S. Townend<br /> G. H. Thring<br /> Mrs. G. H. Thring<br /> Sir Henry Thompson<br /> A. W. Tuer<br /> W. Moy Thomas<br /> Mrs. F. Moy Thomas<br /> Mrs. Tweedie<br /> E. Maunde Thompson (Chief<br /> Librarian British Museum)<br /> Miss Traver -<br /> Miss Tabberner -<br /> Miss E. Underdown<br /> John Underhill<br /> Mrs. J. Owen Visger<br /> Rev. C. Voysey<br /> Westminster Gazette<br /> Hagberg Wright<br /> Library)<br /> A. P. Watt,<br /> Theodore Watts<br /> W. J. Walsham<br /> Mrs. Woolastom White<br /> Miss B. Whitby<br /> W. H. Wilkins<br /> S. F. Walker<br /> Colonel Sir Charles W.<br /> Wilson, K.C.M.G.<br /> Arnold White<br /> Dr. Wallace<br /> P. F. Walker<br /> I. Zangwill<br /> (London<br /> The Chairman first proposed the health of the<br /> Queen.<br /> The Chairman next proposed “The Society of<br /> Authors.” He said: I have now to undertake a<br /> more difficult task. It is not that I have any<br /> doubt that you will receive with sympathy the<br /> toast which I am about to propose, for I am<br /> going to ask you to drink your own health. But,<br /> however much you may approve the Society of<br /> Authors, I think it highly probable that you will<br /> doubt whether I am the proper person to propose<br /> it. As a matter of fact, I not only doubt,<br /> but am rather convinced that I am a highly<br /> improper person to do so. I will, however, say<br /> in self-defence that when I was first asked to<br /> accept this honourable position, I declined it. I<br /> was foolish enough (it is inconceivable that any-<br /> one could have been so foolish at my time of life)<br /> to give a reason, and of course my reason not<br /> only broke down, but recoiled upon myself in the<br /> way that reasons always will recoil. (Laughter.)<br /> My reason is, that I had not the honour to be a<br /> member of this Society, and it puts me in rather<br /> an uncomfortable dilemma, because the question<br /> naturally occurs, why am I not a member of the<br /> Society P I feel a great difficulty in answering it.<br /> I could not say, what would have been conclusive,<br /> that I disapproved of the Society on high moral<br /> grounds. (Laughter.) In the first place, it would<br /> not have been polite, and in the second place, it<br /> would not have come so near the truth as even<br /> those deviations which I generally allow myself<br /> will permit. I myself feel that my real reason is<br /> one which I must decline to confide to you, and I<br /> must be content to give you in imaginary reason<br /> which will answer for the present occasion. I<br /> will suggest as, at least, a possible reason, that<br /> in the first place I do not like to dwell upon my<br /> own mental defects and moral obliquities; I am<br /> attached to them, but do not like to intrude<br /> them upon others. I would suggest perhaps a<br /> more plausible, but still, perhaps, not the true,<br /> reason—namely, that I am known to most of you,<br /> not so much as an author as an editor. Now,<br /> you are aware that an editor is a kind of equivocal<br /> being, and that he resembles the bat in AEsop&#039;s<br /> fable, who was equally at war with the birds and<br /> with the beasts. The birds, of course, find<br /> their analogue in the author who soared into the<br /> literary heavens; as for the beasts, perhaps I had<br /> better not attempt to specify what would corre-<br /> spond to them. (Laughter.) Now, as an editor, I<br /> know what view the authors take of me. I<br /> remember a long time ago receiving a frank con-<br /> fession from a young gentleman (I hope he is<br /> wiser now) who had written a tragedy in five<br /> acts upon a subject which he had discovered in<br /> course of his researches into history. I believe it<br /> was Mary Queen of Scots (I may mention that I<br /> am not referring to Lord Tennyson)–(laughter)<br /> —and when I declined to publish this tragedy<br /> in the next number of the magazine which I<br /> was then editing, the author informed me that my<br /> refusal was due to a base jealousy, which was not<br /> surprising, as my own attempts to rival Shake-<br /> speare had never got into print. He was kind<br /> enough to add, that there was nothing to be<br /> ashamed of in this, because, he said, my occupa-<br /> tion was such as would have deadened any sense<br /> of justice or fair play, even in an angel, and he<br /> had no reason to believe that my qualities had<br /> ever been angelic. Now you will understand,<br /> that the class of persons who is regarded in this<br /> way by the unthinking author is apt to see the<br /> weaknesses of authors. I occasionally became<br /> aware of their little vanities, of their self-illusions,<br /> of their conviction that they are the objects of<br /> the demoniacal malignity of a clique of critics.<br /> I must add that I should have been a much<br /> harder hearted person than I believe I am, if I<br /> had not also learnt to see a great deal of the<br /> hardships of a literary career, and to sympathise<br /> with those who suffer. I had the honour to<br /> succeed to the cushion occupied by Thackeray<br /> before me, and I have found that some of the<br /> thorns of which Thackeray spoke are still left in<br /> it. I had to read letters from the decayed lady<br /> who had a widowed mother or a small family<br /> dependent upon her exertions, and who tried to<br /> brush up her old recollections of French, and<br /> expected to make a living by translating from<br /> that recondite language. There was something<br /> ridiculous, but a great deal more that was<br /> pathetic in such letters. I have had to<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 41 (#55) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 41.<br /> deal with many of those people who in the<br /> last century would have been ridiculed and<br /> taunted with their poverty as occupants of<br /> Grub-street. When I had to cut down contribu-<br /> tions from such gentlemen to about a third of<br /> the length of that they had sent me, I used to<br /> feel that I was taking a crust from a beggar and<br /> scraping off the butter, and yet my action, how-<br /> ever cruel it might appear, was necessary, and<br /> was received on the whole with an amount of<br /> common sense and consideration for which I<br /> Ought to be grateful. I do not know whether<br /> I ever snuffed out a heaven-born genius. If I<br /> did, I am very sorry; but I snuffed him out so<br /> effectually that he has never been able to make<br /> any protest. People are apt to fall on the<br /> critics who extinguished Keats and poo-poohed<br /> Wordsworth. We are quite clear that we are<br /> much wiser, and yet I know one or two men,<br /> whom every one now honours, who have had to<br /> go through a long probation of disregard and<br /> contempt. I must confess that, with all respect<br /> to the critics of to-day, I do not think they<br /> are infallible, and I cannot help fancying it<br /> possible that some fifty years hence someone<br /> may point out how wrongly they have acted to<br /> the rising geniuses whose names none of them<br /> know at the present moment. I have only re-<br /> ferred to this to show that I have seen some<br /> of the seamy side of the author&#039;s profession,<br /> and I claim to have sympathised with their<br /> sufferings, and to be very anxious to see the pro-<br /> fession raised by every possible means. There<br /> are various opinions as to the best way in which<br /> that could be done; some people are of the<br /> opinion that authors ought to be paid for their<br /> writings; some are of the opinion that every<br /> promising aspirant should receive a good salary<br /> from Government, and that it should be left to<br /> their sense of honour to turn out whatever work<br /> seemed to them best. I am of the opinion that,<br /> considering how pleasant an occupation writing<br /> is, and how valuable it is to read what we write,<br /> perhaps the right plan would be for a future<br /> Chancellor of the Exchequer to lay a heavy tax<br /> on the luxury, and to make everybody who is<br /> impertinent enough to suppose that what he said<br /> would be of value to the public, pay for it. I<br /> won’t, however, argue the question, because I am<br /> afraid that I should not have either a sympa-<br /> thetic or impartial audience. I have no doubt<br /> that authors will be paid, and will want to be<br /> paid more for some years to come, and I also feel<br /> that there will always be more or less of that<br /> difficulty which naturally occurs now in the rela-<br /> tions between authors and publishers. The<br /> author is a man of genius, sometimes; he is<br /> always sensitive ; he is apt to place an excessive<br /> WOL, W.<br /> value upon the children of his own brain ; and if<br /> his work fails he is rather inclined to throw the<br /> blame upon any other cause than his own stupi-<br /> dity. The author is apt to be one of those<br /> persons to whom a balance-sheet is a source of<br /> hopeless bewilderment; he is rarely a man of busi-<br /> ness; while on the other hand the publisher is a<br /> man of business, and has that peculiar talent in<br /> which all men of business are so conspicuous, the<br /> talent for proving that he is always losing by his<br /> business, and yet of living as if his business were<br /> distinctly profitable; and very often he has had<br /> to console himself for the losses which he made<br /> by speculating in unsuccessful literature by<br /> accepting some of the profit made out of the<br /> brains of men of genius. Undoubtedly such a<br /> relation must be a very difficult one, and so far<br /> as this Society endeavours to put it on a better<br /> basis I most heartily and cordially sympathise<br /> with the work which it is doing. Undoubtedly<br /> it is desirable that when bargains are made, and<br /> when the author is for the time in partnership<br /> with the publisher, they should distinctly under-<br /> stand the terms on which they come together,<br /> and that they should take advantage of the<br /> experience of their comrades in making terms in<br /> such a form that it is not likely to lead to mis-<br /> understandings, and that honourable men on<br /> both sides may be brought together and put<br /> in such a position that if any misunderstanding<br /> arise it must be a mere accident, and not<br /> involve any disagreeable suspicion on either<br /> side. That is, I believe, a state of things which<br /> you are endeavouring to bring about, and there-<br /> fore, as I have said, I most cordially wish you<br /> success. Mr. Stephen coupled the toast of “The<br /> Society” with the name of Sir Frederick Pollock.<br /> In responding, Sir Frederick Pollock said: My<br /> Lord Bishop, ladies and gentlemen, the first<br /> thing which I must express in the name of the<br /> Society is the great pleasure which we all feel in<br /> having Mr. Leslie Stephen as our chairman. If<br /> there is to be found a worthy representative of<br /> the higher art of literature I think Mr. Leslie<br /> Stephen is that representative, but as Mr.<br /> Stephen is a very old friend of mine, and I am<br /> speaking not in my personal capacity, but in the<br /> name of the Society, it would be unfair to take<br /> the words out of the mouth of Mr. Gosse, who will<br /> have something to say on the subject. At present<br /> the question of Canadian copyright is the most<br /> urgent matter under our notice, and within a few<br /> weeks a joint committee will probably be formed,<br /> representing this Society, the Copyright Associa-<br /> tion, the Iondon Chamber of Commerce, and<br /> possibly other bodies, and I hope that that com-<br /> mittee will be able to do some useful work in<br /> strengthening the hands of the home authorities.<br /> F 2<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 42 (#56) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 42 THE AUTHOR.<br /> Some people think that our Society encourages<br /> nothing but light literature, and that we look to<br /> nothing but a rapid sale of our volumes. I will<br /> simply observe that I have here at my right hand<br /> one of our most serious writers of literature, the<br /> Bishop of Oxford. He has shown us how litera-<br /> ture in the highest sense can be dealt with. The<br /> Bishop is one of those whom I was proud to count<br /> among my colleagues for a few years at Oxford.<br /> He has done more than write a classical history;<br /> he has shown us what history is and how history<br /> ought to be treated. Mr. Conan Doyle has shown<br /> us the legitimate use of history for the purposes<br /> of (what is called) lighter literature. The<br /> Society will doubtless join me in the hope that<br /> he will lose no time in giving us another “White<br /> Company.” I ask you, therefore, to couple the<br /> toast of Literature with the name of the Bishop<br /> of Oxford and that of Mr. Conan Doyle.<br /> The Bishop of Oxford, in responding, said:<br /> “Mr. Stephen, ladies and gentlemen, I will not<br /> waste your time by telling you how very grateful<br /> I am for the kind reception given to me. When<br /> I was told last week that it would be my duty to<br /> return thanks on behalf of the serious side of<br /> literature, I began to think what I should say.<br /> In the first place, I was not quite sure what<br /> serious literature was, and in the second<br /> place, I am not quite sure whether my<br /> writings are such as to entitle me to reply<br /> to the toast. I have written many hundred-<br /> weights of books, and have been frequently asked<br /> how I acquired my “style.’ I reply by saying I<br /> do not know that I have any special style; but, if<br /> I had, I acquired it by writing two sermons every<br /> week. I only wish that I could have answered<br /> better for the great society which I have been<br /> called upon to represent.” -<br /> Mr. Conan Doyle said: “While I had rather<br /> that it had been in other hands than mine, I am<br /> still glad that fiction should be represented on<br /> this occasion. It is an honour, and fiction is<br /> accustomed to be more popular than honoured.<br /> Our Colleagues of poetry, of science, and of<br /> history have made their way as high as the House<br /> of Peers and the Privy Council. But fiction has<br /> always been the Cinderella of the family. When<br /> her fair sisters go to the prince&#039;s ball, she remains<br /> behind with her wicked stepmother the critic.<br /> But she has her compensation. She still has that<br /> good old fairy godmother, and her name is Imagi-<br /> nation. With her aid, it is still as easy as ever to<br /> turn the pumpkin into the carriage and the white<br /> mice into steeds. One might even do more.<br /> With her help one might imagine that all is well<br /> with fiction, that among the successful business<br /> men from whom the peerage is recruited a place<br /> had been found also for a Scott, a Dickens, or a<br /> Thackeray; or, to come to more modern instances,<br /> that the State had shown its recognition of work<br /> done by such men as Charles Reade in the past,<br /> or Walter Besant in the present. We are periodi-<br /> cally informed by the papers, which are usually<br /> owned and edited by knights and baronets, that<br /> State recognition does not increase the prestige<br /> of the literary man. It is true. It does not<br /> increase the prestige of the author. But it<br /> enormously increases the prestige of the State.<br /> Still, come what may, we have our own kingdom<br /> of fiction, and in it we can all be kings and<br /> queens. But that kingdom has, in this country,<br /> well defined boundaries. We know how these<br /> frontiers run. To the north we are bounded by<br /> the Glasgow baillie, to the south the young ladies&#039;<br /> seminary, and then to the east and west, of course<br /> by the two great circulating libraries. Still, it would<br /> be idle to deny that within these limitations there<br /> is room for plenty of good work. And our frontiers.<br /> are enlarging. Within the last ten years several<br /> noble novels have come from the pens of men and<br /> women which would have been, I think, impos-<br /> sible a decade earlier. It is becoming year by<br /> year more understood that it is not the indication<br /> of vice, but its glorification, which is objection-<br /> able, and that the most immoral thing which can<br /> befall literature is that it should be entirely<br /> divorced from life and truth. Fiction is at<br /> present in a state of unrest and fermentation,<br /> Some critics, I know, say that the old tree is<br /> barren, but it seems to me that I see green shoots<br /> on all her branches. I believe from my heart<br /> that the present generation will uphold the<br /> glorious inheritance which has come down to us,<br /> and will pass it on to our posterity in a manner<br /> which shall not be unworthy.<br /> Mr. EDMUND GossE.—Sir Frederick Pollock,<br /> my Lords, ladies, and gentlemen. —It is my<br /> pleasant duty to ask you to fill your glasses, and<br /> drink to the health of our chairman, Mr. Leslie<br /> Stephen. It Ought not, I think, to be difficult to<br /> speak appropriately of one who has himself<br /> spoken so wisely and so genially of a host of<br /> others. No one here to-night but must feel a<br /> debt of gratitude for some gift or other of Mr.<br /> Leslie Stephen&#039;s, But, as the Society of Authors,<br /> we welcome him among us with unusual cheer-<br /> fulness, because he is one of the prodigal fathers<br /> of our society. He is one of the very few leading<br /> men of his generation who have always looked<br /> out of window when anybody spoke of the Society<br /> of Authors. He has been not with us, and there-<br /> fore against us. He is now with us, and will for<br /> the future always be for us. We rejoice over Mr.<br /> Leslie Stephen more than over ten celebrities who<br /> have been perfectly kind to us from our foundation.<br /> If we regard the literary career of our chair-<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 43 (#57) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 43<br /> man of to-night, we are struck, I think, first<br /> of all, by the width and catholicity of his sym-<br /> pathies, and then by the curious fate which has<br /> driven him from one corner of the intellectual<br /> province to another. He has been an authority<br /> on mountaineering and on ethics, and alternately<br /> at home with the founders of deism and with the<br /> makers of dictionaries. He began literary life, I<br /> think, as one of those who, conscious of their<br /> unconfessed offences, voluntarily make them-<br /> selves excessively uncomfortable with penitential<br /> hard labour in the Alps. Flung from peak to<br /> peak, and picking himself up at last, more dead<br /> than alive, at the foot of a glacier, he decided in<br /> future to spend his hours in the shelter of a<br /> library. And there he began a new thing;<br /> there he took down book after book, and talked<br /> to us about them, not as one of the pedantic<br /> Sanhedrim, but easily, confidentially, penetra-<br /> tively. He was dragged out of his library to<br /> become editor of the Cornhill Magazine, and now<br /> a wider work of influence began.<br /> I think he must be a little moved to-night<br /> to see around him here not a few of those<br /> whom he marshalled and encouraged in the<br /> pages of that serial, then unquestionably the<br /> most purely literary magazine which has ever<br /> been issued in this country. It was in the<br /> capacity of a contributor to the Cornhill that<br /> my own acquaintance with our chairman began,<br /> just twenty years ago. It was quite a little<br /> close corporation, and there were always wel-<br /> come, before they were welcome elsewhere, many<br /> who are widely known to-day — Mr. Thomas<br /> Hardy, Mr. Norris, Mr Austin Dobson, Mr. Grant<br /> Allen, our lamented friend John Addington<br /> Symonds, you, Sir, yourself, and many whom I<br /> do not at this moment recall. And to these, one<br /> day in 1875, was added a new writer who signed<br /> himself R. L. S. I have a letter from our chair-<br /> man, written at that time, in which he says,<br /> replying to a question of mine, “The initials are<br /> not those of the Real Leslie Stephen, as a friend<br /> of mine suggests, but of a young Scotchman<br /> from Edinburgh, called Robert Louis Stevenson.”<br /> Everyone of these, I think I may boldly say,<br /> looks back to the patient encouragement, the<br /> cordial and tireless sympathy of the best of<br /> editors with genuine gratitude.<br /> In those early days, as many of us remember,<br /> and as he himself no doubt forgets, there was no<br /> one who laughed more gaily at the trivialities of<br /> biographical literature, or who less resembled Dr.<br /> Dryasdust. It is whispered to me that a letter<br /> exists in which Mr. Leslie Stephen repudiates with<br /> contempt the man who cares to know who any<br /> other man&#039;s grandmother was. Ah! the irony of<br /> fate | Some twelve years ago, he was called upon<br /> to undertake a colossal work, the very essence of<br /> which depends upon knowing everything about<br /> everybody’s grandmother, nay, more, upon being<br /> familiar with all those mysterious consangui-<br /> nities which we read on summer Sundays at the<br /> back of the church-door. Well, he took up this<br /> task, too, as he has taken up so many others, with<br /> perfect good-nature, with exhaustive erudition,<br /> with combined energy and patience, and we all<br /> know what he made of it. But now he is<br /> released at last, this weary Titan of National<br /> Biography. He has shaken off the cousins&#039; sisters<br /> and the mother-in-law’s nieces&#039; husbands of<br /> genius. He can come back to literature, and that<br /> is where we love to see him. We love to see him<br /> here, at the table of the Society of Authors, and I<br /> beg you all to join with me in testifying your<br /> satisfaction. Mr. Leslie Stephen!<br /> ar- - -s<br /> REAL AUTHORS,<br /> To the City Editor of the Pall Mall Gazette.<br /> SIR,-A paragraph-writer in this morning&#039;s<br /> press on the dinner of the Society of Authors is<br /> pleased to remark on the small proportion of<br /> “real authors” present. Apparently he does<br /> not mean to deny that (omitting all those who<br /> could be said in any sense to be officially present)<br /> such people as Mr. Austin Dobson, Mr. Morris,<br /> Mr. George Moore, Mrs. W. K. Clifford, Miss<br /> Helen Mathers, Mrs. (or Madame as the reporters<br /> will have it, I cannot think why) Sarah Grand,<br /> and so forth, are real authors, but only to be sur-<br /> prised that they were in a minority; in fact, he<br /> guesses that not more than one in three of the<br /> company was a well-known author.<br /> It may be well to point out that the Society of<br /> Authors exists for the benefit, not of those<br /> authors who have already made their reputation,<br /> and may be presumed able to look after their<br /> own interests, but of those who still have their<br /> reputation to make. It does not profess to be<br /> a club of literary celebrities. If a representa-<br /> tive gathering of the society did consist mostly<br /> of writers already well known, it might be a<br /> more brilliant assembly from the reporter&#039;s point<br /> of view, but the fact would only show that the<br /> society was failing in its proper work, and had<br /> ceased to be useful, or a centre of interest to<br /> those for whose sake it was founded. The<br /> society’s definition of a “real author’’ is a<br /> person who has written and published at least<br /> one book, or its equivalent. This is a much less<br /> ambitious definition than the commentator&#039;s, but<br /> I venture to think it more accurate.—Yours, &amp;c.<br /> June I. F. POLLOCK.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 44 (#58) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 44<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> AN AMERICAN MAGAZINE.<br /> HE President of the Century Company has<br /> been reading a paper on the methods and<br /> the production of the Century magazine.<br /> The paper contains certain facts which may be<br /> useful and instructive to ourselves, especially in<br /> the light of the fact that one or two American<br /> magazines, not for their cheapness, nor because<br /> they can be charged with a low standard of style<br /> and subject, can fairly boast that the circulation<br /> of each as a monthly actually represents by itself<br /> at least three times the circulation of all the<br /> English monthly magazines combined, excepting<br /> two or three; and that the circulation in this<br /> country alone, of one or two, is equal to the circu-<br /> lation of any three English magazines combined,<br /> still excepting these two or three. It is worth<br /> while, perhaps, to read this paper, and to attempt<br /> some explanation of what is certainly astonishing,<br /> and, except on the theory that the English maga-<br /> zines are written for the highest culture only—a<br /> theory which it would be difficult to maintain—<br /> extremely humiliating.<br /> The Century magazine contains 160 pages,<br /> making about thirty articles—long and short.<br /> There are, then, from 350 to 4oo articles every<br /> year. Out of this number about 175 are either<br /> poetry or fiction. The rest are historical, bio-<br /> graphical, of travel, of social matters, and miscel-<br /> laneous. It is found that fiction, even when a<br /> novel is produced by one of the foremost English<br /> or American writers of the day, does not seem to<br /> advance the circulation of the paper. Yet it<br /> keeps up the circulation which begins to drop<br /> when the fiction is weak or unattractive. This<br /> statement probably amounts to saying that<br /> general excellence in every branch must be main-<br /> tained or the circulation suffers. On the other<br /> hand, the most popular subject ever started by<br /> the Century was that of the Civil War, on which<br /> a series of papers appeared. This series caused<br /> the circulation to go up by leaps and bounds.<br /> It is found, next, that no American magazine<br /> has ever attained a popular success unless it<br /> was illustrated. In recognition of this fact, the<br /> Century has always paid the greatest attention<br /> to its illustrations, which are now the finest that<br /> can be procured. That is to say, the artistic branch<br /> demands now a very large part of the expenditure.<br /> So great is the outlay on illustrations, as well as<br /> contributions, that every number costs, before it<br /> goes to press, about £2OOO. Even if this includes<br /> the salaries of editors, managers, and clerks, the<br /> rent of offices and the service of distribution, it is<br /> evident that a very large capital is embarked in<br /> &#039;an American magazine, and that the risk of a<br /> fall in the circulation means a possible loss of<br /> this large capital. This danger alone proves the<br /> necessity for the most unceasing watchfulness,<br /> the most intelligent apprehension of the subjects<br /> that the public like to read about, and the<br /> greatest care in finding the writers most capable<br /> of presenting those subjects. That artists and<br /> authors when engaged should be paid in pro-<br /> portion to the services they render, i.e., greatly in<br /> excess of what they have been accustomed to<br /> receive from journals of less circulation, is a<br /> natural result of increased interests and a larger<br /> property to defend and to advance.<br /> What is the circulation of American maga-<br /> zines P Of one it is said that it circulates 200,000<br /> in America and 30,000 in this country. Another<br /> is reported greatly to surpass this number in<br /> America, though its circulation is small in Great<br /> Britain; of two or three more it is said that they<br /> circulate over IOO,OOO in the States, besides having<br /> a small circulation in this country. Now, in<br /> America, our magazines are hardly ever seen; there<br /> are none on the bookstalls, either at the stations or<br /> in the hotels. Why does the American magazine<br /> come here P Why does not the English maga-<br /> zine go over there P. How comes it that while in<br /> a population of 60,000,000 some of their journals<br /> arrive at a circulation of 200,000, we find, in our<br /> own population of 37,000,000, without counting the<br /> I 5,OOO,OOO of Britons abroad and in the Colonies,<br /> our magazines crawling along with a circulation of<br /> 2OOO to 20,000 P. We speak here of old-estab-<br /> lished magazines which, like those of America,<br /> are “serious,” that is, do not aim at popularity<br /> alone. There are monthly magazines here which<br /> appeal to popular tastes, and, without being<br /> necessarily unwholesome or sensational, do attain<br /> to a popularity which rivals that of the Americans;<br /> but those we do not here consider. Why is it, in<br /> short, that the old established and highly respect-<br /> able paper the Cheapside is sending out every<br /> month its ten thousand instead of its quarter of a<br /> million ?<br /> Among some of the causes are, perhaps, these :<br /> In the States, the editor—always a man of proved<br /> ability—is engaged to give his whole time, all his<br /> thoughts, all his ability, to the conduct of his<br /> paper. He has assistants, all of whom are<br /> engaged also to give to the paper their whole<br /> time and all their thoughts. In this country the<br /> editor too often does a great many other things;<br /> he has engagements which distract his attention;<br /> he does work of his own which absorbs him. The<br /> first essential for the successful conduct of a<br /> magazine seems to be that one man, at least,<br /> should think for it—think all day for it.<br /> Again, it has hitherto been considered enough<br /> for an editor to sit at his table and receive the<br /> contributions poured in upon him by every post,<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 45 (#59) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 45<br /> to read them, reject most of them, and select a<br /> few. It is only quite recently that he has even<br /> begun the American method—to plan beforehand,<br /> to arrange what he will have for the next year,<br /> and for the year after, what fiction he will invite,<br /> what poetry he will invite, what special subjects<br /> he will treat, and, to be in touch with points of<br /> the day, what men will be best to treat them for<br /> him. One lesson for us would seem to be that<br /> the casual contributor by himself cannot be trusted<br /> to create a popular demand.<br /> Few of our magazines are illustrated. Is the<br /> absence of illustrations a cause of failure ? Some<br /> years ago a new illustrated monthly was started,<br /> in which the artistic element was treated most<br /> carefully. One knows not, with any certainty,<br /> how far this magazine failed or succeeded. But<br /> it has changed hands twice. Therefore good<br /> illustrations alone do not seem to bring success.<br /> Perhaps the English are not so keen after<br /> pictures as the Americans. Some English<br /> readers, certainly, do not like the photogravure<br /> processes with the broad black line all round<br /> which decorate the American page.<br /> As regards fiction, our magazines are apt to<br /> fall into one of two extremes; either, that is,<br /> they neglect and “starve” fiction, publishing<br /> poor weak stuff; or they sacrifice everything to<br /> fiction, running two or three serials and depending<br /> entirely on them for success. Fiction in a high<br /> class magazine must be of the best; but it must<br /> never be considered the only thing.<br /> Another lesson we may learn from the<br /> Americans. We have hardly yet got beyond the<br /> prejudice that the only serial in a magazine must<br /> be the novel. This is a very foolish prejudice,<br /> mischievous alike to the publisher of the magazine<br /> and to the author. For there are many books<br /> written every year—books of historical research,<br /> biographies, collections of verse, essays, travels,<br /> popular science, which, if first run through a<br /> magazine as serials, would attract thousands of<br /> readers, and give the book when published a far<br /> greater chance of success. At present the author<br /> has to be content, say, with a single edition of a<br /> thousand, or even 500 copies. If he expects any<br /> money he is disappointed. Perhaps he only expects<br /> general reputation or distinction. How much of<br /> either can he get from this mere mite of a circula-<br /> tion? One or two attempts in this direction have<br /> already been made—but tentatively. It is as if<br /> editors do not as yet recognise the fact that an<br /> extremely attractive serial may be made of a sub-<br /> ject not belonging to fiction at all. For instance,<br /> many volumes of poetry are run through various<br /> magazines first. I would run them through one<br /> magazine only. “Mr. Austin Dobson’s new<br /> volume of verse will be commenced in the January<br /> number of the New Year; it will run through<br /> twelve months, and will be published in volume<br /> form in November.” Would not such an an-<br /> nouncement be attractive P Or this: “Professor<br /> Dowden&#039;s new work on Shakespeare is nearly<br /> completed. It consists of twelve chapters, and<br /> is to run through twelve numbers of the Cheapside<br /> magazine; it will then be published in the<br /> autumn books of Messrs. Bungay.” Does any<br /> one pretend that the comparatively wide cir-<br /> culation of the magazine would not assist the<br /> author in disseminating his teaching and the<br /> publisher in afterwards distributing the book?<br /> The next point is the investment of large sums<br /> of money in the enterprise. This, no doubt, is<br /> risk; such risk as few publishers care to face.<br /> Yet, if one appeals to the great public there are<br /> but two ways: to hope for gradual recognition of<br /> work always good; or by a bid for popularity—<br /> immediate and wide-spread — by treatment of<br /> topics always fresh and interesting, and by wide<br /> advertisement. Both methods, however, mean<br /> the investment of money. g<br /> One more reason, perhaps, why our higher class<br /> magazines are not popular. Nearly all of them aim,<br /> more or less, at expounding and perhaps solving<br /> the many questions and problems of the day.<br /> Not, that is, the treatment of fresh topics, but<br /> the difficulties of the day. The articles are, as a<br /> rule, very well written; the American magazines<br /> do not seem to me, on the whole, nearly so well<br /> written as our own ; but if we take up the new<br /> numbers of any magazine of the better kind,<br /> what we find in it is too often the continuation<br /> or even the repetition of the daily and weekly<br /> leading article. If the editors would only con-<br /> sider that the same subject which we gladly<br /> read when treated in the Times of to-day and<br /> in the Spectator of next Saturday, will become<br /> wearisome when treated, without much new light<br /> or much new wisdom, in the monthly magazine of<br /> the week after next, they would perhaps refuse<br /> certain papers. There are, of course, brilliant<br /> exceptions, as when the One man who knows<br /> can be got to speak, or when one who is allowed<br /> to be a leader speaks. For the most part the<br /> writers are not known by the world to be of<br /> greater eminence on this question or on that<br /> than the anonymous writer in the Times or the<br /> Spectator.<br /> Another reason, perhaps equally weighty, is<br /> the undue prominence given by English maga-<br /> zines to literary papers and especially those of the<br /> mournful or the savage kind. It is a great<br /> mistake to suppose that people, even of culture,<br /> are always wanting to tear the literature of the<br /> day up by the roots, to see how it is getting on;<br /> and it is quite certain that the kind of criticism<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 46 (#60) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 46<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> which only sneers and depreciates, and can only<br /> find in the popularity of a writer a reason for<br /> pretended contempt, is offensive to all readers,<br /> whether of culture or not. Of the “Decay of<br /> Fiction,” the “Decay of Poetry,” the “Decay of<br /> the Drama,” people have already heard too much.<br /> Americans do not strike this note, nor will they<br /> endure it; theirs must be the note of hope, eager<br /> looking forward and confidence. There is no<br /> reason why in every field of intellect, art, science,<br /> imagination, this note of confidence should not be<br /> struck by ourselves. I, for one, believe that it is<br /> the true note—that the present is a time of great<br /> endeavour and of deserved success. It is true<br /> that there are failures by the million, because<br /> there are attempts by the million. Instinctively<br /> the people — better class and all — turn with<br /> disgust from the pessimist and the mournful<br /> downcrier of what he dares not even try to<br /> imitate. Let us leave the million failures to die<br /> in nameless peace. Let us rejoice in the successes,<br /> and lift up our heads with something of the<br /> American hope and confidence. We are a young<br /> country still, with our future still before us.<br /> These are some of the reasons why the English<br /> magazine is distanced and beaten by the American:<br /> rival. The problem before us is this: “How are<br /> we to maintain a high level of style and subject,<br /> and yet make a serious bid for the popularity<br /> which this rival obtains P” W. B.<br /> *- - -º<br /> - - -<br /> NOTES AND NEWS,<br /> Tº Literary Congress of San Francisco<br /> seems to have been a comparative failure.<br /> The original plans, a correspondent writes,<br /> were changed, and it was hurried upon the boards<br /> long before the time originally planned. Conse-<br /> quently few were there, and “it became merely a<br /> provincial gathering of people of unequal ability,<br /> and not in the least representative of California.<br /> It was disappointing to those who had been most<br /> active in planning it.”<br /> *-<br /> It is pleasant, for one who took part in it, to<br /> read that the Literary Congress of Chicago is<br /> bearing fruit in the best possible way. The<br /> following is an extract from the Critic of New<br /> York, the only paper to which we can look for a<br /> week-by-week record of American literature:<br /> It was evidently not in vain that Chicago lavished her<br /> millions in time and money upon the Fair. The intellectual<br /> returns are beginning to come in, and they indicate a<br /> remarkable enlargement of vision, an increased appreciation<br /> of science and art, and of what they can offer. It was<br /> inevitable that such would be the result; the mere labour of<br /> design and construction was bound to develop the ingenuity<br /> and the resources of the people. But the most sanguine of<br /> us looked forward many years before the evidence of this<br /> inspiration should appear. We did not expect the fruit to<br /> ripen overnight ; we forgot the rapidity with which the<br /> American people take up an idea and develope it and make<br /> it their own. Of course, it is too soon for the effect to be<br /> visible in deeds, but there are many things that indicate the<br /> general tendency. And not the least of these is the state-<br /> ment of Mr. Hill, the librarian of the Public Library, in<br /> regard to the changes in the demand for books. He says<br /> that the standard of quality in the books called for at the<br /> library is decidedly higher than it was a year ago.<br /> Art has felt the same stimulus from the Fair. The inte-<br /> rest in pictures and sculpture is evidenced by the crowds<br /> that enter the Art Institute, and even more positively by the<br /> statements of the dealers. Mr. O’Brien, who has been giving<br /> a series of delightful exhibitions of works by American<br /> painters, says that a year ago such pictures would have been<br /> utterly neglected here. But at present the galleries in which<br /> they are hung are crowded. Many collectors, too, have been<br /> developed by the Fair—men and women who, before it,<br /> never thought of buying a picture. These facts are, of<br /> course, merely straws, but they show the direction of the<br /> wind. The fruit of the fair in production will be slower in<br /> ripening, but the buildings, the statues, the pictures, and<br /> poems it will inspire will be worth the waiting for.<br /> “At the dinner of the Authors’ Club last week, which<br /> brought together a large company, who seemed to be toler-<br /> ably happy in spite of the continued existence of publishers,<br /> Mr. Leslie Stephen foretold ‘the coming of that glorious<br /> time ’ when writers will be better paid than they are now.<br /> The prophecy excited, on the whole, more doubt than<br /> belief. We hear, however, that a new literary agency is in<br /> process of formation, with a large capital behind it, which<br /> will employ its own readers, and pay authors a sum down as<br /> soon as it has approved their works. One of its chief<br /> objects will be to force up the average price of serial<br /> rights.”<br /> The above is a cutting from the Athenæum of<br /> June 9. One wonders who are the people who<br /> amuse themselves by concocting such paragraphs.<br /> The Authors’ Club has held no dinner at all except<br /> its monthly house dinner. Mr. Leslie Stephen has<br /> never yet favoured the club with his presence at<br /> that or any other function. The Authors’<br /> Society held its annual dinner, and the president<br /> of the evening was Mr. Leslie Stephen. His speech,<br /> reported verbatim, will be found on p. 39 of this<br /> number. The words attributed to him were not<br /> spoken by him; he did not “foretell the coming<br /> of that glorious time ’’—the inverted commas<br /> mean a quotation, which makes it a deliberate<br /> invention—when writers will be better paid than<br /> now. He said nothing of the kind; he did not<br /> use the words “glorious time ’’ at all; what he said<br /> was that, in the aim of the Society towards the<br /> adjustment of their own affairs, he wished it every<br /> success. “The prophecy excited, on the whole,<br /> more doubt than belief.” Wonderful | First,<br /> to invent a prophecy, never uttered, and them to<br /> describe the way in which that prophecy was<br /> received Even a prophet of Baal had to say<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 47 (#61) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 47<br /> something before his audience began to consider<br /> his prophecy.<br /> As regards the alleged “new literary agency,”<br /> that bears on the face of it every sign of being<br /> another invention—perhaps an invention intended<br /> to be comic. Certainly no one in his senses could<br /> deliberately set himself to persuade people that a<br /> company had been formed whose “chief object”<br /> was to force up the “average&quot; price of serial<br /> rights. What, to begin with, is the “average *<br /> price? Is it the average of all the magazines<br /> and journals that exist without reference to<br /> subject, circulation, name, character of the paper?<br /> As for “forcing,” one has always considered, in<br /> matter of papers for magazines, that the editor<br /> is a despot from whose word there is no appeal.<br /> He can say, and he does say, that his remuneration<br /> is a certain stipulated sum. It is for the author<br /> to “take it or leave it.” Nor can any “forcing ”<br /> alter this condition of things. Certain magazines<br /> and journals acquire a good name for their<br /> treatment of contributors in this respect; such a<br /> good name, no doubt, is a very useful thing for a<br /> journal to possess; one ventures to believe and to<br /> hope that it helps the circulation. Certain other<br /> magazines acquire precisely the opposite reputa-<br /> tion, insomuch that the literary world regards<br /> with complacency the decline and fall of those<br /> magazines. The only influences that can be<br /> brought to bear upon this monarch of all he<br /> surveys—the editor—are those of competition<br /> first—it needs no company “with a large capital<br /> behind it,” to create competition among editors;<br /> and, next, a sense of what is due to the producer,<br /> in other words, a sense of justice. Since the most<br /> friendly relations seem to prevail between the<br /> editors of our high-class magazines and their con-<br /> tributors, it seems as if this sense of justice does<br /> exist.<br /> The following is from the New York Critic.<br /> The same circular has been sent to myself,<br /> doubtless among many others:<br /> Authors have strange requests sometimes. Here is one<br /> recently received by a well-known novelist from the editor<br /> of a periodical which up to this time has devoted itself to<br /> illustration rather than to text :—“Although it is not the<br /> custom of our paper to publish stories, yet if you have<br /> an unpublished novel of medium length which you could<br /> remodel only to the extent of having a portion of the scenes<br /> laid in studios and art galleries, I should be pleased to have<br /> you submit the same, and am willing to pay well for it. We<br /> always pay for MSS. as soon as accepted.” There is some-<br /> thing attractive in this last statement, for authors as a rule<br /> are needy. The one in question is not, however, so he failed<br /> to be caught on this well-baited hook. The editor of this<br /> paper evidently thinks that authors have no feelings, or<br /> why would he expect them to recast their stories to suit his<br /> audience P<br /> A very useful compilation is the Index to the<br /> Periodicals of the World, published by the<br /> Review of Reviews Office. The list of periodi-<br /> cals fills thirty-seven pages devoted to English<br /> and American periodicals alone, and fifty pages<br /> for the periodicals of all countries. Reckoning<br /> roughly, an average of thirty-four to a page, we<br /> have 1700 periodicals of the whole world indexed<br /> in this volume, and I 258 English and American<br /> periodicals. Those that specially concern our-<br /> selves—the literary journals—are about Io2 in<br /> number, but there are many others — some<br /> educational, musical, artistic, historical, legal,<br /> economical, medical, and scientific, which concern<br /> many of our members. The papers and articles<br /> on literature in one or other of its branches are<br /> innumerable. It is the one subject of which<br /> editors seem never tired. The American perio-<br /> dical abounds with personal descriptions of<br /> literary men, especially with accounts of their<br /> methods of working, about which one wonders<br /> why there exists any curiosity at all; for certainly,<br /> if one knew the methods of every writer under<br /> the sun, without natural aptitude one would be<br /> not a whit advanced. The discussion of the<br /> novel is more favoured by English magazines.<br /> The reason, one fears, is not that the public<br /> demands this vast mass of criticism or talk about<br /> literature, but that it can be produced in any<br /> quantity, either from the man with a name or the<br /> man without a name. These indexes have<br /> become indispensable. .<br /> I have always advocated for those writers who<br /> are not men—or women—of business the employ-<br /> ment of an agent. The only argument which<br /> appears to me of any weight at all against the<br /> middleman is that where an author is able to<br /> manage his own affairs he may just as well do so,<br /> and save the commission. Even in that case it<br /> may be worth the author&#039;s while, if he is a busy<br /> man, to let his agent think for him and plan for<br /> him. As for those who do not possess the<br /> necessary knowledge or habits of business, the<br /> only danger, it seems to me, that they have to<br /> fear is that of falling into bad hands, and the<br /> only real objection that can be raised, by the<br /> other side to the agent, is that he is expected to<br /> conduct negotiations in a business manner; in<br /> other words, he prevents his client from being<br /> “bested ”—a word which very often covers, but<br /> does not hide, another and an older word.<br /> Now, if the agent works for the author, he<br /> must be paid by the author. This seems ele-<br /> mentary. But I have heard certain stories which<br /> ought, I think, to be brought out into light.<br /> There is, for instance, the story of the author who<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 48 (#62) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 48 THE AUTHOR.<br /> comes to the agent, finds out the name of the editor<br /> or the publisher to whom he proposes to send the<br /> work, and then uses the information and goes<br /> there himself. There is, again, the author who,<br /> when he has been successfully placed, gets the<br /> cheque sent to himself, and then refuses to pay<br /> the commission. There is, again, the case where<br /> the publisher writes direct to the author after<br /> receiving an offer from the agent. It is of course<br /> the author&#039;s duty, as a matter of honour, to send<br /> that letter to the agent in whose hands he has<br /> already placed the MS., and whose work for him<br /> has obtained this offer. Unfortunately he does<br /> not always do so. Now, most of these practices<br /> come from failing to understand that transactions<br /> in literature are like those in every other kind of<br /> business, so that the same rules should obtain<br /> between author and agent as between client and<br /> solicitor. Of one thing writers may rest assured,<br /> that any attempt made to detach the author from<br /> his agent can only be due to an intention to<br /> profit by the author&#039;s ignorance. As for the<br /> pretended desire to maintain friendly relations,<br /> a friendship which will not survive the adjust-<br /> ment of honourable terms between two men is<br /> worth nothing — nothing at all. Any person<br /> who ventures to put forth this ridiculous plea<br /> stands self-condemned.<br /> On more than one occasion an agent&#039;s commis-<br /> sion of so much per cent. has been represented to<br /> an author as the deduction of a royalty of so much<br /> per cent. &quot; This amazingly impudent assertion has<br /> been actually accepted and credited Let us there-<br /> fore see exactly what it means. We will suppose<br /> a royalty of 20 per cent., which is a little over<br /> Is. 2d. On a 6s. book. The returns show a sale,<br /> say, of 3OOO copies, which at this royalty means<br /> for the author the sum of £180. On this the<br /> agent takes, say, Io per cent., i.e., 318. Now, if<br /> the commission had been the deduction of a IO per<br /> cent. royalty, the agent would have received £90.<br /> A commission is a percentage on the whole<br /> amount received from royalties or from purchase;<br /> a royalty is a percentage on the advertised pub-<br /> lished price of each copy. This explanation may<br /> seem elementary, but there are really no “sums”<br /> in literary business which are too elementary to<br /> be explained.<br /> “But,” said a publisher plaintively, “why incur<br /> this extra expense P Why not come to me,<br /> as my friends, Lord Addlehede and Professor<br /> Insipiens always have done, direct, and so save<br /> the intervention of the other party P” Let us,<br /> in reply, without calling names, or getting angry,<br /> recognise the plain fact that when a man of<br /> business transacts affairs with a man who does<br /> not understand business, the former always gets<br /> the better of the latter, which is the reason<br /> why Lord Addlehede and the Professor above<br /> named would do well to consider their ways, and<br /> approach their publisher with the help of a man<br /> of business.<br /> The book of the month is, of course, our<br /> President’s new novel, “Lord Ormont and His<br /> Aminta.” A great many have followed it in its<br /> course through the Pall Mall Magazine.<br /> Meredithians—how large a company have they<br /> become !—will rejoice in it, while the old charge<br /> of obscurity certainly cannot be brought against<br /> any of the characters in this the latest, and, in<br /> some respects, perhaps the best of this author&#039;s<br /> remarkable series of novels.<br /> William Watson&#039;s sonnet to France (June 25,<br /> 1894), which appeared in the Westminster<br /> Gazette, seems to me very fine. To France—<br /> “immortal and indomitable France.”<br /> Nation whom storm on storm of ruining fate<br /> Unruined leaves—nay, fairer, more elate,<br /> Hungrier for action, more athirst for glory !<br /> It is the gift and the privilege of the poet to<br /> speak the voice of one nation to another in days<br /> of great sorrow or great disaster, as well as in<br /> days of great joy and great victory. William<br /> Watson speaks to France for England:<br /> Little thou lov’st our island—<br /> Yet let her in these dark and bodeful days,<br /> Sinking old hatreds &#039;neath the sundering brine—<br /> Immortal and indomitable France —<br /> Marry her tears, her alien tears, to thine.<br /> The premature death of Mr. John Underhill<br /> from some affection of the brain—a tumour<br /> apparently—took place on Wednesday, June 27,<br /> at his residence, Wimbledon. Mr. Underhill was<br /> only twenty-nine years of age. He was born at<br /> Barnstaple, where he was privately educated by<br /> the Rev. Dr. Cunningham Geikie, at that time<br /> vicar of Barnstaple. He developed an intense<br /> love for books and for everything that belongs<br /> to literature. It became obvious that no career<br /> except that of literature was possible for him.<br /> He therefore came to London proposing such<br /> a career. He was armed with one or two<br /> letters of introduction. One of these was to<br /> Mr. W. T. Stead, who was at that time assistant<br /> editor, or actual editor, of the Pall Mall<br /> Gazette. Mr. Stead assisted the lad, as he has<br /> assisted many others, by giving him a start. He<br /> placed him in his office and taught him<br /> journalism. He remained on the staff of the<br /> Pall Mall Gazette till a few weeks ago, when<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 49 (#63) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 49<br /> he resigned his post, intending to devote<br /> himself entirely to literature. As an original<br /> writer he would not have succeeded; he knew<br /> his own limitations, and aspired only to the<br /> humbler but not less useful work of editing,<br /> annotating, writing biographies, and compilations.<br /> That is, he would never have become a bookmaker;<br /> but he would have been, and was already, a<br /> most useful and trustworthy editor. His private<br /> character was beyond all reproach ; he was<br /> always, as a journalist, on the side of honour and<br /> of truth; as a reviewer he was wholly unin-<br /> fluenced by personal feelings, he was incapable<br /> of rancour or of spite. That he had his own<br /> way to make in the world only increases the<br /> honour of having made his way so far with so<br /> much distinction. That he made friends every-<br /> where is a proof of his generous and sympathetic<br /> mature. He was especially engaged at the time<br /> of his death on a history of journalism. He<br /> leaves behind him a young widow and one<br /> child.<br /> WALTER BESANT.<br /> *- a .sº<br /> GEORGE ELIOT AND HER CREED,<br /> NE little story of George Eliot&#039;s childhood<br /> has lingered ſong in my memory, for in a<br /> measure it typified the creed shaping each<br /> novel and story, long after it ceased to be her<br /> personal one, remaining the much more widely<br /> diffused faith she chose to give to the world in<br /> her books. When a child at school, an essay was<br /> given her to write, and the subject set was God,<br /> little Marian Evans drew upon her paper, for sole<br /> essay, a large eye.<br /> And does not each novel and poem inclose<br /> the awful eye of unsleeping, unforgetting fate P<br /> For no single character is ever allowed “to fly<br /> responsibility.”<br /> Her mind hardly seems to have been wrought<br /> into creative sympathy with the thought of the<br /> nineteenth century; although her youth witnessed<br /> an era of great political reform, and her middle and<br /> later life was surrounded by the most advanced<br /> literary and philosophic thoughts of this century.<br /> Notwithstanding all these stirring influences at<br /> work around her, to a large extent her imaginative<br /> and constructive force remained alien to the<br /> “march of events,” political and social, which<br /> swept past her, and left her, the dispassionate his-<br /> torian of the provincial scenes of her early youth,<br /> and of fifty years earlier. Her creed at times<br /> discloses a tendency to an almost barren fatalism,<br /> her characters invariably creating an adverse<br /> destiny for themselves, woven out of their<br /> early follies and failures. Like the cruel god-<br /> mother of a fairy tale, George Eliot possesses<br /> the fearful and mysterious gift of dowering<br /> her dramatis personae with some one fatal, irradi-<br /> cable weakness, which the reader foresees from<br /> the beginning of their history pre-destines them<br /> to certain failure and disaster; the retributive<br /> justice of inexorable consequences frustrating<br /> their every effort to right themselves or retrace<br /> their hapless steps through the labyrinths of<br /> early sins and errors, a creeping Nemesis being<br /> evolved at each step, to hunt them down till they<br /> sink into the slow torture of their moral and<br /> social death. Maggie Tulliver, the slave of<br /> generous impulse, is doomed to high failure, with<br /> her gift of feeling and thinking nobly, yet of<br /> acting impulsively in crucial moments; from the<br /> early days of childhood, when on a visit to a<br /> severe aunt she upsets brother Tom&#039;s tea by the<br /> bestowal of a too impulsive caress, given at an<br /> inauspicious moment, down to the time when, a<br /> beautiful young woman, she runs away with<br /> Stephen, gliding, indeed, but a small way down<br /> the stream of temptation, but awaking to a sense<br /> of duty too late to save appearances or irreme-<br /> diable grief to those she best loved. So that<br /> when the choice of utter renunciation of personal<br /> happiness is made, her initial error has robbed<br /> self-sacrifice of the first bloom of dignified<br /> heroism, and her life has turned to the dull ache<br /> of failure and inadequate retrieval; but this is<br /> finely transmuted into the heroism of her death.<br /> Running up and down the gamut of George<br /> Eliot&#039;s creations, each one is the sport of some<br /> apparently wilfully self-created destiny; a Jugger-<br /> naut car of untoward consequences set loose upon<br /> the victim of circumstances; heredity and free<br /> will engaged in ceaseless warfare for the possession<br /> of the human soul.<br /> Lydgate, the lowable doctor in “Middlemarch,”<br /> full of enthusiasm for his profession and a great<br /> tenderness for the suffering—has not the author<br /> chosen that fate should use him too grievously<br /> ill, when she gave him a lovely, heartless,<br /> shallow wife, whom he had chosen to wed, partly<br /> from the fact that, with all his brilliant gifts<br /> and winning traits, there is in his character just<br /> a tinge of intellectual egoism which made him<br /> count brains superfluous in the woman he<br /> married; that lack of finer judgment making<br /> him lose his hold on the ennobling ideals of life.<br /> Yet these little flaws in Lydgate&#039;s character<br /> doom him to be another soul&#039;s tragedy of<br /> baulked achievement, and he tells his wife in<br /> late years, with sad irony, that she is like a<br /> certain plant which is known to flourish best on<br /> dead men&#039;s brains. Perhaps a less inexorable<br /> moralist than George Eliot would have con-<br /> ferred happiness upon him, later in his life, by<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 50 (#64) ##############################################<br /> <br /> so<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> the bestowal of Dorothea&#039;s love, but so stern a<br /> moralist is seldom happy in the contemplation of<br /> too much unaccounted for happiness, unrelated<br /> to moral sequence—unweighed in the judicial<br /> moral scales.<br /> At times, one half suspects, the force of these<br /> ethical strictures arose from a lack of ideality,<br /> for an idealist abhors the fixity of moral judg-<br /> ments. George Sand, her French prototype, who<br /> suffered from an excess of luminous ideality,<br /> seldom or never passed moral judgment on her<br /> creations, for with her was the large tolerance of<br /> the humanist, and the love which says, com-<br /> prendre, c&#039;est pardoner.<br /> In the “Spanish Gipsy” is worked out the<br /> modern conception of the forces of heredity,<br /> playing through the woof and warp of indivi-<br /> dual character, which she thus defines: “I saw it<br /> might be taken (the drama of the ‘Spanish<br /> Gypsy”) as a symbol of the part which is played<br /> in the general human lot by hereditary conditions<br /> in the largest sense, and of the fact that what<br /> we call duty is entirely made up of such condi-<br /> tions, for even in cases of just antagonism to the<br /> narrow view of hereditary claims the whole back-<br /> ground of the particular struggle is made up of<br /> our inherited nature. Suppose for a moment<br /> that our conduct at great epochs was determined<br /> entirely by reflection, without the immediate<br /> intervention of feeling which supersedes reflec-<br /> tion, our determination as to the right would<br /> consist in an adjustment of our individual needs<br /> to the dire necessities of our lot, partly as to<br /> natural constitution, partly as sharers of life<br /> with fellow beings. Tragedy consists in the<br /> terrible difficulty of this adjustment, ‘the dire<br /> strife of poor humanity’s afflicted will struggling<br /> in vain with ruthless destiny.’”<br /> “The collision of Greek tragedy is often that<br /> between hereditary entailed Nemesis and the<br /> peculiar individual lot, awakening our sympathy<br /> for the particular manor woman whom the Nemesis<br /> is shown to grasp with terrific force. . . .”<br /> IHence sprang the abiding sadness of George<br /> Eliot&#039;s creed, the insistent sombre criticism of<br /> life and human effort. Her private letters to her<br /> personal friends are melancholy reading, so often<br /> do her words limp between headache and peren-<br /> nial pessimism. Her literary career, however,<br /> was a smooth one, she served no long probation<br /> to the muse, her genius burst full blown upon a<br /> world which received it with unqualified praise,<br /> and she won success without ever experiencing that<br /> “grace of discouragement” by which Browning<br /> climbed to the bracing heights of his rare<br /> optimism.<br /> Did the gloom of her moral dynamics crush<br /> out of her the capacity for being happy?. She<br /> did not labour under the bane of being in too<br /> great advance of her time, nor of heralding<br /> unpopular truths; for her genius lay rather in<br /> presenting the old truths with matchless wit and<br /> pathos, than in lending that great genius to light<br /> the birth of the new. GRACE GILCHRIST.<br /> *~ * ~ *<br /> BOOK TALK,<br /> R. EDMUNID GOSSE has admitted into<br /> M the International Library, of which he<br /> is the editor, two novels by authors<br /> who have been previously represented in the<br /> series. The novels are “Farewell Love,” from<br /> the Italian of Matilde Serao, the author of<br /> “Fantasy,” and “The Grandee,” from the<br /> Spanish of Armando Palacio Valdés, the author<br /> of “Froth.” Whether it was the great success<br /> which attended the publication of “Fantasy.”<br /> in English, or whether the Editor considers<br /> “Farewell Love&quot; to be the superior novel, does<br /> not appear from his introduction. Though perhaps<br /> the fact that it is a most enjoyable book would be<br /> reason enough for publication. Mr. Gosse lays<br /> great stress on the fact that the author is a jour-<br /> malist, and “all her life has been spent in minis-<br /> tering to appetites of the vast rough crowd that<br /> buys cheap Italian newspapers.” The story is<br /> true to its title; it tells of love and jealousy, of<br /> a baulked elopement, an unfortunate marriage,<br /> and self-destruction. One passionate scene<br /> follows another so quickly that the reader is<br /> surprised by the skill with which the real<br /> wickedness of the characters is concealed. There<br /> is a husband—one Cesare Dias—who is extremely<br /> like “Grandcourt,” cold, cynical, and “not<br /> a wordy thinker.” Except that he is Italian,<br /> he has a thoroughly English hatred for scenes,<br /> and finds his romantic young wife Anna Dias<br /> — née Aquaviva — a bore, and tells her so.<br /> In fact, previous to their engagement we are<br /> told she had taken the humiliating step of<br /> declaring her love; and here are three charac-<br /> teristic letters showing what happened : “Dear<br /> Anna, All that you say is very well; but I don’t<br /> know yet who the man is that you love.—Very<br /> cordially, Cesare Dias.” She read it, and<br /> answered with one line : “I love you.-Anna<br /> Aquaviva.” Cesare Dias waited a day before he<br /> replied: “I)ear Anna, Very well. And what<br /> then P-Cesare Dias.”—The translation is by<br /> Mrs. Harland, and reads very smoothly, though<br /> there is one odd phrase on p. 63: “‘Would you<br /> like a rose?” She asked to placate him.”<br /> Quite recently Mr. Grant Allen, in the West-<br /> minster Gazette, told us Londoners to go to Italy<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 51 (#65) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 5 I<br /> and revel in beauty denied us here. One would<br /> think that in default we could not do better than<br /> read the novels of Matilde Serao.<br /> “The Grandee” is a powerful story, turning on<br /> the horrible subject of cruelty to children, or in<br /> this case rather to one particular child. The<br /> author describes the state of society in a Spanish<br /> town called Lancia, thirty or forty years ago,<br /> which is identified for us by the editor as Oviedo,<br /> a place of about Io,000 inhabitants, the capital of<br /> Asturias. It is with the private life of a few of the<br /> leading families in this town that the reader has<br /> to make himself acquainted, and, though he must<br /> not expect anything much more than the visits<br /> of friends, the description of At-homes and<br /> marriage fêtes, there is, in spite of some Sameness,<br /> hardly a dull page in the book. It is most inte-<br /> resting to note how, in spite of the narrowness<br /> of life which is generally found in provincial<br /> towns, the Spaniards here described never seem<br /> to be at a loss for an enlivening incident. The<br /> stock-in-trade of their amusement is, it is true,<br /> the eternal subject of match-making, which is<br /> described as being carried on with great vigour<br /> by the elders, in spite of their constant mistakes.<br /> We are uncertain whether the author intends to<br /> reprove this custom or not, for indirectly he cer-<br /> tainly brings out that it shielded the hero in his<br /> adultery, enabling him to appear in public as the<br /> accepted suitor of one lady while he is the lover<br /> of another. This is the more amusing side of the<br /> book; but, as we have said, there is another aspect<br /> which is not only extremely serious, but is of<br /> such a nature that we cannot help wondering<br /> what moral conclusion different readers will draw<br /> from it. That well-to-do people have been known<br /> to treat young children with cruelty cannot be<br /> denied, and Mr. Gosse writes: “Nor do the<br /> reports of Mr. Benjamin Waugh permit us to<br /> question that such horrors are daily committed<br /> at our own doors.” This brings the matter so<br /> directly into the sphere of practice that we may<br /> look to the pages of this novel for light on the<br /> question of child protection, actually under dis-<br /> cussion by those who are not simply interested<br /> out of curiosity, but deeply moved by the subject.<br /> We may suppose that, in spite of its danger to<br /> liberty, some people would ask for increased<br /> powers of obtaining evidence, when they were<br /> reasonably certain cruelty was being practised.<br /> The lesson we draw from this work is of a diffe-<br /> rent nature. We must remember that to abuse<br /> the parent is part of the bias of some professional<br /> men, notably the pedagogue and the cleric, and<br /> therefore in any case of alleged cruelty it is well to<br /> try and discover what the actual parentage of the<br /> child is, otherwise there is a danger of legislation<br /> being based on false information. The point<br /> that comes out most clearly in “The Grandee”<br /> is that where the victim is illegitimate as much<br /> would be gained by altering the position of such<br /> children, and so stopping the temptation to cruel<br /> treatment, as can possibly be gained by legisla-<br /> tion, which would also interfere with the well-<br /> established duties of lawfully married parents<br /> towards their children. Mr. Gosse also raises<br /> another nice point, “Whether these maladies of<br /> the soul are or are not fit subjects for the art of<br /> the novelist is a question which every reader<br /> must answer for himself.” To which it may be<br /> suggested, by way of reply, that as long as there<br /> are customs which shield gross immorality, the<br /> art of the novelist is well employed in laying<br /> bare the evil, lest these matters should fall into<br /> the hands not of the novelist, but of the sensation-<br /> monger, and become the cause of hurried and<br /> ill-considered legislation. The translation of<br /> “The Grandee’’ is by Miss Rachel Challis, and<br /> it seems to read quite as easily as many English<br /> novels; but we should like to know what authority<br /> the translator has for making the word “lover”<br /> feminine.<br /> Mr. Gilbert Parker&#039;s latest story, “The Trans-<br /> lation of a Savage,” is one which must come as a<br /> happy surprise to the most persistent novel<br /> reader. Whether the main idea is really possible<br /> we do not care to ask, because the author has<br /> used it so well that any carping criticism tending<br /> to spoil the illusion, when we have been given so<br /> much pleasure, would be entirely out of place.<br /> We are to take it for granted that an American<br /> Indian, the daughter of the chief of her tribe,<br /> being sent on her marriage with an English<br /> General’s son to his family in England, could be<br /> translated, as Mr. Parker calls it, into a refined<br /> member of English society. Once grant this<br /> difficulty, and then the amusement which arises<br /> out of the process of “translation” meets us at<br /> every page. We are not bored with details as to<br /> how the transformation is brought about, but the<br /> force of example and surroundings do much, and<br /> personal devotion does the rest. Only once does<br /> the young lady, as we may call her, really forget<br /> to be English, and then she takes to riding madly<br /> across her father-in-law&#039;s property in the dress<br /> and style of her tribe. A child is born to her in<br /> England, but her husband remains in Canada,<br /> and she has learnt to hate him. The reason of<br /> all this it is not our business to tell. The matter-<br /> of-fact reader who could find fault with Mr.<br /> Parker for his choice of incident would be very<br /> foolish indeed, for we have here a story in which<br /> the author has been able to depict malice and<br /> revenge, as well as true love and friendship, in a<br /> compass long enough to make one good volume,<br /> but with such a charming narrative style that<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 52 (#66) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 52<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> nearly every reader will make a point of finishing<br /> it at a single sitting. +<br /> Mr. Austin’s new volume, “The Garden that I<br /> Love,” has much in it to awaken the envy of his<br /> fellow poets. He obtained the lease of an old<br /> manor house, and the reader will learn how he<br /> converted it to suit the author-gardener&#039;s taste<br /> and his sister Weronica&#039;s sense of comfort and<br /> house room. It will be seen that, though the<br /> |book is properly enough named, it is more the<br /> garden-lover&#039;s leisure and his talks with his two<br /> guests rather than the garden apart that we have<br /> to hear about. Of the guests one is a poet, who<br /> is not only so in name but recites his own poetry,<br /> the other a young lady called Lamia. The garden<br /> becomes the happily suggestive subject for con-<br /> versation which takes a wide range from the<br /> almost frivolous to the lofty and serious. Of the<br /> two women “Veronica ’’ and “Lamia,” we prefer<br /> the latter, though poetic justice is done by<br /> making Veronica, the housekeeping lady, who<br /> has a sweet sense of tidiness, marry the poet.<br /> Her redeeming quality is a love for old-fashioned<br /> goods, especially if she can purchase them cheap.<br /> As to Tamia, with one’s recollection of Keat&#039;s,<br /> her name would suggest, not a reptile itself, for,<br /> though there four persons in this garden—two<br /> pairs—it is not the serpent of Eden she suggests,<br /> but the power of sudden transformation, always<br /> seeming to be possessed by a demon of contra-<br /> diction. Paying due attention to the large<br /> number of flowers, shrubs, and trees which are<br /> here given, some under their popular, others<br /> under their Latin names, we have allowed our-<br /> selves to imagine the author doing the honours<br /> of “The Garden that he Loves” to Lady<br /> Corisande, to Dr. Rappacini and his lovely<br /> daughter, and with almost equal pleasure to<br /> Mrs. Gardiner—Gardiner by name and gardener<br /> by nature as Tom Hood describes her. Lady<br /> Corisande would find much that is old fashioned<br /> and sweet smelling—just her garden in favoured<br /> spots, over which to grow enthusiastic. Dr.<br /> Rappacini would be able to ponder over the<br /> contrast between his own—the garden of an<br /> herbalist—and the garden that the poet loves.<br /> Mrs. Gardiner would find a friend who would<br /> understand at once why, in spite of her widow’s<br /> weeds she should still say of herself “I am<br /> single and white ” and of her maiden neighbour<br /> “she is double and bloody.” But we think these<br /> three visitors would each have asked how the<br /> Ampelopsis Veitchii got there, which belongs not<br /> to manor-houses and poets, but to the jerry-<br /> builder of the suburb. In the manor-house, if<br /> anywhere, the old Virginia creeper should hold<br /> its own.<br /> The Tennyson memorial, which is to be erected<br /> tion of a work by Wilhelm Joseph<br /> on “the ridge of the noble down &#039;&#039; at Freshwater,<br /> will be an international and not a local under-<br /> taking. The Americans are showing an active<br /> interest in the project. Mr. Arthur Warren, the<br /> London correspondent of the Boston Herald,<br /> who resides during a portion of each year in the<br /> Isle of Wight, is a member of the committee<br /> having the memorial in charge, and his recent<br /> appeal to his countrymen has resulted in the<br /> organisation of an American committee, which<br /> has among its members Dr. Oliver Wendell<br /> Holmes, Miss Alice Longfellow, a daughter of<br /> the poet, Mrs. Burnett, daughter of the late<br /> James Russell Lowell, President Eliot of Harvard<br /> University, Mrs. Agassiz, the widow of the great<br /> naturalist, Professor Charles Eliot, Norton, T. B.<br /> Aldrich, Margaret Deland, the author of “John<br /> Ward, Preacher,” Professor Shaler, Mrs. James<br /> T. Melds, the widow of the publisher who intro-<br /> duced Tennyson, as well as Carlyle, to American<br /> readers, Dana Estes, the head of the publishing<br /> house of Estes and Lauriat, Mrs. Julia Ward<br /> Howe, Miss Sarah Orne Jewett, the Hon. Robert<br /> C. Winthrop, Mr. Martin Brimmer, and Mr.<br /> PIowells. The English committee met at Fresh-<br /> water on Monday, June 5, and accepted the<br /> design which Mr. Pearson, R.A., has submitted<br /> for the memorial. The design is an Iona cross,<br /> 34 feet high, graceful in proportions, and beauti-<br /> fully ornamented. By an arrangement with the<br /> Masters of Trinity House the cross will super-<br /> sede the present Nodes Beacon, a wooden struc-<br /> ture, and will be known as the Tennyson Beacon.<br /> On one face of the base will be carved in bold<br /> 1etters the name “Tennyson,” and on another<br /> face these words: “Erected by friends in Eng-<br /> land and America.” The cross will stand near<br /> the seaward edge of the great down, 716 feet<br /> above high water mark, and will be visible for<br /> many miles by sea and land.<br /> “The Violoncello and its History” is a transla-<br /> Won<br /> Wasielewski. The translation is executed by<br /> Miss Isabella E. Stigand, and the publishers are<br /> Messrs. Novello, Ewer, and Co. There is no other<br /> history of the instrument at all.<br /> “Mr. John Lee Warden Page is of medium<br /> height, his face tanned, and his moustache<br /> bleached in quite an Australian manner by expo-<br /> sure to sun and storm. Mr. Page lives just out-<br /> side Ilfracombe, and only pays flying visits to<br /> London now, though he was once a lawyer in<br /> London.” This notice was intended to be compli-<br /> mentary, and it is therefore unfortunate that it<br /> should contain so many mistakes. Mr. Page&#039;s<br /> second name is Lloyd, not Lee; he is not of<br /> “medium height,” unless six feet is medium ; his<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 53 (#67) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 53<br /> moustache is not bleached at all, either by sun or<br /> by storm; and he has never practised as a lawyer<br /> in London. Still, it might have been much<br /> WOTSé,<br /> We recently mentioned the publication of Mr.<br /> Joseph Hatton&#039;s early novel of “Clytie ’’ as being<br /> published in Swedish, following the success of<br /> his “By Order of the Czar” in that language. It<br /> is interesting to learn that an edition of the<br /> latter sent into Finland has been confiscated by<br /> the Russian authorities. The Swedish Press<br /> appears to be unanimous in its commendation of<br /> “By Order of the Czar,” and in most cases the<br /> criticism is couched in a high spirit of literary<br /> appreciation. The Smaalandposten says: “Of<br /> all the pictures of life in the great Eastern<br /> Empire of Europe which have appeared during<br /> recent years not one, probably, can bear com-<br /> parison with Joseph Hatton&#039;s novelin its startling<br /> vigour of delineation.” The Gothenburg Post<br /> describes the book as “No average commercial<br /> novel, but a literary work of enduring worth; ”<br /> and the Helsingborg Dagblad speaks of “The<br /> epic calm’’ with which the author describes the<br /> many horrors of Russian despotism.<br /> Messrs. Sampson Low announce in their<br /> 2s. 6d. series of novels uniform with Black,<br /> Blackmore, and other popular writers, two novels<br /> of Joseph Hatton previously in their 6s. library,<br /> namely, “The Old House at Sandwich’” and<br /> “Three Recruits and the Girls they Left Behind<br /> Them.” The locality of “The Old House at<br /> Sandwich * is no fiction; the house a reality and<br /> a very interesting one.<br /> “Patient Grizzle,” who was with us a popular<br /> figure till about two centuries ago, would pro-<br /> bably have been quite forgotten by this time if<br /> it were not for Chaucer&#039;s admirable “Clerke&#039;s<br /> Tale,” which still finds numerous readers and<br /> admirers. In Germany the memory of the<br /> heroine of patience has been kept up by Halm&#039;s<br /> famous drama, “Griseldis,” of which Professor<br /> Benbheim has just issued an edition at the<br /> Clarendon Press. The introduction contains,<br /> besides a short “Life &quot; of the author, the<br /> Griselda legend as told by Petrarch and<br /> Boccaccio, and an account of its subsequent<br /> literary treatment in and out of Italy. The<br /> true gist of the drama, with its picturesque<br /> Arthurian background, is shown in the critical<br /> analysis.<br /> Rürschner’s “Deutscher Litteratur Kalendar ”<br /> which, thanks to the full notices, brought on<br /> this valuable literary annual by the Spectator<br /> and the Literary World, is now fairly well<br /> known in this country, has made its sixteenth<br /> appearance both enlarged and improved. Every<br /> information as regards living German authors<br /> and literary institutions now flourishing in<br /> Germany, may be found in this publication in<br /> a condensed form, so that it is not to be<br /> wondered at that the Litteratur-Kalendar was<br /> honoured two years ago, together with the same<br /> editor&#039;s highly useful Staatshandbuch, with a<br /> prize at Chicago. We have yet to add that<br /> the publication of the annual has been trans-<br /> ferred to the well-known firm of G. J. Göschen<br /> at Stuttgart.<br /> A story entitled “Phil Hawcroft&#039;s Son,”<br /> by Gerda Grass, will run in serial form<br /> through the Newcastle Weekly Chronicle from<br /> July 14.<br /> Mr. L. J. Nicholson, who is known among his<br /> friends as “The Bard of Thule,” is about to pub-<br /> lish, by Mr. Gardner, Paisley and London, a<br /> volume of his poems, which will be entitled<br /> “Songs of Thule.”<br /> Mr. Bloundelle-Burton’s first novel, “The<br /> Silent Shore,” is about to reverse the ordinary<br /> method of procedure adopted by romances, viz.,<br /> having originally appeared in volume form, it is<br /> now going to be run as a serial in several country<br /> papers. It has already been dramatised—at the<br /> Olympic—it was reprinted in the United States,<br /> and it has had the somewhat unusual experience<br /> of running as a serial in the Spanish language in<br /> South America.<br /> A new edition (being the fifth) of “Chitty&#039;s<br /> Statutes of Practical Utility” is just being<br /> brought out by Mr. J. M. Lely, assisted by col-<br /> leagues at the Bar, in about twelve volumes<br /> (Sweet and Maxwell Timited; Stevens and Sons<br /> Limited). It is intended to contain all public<br /> general Acts of Parliament, except those repealed<br /> or obsolete, or applying to Scotland or Ireland<br /> only, or to limited areas only in England, or those<br /> which are of little or no interest to the lawyer or<br /> the general public. The Acts will be fully anno-<br /> tated and indexed. The first volume will appear<br /> in the present month. The publishers are issu-<br /> ing a circular stating that the price of the work<br /> when completed, will be a guinea a volume, but<br /> that a subscription of 6 guineas, prepaid before<br /> Aug. I next, will entitle the subscribers to the<br /> complete work. This is being done in order that<br /> the publishers may ascertain in advance the<br /> approximate number to print. In an editorial<br /> announcement which accompanies the circular,<br /> Mr. Lely states that the Acts comprised will<br /> number some 23OO, and enumerates the titles<br /> under which they will be grouped in alpha-<br /> betical order. The first volume is expected<br /> to contain the titles “Act of Parliament” to<br /> “Charities.”<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 54 (#68) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 54<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> “From Manuscript to Bookstall” ” is the title<br /> of a book on publishing by Mr. A. D. Southam,<br /> It professes to give information on the cost of<br /> production and on the various methods of pub-<br /> lishing. As regards the former, we have to<br /> notice that the charges for composition are in<br /> some cases higher than those in the Society’s<br /> book called the “Cost of Production.” We do<br /> not attach much importance to this discrepancy,<br /> because a printer&#039;s bill is always an elastic thing.<br /> Moreover, it is certainly not the desire of the<br /> Society to cut down the pay of printers and book-<br /> binders, but rather the reverse; therefore, we<br /> welcome the book, so far, and without accepting<br /> its figures, as a step in the right direction.<br /> Above all things, and as the preliminary to<br /> future and better arrangements, we must know<br /> what things mean, what printing and paper cost,<br /> and the rest of it. One notices a curious discre-<br /> pancy repeated in every page of the “Cost of<br /> Production.” It is that for an edition of 500<br /> copies paper is reckoned by the ream, and for a<br /> thousand copies it is reckoned by the sheet, the<br /> ream in the first instance standing for the sheet.<br /> One would advise the compiler of the book to lay<br /> his prices before two or three other firms of<br /> printers when he produces another edition. Some-<br /> thing, too, is desired on the subject of discounts;<br /> the prices given in the Society’s estimates do not<br /> contemplate discounts.<br /> The part of the book devoted to the different<br /> methods of publishing is neither exhaustive nor<br /> satisfactory. For instance, the word royalty is a<br /> very vague expression. We want to know what,<br /> given certain conditions, should be accepted as a<br /> fair royalty; we want to know the meaning of a<br /> deferred royalty,<br /> The thanks of authors are, however, due to the<br /> writer for his recognition of the principles always<br /> advocated by the Society, viz: :<br /> I. The audit of the accounts.<br /> 2. The understanding at the outset of all the<br /> clauses in the agreement.<br /> 3. A voice as to the advertisements where there<br /> is division of profits.<br /> The real “intention” of the book, however, is<br /> to advocate a system of seals or stamps by which<br /> the author shall always know how many copies of<br /> his books have gone into circulation. The method<br /> seems to us cumbrous. It would certainly be<br /> difficult to get publishers to accept the system.<br /> The reader, however, is referred to the book for<br /> the arguments in favour of it.<br /> -*<br /> * “From Manuscript to Bookstall.” By A. D. Southam.<br /> London: Southam and Co., St. Paul’s-buildings, Paternoster-<br /> row. 58.<br /> Mr. Isidore G. Ascher, the author of “An Odd<br /> Man&#039;s Story,” and a Canadian volume of poems,<br /> “Voices from the Hearth,” has just sold Messrs.<br /> Diprose, Bateman, and Co., a one-volume novel,<br /> which will appear in the autumn. It is sensa-<br /> tional and physiological, a somewhat rare com<br /> bination. -<br /> *—- ~ 2--&quot;<br /> r- - -,<br /> CORRESPONDENCE,<br /> I.—GRAMMATICAL : USE of “No R.”<br /> Grammar depends upon usage rather than<br /> logic. Usage depends partly upon logic and<br /> partly on euphony, or upon what is most<br /> readily intelligible when uttered.<br /> The best guide, in questions such as the<br /> present one is neither Murray nor Mason, but<br /> Mätzner, who gives a large number of examples<br /> from standard authors. Those who cannot read<br /> German may consult Grice&#039;s Translation, vol. iii.,<br /> p. 355, &amp;c. -<br /> “It did not rain nor blow&quot; is logically correct.<br /> “It did not rain or blow ’’ is colloquially permis-<br /> sible, chiefly because the sentence is short.<br /> Lengthen it, and observe the difference. We<br /> could hardly say, “It did not rain any longer, or<br /> did it blow at all.” Mätzner shows that even<br /> good authors occasionally use neither—or instead<br /> of neither—nor. But much depends upon the<br /> length and general form of the sentence. I<br /> should advise every author to judge for himself.<br /> To doubt whether the word nor has a right to<br /> exist is needless. Of course it will exist as long<br /> as our language, because in many collocations it<br /> is indispensable. WALTER W. SKEAT.<br /> II.-KICKED OUT.<br /> I sent in the MS. of a short story to a well-<br /> known firm of publishers last February. Ten<br /> weeks afterwards it was returned to me as<br /> unsuitable. I then inquired whether the deci-<br /> sion was final, or if Messrs. So-and-So might<br /> be disposed to divide the risk. They wrote in<br /> reply: “We could not undertake the publication<br /> of the story even if you took the whole of the<br /> risk.”<br /> This struck me as quite a superfluous, un-<br /> friendly sting to add to a rejection.<br /> A SENSITIVE BookMAKER.<br /> Authors’ Club, Whitehall Court, S.W.<br /> III.-REPORTER’s HARD EARNINGs.<br /> . An occasional paragrapher for Le Figaro fell<br /> in debt to a money-lender, who, two years ago<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 55 (#69) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. - 55<br /> (April 25, 1892), served upon that journal an<br /> attachment of all moneys due or payable to the<br /> said journalist. The newspaper rejoined that<br /> there was nothing owing to the reporter, who<br /> received no salary, and was not regularly<br /> employed; but was always paid by the line, day<br /> by day, for every accepted paragraph, “echo,”<br /> or news-item he chanced to supply.<br /> The case was, however, pursued at law by<br /> the money-lender, who alleged the habitual<br /> employment of the journalist by the paper, and<br /> brought his action against the Figaro; but it<br /> dragged on, and it was only on May 3 I last that<br /> the matter was decided.<br /> The 6th Civil Court, having examined a file of<br /> the journal for two months prior to the date of<br /> the attempted setting up of a lien, was of opinion<br /> that the services rendered could not be called<br /> habitual ; but, on the contrary, that the para-<br /> graphs offered and accepted were of an “acci-<br /> dental” type, and showed no such regularity as<br /> would indicate an established engagement. The<br /> court thereupon held that the sale by a contri-<br /> butor of single articles for a sum there and then<br /> paid (which was the case before them) is mere<br /> buying and selling for ready money; that there<br /> existed no inherent right in the journalist&#039;s<br /> relations with this journal which could be con-<br /> strued into matter for seizure or attachment;<br /> and that thus the money-lender had shown the<br /> court nothing which legal process could lay hold<br /> of as attachable. The court therefore decided<br /> for the Figaro, and cast the money-lender in costs.<br /> Outside the court (and inside the journal)<br /> there is a prevalent opinion that if reporters&#039;<br /> scant chance earnings were interceptable in this<br /> fashion, newspapers would very soon be short of<br /> Copy. J. O’N.<br /> IV.-SERIAL RIGHTS ONLY.<br /> “A Journalist” writes informing us that,<br /> “despite the very proper and energetic action of<br /> the Authors&#039; Society in the interest of young<br /> authors, there are still proprietors of publications<br /> who send to contributors with their not too<br /> liberal cheques, formal documents in which the<br /> author is called upon to sign away to them all<br /> rights whatsoever in his work. It cannot be too<br /> frequently impressed upon authors that a contri-<br /> bution to a periodical is for the use of the said<br /> periodical and that only, the copyright for re-<br /> publication remaining with the writer. Further-<br /> more, I see that there is a question as to the<br /> time when payment should be made for contribu-<br /> tions. The money is due and payable when the<br /> accepted MS. is in the hands of the editor. I<br /> know several popular authors, and that is their<br /> ruling. Harper&#039;s, The Century, Scribner&#039;s, The<br /> Idler, The Ludgate Monthly, Macmillan&#039;s, and<br /> The English Illustrated, to which a friend of<br /> mine has contributed, always paid him on the<br /> delivery of his MS. ; then it must, of course, not<br /> be forgotten that the editors wanted his matter.<br /> The very severest terms as to payment from the<br /> honest publishers’ point of view does not go over<br /> a week after publication.”<br /> W.—AN AUTHOR’s GUIDE.<br /> Correspondents in the columns of the Author<br /> have from time to time expressed a wish to see<br /> produced an Authors’ Guide, having for its main<br /> object to give writers some practical and useful<br /> information about the various periodicals, news-<br /> papers, and publishing houses. It is a matter of<br /> complaint that, as things now are, the in-<br /> experienced author is quite unable to form an<br /> opinion for which of the numerous periodicals<br /> and newspapers his articles are most suitable,<br /> upon what terms editors would be willing to<br /> receive them, and also which of the publishing<br /> houses would be most likely to undertake the<br /> publication of any work which he may have<br /> written. It is said that the ignorance which<br /> prevails upon these points is the cause of much<br /> loss of time, unnecessary trouble, and not seldom<br /> of misunderstanding and irritation, and it is<br /> believed that a guide which would help to dispel<br /> this ignorance, and prevent these annoyances<br /> would be welcome to authors, editors, and pub-<br /> lishers alike.<br /> I am now enabled to state that Messrs.<br /> Southam and Co., of St. Paul’s-buildings, 29,<br /> Paternoster-row, have undertaken the publication<br /> of an Annual Authors’ Guide and Directory of<br /> Publishers, Periodicals, and Newspapers, in order<br /> to supply this want, and that they will gratefully<br /> receive any information or suggestions from<br /> members of the Society of Authors, with the view<br /> of making a good start in what it is hoped will<br /> be an annual publication. There is, of course, no<br /> royal road or short cut to literature, and Messrs.<br /> Southam and Co. do not intend to undertake the<br /> impossible task of trying to make one, but they<br /> hope that the book will be of real use to those<br /> who intend to apply themselves seriously to the<br /> profession of letters.<br /> All communications will be treated in con-<br /> fidence. C. B. ROYLANCE KENT.<br /> VI.-QUESTIONS FOR EDITORs.<br /> A circular to the same effect has reached us<br /> from Messrs. Southam and Co.<br /> It is accompanied by a list of questions sub-<br /> mitted to editors. They are as follows:<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 56 (#70) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 56<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I. What class of contributions do you consider<br /> the most suitable for your paper ?<br /> 2. What length of contribution do you<br /> prefer?<br /> 3. What is your scale rate of remuneration for<br /> accepted articles?<br /> 4. What are the conditions to be observed by<br /> authors in sending their contributions and upon<br /> which you are willing to receive and consider<br /> them P -<br /> 5. Then give any information which you think<br /> may be of use to authors in connection with your<br /> publication. -<br /> Please send rates for advertising publications<br /> with the discount for a series and the approxi-<br /> mate circulation.<br /> VII.-“THAMES RIGHTS AND THAMES WRONGs.”<br /> “I4, Parliament-street, S.W., June 1st, 1894.<br /> Sir, Sir Gilbert East has drawn our attention<br /> to a mistake in “Thames Rights and Thames<br /> Wrongs” which we have just published. Sir<br /> Gilbert East was not a conservator at the<br /> time he gave evidence before the Select Com-<br /> mittee of the House of Commons on Thames<br /> Preservation. He was elected on Nov. 23, 1885.<br /> Your insertion of this would greatly oblige,_Your<br /> obedient servants, ARCH. ConstABLE AND Co.”<br /> *- 2-#<br /> g- * ~ *<br /> M. ZoDA’s “Lou RDES.”<br /> Paris, June Io.<br /> A telegram from Rome, published in Paris<br /> this morning, stated that the Congregation of<br /> Rites had put its ban upon M. Emile Zola&#039;s<br /> romance of “Lourdes,” which is being published<br /> by a Roman firm simultaneously with its issue in<br /> Paris. M. Emile Zola was interviewed upon the<br /> subject to-night, and said it was the first time<br /> that such an honour had been conferred upon<br /> him. He was all the more surprised, because<br /> “Lourdes” was not in any sense an attack upon<br /> religion, but simply a perfectly human picture of<br /> what would take place at the famous place of<br /> pilgrimage. One could, he added, be a very good<br /> Catholic, and yet not believe in the miracles of<br /> Lourdes.—Standard, June I I.<br /> *-- * ~ *<br /> a- - --&gt;<br /> NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS,<br /> Theology.<br /> ALEXANDER, REv. S. A. Christ and Scepticism. Isbister.<br /> ANDERSON, ROBERT. A Doubter&#039;s Doubts about Science<br /> and Religion. Second edition. Kegan Paul. 3s. 6d.<br /> BENNETT, PROFESSOR. W. H. The Expositor&#039;s Bible : The<br /> Books of Chronicles. Hodder and Stoughton. 7s.6d.<br /> BUCKHOUSE, EDWARD, AND TYLOR, CHARLEs. Witnesses<br /> for Christ. Second edition, revised and somewhat<br /> abridged. Simpkin, Marshall.<br /> DIDON, REv. FATHER. Belief in the Divinity of Jesus<br /> Christ. &quot; Kegan Paul. 58.<br /> DISCIPLESHIP : THE SCHEME of CHRISTIANITY.<br /> author of “The King and the Kingdom.”<br /> and Norgate.<br /> GOUGH, E. J. Preachers of the Age. The Religion of the<br /> Son of Man. Sampson Low. 3s.6d.<br /> HALL, REv. H. E. Manual of Christian Doctrine, chiefly<br /> intended for confirmation classes. With a preface by<br /> the Rev. W. H. Hutchings. Longmans.<br /> MALDONATUS, JOHN. A. Commentary on the Holy Gospels:<br /> St. Matthew&#039;s Gospel. Part I. Translated and edited<br /> By the<br /> Williams<br /> from the original Latin by George J. Davie. John<br /> Hodges. Is.<br /> MAx MüLLER, F. The Sacred Books of the East. Edited<br /> by. Wol. XLIX. Buddhist Mahāyāna Sūtras. Trans-<br /> lated by E. B. Cowell, F. Max Müller, and J.<br /> Takakusu. Oxford : At the Clarendon Press. Henry<br /> Frowde. I2s. 6d.<br /> MEUGENs, REv. A. M. The Lord’s Prayer, illustrated by<br /> the Lord&#039;s Life. By A. T. M. S.P.C.K. 6d.<br /> PALMER, JOHN. Catechisms for the Young. Second<br /> Series: Teachings from Old Testament History.<br /> Church of England Sunday School Institute. 2s.<br /> Power, REv. P. B. The Husbandry of the Soul.<br /> S.P.C.K.<br /> PRESTON, REv. DR. Anti-Ritualism. With a preface by<br /> the late Rev. Dr. Blakeney. Twelfth thousand, with<br /> appendices. Protestant Reformation Society. 2d.<br /> ROBson, WILLIAM. The Lord’s Supper : Its Form, Meaning,<br /> and Purpose, according to the Apostle Paul. Second<br /> edition, with additions. Elliot Stock.<br /> SINCLAIR, VEN. ARCHDEACON. The English Church and<br /> the Canon Law. The Fourth Charge. Elliot Stock. 6d.<br /> STRONG, JAMEs. The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.<br /> Published by subscription. Hodder and Stoughton. 2 Is.<br /> WEDGwooD, JULIA. The Message of Israel, in the Light<br /> of Modern Criticism. Isbister. 7s. 6d. -<br /> WELSH PULPIT, THE. By a Scribe, a Pharisee, and a<br /> Lawyer. Fisher Unwin. Is.<br /> WILLIAMs, F. J. The Charm of the Presence of Christ.<br /> Partridge. Is.<br /> History and Biography.<br /> BELL, MACKENZIE. Charles Whitehead : A Forgotten<br /> Genius. New ediition, with an appreciation of White-<br /> head by Hall Cane. Ward, Lock. 3s. 6d.<br /> BELL, NANCY. Heroes of North African Discovery.<br /> Fourth edition. Marcus Ward. 3s.6d.<br /> BRITTEN, F. J. Former Clock and Watch Makers and<br /> their Work. Spon. 5s.<br /> CALENDAR of THE PATENT ROLLs preserved in the<br /> Public Record Office, Edward II. 1307-1313. Pre-<br /> pared under the superintendence of the Deputy Keeper<br /> of the Records. Eyre and Spottiswoode.<br /> CAMERON, WILLIAM E. History of the World’s Columbian<br /> Exposition. Edited under the personal supervision of.<br /> Second edition. Chicago: Columbian History Company.<br /> Four parts. 3 dollars each.<br /> CHRISTOPHER, CoLUMBUs. His own Book of Privileges,<br /> *…* 1502. Facsimile of the manuscript in the Archives of<br /> the Foreign Office in Paris, now for the first time<br /> published. Translated by George F. Barwick, with an<br /> historical introduction by Henry Harrisse. The whole<br /> edited, with preface, by Benjamin Franklin Stevens, 4,<br /> Trafalgar-square.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 57 (#71) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 57<br /> CLIMENSON, EMILY J. The History of Shiplake, Oxon.<br /> For subscribers only. Eyre and Spottiswoode.<br /> CUPPLEs, GEORGE. Scotch Deer-Hounds and their<br /> Masters. With a biographical sketch of the author<br /> by James Hutchison Stirling. Blackwood.<br /> DUNN, WALTER T. Records of Transactions of the Junior<br /> Engineering Society. Wol. III.; 1892-3. Edited by.<br /> Published by the Society. -<br /> EHRLICH, A. Celebrated Pianists of the Past and Present<br /> Time. A Collection of 116 Biographies and I 14 Por-<br /> traits. Authorised English edition. H. Grevel. 7s.6d.<br /> FERGUson, RICHARD S. A. History of Westmoreland.<br /> Elliot Stock. 7s.6d.<br /> FISKE, JoHN. Life and Letters of Edward Livingston<br /> Youmans. Comprising correspondence with Spencer,<br /> Huxley, Tindall, and others. Chapman. 8s.<br /> HENDERSON, ERNEST. A. History of Germany in the<br /> Middle Ages. Bell and Sons.<br /> HoPE, MRs. The First Divorce of Henry VIII. 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Golden Treasury Series. Selections<br /> from the Poems of. Macmillan. 2s. 6d.<br /> HoARE, B. GEORGE. The Joys of Home and other Poems.<br /> Inverness: The Cowrier Office.<br /> MATSON, W. TIDD. Poetical Works. Now first collected,<br /> and including a large number of pieces not before<br /> published. Southsea : Stride. Elliot Stock.<br /> MILTON, JOHN. Poetical Works. Edited by John<br /> Bradshaw. 2 vols. Allen. Vol. I, 2s. 6d.; Vol. II.,<br /> 3s.6d.<br /> PHILLIPs, STEPHEN. Eremus : a Poem. Kegan Paul.<br /> 2s. 6d.<br /> PoEMS AND LYRICs of NATURE. Edited, with an introduc-<br /> tion, by Edith Wingate Rinder. Walter Scott. 2s.<br /> RHEYs, ERNEST. A London Rose and other Rhymes.<br /> Elkin Mathews. 5s.<br /> SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM. The Temple Shakespeare.<br /> Measure for Measure and Comedy of Errors. Each<br /> with Preface, Glossary, &amp;c., by Israel Gollancz. TXent.<br /> Is, each.<br /> SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM. THE CAMBRIDGE SHAKE-<br /> SPEARE. Edited by William Aldis Wright. Vol. XVII.,<br /> the First Part of King Henry IV. ; Vol. XVIII., the<br /> Second Part of King Henry IV. 6s. per vol. Macmillan.<br /> SIMPSON, FRED. M. Drawing Room Duologues. Illus-<br /> trated by M. Greiffenhagen. Fisher Unwin. 6s.<br /> STEWART, BEATRICE. Silent Hours. Poems. First series.<br /> Eton : Drake.<br /> WAY, ARTHUR. S. The Tragedies of Euripides, in English<br /> verse. 3 vols. Macmillan. Wol. I. 6s.<br /> Science and Art.<br /> BLACKBURN, HENRY. The Art of Illustration. 95 illustra.<br /> tions. Allen and Co.<br /> BURBRIDGE, F. W., AND SPARKES, J. C. L. Wild Flowers<br /> in Art and Nature. Part W. Arnold. 2s. 6d.<br /> COLLINS, F. HowARD. Epitome of the Synthetic Philo-<br /> sophy. With a preface by Herbert Spencer. Third<br /> vol. (concluding “The Principles of Ethics”). Williams<br /> and Norgate. I5s. net.<br /> DRUMMOND, PROFESSOR. H. The Lowell Lectures on the<br /> Ascent of Man. 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Blackie. 2s. 6d.<br /> LOCKE&#039;s ESSAY CONCERNING HuMAN UNDERSTANDING,<br /> Collated and annotated, with prolegomena, biographical,<br /> critical, and historical. By Alexander Campbell<br /> Fraser. 2 vols. With protrait. Oxford : At the<br /> Clarendon Press. Henry Frowde. 32s.<br /> MARTINDALE, W. Analyses of Twelve Thousand Prescrip-<br /> tions. Compiled by. Lewis. 2s. 6d.<br /> POORE, DR. Dry Methods of Sanitation. Stanford. Is.<br /> PRINGLE, ANDREW. Photo-Micrography. Iliffe and Son.<br /> QUAINE’s ELEMENTS OF ANATOMY. Edited by Professor<br /> Schäfer and Professor Thane. 3 vols. Vol. III.,<br /> part III. Organs of the Senses. By Professor Schäfer.<br /> Tenth edition. Longmans. 9s.<br /> ROYAL ACADEMY PICTUREs, 1894. In five parts. Part W.<br /> Cassell. Is.<br /> SCHULTZE, DRS. G., AND P. JULIUs. Systematic Survey of<br /> the Organic Colouring Matters. Translated and edited,<br /> with extensive additions, by Arthur G. Green. Mac-<br /> millan. 21s.<br /> SKEFFINGTON, DR. WINN. An Exposition of the Fallacies of<br /> the Materialistie Theory and Physiological Psychology.<br /> STOKES, ANSON P. Joint-Metallism. Putnam’s Sons.<br /> |UNWIN, PROFESSOR. The Development and Transmission<br /> of Power. Being the Howard Lectures delivered at the<br /> Society of Arts in 1893. Longmans. Ios.<br /> WYLLIE, W. L., A.R.A. The Tidal Thames. With<br /> twenty full-page photogravure plates and other illustra-<br /> tions, after original drawings. Descriptive letterpress<br /> by Grant Allen. Cassell. 385 15s. 6d.https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/266/1894-07-02-The-Author-5-2.pdfpublication, The Author
267https://historysoa.com/items/show/267The Author, Vol. 05 Issue 03 (August 1894)<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=%3Cem%3EThe+Author%3C%2Fem%3E%2C+Vol.+05+Issue+03+%28August+1894%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 05 Issue 03 (August 1894)</a><a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Publication">Publication</a>1894-08-01-The-Author-5-361–88<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=89&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=5">5</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=76&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1894-08-01">1894-08-01</a>318940801C be El u t b or,<br /> (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)<br /> CON DU CTED BY WALTER BES.A.N.T.<br /> Vol. v.–No. 3]<br /> AUGUST 1, 1894.<br /> [PRICE SIXPENCE.<br /> For the Opinions eaſpressed in papers that are<br /> signed or initialled the Authors alone are<br /> responsible. None of the papers or para-<br /> graphs must be taken as earpressing the<br /> collective opinions of the committee unless<br /> they are officially signed by G. Herbert<br /> Thring, Sec.<br /> HE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all<br /> remittances are acknowledged by returm of post, and<br /> requests that all members not receiving an answer to<br /> important communications within two days will write to him<br /> without delay. All remittances showld be crossed Union<br /> Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered<br /> letter only.<br /> Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on<br /> all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub-<br /> jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are<br /> returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS.<br /> WARNINGS AND ADVICE,<br /> I. T is not generally understood that the author, as<br /> the vendor, has the absolute right of drafting the<br /> agreement upon whatever terms the transaction<br /> is to be carried out. - Authors are strongly advised to<br /> exercise that right. In every form of business, this among<br /> others, the right of drawing the agreement rests with him<br /> who sells, leases, or has the control of the property.<br /> 2. SERIAL RIGHTS.–In selling Serial Rights remember<br /> that you may be selling the Serial Right for all time; that<br /> is, the Right to continue the production in papers. If you<br /> object to this, insert a clause to that effect.<br /> 3. STAMP YOUR AGREEMENTS. – Readers are most<br /> URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements<br /> immediately after signature. If this precaution is neglected<br /> for two weeks, a fine of £10 must be paid before the agree-<br /> ment can be used as a legal document. In almost every<br /> case brought to the secretary the agreement, or the letter<br /> which serves for one, is forwarded without the stamp. The<br /> author may be assured that the other party to the agree-<br /> ment seldom neglects this simple precaution. The Society,<br /> to save trouble, undertakes to get all the agreements of<br /> members stamped for them at no ea pense to themselves<br /> eacept the cost of the stamp.<br /> 4. ASCERTAIN WHAT A PROPOSED AGREEMENT GIVEs To<br /> BOTH SIDES BEFORE SIGNING IT.-Remember that an<br /> arrangement as to a joint venture in any other kind of busi-<br /> ness whatever would be instantly refused should either party<br /> WOL. W.<br /> &quot; . ;<br /> refuse to show the books or to let it be known what share he<br /> reserved for himself. -<br /> 5. LITERARY AGENTs.-Be very careful. You cannot be<br /> too careful as to the person whom you appoint as yowr<br /> agent. Remember that you place your property almost un-<br /> reservedly in his hands. Your only safety is in consulting<br /> the Society, or some friend who has had personal experience<br /> of the agent. Do not trust advertisements alone.<br /> 6. COST OF PRODUCTION.——Never sign any agreement of<br /> which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part,<br /> until you have proved the figures.<br /> 7. CHOICE OF PUBLISHERS.–Never enter into any cor-<br /> respondence with publishers, especially with those who ad-<br /> vertise for MSS., who are not recommended by experienced<br /> friends or by this Society.<br /> 8. FuTURE WORK.—Never, on any account whatever,<br /> bind yourself down for future work to anyone.<br /> 9. PERSONAL RISK.—Never accept any pecuniary risk or<br /> responsibility whatever without advice. +. • ‘<br /> Io. REJECTED MSS.—Never, when a MS. has been re-<br /> fused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises<br /> they may put forward, for the production of the work. *<br /> II. AMERICAN RIGHTS.—Never sign away American<br /> rights. Reep them by special clause. Refuse to sign any<br /> agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the<br /> publisher, unless for a substantial consideration. a<br /> 12. CESSION OF COPYRIGHT.-Never sign any paper,<br /> either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright,<br /> without advice.<br /> 13. ADVERTISEMENTs. --Reep some control over the<br /> advertisements, if they affect your returns, by a clause in<br /> the agreement.<br /> I4. NEVER forget that publishing is a business, like any<br /> other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy<br /> charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with<br /> business men. Be yourself a business man. g<br /> Society’s Offices :- *<br /> 4, PORTUGAL STREET, LINCOLN&#039;s INN FIELDs.<br /> *~ * –”<br /> z- - -<br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.<br /> &amp; .<br /> I. VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive<br /> advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub.<br /> lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his<br /> business or the administration of his property. If the advice<br /> sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member<br /> has a right to an opinion from the Society’s solicitors. If the<br /> case is such that Counsel&#039;s opinion is desirable, the Comº<br /> mittee will obtain for him Counsel’s opinion. . . All this<br /> without any cost to the member. - - . . . ;<br /> . . . . . . . . - G 2<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 62 (#76) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 62<br /> TILE AUTIIOR.<br /> 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright<br /> and publisher&#039;s agreements do not generally fall within the<br /> experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple<br /> to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually<br /> engaged upon such questions for us.<br /> 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past<br /> accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in<br /> order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree-<br /> ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively<br /> so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any<br /> agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor-<br /> mation thus obtained may prove invaluable.<br /> 4. If the examination of your previous business trans-<br /> actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should<br /> take advice as to a change of publishers.<br /> 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro-<br /> posed document to the Society for examination.<br /> 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in<br /> the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish-<br /> ing firm in the country.<br /> 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you<br /> are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are<br /> reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing<br /> the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen-<br /> dence of the writer.<br /> 8. Send to the Editor of the Author notes of everything<br /> important to literature that you may hear or meet with.<br /> *-- - -*<br /> ,- w -s.<br /> THE AUTHORS’ SYNDICATE,<br /> EMBERS are informed :<br /> - I. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate takes charge of<br /> the business of members of the Society. With, when<br /> necessary, the assistance of the legal advisers of the Symdi-<br /> cate, it concludes agreements, collects royalties, examines<br /> and passes accounts, and generally relieves members of the<br /> trouble of managing business details.<br /> 2. That the expenses of the Authors&#039; Syndicate are<br /> defrayed solely out of the commission charged on rights<br /> placed through its intervention. Notice is, however, hereby<br /> given that in all cases where there is no current account, a<br /> booking fee is charged to cover postage and porterage.<br /> 3. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate works for none but those<br /> members of the Society whose work possesses a market<br /> value.<br /> . . 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiation<br /> whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia-<br /> tions are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all<br /> communications relating thereto are referred to it.<br /> 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by<br /> appointment, and that, when possible, at least four days’<br /> notice should be given.<br /> 6. That every attempt is made to deal with the corre-<br /> spondence promptly, but that owing to the enormous number<br /> ºf letters received, some delay is inevitable. That stamps<br /> should, in all cases, be sent to defray postage. 4.<br /> 7. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate does not invite MSS.<br /> without previous correspondence, and does not hold itself<br /> responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice. -<br /> 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for<br /> lectures by some of the leading members of the Society;<br /> that it has a “Transfer Department’’ for the sale and<br /> purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a “Register<br /> of Wants and Wanted * has been opened. Members anxious<br /> to obtain literary or artistic work are invited to com-<br /> municate with the Manager. -<br /> There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services<br /> will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It<br /> is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the<br /> Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in<br /> the Syndicate.<br /> NOTICES,<br /> Tº: Editor of the Author begs to remind members of the<br /> Society that, although the paper is sent to them free<br /> of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very<br /> heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great<br /> many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest<br /> 6s. 6d. subscription for the year.<br /> The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and<br /> communications on all subjects connected with literature<br /> from members and others. Nothing can do more good to<br /> the Society than to make the Author complete, attractive,<br /> and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this<br /> work send their names and the special subjects on which<br /> they are willing to write P -<br /> Communications for the Author should reach the Editor<br /> not later than the 21st of each month.<br /> All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether<br /> members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate<br /> to the Editor any points connected with their work which<br /> it would be advisable in the general interest to publish.<br /> Members and others who wish their MSS. read are<br /> requested not to send them to the Office without previously<br /> communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable<br /> despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in<br /> which they are received. It must also be distinctly under-<br /> stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances,<br /> undertake the publication of MSS.<br /> The Authors’ Club is now open in its new premises, at<br /> 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary<br /> for information, rules of admission, &amp;c.<br /> Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they<br /> have paid their subscriptions for the year P If they will do<br /> this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker&#039;s<br /> order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the<br /> trouble of sending out a reminder.<br /> Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the<br /> warning numbered (8). It is a most foolish and may be a<br /> most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding<br /> for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they<br /> would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five<br /> years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest<br /> or dishonest ? Of course they would not. Why then<br /> hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them-<br /> selves into literary bondage for three or five years P<br /> Those who possess the “Cost of Production ” are<br /> requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15<br /> per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble<br /> of “doing sums,” the addition of three shillings in the<br /> pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding<br /> is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be<br /> added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at<br /> £9 4s. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth<br /> as can be procured; but a printer&#039;s, or a binder&#039;s, bill is so<br /> clastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at.<br /> Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged<br /> in the “Cost of Production” for advertising. Of course, we<br /> have not included any sums which may be charged for<br /> inserting advertisements in the publisher&#039;s own magazines,<br /> or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 63 (#77) ##############################################<br /> <br /> TIIE AUTIIOIP.<br /> 63<br /> often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from<br /> sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket,<br /> by inserting any number of advertisements in his own<br /> magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are<br /> who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those<br /> who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it.<br /> *-* * *-*.<br /> LITERARY PROPERTY.<br /> I.—THE THREE-VoI,UME Nov FL.<br /> T a meeting of the Council of the Authors’<br /> Society it was Resolved that: “The<br /> Council, after taking the opinion of<br /> several prominent novelists and other members of<br /> the Society, and, finding them almost unani-<br /> mously opposed to the continuance of the three<br /> volume system, considers that the disadvantages<br /> of that system to authors and to the public far<br /> outweigh its advantages; that for the convenience<br /> of the public, as well as for the widest possible<br /> circulation of a novel, it is desirable that the<br /> artificial form of edition produced for a small<br /> body of readers only be now abandoned; and<br /> that the whole of the reading public should be<br /> placed at the outset in possession of the work at<br /> a moderate price.”<br /> A very large majority of the opinions received,<br /> including those of the leading novelists, was<br /> in favour of the resolution. Only one opinion<br /> was opposed to it, and desired to support the<br /> three volume system.<br /> By order,<br /> G. HERBERT TIIRING.<br /> The Resolution passed at the meeting of the<br /> council on Monday, July 23, was, so to speak,<br /> dictated by the novelists who are members of the<br /> Society. A “private and confidential” circular<br /> setting forth the main facts of the case and the<br /> principal points open to discussion, was sent by<br /> order of the Chairman to all novelists on the<br /> roll of the Society, asking for an opinion. The<br /> answers received gave the opinions of most<br /> leading novelists, together with those of many<br /> others likely to be affected by the action of the<br /> libraries. One or two left the matter open; one,<br /> especially, pointed out—which is perfectly true—<br /> that the abolition of the three-volume form would<br /> make a beginning more difficult than ever for<br /> a young writer. One desired the continuance of<br /> the present plan; the rest were all against it,<br /> and wrote in support of the one-volume form. So<br /> that the persons most concerned in the matter<br /> have pronounced almost unanimously in favour<br /> of the one-volume and against the three-volume<br /> form. -<br /> Several points of interest have been raised, not<br /> only in these replies, but also in the discussions<br /> on the subject which have been carried on in the<br /> newspapers. For instance, more than one critic<br /> has advocated the one-volume form simply<br /> because it will make the novel shorter. But it<br /> has not yet produced that effect. There is no<br /> rule as to 1-ngth; novels in one volume are very<br /> often as long as novels in three. Moreover, it is<br /> possible for a novel to be quite short, and yet<br /> very ill-constructed. Again, it has been pointed<br /> out that the large type and lightness of the<br /> book make the three-volume form useful for<br /> invalids, but then many books in one volume are<br /> also in large type, and light to hold. -<br /> The point concerning the beginner is strong<br /> and interesting. At first sight one asks why a<br /> beginner has a better chance under the old<br /> system. The reason will be seen by a little<br /> study of figures. Without advertising, a small<br /> edition of a three-volume novel can be produced<br /> for something less than £90, those copies only<br /> being bound that are wanted. If the libraries<br /> take I 30 copies only at 14s. the cost is more than<br /> covered: anything over is profit. A single volume,<br /> half the length of the above, costs, without<br /> mºulding, stereotyping, or advertising, about<br /> £7O for an edition of IOOO. Now a beginner&#039;s<br /> three-volume novel is sometimes considered to be<br /> sufficiently advertised by being placed in the<br /> boxes and on the lists of the libraries. As a<br /> rule the houses which produce these works find<br /> it to their interest to expend very little money<br /> in advertising them. But a single volume wants to<br /> be advertised. Suppose only £20 spent in adver-<br /> tising such a book. Over 500 copies must be taken<br /> before the cost is covered. If the work is moulded<br /> and stereotyped at a cost of £12 more, 600 copies<br /> will be wanted to clear the cost. Who will take<br /> these copies of a book by an unknown writer,<br /> unless he happens to be very good indeed P And<br /> of course a publisher does not publish in the hope<br /> of merely paying his expenses. Now a book by a<br /> new writer which exhausts the first edition does<br /> exceptionally well. These figures show, therefore,<br /> that it is easier to enter by the old way than by<br /> the new.<br /> The strongest point brought out is the strange<br /> fact, which so few have understood, that under the<br /> old system novelists positively do not offer their<br /> books to the world at all, but only to the limited<br /> number of those who subscribe to the libraries—<br /> perhaps 60,000 in all—say, 240,000 readers. The<br /> rest of the world must wait—the whole vast army<br /> of those who read in this country and in India<br /> and in Australia and the colonies, must wait—<br /> until the cheap edition appears. This is an<br /> enormous privilege to the libraries. What cor-<br /> responding advantage does it give to the author P<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 64 (#78) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 64<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> Noue, apparently. What to the publisher ?<br /> None, apparently.<br /> There is another point still. The best chance<br /> for the beginner has hitherto been with one or<br /> two houses which have been privileged to send a<br /> certain number of any novel issued by them to<br /> one of the libraries. This was clearly a privilege<br /> —it is understood to be now at an end—which<br /> might be abused in two ways; first, to the detri-<br /> ment of literature by the production of rubbish;<br /> next, to the detriment of the author, for it was<br /> not necessary to advertise him, or to take any<br /> steps to make him known, or to give him a cheap<br /> edition. Both these things have, in fact, happened.<br /> There are a certain number of novelists wholly<br /> unknown to the world at large, whose works, good<br /> or bad, appear only in a very limited three-<br /> volume edition and are heard of only by a brief<br /> notice in the Athenæum. Will these authors<br /> vanish P Since the privilege has ceased it is<br /> probable that the demand for them by the<br /> libraries will also cease or be reduced to such<br /> narrow limits as to make the vanishing not only<br /> of the author, but of the publisher, a certainty.<br /> In the long run it will be better for everybody,<br /> because the author, if only for self-preservation,<br /> will become far more careful over his work, and<br /> there will be a survival of the fittest.<br /> Yet the three-volume novel will not suddenly<br /> disappear. There will still be a demand,<br /> especially among sick people, for that form of<br /> reading which demands no thought and not much<br /> attention; which diverts the mind without<br /> fatigue; which transports the reader to another<br /> and a more pleasant atmosphere, with a book<br /> easy to hold, light, and in large print. It is not<br /> a highly dignified function to amuse the weakened<br /> in mind and body by illness, but it is at all events<br /> useful, and so long as libraries give enough to<br /> the publisher to make it worth his while to<br /> continue, and the publisher gives the author<br /> enough to make it worth his while to continue,<br /> the old system will probably be carried on.<br /> The appeal to the whole world of readers opens<br /> up a great field for speculation. Will the world<br /> of readers respond? Remember that it is not a<br /> sudden and an unexpected appeal. We have<br /> experience: we can answer confidently that in the<br /> case of favourite authors readers certainly will<br /> respond. And an author can now create his<br /> reputation so rapidly—one could point to many<br /> reputations made within the last year or two—that<br /> there seems to be no fear about the future of the<br /> better class of writers. Unknown authors, and<br /> those who have their reputation still to make,<br /> will certainly not leap into popularity by the mere<br /> fact of being issued in one volume; nor will the<br /> public buy a book by an unknown writer at<br /> six shillings any more readily than at thirty<br /> shillings.<br /> Objection has been taken to the Resolution on<br /> the ground that publishers, since they buy the<br /> books, have the sole right to manage their own<br /> property. Quite true, if they buy the books.<br /> But they do not. Except in a very few cases they<br /> issue the books on a royalty system. There are two<br /> or three publishers who buy, and these will doubt-<br /> less continue to manage their own property in their<br /> own way; it is a good plan—in some cases the best<br /> plan—for the author to sell his book, provided<br /> he knows what he is about, or works by means of<br /> a man of business who knows the meaning of<br /> literary property. But in most cases the royalty<br /> is the system, and on this system, which is one of<br /> joint adventure, with a fiduciary obligation on<br /> the publisher, the author has undoubtedly the<br /> right to consider the administration of his own<br /> property. What certain papers do not realise is<br /> the change that has of late come upon the whole<br /> business of publishing—the greater independence<br /> of the author, his claims to open partnership, his<br /> knowledge of a business which has hitherto been<br /> kept profoundly secret, the rush of new pub-<br /> lishers, and the increased competition. -<br /> The last point to consider is the price of the<br /> future. Since below a certain level nobody<br /> buys books at all, it would be absurd to make<br /> books too cheap. Besides, a thing of little price is<br /> apt to be lightly regarded. We must, however,<br /> remember that for most people six shillings is a<br /> good deal to pay, even reduced to 4s. 6d., for an<br /> author unless one greatly desires to possess him.<br /> We may also remember that the area of readers<br /> extends every year by hundreds of thousands; that<br /> the free libraries as well as the schools are doing<br /> us an immense service in continually enlarging<br /> this field, and that the taste for reading brings<br /> with it the desire for possession. It seems, there-<br /> fore, safe to predict that books desirous of speak-<br /> ing to many—what book is not so desirous P-<br /> will be issued at such a price as to be within the<br /> reach of many; that the six-shilling book will<br /> before long become the three-shilling book ; that<br /> where a popular writer is now advertised to be in<br /> his sixtieth edition he will then be in his six<br /> hundredth. There is absolutely no limit to the<br /> enlargement of the vast circle of readers who, in<br /> fifty years will be calling for the work of a<br /> popular writer, living or dead. It is ten years<br /> since some of us recognised this truth and pro-<br /> claimed it. During these ten years we have again<br /> and again proclaimed it. Those who cannot get<br /> outside of London; those who know nothing about<br /> the extent and the needs of the Empire, or even<br /> of this little island; those who are still governed<br /> by the prejudice of believing that below a certain<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 65 (#79) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 65<br /> line everybody reads “slush ’’ if he reads any-<br /> thing; cannot be made to understand this fact.<br /> How the literature of the future will be affected by<br /> this increased demand is another question. Mean-<br /> time, we have to deal with the wants of the present,<br /> which seems to ask for a book which costs four<br /> and sixpence, while the circle is being enlarged.<br /> As for the circulating libraries, they must con-<br /> tinue in some form or other, because reading is<br /> now a habit, a recognised way, in country places,<br /> at least, of spending part of the day; and all the<br /> popular writers together cannot produce enough<br /> material to fill up that part of the day all the<br /> year round.<br /> II.-Ass IGNMENT OF CONTRACT.<br /> The following is a case submitted to counsel as<br /> to the right of assigning an agreement to pub-<br /> lish : -<br /> Instructions from Solicitor to Counsel.<br /> Counsel will see from the agreement, that the<br /> author agreed to grant the right of publication of<br /> a work to the publishers until the number of copies<br /> sold should have reached 6ooo, all details of the<br /> publishing—as to size, price, and advertising, &amp;c.<br /> —being left to the publishers, who agreed to<br /> publish a cheap edition of the said work at their<br /> own expense and risk, and to pay to the author<br /> one-half of the net profits arising from sales, the<br /> author reserving to himself the right of publish-<br /> ing an édition de luate of the work. And counsel<br /> will observe that there are provisions in the<br /> contract as to rendering of accounts, &amp;c.<br /> Subsequent to the date of the contract the<br /> publishers, formerly a private firm, were formed<br /> into a limited company under a name corre-<br /> sponding with the name of the private firm, with<br /> the addition of the word “Limited.” All the<br /> business, goodwill, &amp;c., was taken over by the<br /> limited company, but no express notice of this<br /> appears to have been given to the authors of<br /> books which the old firm were publishing, or, at<br /> any rate, no such notice was received by the<br /> author in question. After the date of the transfer<br /> of the business to a limited company, however,<br /> the author received from the company a letter<br /> inclosing account of sales, &amp;c., up to date, and<br /> signed by the name of the firm, with the addition<br /> of the word “limited,” one of the former partners<br /> signing the letter as “Managing Director.” This<br /> appears to have been the first opportunity given to<br /> the author of ascertaining that the publishers had<br /> become a limited company, as he states that he<br /> had heard nothing of the matter previously: but<br /> even on the receipt of the accounts he did not<br /> observe the alteration in the firm, and therefore<br /> took no objection to his book being continued to<br /> be published by the limited company. Counsel<br /> will consider whether the fact of this letter<br /> having been received must be taken to be notice<br /> to the author of the change in the firm, and, if so,<br /> whether the author must be taken to have<br /> acquiesced in the publication of his book by the<br /> limited company, and is so estopped from taking<br /> objection to the book having been assigned to<br /> the limited company without his consent, and to<br /> its being published by them.<br /> From the time of receiving the accounts a year<br /> or two passed, and then the limited company got<br /> into difficulties. A receiver and manager was<br /> appointed by the Chancery Division in an action<br /> commenced by debenture-holders, and later on a<br /> resolution was passed for voluntary winding-up,<br /> and the same gentleman was appointed liquidator<br /> as had been appointed receiver.<br /> On hearing of this the author wrote to the<br /> receiver and manager protesting against his<br /> book having been assigned to the limited com-<br /> pany without his consent.<br /> According to an account rendered to the<br /> author by the receiver there was up to the date<br /> of his appointment a loss on the book.<br /> Counsel will please advise :<br /> I. Assuming the author is not to be taken to<br /> have acquiesced in the transaction, and to be<br /> estopped from objecting, whether he had the<br /> right to object to his book having been assigned<br /> to a limited company, and if he is estopped from<br /> making this objection ?<br /> 2. Can he object to the liquidator and<br /> receiver of the company continuing to sell the<br /> book P *-<br /> 3. Whether the liquidator and receiver is<br /> liable to pay the share of profits in full from the<br /> date of his appointment P<br /> 4. Would the parties be entitled to go on<br /> selling for an unlimited time in the present state<br /> of affairs, i.e., while the business of the company<br /> is being carried on by a receiver ?<br /> 5. If the company were reconstructed, would<br /> they be entitled to go on selling P -<br /> 6. Would the liquidator and receiver be<br /> entitled to make over the book to another<br /> publishing firm without the consent of the<br /> author P w<br /> Counsel&#039;s Opinion.<br /> I. Whenever the due execution of a contract<br /> involves the personal skill and ability of one con-<br /> tracting party, he cannot assign the contract to a<br /> stranger without the consent of the other con-<br /> tracting party. In this case the author bargained<br /> for the personal skill and attention of the pub-<br /> lishers whom he selected ; and he cannot be com-<br /> pelled to accept the skill and attention of some<br /> substitute whom they select.<br /> But as, in all probability, some, if not all, the<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 66 (#80) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 66<br /> THE AUTIIOR.<br /> members of the original firm entered into the<br /> employ of the new company, and some, if not all.<br /> of the persons employed by the former firm<br /> continued to do for the company precisely the<br /> same work as they had done previously for the<br /> firm, the court will presume on very slight<br /> evidence that the author assented to, or acquiesced<br /> in, the assignment of his contract to the limited<br /> company. Such an assignment would not<br /> appreciably affect the prospects of a profit being<br /> earned. In this case I think it would be held<br /> that the author did so acquiesce, or that, at all<br /> events, he is estopped by his conduct from denying<br /> that he acquiesced.<br /> 2. Assuming, then, that the author acquiesced<br /> in the assignment of the contract to the new<br /> company, it follows that he cannot object to the<br /> liquidator and receiver doing any act reasonably<br /> necessary for proper realisation of the assets of<br /> the company in liquidation. The receiver has, in<br /> my opinion, the right to sell any copies of the book<br /> which were in stock at the date of the petition,<br /> and probably also to bind up any quires printed<br /> at that date: but he may not, in my opinion, create<br /> any new copies by printing a fresh edition from<br /> stereos.<br /> 3. If any profit were made by the receiver<br /> selling the copies which were in type at the date<br /> of the petition, I incline to think that the author<br /> would be entitled to receive his share of the<br /> profits in full from that date; but I express no<br /> confident opinion on this. I fear the point will<br /> not arise. Should the receiver publish a fresh<br /> edition with the author&#039;s consent, then I am clear<br /> that the author would be entitled to receive his<br /> half of the profits of that edition in full.<br /> 4. The receiver is entitled, in my opinion, to<br /> go on selling the copies which were in type at the<br /> date of the petition, for such period as is properly<br /> occupied by the winding-up of the affairs of the<br /> company.<br /> 5. If the company were reconstructed, the new<br /> company thus constructed would, in my opinion,<br /> have no right to print any further copies of the<br /> book. The new company could buy the stock of<br /> the old company, and sell it to the public ; but<br /> could create no fresh copies without the permis-<br /> sion of the author.<br /> 6. The liquidator can sell the stock of the old<br /> company to anyone he pleases; he cannot convey<br /> to anyone any right to create new copies of the<br /> book.<br /> (Signed) W. BLAKE ODGERs, Q.C.<br /> 4, Elm-court, Temple, E.C.<br /> July, 3, 1894.<br /> s-ºr-º- ºr-<br /> III.—CANADIAN CoPYRIGHT.<br /> The following is a copy of counsel’s opinion on<br /> Canadian copyright from the fresh papers put<br /> before him.<br /> It will be seen that the position of affairs is<br /> very little altered from the English author&#039;s<br /> standpoint, as he is the person, coupled, perhaps,<br /> with the Canadian public generally, who will<br /> suffer most by the proposed change of law in<br /> Canada. •<br /> Counsel&#039;s Opinion.<br /> The new documents before me consist of<br /> (I.) A copy of a memorandum by Sir John<br /> Thompson dealing with the report of the Depart-<br /> mental Committee on Canadian Copyright, and<br /> (2.) A clause in the Canadian Tariff Bill which<br /> proposes, after March 27, 1895, to remove the<br /> ad valorem duty payable on foreign reprints<br /> payable under the Canadian Act of 1868.<br /> Sir John Thompson&#039;s memorandum does not<br /> deal with the details of the Canadian Act of<br /> 1889, but is an attempt to answer some of the<br /> objections to the principle of that Bill set forth<br /> in the departmental committee report, and to<br /> show that the Canadian Legislature ought to be<br /> allowed to repeal the Copyright Act of 1842 so<br /> far as regards Canada, and to deprive the British<br /> author of his rights in order to foster the<br /> Canadian printing and publishing interests.<br /> It does not appear to me that I can usefully<br /> follow all the arguments contained in the memo.<br /> randum on the above question, or that it is<br /> within the scope of my instructions to do so.<br /> They are all based on the fallacy that the<br /> Canadian publishers and printers have some<br /> inherent right to have the profit of publishing<br /> and printing the works of British authors, and<br /> that if the latter do not find it necessary or<br /> convenient to publish or print in Canada the<br /> Canadian Legislature has a right to make them<br /> do so, and that to deny them this right is to<br /> deprive them of the benefit of self-government.<br /> Such arguments (even when supported appa-<br /> rently by a threat of separation in case they are<br /> not yielded to, as stated in page 12 of the report)<br /> do not appear to require to be answered at<br /> length. The argument which does, perhaps,<br /> require special notice, is that drawn from the<br /> example of the United States. With regard to<br /> this it is to be observed that in the case of the<br /> United States the British author had under the<br /> circumstances to accept such terms as were<br /> offered, but that such acceptance did not in any<br /> way involve a recognition of the justice of these<br /> terms, and it would be most unfortunate if this<br /> exceptional case were to be drawn into a prece-<br /> dent. If it were, it might become necessary for a<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 67 (#81) ##############################################<br /> <br /> TIII,<br /> 67<br /> A UTIIOIR.<br /> work to be reprinted and published separately in<br /> every British colony. The Society will no doubt<br /> itself consider the memorandum, and will have<br /> no difficulty in drawing up a full reply if thought<br /> desirable, but I cannot see that the arguments<br /> contained in it were such as to require a detailed<br /> reply. All that it seems to me to be necessary<br /> for the Society to do at present is to submit to the<br /> Home Government that Sir John Thompson&#039;s<br /> memorandum affords no answer whatever to the<br /> reasons given in the report of the Departmental<br /> Committee against the passing of an Act to con-<br /> firm the Canadian Act, pointing out that the<br /> demand for legislation appears to come solely<br /> from the Canadian printer and publisher, and<br /> that it would be most unfair that their industries<br /> should be fostered and protected at the expense<br /> of the rights of authors as established by Impe-<br /> rial legislation and the Berne Convention. A<br /> protest should also be added against the case of<br /> the United States being turned into a precedent<br /> for Imperial or Colonial legislation ; the result of<br /> the system of protection insisted on there is no<br /> doubt unfortunate for the Canadian printer and<br /> publisher, but that is not, or ought not to be, a<br /> reason for extending it to Canada or elsewhere.<br /> The endeavour should rather be to induce the<br /> United States to abandon its present policy.<br /> There is no sign in the memorandum that<br /> Canada would be prepared to accept any such<br /> licensing system as that suggested in pars. 55<br /> and 56 of the departmental report, and it there-<br /> fore does not seem necessary to deal with it at<br /> present. The objections to it would appear to<br /> be the difficulty in fixing the amount of the<br /> royalty, and in securing its collection when fixed;<br /> but if it would solve the present difficulty it<br /> might be worth acceptance.<br /> If the memorandum is dealt with shortly, as I<br /> have suggested, the Society should of course<br /> intimate that if there are any particular points<br /> on which further information is desired, or which<br /> are thought to require a further answer, it would<br /> be glad of an opportunity of considering them.<br /> With regard to the proposed repeal of the ad<br /> valorem duty on foreign reprints, it appears that<br /> the Colonial Office has already pointed out that<br /> repeal would or might be invalid as repugnant<br /> to the Order made under the Foreign Reprints<br /> Act, on the faith of such duty being imposed.<br /> The Society should, I think, consider whether<br /> there is any objection to that Order, so far as it<br /> affects Canada, being repealed, if the Canadian<br /> Government should insist on doing away with<br /> the duty. So far as I can see there is none; the<br /> only person who would have any reason to com-<br /> plain would be the Canadian reader, for whose<br /> especial benefit the Foreign Reprints Act was<br /> WOL. W.<br /> passed. I ought perhaps to point out that it is<br /> not at all clear that the repeal of the ad valorem<br /> duty would be invalid. -<br /> |Under the Foreign Reprints Act the Order in<br /> Council only authorises the admission of reprints<br /> so long as the Colonial Act affording protection<br /> to British authors is in force, from which it<br /> would seem that the colony is at liberty to repeal<br /> this protection if it is prepared to give up the<br /> benefit of the Order in Council. I think it would<br /> be as well for the Society to endeavour to find<br /> out what is the object of the Canadian Legislation<br /> in repealing a duty they do not appear to have even<br /> collected, except in very few cases, and in thereby<br /> depriving Canadian readers of the benefit of an<br /> Act supposed to have been passed for their<br /> special advantage. J. Rolt.<br /> 4, New-square, Lincoln’s-inn,<br /> June 18, 1894.<br /> On Monday, June 25, a meeting of the special<br /> committee on Canadian copyright was called at<br /> Mr. John Murray&#039;s offices, 50, Albemarle-street.<br /> The following is a list of the names of the<br /> committee, and the interests represented:—<br /> Sir John Lubbock, Bart., M.P. -<br /> Edward Ashdown, H. R. Clayton, Music Pub-<br /> lishers. s<br /> Frank Bishop, H. S. Mendelssohn, Photo-<br /> graphers.<br /> F. R. Daldy, T. N. Longman, the Copyright<br /> Association. -<br /> H. O. Arnold Foster, Edward Marston, Pub-<br /> lishers&#039; sub-section of Chamber of Commerce.<br /> H. Rider Haggard, W. E. H. Lecky, Authors.<br /> Arthur Lucas, Alex. Tooth, Fine Arts.<br /> John Murray, Publisher.<br /> G. Herbert Thring, W. Oliver Hodges (Barris-<br /> ter-at-Law), Society of Authors. *<br /> W. Agnew, D. C. Thompson, Printsellers&#039;<br /> Association.<br /> The business before the committee was “To<br /> consider the proposals received from Canada,<br /> respecting Anglo-Canadian copyright, and to<br /> agree as to what action should be taken thereon.”<br /> Mr. John Murray was voted into the chair. ..<br /> After some discussion, and considering the<br /> unwieldy size of the committee, it was decided to<br /> appoint a sub-committee as representative of the<br /> different sections as possible to consider carefully,<br /> and in detail, the Canadian proposals, and to<br /> draft an answer to lay before the Colonial Office,<br /> which answer would first, however, be submitted<br /> to the general committee for its approval. --<br /> The members of the sub-committee elected for<br /> that purpose were: H. R. Clayton, Musical<br /> Publishers; F. R. Daldy, Copyright Association;<br /> EI<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 68 (#82) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 68 TIIE<br /> A UTIIOIP.<br /> Arthur Lucas, Fine Arts; G. Herbert Thring,<br /> the Authors’ Society.<br /> The sub-committee was subsequently called<br /> together, and met on Monday, July 2, at 4, Portu-<br /> gal-street, the offices of the Society of Authors.<br /> Mr. Daldy took the chair, and before opening the<br /> discussion stated that he thought the plans of<br /> the sub-committee must be slightly altered, as he<br /> saw from the Times that the question of Canadian<br /> copyright was being brought before the meeting<br /> of colonial delegates at Ottawa. He proceeded<br /> to inform the sub-committee that he had con-<br /> sented, with the approval of Her Majesty’s<br /> Government, to attend the Canadian meeting,<br /> both to hear what the Canadians had to say and<br /> to keep the English authors&#039; point of view pro-<br /> minently before the meeting.<br /> The sub-committee accordingly determined to<br /> adjourn its meeting until Mr. Daldy&#039;s return, but<br /> read through provisionally the Canadian sugges-<br /> tions, in order to put before Mr. Daldy the salient<br /> points of objection to the proposed legislation.<br /> IV.-Con TRIBUTORS AND CoPYRIGHT.<br /> A form of receipt issued by the Religious<br /> Tract Society is thus headed:<br /> COPYRIGHT.<br /> This receipt conveys the copyright to the trustees of<br /> the Religious Tract Society with liberty for them, at their<br /> discretion, to republish in any form. Republication by<br /> authors on their own account must be the subject of special<br /> arrangement.<br /> If this receipt is sent to the contributor with-<br /> out previous special agreement conveying not only<br /> the serial right, but also the copyright to the<br /> Society for the consideration of a certain sum<br /> paid, the contributor should refuse signature or<br /> he should strike his pen through the above words.<br /> If the Religious Tract Society refuses to pay<br /> without these words, he should then, unless his<br /> necessities compel him to endure everything,<br /> lace the business in the hands of the secretary<br /> of the Authors&#039; Society. Nothing is more certain<br /> than that a paper offered to any magazine is<br /> offered, unless the contrary is stated, on the<br /> usual terms, under Section XVIII. of the Act,<br /> viz., the right for separate publication to be<br /> matter of separate agreement between author and<br /> proprietor of the magazine during the period<br /> prescribed by law of twenty-eight years, when the<br /> right to publish separately again reverts to the<br /> author. Unless, therefore, the copyright and the<br /> right to republish without the author&#039;s sanction<br /> are bought by special agreement, the author has<br /> the right to veto the republication by any other<br /> person during the term aforesaid. Observe that<br /> the condition above quoted indicates that the<br /> copyright may be valuable, and therefore the<br /> author should keep all his rights or make a sepa-<br /> rate contract. If it is valuable it must be bought,<br /> and not taken. -<br /> [The following is Section XVIII. of the Act<br /> above referred to :—“XVIII. And be it enacted,<br /> That when any publisher or other person shall,<br /> before or at the time of the passing of this Act,<br /> have projected, conducted, and carried on, or shall<br /> hereafter project, conduct, and carry on, or be the<br /> proprietor of any encyclopædia, review, magazine,<br /> periodical work, or work published in a series of<br /> books or parts, or any book whatsoever, and<br /> shall have employed or shall employ any persons<br /> to compose the same, or any volumes, parts,<br /> essays, articles, or portions thereof, for publica-<br /> tion in or as part of the same, and such work,<br /> Volumes, parts, essays, articles, or portions shall<br /> have been or shall hereafter be composed under<br /> such employment, on the terms that the copy-<br /> right therein shall belong to such proprietor, pro-<br /> jector, publisher, or conductor, and paid for by<br /> such proprietor, projector, publisher, or con-<br /> ductor, the copyright in every such encyclopædia,<br /> review, magazine, periodical work, and work<br /> published in a series of books or parts, and in<br /> every volume, part, essay, article, and portion so<br /> composed and paid for, shall be the property of<br /> Such proprietor, projector, publisher, or other<br /> conductor, who shall enjoy the same rights as if<br /> he were the actual author thereof, and shall have<br /> such term of copyright therein as is given to the<br /> authors of books by this Act; except only that<br /> in the case of essays, articles, or portions forming<br /> part of and first published in reviews, magazines,<br /> or other periodical works of a like nature, after<br /> the term of twenty-eight years from the first<br /> publication thereof respectively the right of pub-<br /> lishing the same in a separate form shall revert<br /> to the author for the remainder of the term given<br /> by this Act: Provided always, that during the<br /> term of twenty-eight years the said proprietor,<br /> projector, publisher, or conductor, shall not.<br /> publish any such essay, article, or portion<br /> separately or singly, without the consent<br /> previously obtained, of the author thereof, or his<br /> assigns: Provided, also, that nothing herein con-<br /> tained shall alter or affect the right of any person<br /> who shall have been or who shall be so employed.<br /> as aforesaid to publish any such his composition<br /> in a separate form who by any contract, express<br /> or implied, may have reserved or may hereafter<br /> reserve to himself such right; but every author<br /> reserving, retaining, or having such right shall be<br /> entitled to the copyright in such composition<br /> when published in a separate form, according to<br /> this Act, without prejudice to the right of such<br /> proprietor, projector, publisher, or conductor as<br /> aforesaid.] -<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 69 (#83) ##############################################<br /> <br /> TIII. A UTIIOIR.<br /> 69<br /> THE LAUREATESHIP.<br /> HERE seems an inclination, perhaps an in-<br /> tention, on the part of the Government to<br /> allow the office of Poet Laureate to fall<br /> into abeyance.<br /> This abeyance, if it continues, will certainly end<br /> in abolition, because an ancient thing may easily<br /> be destroyed, but is with great difficulty created<br /> alléW.<br /> Why should it be left in abeyance P There are<br /> two reasons which may influence the Premier :<br /> First, the impossibility of finding a successor to<br /> Tennyson of equal weight; and, next, the diffi-<br /> culty of selection, with the certainty of hostile<br /> criticism whatever appointment be made.<br /> It seems to some, however, highly desirable<br /> that the appointment should be filled up. Among<br /> other considerations the following are advanced :<br /> I. It is an office of considerable antiquity,<br /> honoured by the names of Spenser, Ben Jonson,<br /> Dryden, Southey, Wordsworth, and Tennyson.<br /> It has been continued and recognised as an office<br /> of the State for 300 years.<br /> 2. It is the only recognition of literature offered<br /> by the State. By no other office, appointment, or<br /> distinction, does the State take the least notice of<br /> literature.<br /> The question of the national distinctions in<br /> relation to literature has been frequently discussed<br /> in these columns. It is true that there are members<br /> of this Society whose position in the world of letters<br /> entitles them to the highest consideration, who do<br /> not think that the interests of literature would be<br /> advanced by the creation of distinctive honours or<br /> the granting to men of letters those distinctions<br /> and orders now reserved for the Services. But it is<br /> also true that there are other men of letters, also<br /> of position, who hold that for a State not to<br /> recognise literature is to teach the people that<br /> literature is not worthy of honour. Now the<br /> office of Poet Laureate is, to repeat, the only<br /> attempt made by the State to show that poetry<br /> is deserving the honour and recognition of the<br /> people.<br /> 3. The argument that, because Tennyson stood<br /> higher than his confrères there is to be no<br /> successor, if applied to other offices and titles of<br /> distinction would very soon lead to the abolition<br /> of all such offices. There would be left, in short,<br /> no distinctions at all.<br /> 4. The argument that hostile criticism would<br /> follow any appointment would, if applied to<br /> other distinctions, equally lead to their abolition.<br /> The king is dead; another king must follow. It<br /> is not at all a question whether the choice will<br /> please every one. Again, hostile criticism would<br /> WOL. W. -<br /> die away as quickly as it arose. However hostile,&#039;<br /> it would hurt nobody; on the supposition that.<br /> the Premier had made the appointment without<br /> regard to Party, and with the sole object of<br /> nominating the man he considered best, he could<br /> suffer no possible harm; nor could the newly<br /> appointed Laureate, whose name and reputation<br /> must be already before us, suffer any harm.<br /> After all, the worst that can be said in such a<br /> case is that an anonymous critic considers A. a.<br /> very much better poet than B. Besides, it is<br /> surely unworthy of a Prime Minister to fear<br /> hostile criticism in matters of literature when he<br /> cannot escape it in politics.<br /> 5. The fact that such an appointment gives.<br /> great importance to a poet in the eyes of the<br /> world may also be considered. When a Regius<br /> Professor of Greek is appointed, the new Pro-<br /> fessor is lifted at once far above his fellow<br /> scholars. Yet there may be among these as good<br /> Greek scholars. Nobody doubts this. But nobody,<br /> in consequence, proposes that the Regius Pro-<br /> fessorship of Greek should be abolished for fear<br /> of giving him an importance above his fellow<br /> scholars. w<br /> 6. In such a case as this, public opinion— .<br /> meaning the opinion of the cultivated public—<br /> points out a certain number of living poets as the<br /> fittest for the appointment. It is not a question<br /> whether there are men of Tennyson’s stature, but<br /> solely who are the available men in poetry with-<br /> out reference to opinion, Party, or any other<br /> point whatever ?<br /> 7. There are, in the opinion of most literary<br /> men, whose opinion is not likely to be asked,<br /> poets who are entirely worthy to fill a post<br /> occupied by the Poets Laureate of the past;<br /> and there is so much promise in the work of the<br /> younger men, that, in their interests alone, the<br /> distinction ought to be preserved. -<br /> 8. There is no question of expense. It must be .<br /> allowed by all that this meagre national recogni-<br /> tion of Literature is made on the cheapest possible<br /> terms. If it be thought that the very modest<br /> income attached to the distinction has anything to<br /> do with the desire to retain this solitary honour,<br /> bestowed upon Poetry among those distributed on<br /> the Services and Law, not to speak of Physic and<br /> Art, it might be found desirable to deprive the<br /> Laureateship of its income.<br /> These considerations are advanced as a few of<br /> those which influence many of this body in their<br /> desire to maintain the office and to see it filled<br /> again as soon as possible.<br /> On the eve of the general holidays nothing can<br /> be done except to place on record these few notes.<br /> It may be added, however, that some of the<br /> members are desirous of bringing the matter<br /> - H 2<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 70 (#84) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 70 TIII. A UTII.O.IP.<br /> before the council with an invitation to some<br /> public expression of opinion, if that should seem<br /> good to the collective wisdom of the Society.<br /> *-- * ~ *<br /> z-- ~s<br /> CIVIL LIST PENSIONS.<br /> I.<br /> HE list of pensions granted during the year<br /> ended June 20, 1894, and charged upon the<br /> Civil List, is as follows: Miss Adeline Amy<br /> Leech, only surviving sister of the late Mr. John<br /> Leech, in addition to pensions of £25 and £IO<br /> already granted to her, 335; Professor T. W. Rhys<br /> Davids, in recognition of his merits as a student<br /> of Oriental literature, 32do; Mrs. Sophia Eder-<br /> sheim, in recognition of the merits of her late<br /> husband, Dr. Edersheim, as a writer on theology<br /> and Biblical criticism, 375; Mrs. Elizabeth<br /> Baker Mozley, in recognition of the merits of her<br /> late husband, the Rev. Thomas Mozley, 375; the<br /> Rev. Wentworth Webster, in consideration of his<br /> researches into the language, literature, and<br /> archaeology, of the Basques, 3150 ; the Lady<br /> Alice Portal, in recognition of the distinguished<br /> services of her late husband, Sir Gerald Herbert<br /> Portal, 3150; Mr. T. H. S. Escott, in considera-<br /> tion of his merits as an author and journalist,<br /> 281 oo; Mr. John Beattie Crozier, in consideration<br /> of his philosophical writings and researches, 250;<br /> Dr. Thomas Gordon Hake, in recognition of his<br /> merits as a poet, 365; Mr. Samuel Alfred Warley,<br /> in consideration of his services to electrical<br /> science, 3850; Mrs. Amy Cameron, in considera-<br /> tion of the services rendered to geographical<br /> science by her late husband, Captain Werney<br /> Lovett Cameron, £50; Mrs. Ellis Margaret<br /> Hassall, in consideration of the services of<br /> her late husband, Dr. Arthur Hill Hassall,<br /> 3850; Miss Matilda Betham-Edwards, in con-<br /> sideration of her literary merits, £50; Mrs.<br /> Ratharine S. Macquoid, in consideration of<br /> her contributions to literature, 35o ; Miss<br /> Rosalind Hawker and Miss Juliet Hawker in<br /> consideration of the literary merits of their late<br /> father, the Rev. Stephen Hawker, 325 each. The<br /> total of the pensions amounts to £12Oo.<br /> II.<br /> “Mr. Bartley asked the Chancellor of the<br /> Exchequer a question concerning one of the<br /> names in this List.<br /> “The Chancellor of the Exchequer: Civil Lis;<br /> pensions are not intended, as the hon. Imember<br /> appears to suppose, for ‘literary men and women<br /> in necessitous circumstances.’ The sixth section<br /> of the Civil Trist Act (I Wict. cap. 2) provides that<br /> they may be granted to ‘such persons only as<br /> have just claims on the Royal beneficence, or<br /> who, by their personal services to the Crown, by<br /> the performance of duties to the public, or by<br /> their useful discoveries in science and attain-<br /> ments in literature and the arts, have merited the<br /> gracious consideration of their Sovereign and the<br /> gratitude of their country.”<br /> “Mr. Bartley asked whether it was a fact that<br /> practically this bounty had always been given to<br /> reward those who were in necessitous circum-<br /> stances; whether it had ever yet been given to<br /> persons who were fairly well off and did not<br /> require it ; and whether there were not a great<br /> number of necessitous persons in literature and<br /> science to whom this grant would have been of<br /> much greater service.<br /> “The Chancellor of the Exchequer: I must<br /> answer in the negative every one of these<br /> questions. I have never yet heard that the late<br /> Lord Tennyson was in necessitous circumstances.”<br /> — Times.<br /> *—- - -º<br /> * * *—s<br /> THE AMERICAN MEMORIAL TO KEATS,<br /> N Monday, July 17, the bust of Keats,<br /> executed by Miss Anne Whitney, of<br /> Boston, Mass., and given to the English<br /> nation by a small body of Americans, lovers of<br /> the poet, was unveiled at Hampstead parish<br /> church, in the presence of a very large assem-<br /> blage. The memorial was received by Mr.<br /> Edmund Gosse, on behalf of English men and<br /> women of letters.<br /> The bust was presented by Mr. J. Holland<br /> Day, the secretary of the American Memorial<br /> Committee. He stated in a brief address that<br /> it was by the wish of his committee that the<br /> monument should be erected in the church of the<br /> place where Keats spent his few happy days. The<br /> memorial itself was highly approved by the late<br /> Mr. Lowell. The bust was modelled twenty years<br /> ago by Miss Whitney, and the bracket supporting<br /> it was designed by Mr. Bertram Goodhue.<br /> Mr. Edmund Gosse replied as follows:<br /> It is with no small emotion that we receive<br /> to-day, from the hands of his American admirers,<br /> a monument inscribed to the memory of Keats.<br /> Those of us who may be best acquainted with<br /> the history of the poet will not be surprised that<br /> you have convened us to the church of Hamp-<br /> stead, although it was not here that he was born<br /> nor here that he died. Yet some who are present.<br /> to-day may desire to be reminded why it is that<br /> when we think of Keats we think of Hampstead.<br /> It is in his twenty-first year, in 1816, that we<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 71 (#85) ##############################################<br /> <br /> TIII)<br /> A UTIIOIR. 7 I<br /> find the frst record of his ascent of this historic<br /> eminence. He appears, then, on the brow of<br /> Hampstead Hill as the visitor, as the disciple of<br /> Leigh Hunt, in his cottage in the Vale of Health.<br /> He comes, an ardent lad, with great flashing eyes<br /> and heavy auburn curls, carrying in his hand a<br /> wreath of ivy for the brows of Mr. Hunt.<br /> Nearly eighty years ago—this pilgrimage of<br /> boyish enthusiasm—but a few months after<br /> Waterloo. The last rumblings of the long<br /> European wars were dying away in the distance.<br /> Our unhappy contest with that great young<br /> republic which you, Sir, so gracefully represent<br /> to-day, just over and done with. How long ago<br /> it seems, this page of history, how dusty and<br /> shadowy ; and how fresh and near across the face<br /> of it the visit of the boyish poet to his friend<br /> and master on the hill of Hampstead | Such at<br /> all events was the earliest appearance of Keats in<br /> this place, and here the “prosperous opening” of<br /> his poetical career was made. Here he first met<br /> Shelley, Haydon, and perhaps Wordsworth ;<br /> hence in 1817, from under these “pleasant trees”<br /> and the “leafy luxury&quot; of the Vale of Health,<br /> his earliest volume was sent forth to the world;<br /> here, in lodgings of his own at Well-walk, he<br /> settled in that same summer that he might<br /> devote himself to the composition of “Endymion.”<br /> Here his best friends clustered round him—<br /> Bailey find Cowden Clarke, Dilke and Armitage,<br /> Brown and Reynolds. Here it was that, in the<br /> autumn of 1818, he met, at Wentworth-place,<br /> that brisk and shapely lady whose fascination<br /> was to make the cup of his sorrows overflow ;<br /> hence it was that, on Sept. 18, 1820, he started<br /> for Italy, a dying man. All of Keats that is<br /> vivid and intelligent, all that is truly characteristic<br /> of his genius and his vitality, is centred around<br /> Hampstead, and you, his latest western friends,<br /> have shown a fine instinct in bringing here, and<br /> not elsewhere, the gifts and tributes of your love.<br /> If we find it easy to justify the locality which<br /> you have chosen for your monument to Keats, it<br /> is surely not less easy, although more serious and<br /> more elaborate, to bring forward reasons for the<br /> existence of that monument itself. In the first<br /> place, that you should so piously have prepaled,<br /> and that we so eagerly and so unanimously<br /> accept, a marble effigy of Keats, what does it<br /> signify, if not that we and you alike acknowledge<br /> the fame that it represents to be durable, stimulat-<br /> ing, and exalted P For, consider with me for a<br /> moment, how singularly unattached is the repu-<br /> tation of this our Hampstead poet. It rests upon<br /> no privilege of birth, no “stake in the country,”<br /> as we say ; it is fostered by no alliance of powerful<br /> friends or wide circle of personal influences; no<br /> one living to-day has seen Keats, or artificially<br /> preserves his memory for any private purpose.<br /> In all but verse, his name was, as he said, “writ<br /> on water.” He is identified with no progression<br /> of ideas, no religious or political or social propa-<br /> ganda. He is either a poet or absolutely<br /> nothing—we withdraw the poetical elements<br /> from our conception of him, and what is left P<br /> The palestphantom of a livery-stable-keeper&#039;s son,<br /> an unsuccessful medical student, an ineffectual<br /> consumptive lad who died in obscurity more than<br /> seventy years ago. .<br /> You will forgive me for reminding you of<br /> this absence of all secondary qualities, of all<br /> outer accomplishments of life in the career of<br /> that great man whom we celebrate to-day,<br /> because in so doing I exalt the one primary<br /> quality which raises him among the principali-<br /> ties and powers of the human race, and makes<br /> our celebration of him to-day perfectly rational<br /> and explicable to all instructed men and women.<br /> It is not every one who appreciates poetry; it<br /> may be that such appreciation is really a some-<br /> what rare and sequestered gift. But all practical<br /> men can understand that honour is due to those<br /> who have performed a difficult and noble task<br /> with superlative distinction. We may be no<br /> politicians, but we can comprehend the enthu-<br /> siasm excited by a consummate statesman. Be<br /> it a sport or a profession, an art or a discovery,<br /> all men and women can acquiesce in the praise<br /> which is due to him who has exercised it the<br /> best out of a thousand who have attempted it.<br /> This, then, would be your answer to any who<br /> should question the propriety of your zeal or of<br /> our gratitude to day. We are honouring John<br /> Reats—we should reply in unison—because he<br /> did with superlative charm and skill a thing<br /> which mankind has agreed to include among the<br /> noblest and most elevated occupations of the<br /> human intelligence. We honour in the lad who<br /> passed so long unobserved among the inhabitants<br /> of Hampstead, a poet, and nothing but a poet,<br /> but one of the very greatest poets that the<br /> modern world bas seen.<br /> The Professor of Poetry at Oxford reminds me<br /> that Tennyson was more than once heard to<br /> assert that Keats, had his life been prolonged,<br /> would have been our greatest poet since Milton.<br /> This conviction is one now open to discussion, of<br /> course, but fit to be propounded in any assem-<br /> &#039;blage of competent judges. It may be stated, at<br /> least, and yet the skies not fall upon our heads.<br /> Fifty years ago to have made such a proposition<br /> in public would have been thought ridiculous,<br /> and sixty years ago almost wicked. When I was<br /> myself a child, I remember that I met with the<br /> name of Keats for the first time in conjunction<br /> with that of Kirke White, an insipid poetaster<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 72 (#86) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 72 - TIIE<br /> A UTIIOIP.<br /> whose almost only merit was his early death. When<br /> the late Lord Houghton—a name so dear to many<br /> present, a name never to be mentioned without<br /> sympathy in any collection of literary persons—<br /> when Monckton Milnes—as in 1848 he still was—<br /> published his delightful life of Keats, it was<br /> widely looked upon as a rash and fantastic act to<br /> concentrate so much attention on so imperfect a<br /> ‘Career.<br /> But all that is over now. Keats lives, as he<br /> modestly assured his friends would be the case,<br /> among the English poets. Nor among them<br /> merely, but in the first rank of them—among the<br /> very few of whom we instinctively think when-<br /> ever the characteristic versemen of our race are<br /> spoken of. To what does he owe this pre-<br /> eminence—he, the boy in this assemblage of<br /> strong men and venerable greybeards, he who had<br /> ceased to sing at an age when most of them were<br /> still practising their prosodical scales? To<br /> answer this adequately would take us much too far<br /> afield for a short address, the object of which is<br /> simply to acknowledge with decency your amiable<br /> gift. But some brief answer we must essay to<br /> make. -<br /> Originality of poetic style was not, it seems to<br /> me, the predominant characteristic of Keats. It<br /> might have come with ripening years, but it<br /> cannot be at all certain that it would. It never<br /> came to Pope or to Lamartine, to Virgil, or to<br /> Tennyson. It has come to poets infinitely the<br /> inferiors of these, infinitely the inferiors of Keats.<br /> They who strive after direct originality forget<br /> that to be unlike those who have preceded us, in<br /> all the forms and methods of expression, is not<br /> by any means certainly to be either felicitous or<br /> distinguished. There is hardly any excellent<br /> feature in the poetry of I(eats which is not super-<br /> ficially the feature of some well-recognised master<br /> of an age precedent to his own. He boldly takes<br /> down, as from some wardrobe of beautiful and<br /> diverse raiment, the dress of Spenser, of Milton,<br /> of Homer, of Ariosto, of Fletcher, and wears each<br /> in turn, thrown over shoulders which completely<br /> change its whole appearance and lºroportion.<br /> But, if he makes use of modes which are already<br /> familiar to us, in their broad outlines, as the<br /> modes invented by earlier masters, it is mainly<br /> because his temperament was one which impera-<br /> tively led him to select the best of all possible<br /> forms of expression. His excursions into other<br /> people&#039;s provinces were always undertaken with<br /> a view to the annexation of the richest and most<br /> fertile acres. It is comparatively vain to specu-<br /> late as to the future of a man whose work was<br /> all done between the ages of nineteen and four-<br /> and-twenty. Yet I think we may see that what<br /> Keats was rapidly progressing towards, until the<br /> moment when his health gave way, was a crystal-<br /> lisation into one fused and perfect style of all the<br /> best elements of the poetry of the ages. When<br /> we think of Byron, we see that he would pro-<br /> bably have become absorbed in the duties of the<br /> ruler of a nation ; in Shelley we conjecture that<br /> all was being merged in the politician and the<br /> humanitarian, but in Keats poetry was ever<br /> steadily and exclusively ascendant. Shall I say<br /> what will startle you if I confess that I sometimes<br /> fancy that we lost in the author of the five great<br /> odes the most masterly capacity for poetic expres-<br /> sion which the world has ever seen P<br /> |Be this as it may, without vain speculation we<br /> may agree that we possess even in this fragment<br /> of work, in this truncated performance, one of the<br /> most splendid inheritances of English literature.<br /> “I have loved the principle of beauty in all<br /> things,” Keats most truly said, “the mighty<br /> abstract idea of beauty in all things.” It is this<br /> passion for intellectual beauty—less disturbed,<br /> perhaps, by distracting aims in him than in any<br /> other writer of all time—that sets the crown on<br /> our conception of his poetry. When he set out<br /> upon his mission, as a boy of twenty, he entered<br /> that “Chamber of Maiden Thought” of which he<br /> speaks to Reynolds, where he became intoxicated<br /> with the light and the atmosphere. Many of his<br /> warmest admirers seem to have gone with him no<br /> further, to have stayed there among the rich<br /> colours and the Lydian melodies and the enchant-<br /> ing fresh perfumes. But the real Keats evades<br /> them if they pass no further. He had already<br /> risen to graver and austerer things, he had<br /> already bowed his shoulders under the Burden of<br /> the Mystery. But even in those darker galleries<br /> and up those harsher stairs he took one lamp with<br /> him, the light of harmonious thought. The pro-<br /> found and exquisite melancholy of his latest verse<br /> is permeated with this conception of the loftiest<br /> beauty as the only consolation in our jarring and<br /> bewildered world : -<br /> Beauty is truth, truth beauty—that is all<br /> Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.<br /> And now, Sir, we turn again to you and to the<br /> gracious gift you bring us. In one of his gay<br /> moods, Keats wrote to his brother George in<br /> Rentucky, “If I had a prayer to make, it should<br /> be that one of your children should be the first<br /> American poet.” That wish was not realised;<br /> the “little child o&#039; the western wild” remained,<br /> I believe, resolutely neglectful of the lyre its<br /> uncle offered to it. But the prophecies of<br /> great poets are fulfilled in divers ways, and in<br /> a broader sense all the recent poets of America.<br /> are of Keats&#039; kith and kin. Not one but has<br /> felt his influence; not one but has been swayed<br /> by his passion for the ethereal beauty; not one<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 73 (#87) ##############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTIIOI8. 73<br /> but is proud to recognise his authority and<br /> dignity.<br /> The ceremony of to-day, so touching and so<br /> significant, is really, therefore, the pilgrimage of<br /> long-exiled children to what was once the home<br /> of their father.”<br /> Mr. Gosse then read the following sonnet by<br /> Mr. Theodore Watts, which appeared in the<br /> Athenæum of July 14:<br /> Thy gardens bright with limbs of gods at play—<br /> Those bowers whose flowers are fruits, Hesperian sweets<br /> That light with heaven the soul of him who eats,<br /> And lend his veins Olympian blood of day—<br /> Were only lent, and, since thou couldst not stay,<br /> Better to die than wake in sorrow, Keats,<br /> Where even the Sirens&#039; song no longer cheats—<br /> Where Love&#039;s long “Street of Tombs&#039; still lengthens grey.<br /> IBotter to nestle there in arms of Flora,<br /> Ere Youth, the king of Earth and Beauty&#039;s heir,<br /> Drinking such breath in meadows of Aurora<br /> As bards of morning drank, AEgean air,<br /> Woke in Eld’s lonely caverns of Ellora,<br /> Carven with visions dead and sights that were !<br /> Lord Houghton (Lord Lieutenant of Ireland)<br /> then addressed the meeting.” His Lordship<br /> remarked that it was as the son of Richard<br /> Monckton Milnes that he was present that day.<br /> He wished his father could have been spared to<br /> see that ceremony. The last occasion on which<br /> his father appeared in public was at the unveiling<br /> of the memorial to the poet Gray. He could not<br /> conceive anything which would have moved his<br /> father more profoundly than this graceful recog-<br /> nition of a poet of whose life and work he was so<br /> affectionate a student, by a number of dis-<br /> tinguished citizens of that great American Union<br /> which he so loved and honoured, and throughout<br /> the long breadth of which he owned so many<br /> valued friends. It was a most cherished belief<br /> of his that, in spite of the political separation<br /> which he supposed must be for ever, the unity<br /> between the two great countries should be, and<br /> was, preserved in the brotherhood of letters on<br /> the basis of a common great poetical ancestry.<br /> He (Lord Houghton) trusted that he might be<br /> allowed to express his own appreciation of the<br /> honour which was done to the English world of<br /> letters by the graceful homage of so many<br /> American ladies and gentlemen to the poet<br /> Reats, of whom in his day the world was not<br /> worthy, but who was uow regarded as one of the<br /> most beloved of English writers.<br /> Mr. Sidney Colvin said that these memorials<br /> of great men were none too frequent in this<br /> country. Here in Hampstead there were two sites<br /> especially connected with the memory of Keats,<br /> the beloved poet. One was Well-walk, which<br /> * The report which follows is taken from the Hampstead<br /> and Highgate Ea&#039;press of July 21.<br /> still partly retained its ancient features. He<br /> believed that the house in which Keats lived<br /> with Bentley the postman no longer existed—that<br /> Well-walk had been shortened. The bench was<br /> pointed out where he sat, but that was not<br /> altogether satisfactory. However, lower down, in<br /> what was the village of Hampstead, but was now<br /> a town, in John-street, there was remarkably<br /> little change. The house in which he lived, the<br /> garden in which he wrote the famous “Address<br /> to the Nightingale,” still existed. He (Mr.<br /> Colvin) remembered going there, now ten years<br /> ago, with one who had looked upon the features of<br /> Adonaïs—a brother of Charles Wentworth Dilke<br /> —who showed him what the changes were, so<br /> that one could see at Lawn Bank what exactly<br /> were the two houses, in one of which Keats<br /> lived with the Browns. It had often occurred to<br /> him that a benefactor or benefactors might secure<br /> that house and make it a memorial to the poet<br /> who lived and wrote and suffered there. Perhaps<br /> that dream may be realised—perhaps not. In<br /> any case they could not be too grateful to those<br /> American friends who had brought this memorial<br /> now set up in that old parish church of Hamp-<br /> stead. Keats was bound to the American people<br /> by special ties. Several of his collateral descen-<br /> dants were citizens of the United States, and a<br /> great deal of what was warmest in his nature<br /> flowed out to that country in that invaluable<br /> series of charming, enthusiastic letters which he<br /> wrote to his brother and sister-in-law at Touis-<br /> ville. There could be no question that, of all<br /> places to choose for a memorial to Keats, Hamp-<br /> stead was the proper place. The best and almost<br /> the worst of his life were passed here; and it was<br /> in what was then Wentworth House that the first<br /> pangs of the illness from which he was never to<br /> recover laid him low. He (Mr. Colvin) hoped<br /> that here, in the enormously enlarged Hampstead<br /> of to-day, would be found, with its increase of<br /> homes, a proportionate increase of the readers<br /> and lovers of poetry, and that amongst the popu-<br /> lation of this place, as well as amongst the<br /> larger populations represented in that assembly,<br /> there would be found a unanimous sense and<br /> voice of gratitude to the English women and<br /> Englishmen from over the seas who had brought<br /> them that gift.<br /> Mr. Francis Turner Palgrave, Professor of<br /> Poetry at the University of Oxford, said that<br /> Rome, that city wherein were buried three<br /> illustrious, unhappy poets—Tasso, Shelley, and<br /> Keats, and he the youngest—already held two<br /> records of his memory; one the tablet on the<br /> house where he died, the other his gravestone in<br /> the cemetery where he was buried beneath the<br /> wall of Aurelian. Keats&#039; short wandering life<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 74 (#88) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 74 - THE AUTHOIR.<br /> made it difficult to find a decisively fit place for<br /> a memorial in his own country. But he thought<br /> it would be agreed that none better could have<br /> been chosen than Hampstead, where between<br /> 1816 and 1820, many of his brightest and also<br /> his saddest days were spent, where in early youth<br /> he met Hunt and Haydon, and Shelley, where<br /> afterwards, when just seemingly in sight of home<br /> and happiness the fatal signals of consumption<br /> constrained him to confess the terrible Lasciate<br /> ogni speranza, and bid farewell to her who was<br /> never to be his bride. In Hampstead also were<br /> partly written the poems published (1817) in the<br /> first of his three precious volumes, full of un-<br /> tutored fresh delight in nature and friendship<br /> and art, and here, but three years later, some of<br /> those splendid lyrical tales and odes which, as<br /> Alfred Tennyson more than once said to him<br /> (Mr. Palgrave), gave a secure promise that had<br /> life been spared Keats would have proved<br /> our greatest in poetry since Milton. “ By<br /> nothing,” said Matthew Arnold, “is England<br /> so glorious as by her poetry.” The place of<br /> Keats in that sphere was now established,<br /> and needed no words from him. They could<br /> read how this “half-schooled ” youth, the<br /> stablekeeper&#039;s son, the surgeon’s apprentice,<br /> not only by native force and inspiration, but by<br /> most careful devotion to his art, in some four<br /> years&#039; work made himself worthy of the praise<br /> bestowed on him by Tennyson, while he also<br /> gave clear proof that human life in its deepest<br /> and highest sense, yet always under the law of<br /> beauty, would have been the subject of his<br /> maturer verse. Even more than is the usual fate<br /> of high genius, Keats, from his own day onwards,<br /> had been misunderstood. He was held sensuous in<br /> his life and in his poetry, a second Agathon,<br /> wanting in manliness and spirit, a feeble being<br /> in all ways. Yet, on the strength of his own<br /> Writings, his verse and his letters, and also of all<br /> trustworthy records, he ventured to call Keats<br /> not only one of the most profoundly interesting,<br /> but one of the most attractive and most lovable<br /> figures in literature. Manliness, magnanimity,<br /> unselfish devotedness, deep love of friends and<br /> family, chivalry to woman, sensitiveness too<br /> intense for peace of mind, were the dominant<br /> notes of his nature. Whilst wholly free from<br /> Vanity, Keats was personally self-respecting, and,<br /> in that laudable sense, proud, but as to his<br /> abilities and his own work almost pathetically<br /> humble-minded. Young as he was, he bore what<br /> Charles Lamb so truly defined as the surest sign<br /> of the highest genius—sanity. In all that there<br /> was even more promise of life than in his poetry<br /> itself. Thus “lovable and considerate to the last,”<br /> humbly after his wont, not (as misinterpreted)<br /> bitterly, he spoke of his work and name as “writ<br /> in water.” This was a noble soul, strangely and<br /> sorely tried, and let them only add there, Re-<br /> quiescat in pace.<br /> Mr. J. Willis Clark, Registrar of the University<br /> of Cambridge, observed that we were apt to<br /> accept our historic past too passively, and needed<br /> from time to time a gentle awakening by friendly<br /> hands to the duties which it entailed. The bust<br /> they had received that day would not only remind<br /> them of the past, but of those who remembered<br /> that Keats had been left without visible memorial<br /> in his own country. “A thing of beauty is a joy<br /> for ever,” and they rejoiced not only over their<br /> beautiful new possession, but over the graceful<br /> Kindness of those who had given it to them.<br /> Mr. F. H. Day then conducted Mr. Gosse to the<br /> bust, and the latter unveiled it. The “bust &#039;&#039; is<br /> placed on a square base or bracket, like the bust<br /> itself of white marble, against the right-hand<br /> side of the chancel, facing the congregation. A<br /> portrait of the poet, wrought fortunately in his<br /> life-time, has served and, perhaps, inspired the<br /> sculptor. On the bracket is inscribed, in gilt<br /> letters, “To the ever-living memory of John<br /> Reats this monument is erected by Americans,<br /> MDCCCXCIV.”<br /> Mendelssohn’s anthem, “Then shall the<br /> righteous shine forth in their heavenly Father&#039;s<br /> home,” was then sung, with the chorus, “He<br /> that shall endure to the end,” by the choir. A<br /> shortened form of evening prayer concluded the<br /> ceremony.<br /> *- ~ 2-’<br /> ,-- * ~ *<br /> NOTES AND NEWS.<br /> S the three volume novel really ended ? I<br /> think not. A large number of popular<br /> novelists will in future publish in the single<br /> volume first ; a certain number of novels which<br /> have hitherto brought the authors a small sum<br /> will cease to appear, because it will not be worth<br /> the publisher’s trouble to go on producing them<br /> for his share, nor for the author to write them for<br /> his share, which we may be quite certain will in<br /> many cases be made to bear the whole loss.<br /> There will remain a remnant; it will consist<br /> chiefly of those books which, if 200 or so are taken<br /> by the libraries at I Is. a copy, will pay th ir<br /> expenses and something over for the publisher.<br /> The author will receive the glory which awaits<br /> the writer of such a work. One or two writers of<br /> repute will perhaps remain, but not many; the<br /> three volume novel will not be ended all at once,<br /> but it is doomed; it will die, but perhaps more<br /> slowly than we think.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 75 (#89) ##############################################<br /> <br /> TIIE<br /> A UTIIOR. 75<br /> Should the three-volume novel perish without<br /> its farewell hymn P Should there be found no<br /> bard in all this land who would be moved to<br /> say a word of praise and lamentation ? Not so,<br /> The Saturday Review has produced its poet.<br /> The old Three-Decker will not vanish without its<br /> funeral hymn. He is a worthy poet; his numbers<br /> are worthy of the subject. Every writer of three-<br /> volume novels should cut out the poem and frame<br /> it and hang it up. Anonymous (P) singer, we<br /> thank thee! For those who have not read that<br /> dirge here is a sample of its quality.<br /> Rair held the Trade behind us; ’twas warm with lovers&#039;<br /> prayers ;<br /> We’d stolen wills for ballast and a crew of missing heirs.<br /> They shipped as Able Bastards till the Wicked Nurse con-<br /> fessed.<br /> And they worked the old Three-Decker to the Islands of<br /> the Blest.<br /> We asked no social questions, we pumped no hidden<br /> shame; -<br /> We never talked obstetrics when the Little Stranger came ;<br /> We left the Lord in Heaven ; we left the fiends in Hell;<br /> We weren&#039;t exactly Yusufs but—Zuleika didn’t tell!<br /> And through the maddest welter and &#039;neath the wildest<br /> skies,<br /> We&#039;d pipe all hands to listen to the skipper&#039;s homilies;<br /> For oft he’d back his topsle or moor in open Sea.<br /> To draw a just reflextion from a pirate on the lee.<br /> No moral doubt assailed us, so when the port we neared<br /> The Villain took his flogging at the gangway, and we<br /> cheered.<br /> &#039;Twas fiddle on the foc&#039;sle—’twas garlands at the mast,<br /> For every one got married, and I went ashore at last.<br /> I left &#039;em all in couples a-kissing on the decks;<br /> I left the lovers loving and the parents signing cheques—<br /> In endless English comfort, by county-folk caressed,<br /> I left the old Three-Decker at the Islands of the Blest.<br /> IN our notice on the Three Volume Nove]<br /> of last number it was assumed that the Cost of<br /> Production of a small edition was about £I2O.<br /> It is, however, well to consider that there are<br /> cheaper methods. Those novels which are issued<br /> with a view to a short run in the circulating<br /> libraries only, and are not, practically, offered to<br /> the public at all, require little or no advertising.<br /> Agreat saving is therefore effected under that head.<br /> But they are also printed at a much cheaper rate<br /> than that contemplated in the Society’s pamphlet.<br /> The page is smaller, to begin with ; it contains,<br /> as a general rule, about twenty-two lines and<br /> 17O words to a page. There are generally 900<br /> pages in the three volumes, or fifty-six sheets,<br /> as in our estimate. The work is given out to a<br /> cheap printer, who does not employ union men,<br /> and pays his compositors less than 9s. a sheet<br /> for setting up. It will be understood that with<br /> such wages our estimate of 19s. 6d. a sheet for com-<br /> position may be very considerably reduced. If the<br /> work is also given out by a yearly contract, still<br /> further reductions may be made on every item.<br /> In fact such a novel can be produced in this<br /> manner for something like 38o, or even less.<br /> If, therefore, only 250 copies are taken by the<br /> libraries—it is a very common thing for a novel<br /> not to exceed this circulation—we have at I4S., a<br /> return of £175 on an expenditure of £80. It is<br /> clearly therefore in the interests of those who have<br /> hitherto produced these three volume novels to<br /> continue them as long as they possibly cun.<br /> Even with the reduction to IIs. a copy will yield a<br /> return of £1 17 against an expenditure of £80.<br /> The bistory of the novel, when it comes to be<br /> written, will show how it has been issued, at<br /> different times, in three volumes, four volumes,<br /> and even more, for the convenience of the reader,<br /> and to avoid holding a heavy volume; the price<br /> varied in amount, but was always high ; the<br /> people who read them were a small minority,<br /> but they bought books. There was no cheap<br /> edition thought of, because there was no public<br /> outside this small circle of readers. Gradually<br /> the circle widened ; there grew up in many<br /> places, such as Norwich, Lichfield, and other<br /> cathedral towns, circles of readers who wanted<br /> to read more than they could afford to buy.<br /> Already in London the circulating library had<br /> been started. In the country towns book clubs<br /> were established—in many respects much more<br /> convenient than the circulating library. There<br /> were so many book clubs in the country sixty<br /> years ago that any publisher of repute could<br /> place at once a thousand copies of a new work.<br /> This fact explains the great output of nove&#039;s<br /> about that time; it was s) easy to place them<br /> that publishers very naturally thought little<br /> of the quality, and sent out so much rubbish<br /> that the book clubs refused to take them, and<br /> preferred extinction. The English novel during<br /> the Thirties and Forties fell into profound dis-<br /> repute except for one or two writers—Dickens,<br /> Lytton, Ainsworth, for example—who kept the<br /> lamp from extinguishing. The cheap edition<br /> was introduced about thirty years ago. It was<br /> not customary until twenty-five years ago to<br /> reprint a serial novel from a magazine. The<br /> critics in those days used to be very angry with<br /> one who did not acknowledge that his book<br /> had appeared in a serial form ; they spoke of<br /> it as a deception played upon the public. The<br /> appearance of the cheap form began with the two<br /> shilling or railway novel; it was at first called<br /> contemptuously the “sensation ” novel; people<br /> were a little ashamed of liking a good story:<br /> the rest we know. Knight, Chambers, Bohn,<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 76 (#90) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 76 THE AUTHOR.<br /> began and carried on the issue of cheap literature;<br /> but I believe the only form which proved very<br /> successful was that of the novel. The form and<br /> price of the novel, as it has varied during the<br /> last century, could easily be learned by following<br /> the advertisements in the Gentleman’s Magazine,<br /> Blackwood’s, the Quarterly, the Edinburgh, and<br /> the Athenæum. The last named paper did not<br /> begin till, I believe, 1834, but sixty years carries<br /> one back a long way in the history of a novel.<br /> The advertisement sheets in books would also be<br /> of some use.<br /> Here is a difficulty not uncommon with us.<br /> The young aspirant sends a MS. to the Society<br /> to be read. He receives a critical opinion, in<br /> which the faults of construction, of style, and<br /> everything else are pointed out and explained.<br /> His manner of receiving this opinion varies;<br /> in many cases he acknowledges the justice of<br /> the opinion and the value of the advice; in<br /> other cases he falls into wrath. Sometimes he<br /> returns his MS. after an interval, saying<br /> that he has now altered everything in obedi-<br /> ence to his critic, and asks where his work<br /> can be placed. Altered the MS. has been,<br /> and yet it will not do. How can one make the<br /> young aspirant understand that a mere alteration<br /> here and there is not enough; that he must change<br /> himself so that such defects are impossible P<br /> How, again, can one make a young man learn<br /> that in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred he<br /> who succeeds has to work his way upwards P<br /> Here and there a Keats blazes out in poetry;<br /> here and there a Kipling strikes the right note in<br /> early manhood; here and there a Dickens; more<br /> often it is the slow growth and the continued<br /> work which produced a Fielding, a Thackeray, a<br /> Balzac.<br /> The mention in Mr. Gosse&#039;s address of Henry<br /> Kirke White was doubtless suggested by Byron&#039;s<br /> exaggerated praise and regret for that now<br /> neglected and forgotten poet. His early promise,<br /> his untimely death, his gallant struggle with<br /> adverse fortune, his sincere piety, his simple and<br /> beautiful letters procured for him a far greater<br /> name than his poetical achievement deserved.<br /> He wrote verses with ease, sometimes with grace,<br /> and never with any real power or originality. He<br /> was born in the greatest poverty, he taught<br /> himself, he published a volume of verse in his<br /> eighteenth year, he was sent to Cambridge by<br /> the Rev. Dr. Simeon, he showed great mathe-<br /> matical ability, and would certainly have dis-<br /> tinguished himself very highly in mathematical<br /> honours; he published another volume of verse<br /> —or was it posthumous P-and he died of con-<br /> sumption at the age of twenty-one. Had he<br /> lived he would have been, probably, Senior<br /> Wrangler, First Smith&#039;s Prizeman, Fellow of St.<br /> John&#039;s, lecturer, tutor, leader in the evangelical<br /> world, and successor in that position to Dr.<br /> Simeon ; Master of his college, and, in due course,<br /> perhaps a Bishop. He would also, most certainly,<br /> have indited many hymns, some of which we<br /> should now be singing out of “Hymns Ancient and<br /> Modern,” and there would have been portraits of<br /> Him in steel engravings, with a light not of this<br /> world in his eyes, sleek and wavy hair, straight<br /> whiskers, a silk gown, and Geneva bands. Forty<br /> or fifty years ago it was the custom to present<br /> boys with an edition of Henry Kirke White, con-<br /> taining his poems, a memoir, and selections from<br /> his letters. There is a tablet to his memory in<br /> one of the Cambridge churches, placed there by<br /> an American, like that of Keats at Hampstead,<br /> with some memorial lines by Professor Smyth.<br /> The Professor meant well, and, indeed, in such<br /> verse one cannot very well explain that “un-<br /> conquered powers” must be taken poetically.<br /> Warm with fond hope and learning&#039;s sacred fame,<br /> To Granta&#039;s bowers the youthful poet came,<br /> TJnconquered powers th’ immortal mind displayed;<br /> But, worn with anxious thought, the frame decayed.<br /> Bale o&#039;er his lamp, and in his cell retired,<br /> The martyr student faded and expired—<br /> Oh! genius, taste, and piety sincere,<br /> Too early lost, &#039;midst studies too severe !<br /> A letter from Dr. C. J. Wills, on p. 81, calls<br /> attention to the use of books in the compilation<br /> of articles for the press. In an article to which<br /> he refers there were, in all, 759 words, of which<br /> 577, or by far the greater part, were, word for<br /> word, taken from his book. The writer of the<br /> article, it appears—though he denied having seen<br /> the book—acknowledged his indebtedness to the<br /> “Encyclopædia Britannica,” in which Dr. Wills&#039;s<br /> book had been quoted, and properly acknowledged.<br /> To quote without acknowledgment is, however, a<br /> very different thing.<br /> Such a case as this is one which may happen to<br /> any editor. A contributor, believed to have special<br /> knowledge on a certain subject, is invited, or offers,<br /> to write upon that subject. Who can suppose that<br /> the man of special knowledge is going to consult<br /> the “Encyclopædia Britannica?” Why employ<br /> the specialist if the Encyclopædia will answer the<br /> purpose? An intelligent boy, to select and to<br /> copy, would do perfectly well, and be a good deal<br /> cheaper. One thing is quite certain, that when a<br /> man submits an article, it is understood that it<br /> is an original article, wholly written by him<br /> from knowledge specially obtained and possessed<br /> by him. Any one, for instance, with the aid of<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 77 (#91) ##############################################<br /> <br /> TILE AUTIOR.<br /> .77<br /> “Cook&#039;s Voyages,” could write on the manners<br /> and customs of the natives of Terra Del Fuego.<br /> But only one who has been among this interesting<br /> people can write an account containing the results<br /> of personal observation.<br /> The custom of journalism is that he who com-<br /> ments on things—atticles, books, arguments<br /> speeches—that is, the leader writer—may use<br /> freely whatever he finds in the book or the speech<br /> which may assist or advance his own contention.<br /> Thus a leader writer on “Fashion among Persian<br /> Women’’ would naturally turn to Dr. Wills for<br /> the facts; he would freely use the book; but even<br /> then he would probably acknowledge his autho-<br /> rity. On the other hand, one who communicates<br /> a paper on “Fashion among Persian Women” is<br /> expected at least to write an original paper. It<br /> may be taken for granted that such was the<br /> expectation of the editor in this case when he<br /> accepted and published the paper on “Persian<br /> Women.”<br /> Dr. Wills asks how much of an article tendered<br /> and accepted as original can be copied, borrowed,<br /> or extracted from books or papers on the subject.<br /> The answer, of course, is plain—without acknow-<br /> ledgment, nothing. How much with acknow-<br /> ledgment P That depends upon the editor. It<br /> does seem, however, as if a special tariff might<br /> with advantage be adopted for such cases.<br /> Borrowed work Imight be paid for at the rate of,<br /> say, a penny a folio—the price given to a law<br /> st itioner for copying documents.<br /> The Westminster Budget has called attention<br /> to the great age often attained by literary men of<br /> distinction. Crébillon died at 88; Voltaire, at<br /> 83, superintended the arrangements for the per-<br /> formance of “Irene”; Madame d’Arblay died at<br /> 88; Herrick at 83; Izaak Walton at 90; John<br /> Evelyn at 83; Charles Macklin at 107; Colley<br /> Cibber at 86; Wordsworth and Tennyson at over<br /> 80; Browning close on 8o; Victor Hugo over 80;<br /> Walter Savage Landor at 90. Activity of brain<br /> clearly does not hurt the body ; is it not<br /> generally attended with physical strength P. On<br /> the other hand, Shakespeare died comparatively<br /> oung; so did Spenser, Ben Jonson, Pope,<br /> Addison, Chatterton, Keats, Byron, and Shelley;<br /> a consumptive frame, a weakly constitution, a<br /> malarious fever, an accident, account for these<br /> early deaths. If we consider, again, the long lives<br /> of theologians, lawyers, and men of science, it<br /> certainly seems as if long life, as well as honour,<br /> success, and all the other things desired by men,<br /> was given with intellectual activity. Many years<br /> ago I made a table of comparative longevity,<br /> using Hole&#039;s little Biographical Dictionary, I<br /> forget how many names it contained, but there<br /> were many hundreds. The result was that<br /> divines live longest, then lawyers, then men of<br /> letters.<br /> The pensions of the year under the Civil List<br /> show a greater amount of conscience in the appoint-<br /> ment and the distributions than has ever before,<br /> any previous year, been exhibited. There is only<br /> one appointment which ought not to appear in the<br /> list. It is a national disgrace that there is no<br /> place for the widow of a distinguished officer<br /> except in a list devoted to literature, science, and<br /> art. One is far from grudging the meagre pen-<br /> sion granted to such a lady, but it is shameful to<br /> take it from the slender provision made to litera-<br /> ture, science, and art. Elsewhere will be found a<br /> question or two asked, and answered, in the<br /> House. Mr. Bartley was quite right, and the<br /> Chancellor of the Exchequer was quite wrong.<br /> The Resolution on which the grant is made,<br /> loosely worded as it is, has always been inter-<br /> preted to mean that the pensions shall be given<br /> to literature, science, and art; unfortunately,<br /> personal service to the Crown was included, and<br /> meant provision for Her Majesty&#039;s teachers and<br /> tutors, while “performance of duties to the<br /> public ’’ never did mean naval, military, or civil<br /> services. Further, though the resolution did not<br /> say that persons were to be in necessitous circum-<br /> stances, it implied that condition, because no one<br /> in affluent circumstances would accept a pension<br /> of £75 a year. Tennyson, when he received his<br /> pension, was certainly not in affluence. Lastly,<br /> the Resolution has been of late interpreted to in-<br /> clude widows and daughters of distinguished men<br /> which it did not at first contemplate. Thus, in<br /> the list before us, eight persons out of sixteen<br /> who are on the list, are widows, sisters, or<br /> daughters of distinguished men. It is greatly to<br /> be wished that Mr. Bartley will continue to watch<br /> over the distribution of this grant. But is it not<br /> time to alter the wording of the Resolution, and<br /> to restrict the grant expressly to persons, or to<br /> the widows, children, or sisters of persons, distin-<br /> guished in literature, science, and art, who are in<br /> distressed circumstances P<br /> The book of the month is Lord Dufferin&#039;s filial<br /> tribute to the memory of his mother. Is not the<br /> Sheridan family the only family on record which<br /> has continued to hand down its best charac-<br /> teristics from one generation to another P Wit,<br /> beauty, charm, grace, genius—all these gifts seem<br /> born with the descendants of Richard Brinsley<br /> Sheridan and Elizabeth Linley. Genius, at<br /> least, not to speak of the other qualities, has<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 78 (#92) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 78 TIII)<br /> A UTHOR.<br /> never before shown itself to be hereditary.<br /> Which of the numerous descendants—nephews<br /> and cousins—of Milton, Shakespeare, Dryden,<br /> Addison, Swift—what other member of the family<br /> of Shelley, Byron, Keats, Wordsworth, Lamb,<br /> has shown in his own case that poetical genius<br /> may belong to a family P I know not one case at<br /> all resembling this of the continuance ºf genius in<br /> the children and grandchildren of Sheridan.<br /> WALTER BESANT.<br /> *- a -º<br /> 4- ºr -º<br /> LONDON FREE LIBRARIES,<br /> E have already (June, 1894) referred to<br /> the Report on the Free Libraries of<br /> London contained in London, of April 19,<br /> 1894. The subject is so important that I have<br /> made a more careful analysis of the report, and<br /> present here more detailed notes upon the books<br /> read and the people who read them. We cannot<br /> give too much information to our readers, who<br /> should be more interested than any other<br /> class in the success and the spread of the free<br /> library movement, upon the literary tastes of<br /> the people, their standards, the prospects of<br /> future advance. For my own part I see nothing<br /> to change the opinion I had already formed from<br /> independent research on a much more limited<br /> scale than that of London ; it is that the taste of<br /> the people in literature is sound ; that they do<br /> not willingly choose what is called by some<br /> “slush,” and by others “truck&quot;—meaning low<br /> and worthless works. I am, indeed, persuaded<br /> that if a book becomes popular there must be in<br /> it some quality of strength, “grip,” or interest<br /> out of the common to account for its popularity.<br /> This does not mean that a book admirable for its<br /> style or for its matter will, on that account,<br /> become popular; but that style does not, as some<br /> would pretend, make popularity impossible. Thus,<br /> among the writers who are most frequently called<br /> for are—in history, Green, Froude, Macaulay,<br /> Carlyle, and Gardner; in addition to these are<br /> mentioned, as in continual demand, Gibbon’s<br /> “Decline and Fall,” McCarthy’s “History of our<br /> own Times,” Grant’s “British Battles,” Cassell’s<br /> “Franco-German War,” Kinglake, Hallam,<br /> Malleson, Thornbury, and Strickland. In theo-<br /> logy, Farrar, Drummond, Gore, Stanley, Liddon,<br /> Newman, Geikie, Milman, Martineau, and Stop-<br /> ford Brooke, are most in demand. In art, John<br /> Ruskin is easily first, and Miss Jane Harrison<br /> and Walter Crane are also wanted. In poetry,<br /> Shakespeare, Tennyson, Byron, Goethe, Long-<br /> fellow, Kipling, Browning, and Matthew Arnold<br /> are the favourites. In science, Darwin, Ball,<br /> demand.<br /> Huxley, Spencer, and Sir John Lubbock are in<br /> In sociology, Ruskin, again, Charles<br /> Booth, Thorold Rogers, Karl Marx, are favourites.<br /> To these must be added the current and contem-<br /> porary books on socialism. In biography, the<br /> favourites seem to be the reminiscences and<br /> autobiographies so much in vogue at the present.<br /> In travel, it is always the newest book that is in<br /> demand. We come next to fiction, which presents<br /> such an enormous demand as compared with other<br /> branches. And here let us consider the warning<br /> of the writer in London. He says:<br /> Reading the above tables one might come to the conclu-<br /> sion that the public libraries are mainly used for the dis-<br /> semination of fiction. But without some explanation, tables<br /> of percentages prove misleading, and deductions drawn<br /> from them entirely erroneous. The percentages of fiction<br /> read is artificially raised to the disadvantage of other<br /> works. The student of reading in public libraries should<br /> bear in mind the following points :—<br /> I. That libraries possess more novels than other works,<br /> quite as much because they are cheap as that they<br /> are often asked for.<br /> 2. Novels take a much shorter time to read than serious<br /> works.<br /> 3. Many novels borrowed and recorded in the percent-<br /> ages are not read at all. They are only dipped into<br /> —tasted—and returned unread as unsatisfactory.<br /> 4. Juvenile literature which does not consist entirely of<br /> fiction is often included in that department, and in<br /> some cases other non-fictional works.<br /> 5. Reading in reference libraries—where there is little or<br /> no fiction—is never included in the percentages.<br /> . A large number of new readers cultivate a taste for<br /> reading fiction, and graduate to more solid fare.<br /> N.B.-As only four of the London public libraries<br /> have been in full working order for more than two or<br /> three years, there has not yet been much time to<br /> elevate the taste of the readers.<br /> Bearing these guiding facts in mind, it will be seen that<br /> the high percentage of fiction is fallacious. In the private<br /> subscription libraries—Mudie’s, W. H. Smith and Sons, and<br /> the Grosvenor Library—patronised by the middle and upper<br /> classes, about 90 per cent. of fiction is read. They read tho<br /> latest topical favourite, follow the craze of Society, must<br /> be up to date with the latest neurotic story, simply because<br /> it is the fashion to read such books in such circles. The<br /> reading in the popular public libraries is not regulated<br /> by fashion. They are a much better test of the permanent<br /> literary qualities of a book.<br /> We must never forget that most readers,<br /> whether at the free libraries or at home, read for<br /> amusement; they therefore read fiction. And<br /> one would add that the great mass of people,<br /> leading dull and monotonous lives, and not parti-<br /> cularly anxious to advance their knowledge or<br /> cultivate their intellect, cannot do better than<br /> read fiction. It fills their minds with new<br /> thoughts; it introduces them to a society which<br /> they are not likely to enter; it widens their<br /> minds; it teaches them manners, ideas, history,<br /> everything. Let the majority read fiction by all<br /> IIlêa, Il S.<br /> Who are the most popular of novelists P<br /> 6<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 79 (#93) ##############################################<br /> <br /> TIII. A UTIIOIP. 79<br /> Dickens, Scott, Thackeray, Marryatt—among<br /> dead authors; and among living authors all<br /> those whom we recognise at Mudie&#039;s or Smith&#039;s<br /> as being the most popular. Since the taste of<br /> the masses at the free libraries exactly agrees as<br /> to fiction with that of the classes at Mudie’s and<br /> Smith&#039;s, the less we listen to talk about “slush ’’<br /> the better.<br /> Who are the people who use these libraries?<br /> Clerks head the list; then come governesses and<br /> teachers; then every kind of trade that can be<br /> enumerated. There are also representatives of<br /> every profession; but, of course, trades far out-<br /> number professions, and the readers, with the<br /> exception of clerks and teachers, are practically<br /> of the working class.<br /> In short, what is clearly demonstrated by this<br /> investigation are the broad facts that the popular<br /> taste in literature is sound and wholesome ; that<br /> the books read by the crafts are the same as<br /> those read by their “betters,” to use the old<br /> word, and that from 60 to 90 per cent., that is to<br /> say a proportion about the same for the free<br /> libraries as for Mudie’s, read for amusement, and<br /> therefore read fiction.<br /> For whom, then, are there printed the thou-<br /> sands upon thousands of penny novelettes, stories<br /> of highwaymen and bold defiers of the man in<br /> blue, the hero schoolboy, the romantic adventures<br /> of the young lady depicted outside P These<br /> things are not bought or read by those who<br /> frequent the libraries; they are read and bought<br /> by school-bows, school-girls, rough lads, who do<br /> the lowest kind of work, and servant girls, who<br /> have a good deal of time for reading. We do<br /> not think of these when we speak of the public<br /> or of the popular taste. Must we think of them P<br /> Then our conclusions must be taken with ex-<br /> ceptions and deductions.<br /> Meantime, there are not half enough libraries<br /> in London. Outside the city there are only<br /> thirty-one which have adopted the Act. Those<br /> who desire to know what the Act is, how it should<br /> be set in force, what arguments may be used to<br /> persuade the unwilling and the prejudiced voter,<br /> may consult Thomas Greenwood’s admirable<br /> work on “Public Libraries” (Cassell and Co.).<br /> There are those who think that the working man<br /> should be left to buy his own books, and to<br /> advance himself, teach himself, cultivate himself,<br /> if he likes. But, left to himself, the working<br /> man will not like.<br /> only because necessity, self-interest, prudence,<br /> self-preservation, desire for greater comfort,<br /> longer life, and other reasons of the kind, lead<br /> him, pull him, drag him, shove him, and flog him.<br /> Give the working man his library, by all means,<br /> Nothing is more certain than<br /> that the man achieves these fine things for himself<br /> but you must lead him into it. He acquires the<br /> taste for reading ; he returns; if he is intellectu-<br /> ally active he is stimulated to learn; if not he<br /> reads fiction, and finds what the world is like<br /> outside his own. Leave him quite alone and he<br /> will become—what the working man of London<br /> was a hundred years ago, when he had been left<br /> alone for two hundred years. You will find in<br /> the pages of the late Mr. Patrick Colquhoun,<br /> Magistrate, what was the consequence of leaving<br /> him alone. W. B.<br /> &gt;<br /> ºr:<br /> WANTED TO PUBLISH.<br /> T is suggested by a correspondent, that under<br /> this heading might be advertised MSS.<br /> ready for publication, or subjects on which<br /> it is proposed to write articles. It would be a<br /> new departure. Editors and publishers are<br /> accustomed to receive MSS., not to answer<br /> advertisements offering them. It might happen,<br /> however, that the subject or the name of the<br /> author, if that is advertised as well, might cause<br /> a desire to see the MS. We are quite ready to<br /> act upon the suggestion and to advertise for our<br /> members or others such particulars of their<br /> works as they may think enough to make known<br /> the scope and general contents. Our correspon-<br /> dent points out that if this plan were taken up it<br /> might save a great deal of worry and needless<br /> trouble in sending MSS. around. The secretary is<br /> constantly asked to suggest the most likely maga-<br /> zines for papers. He can only advise on this point<br /> in general terms, e.g., an anecdotal paper on some<br /> well-known literary person, especially if the stories<br /> are derived from letters unpublished, is welcome<br /> in most magazines. A popular paper on travel is<br /> also generally welcome. But each case stands by<br /> itself. It seems possible that a man who has<br /> written a paper of special interest might get an<br /> answer to his advertisement. However that may<br /> be, we are willing at least to try the experiment.<br /> For terms address the advertisement agent of<br /> the Author, 4, Portugal-street. Members of the<br /> Society will pay half the price charged to those,<br /> who are not members. - -<br /> * - a 2-º<br /> r = w -s<br /> CORRESPONDENCE<br /> T.—ENGLISII AND AMERICAN MAGAZINEs.<br /> HAVE long been thinking over the causes<br /> of the apparent decay of the English maga-<br /> zine and the undoubted prosperity of the<br /> American magazine. It is quite true, as was<br /> said in the article on the subject in last month&#039;s<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 80 (#94) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 8O T/IE<br /> A UTII () [&quot;.<br /> Author, that one never sees English magazines<br /> in America, and that one does everywhere see<br /> American magazines in England. I believe the<br /> reasons of the decay of the one and the popu-<br /> larity of the other to be chiefly those pointed out<br /> in the article, viz., that the American magazine<br /> is carefully thought out and planned beforehand,<br /> while its English rival depends mainly on the<br /> casual contributor ; that the American editor<br /> gives to his journal all his time, all his thoughts,<br /> all his energies, while the English editor sits in<br /> his room, receives casual contributions, selects<br /> from them, and does his editing, say, while he<br /> takes his lunch. Again, there are four or five<br /> highly priced magazines which desire to be<br /> the recognised exponents of the best wisdom and<br /> experience of the time. Their high price keeps<br /> down their circulation, while the subjects of their<br /> papers are generally those of which people have<br /> been reading every day in the newspapers for the<br /> last month. Is it impossible for our magazines to<br /> learn a lesson from the Americans? Are we too<br /> proud to be taught that if we would lead the<br /> people, we must write on lines that please the<br /> people P This truth is understood by the daily<br /> papers: why not by the magazines P. One would<br /> not exclude the casual contributor, who is most<br /> useful in his way; but we must not absolutely<br /> depend upon him. Fiction is all very well, but<br /> we must not have too much of it. Laboured<br /> essays are all very well, but we do not want<br /> many of them. Literary papers, estimates of<br /> dead men, “slatings ’’ of living men, we do not<br /> want in any large quantities—“slatings,” not at<br /> all. Nothing damages a magazine or a journal<br /> more effectively than the bludgeon. Papers on<br /> art we want, if they are by artists; poetry we<br /> want, if it is good. I venture to submit a pro-<br /> gramme for the year 1895, which, I think, would<br /> raise even the decaying Cheapside, or the fallen<br /> Bungay’s, to a level with Harper, the Century,<br /> or the Cosmopolitan.<br /> (1) Recent British Conquest in Africa. By<br /> H. C. Selous.<br /> (2) Fleet Street Idylls.<br /> John Davidson.<br /> (3) Short Stories by various writers.<br /> two in each number.<br /> (4) Manners, Customs, and Religions in South<br /> India. By * * * * late judge in Muckampore.<br /> (5) A New and Original Play. By one of the<br /> half dozen who can write plays.<br /> (6) Proverbes. By Anthony Hope.<br /> (7) Acts unrepealed. By a Barrister.<br /> (8) Twelve Old Books. By Edmund Gosse. .<br /> (9) A new Novel. By any good writer.<br /> (10) The History of the Isle of Man. By<br /> Hall Caine.<br /> One or<br /> Second series. By<br /> (II) The Highlands as they are. By William<br /> Black.<br /> (I.2) Art of the Day, from month to month.<br /> By * * * (painter and writer).<br /> (13) The House of Commons : Its procedure,<br /> laws, and customs. By * * * M.P.<br /> This is a programme which I imagine would<br /> “catch on.” The magazine must be illustrated.<br /> Nearly all these things would be serials, running<br /> for six months or more, to be published by the<br /> house which owns the magazine after its run.<br /> I am not a philanthropist, nor do I desire very<br /> much to put money into the pockets of any<br /> London publisher. But I do desire to see our<br /> English magazines rise out of the slough into<br /> which they seem rapidly sinking, and take their<br /> place once more in the front, and this can only be<br /> effected by doing exactly what the American<br /> magazines are doing. I am quite convinced that<br /> the reign of the casual contributor is long since<br /> over and done, and that editing cannot be done<br /> while one eats his lunch, nor even over a cup of<br /> afternoon tea. CoNTRIBUTOR.<br /> II.-GRAMMATICAL USE OF “NOR.”<br /> Mr. Skeat&#039;s sentiments about grammar seem<br /> to me somewhat anarchical. No doubt grammar<br /> has grown up out of usage; but it has rules,<br /> which cannot be infringed with impunity. Good<br /> writers often permit themselves to fall into slip-<br /> shod English, but that does not make slipshod<br /> writing good style. I should like to know why<br /> it is logically correct to say, “It did not rain nor<br /> blow.” It seems to me to involve a double nega-<br /> tive. And the length of a sentence cannot,<br /> surely, make any difference. In the sentence<br /> given by Mr. Skeat as a lengthened one, there is<br /> another verb, which does make a difference. It<br /> would, I think, be quite correct to say, “It did<br /> not rain nor did it biow,” but it seems to me<br /> both more correct and more elegant to say, “It<br /> did not rain or blow,” than “It did not rain nor<br /> blow.” The sentence is equivalent to “It did.<br /> not either rain or blow.” If “Mätzner shows<br /> that even good authors occasionally use neither—<br /> or instead of neither—nor,” he shows, I think,<br /> simply that good authors are sometimes careless;<br /> no good author could intentionally write such<br /> abominable grammar. H. A. FEILDEN.<br /> Surely Professor Skeat&#039;s lengthened sentence<br /> has nothing to do with the first. He has<br /> lengthened “It did not rain nor did it blow,”<br /> where “or,” would be obviously wrong. The<br /> repetition of “did it’ disjoins rain and blow,<br /> connected in “It did not rain or blow.” If<br /> “did &#039;&#039; relates to “blow,” “nor’’ is a double<br /> negative. Every one who wishes to “appreciate’”<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 81 (#95) ##############################################<br /> <br /> TILE AUTIIOR. 8 I<br /> mistakes should study the rather hypercritical,<br /> but invaluable, “Hodgson&#039;s Errors in the Use of<br /> English.” G.<br /> III–WHAT is PERMIssible?<br /> On reading an article in the Pall Mall<br /> Gazette, “The Wares of Autolycus,” on Persian<br /> Women, July 3, 1894, the language seemed<br /> strangely familiar to me. On comparing the<br /> article with my book, “The Land of the Lion and<br /> Sun” (Macmillan&#039;s 1883, p. 322), I discovered that<br /> out of 759 words of which the article was com-<br /> posed, 577 were mine, and 182 those of the inge-<br /> nious author.<br /> I saw the editor of the Pall Mall Gazette, who<br /> expressed his surprise, and promised that I should<br /> hear from the author. I did so, and was some-<br /> what astonished to learn that the author had<br /> never read my book, though he had heard it<br /> quoted. But on turning to the “Encyclopædia<br /> Britannica,” article Persia, I find my description<br /> of costume given (and acknowledged), which<br /> might account for this statement.<br /> But what I want to know from you, Mr.<br /> Editor, is, what is the exact amount that can be<br /> “extracted” without acknowledgment, and how<br /> little can be added to constitute an original article?<br /> What must be the ratio of sack to the half-penny-<br /> worth of bread P Is it, as in the present case—<br /> sack, one part ; extract, three-fourth parts.<br /> C. J. WILLs, Author “Land of the<br /> Lion and Sun.”<br /> P.S.—Since writing the above I have again<br /> seen the editor P. M. G., who handed me a letter<br /> from the writer of the article, in which he acknow-<br /> ledges his indebtedness to the “Encyclopædia<br /> Britannica,” a foot-note in which would have told<br /> him that the information as to Persian costume was<br /> obtained from me. I inclose the article, and with<br /> the editor&#039;s P. M. G. consent I write you.<br /> IV.-CorrecTIONs.<br /> A correspondent writes: “In Professor Skeat&#039;s<br /> interesting grammatical note on the use of ‘nor,”<br /> in the last number of The Author, the name of<br /> the translator of Mätzner&#039;s ‘English Grammar’<br /> is given as Grice ; this is a misprint, it should be<br /> Grece. The learned work, published in 1874<br /> by Murray, has long been out of print, I believe,<br /> and a new revised edition, undertaken by Dr.<br /> Grece—who now practises as a lawyer—in conjunc-<br /> tion with a professed English philologist, would<br /> be of great advantage to students of English.<br /> “The second correction refers to the name of the<br /> editor of Halm’s ‘Griseldis,’ published at the<br /> Oxford University Press, which should read:<br /> Buchheim.” -<br /> W.—REMAINDERs. º<br /> With regard to par. 4, on pp. 429-30, concern-<br /> ing publishers&#039; agreements and remainder sales,<br /> the following suggestion may be useful:<br /> A printed agreement form sent me by a pub-<br /> lishing firm contained this clause :<br /> “As to copies sold in the United Kingdom or<br /> elsewhere by auction or privately to a dealer at<br /> reduced prices, or by way of “remainder,” at the<br /> amounts actually received in respect thereof.”<br /> This clause I naturally objected to, since it left<br /> my affairs entirely to the publishers’ discretion,<br /> and abrogated entirely any claim of mine to have<br /> a voice in such sales at reduced prices. I there-<br /> fore struck out the whole clause, and inserted the<br /> following:} -<br /> “That no sale shall be made at reduced prices<br /> in any way unless by the author&#039;s written con-<br /> sent.”<br /> This alteration, which was at once accepted by<br /> the publishers without any demur or difficulty,<br /> appears to me to safeguard the author very<br /> effectually. - A FREE LANCE.<br /> *-* -º<br /> r- - -<br /> B00K TALK.<br /> M [* ULICK R. BURRE has written a life<br /> of Benito Juarez, which necessarily<br /> brings before us once more the modern<br /> history of Mexico and its relations with European<br /> policy. Juarez, it will be remembered, was the<br /> Constitutional President of the Mexican Republic,<br /> an office to which he properly passed from the post<br /> of Vice-President. This is a point which Mr.<br /> Burke considers of great importance, because it<br /> shows the strength of Juarez&#039;s position, and<br /> also the illegality of the attempts to remove<br /> him made by monarchical and other pretenders.<br /> Mr. Burke persists in calling Juarez an Indian,<br /> though he is careful to say that he was of<br /> the “pure blood of the Zapotecs; ” that is, he<br /> was not a Toltec, or a Chichinec, or even an<br /> Aztec. But when one has been at some pains<br /> carefully to distinguish these tribes, surely it<br /> is lost labour to put them altogether again and<br /> call one’s hero an Indian. Benito Juarez then,<br /> was a Zapotec, for his father and mother were<br /> of the pure blood of the Zapotecs; he was born<br /> in 1806, entered the Mexican Congress in 1832,<br /> and became President in 1857. The leading<br /> features of the new constitution chiefly due to<br /> him, and which was promulgated in that year,<br /> were, Mr. Burke says:<br /> A free press, freedom of meeting, equal civil rights, com-<br /> plete religious toleration, the abolition of special tribunals,<br /> of heriditary honours, of monopolies of all unjust privileges.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 82 (#96) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 82 TIII)<br /> A UTIIOIR.<br /> By which it will appear that Juarez deserved to<br /> succeed—he represented the cause of freedom<br /> just as much as his opponents represented the<br /> cause of slavery. Mr. Burke retells the story of<br /> the ill-fated Maximilian—a prince who was never<br /> able to distinguish the regulation of a court and<br /> the duties of courtiers from the governing of a<br /> country and the duties of citizenship—and shows<br /> how he was the tool of the clerical and absolutist<br /> faction, and that between the schemes of the<br /> Jesuits and the schemes of Napoleon III., it is no<br /> wonder a weak man became a criminal. So that,<br /> apart from the interesting story Mr. Burke has to<br /> tell, his volume becomes one of general utility as a<br /> warning against the kind of Government or want<br /> of government which is sure to obtain where<br /> ministers of religion are permitted to influence<br /> ministers of State.<br /> Burke&#039;s book has received praise from the<br /> financial press, and those interested will find the<br /> history of the Mexican debt carefully told. It is<br /> not very long ago that an evening contemporary,<br /> interviewing the editor of the Intransigeant, drew<br /> from him the remark that la haute politique was<br /> becoming nothing more than la haute finance. If<br /> that be so, it is instructive to read in these pages<br /> how the worn-out Statecraft of Europe over-<br /> reached itself in its dreams of manipulating<br /> the supposed wealth of a comparatively new<br /> country. Indeed, there seems to have been no<br /> end to the attempts made to exploit Mexico<br /> for the benefit of the Emperor and the Church.<br /> Of the three, Napoleon III., Pius IX., and Maxi-<br /> milian, so far as Mexico is concerned, only one<br /> got his deserts. As for Juarez, he remains<br /> the “great President’’ in the memory of his<br /> people. -<br /> Mr. John Willis Clark, F.S.A., has published his<br /> Rede Lecture of this year, on Libraries in the<br /> Mediaeval and Renaissance Periods (Macmillan<br /> and Co.). He traces the growth of the library,<br /> especially, in churches and monasteries, from the<br /> earliest beginnings to the Renaissance. It does<br /> not appear that the custom of giving books to<br /> churches, which began the Christian Library, was<br /> long maintained. Augustine gave his books to<br /> the church of Hippo to form a library. Althousand<br /> years later Caxton bequeathed books to St. Mar-<br /> garet&#039;s, but to be sold. An occasional king, an<br /> occasional bishop, formed libraries, but the real<br /> home of the Mediaeval library was the monastery.<br /> his was not a stately room, but simply a wooden<br /> press set up in a recess in the cloisters in which<br /> the books were kept, vertical as well as horizontal<br /> partitions being set up, so that the books should<br /> not get damp or be packed close to each other.<br /> At Christ Church, Canterbury, at the beginning<br /> of the fourteenth century there were 698 volumes.<br /> We may also note that Mr.<br /> all kept in presses put up wherever room could be<br /> found for them. As the books increased in<br /> number, a room became necessary. The Canter-<br /> bury library was built between 1414 and 1443;<br /> that of Durham about the same time. The<br /> monks were enjoined to spend a part of their<br /> time in reading. Benedict&#039;s Rule orders that at<br /> the beginning of Lent every monk was to have<br /> a book given him, which he was to read through<br /> before the end of Lent. The nature of the work, or<br /> its length, seems to have been unconsidered. The<br /> arrangement of desks, seats, and books, the chain-<br /> ing of books, and the lending of books, are treated<br /> in this little volume, which is a valuable con-<br /> tribution to the history and the literature of<br /> the library, whether regarded as a museum, i.e.,<br /> the temple or haunt of the Muses, a place which<br /> is haunted by the men of the past, or as a modern<br /> workshop; a place where things are to be found<br /> and learned, or “as a gigantic mincing machine,<br /> into which the labours of the past are flung, to be<br /> turned out again in a slightly altered form as the<br /> literature of the present.”<br /> Mr. Mackenzie Bell’s monograph on “Charles<br /> Whitehead,” a forgotten genius, has been re-<br /> issued as a new edition, if edition it can properly<br /> be called. There is new matter in the volume<br /> in the shape of an appreciation of Whitehead<br /> by Mr. Hall Caine, and there is a new preface<br /> in which the author recounts certain circumstances<br /> which he writes “have rendered a re-issue of the<br /> unbound * remainder “ of my volume desirable.”<br /> Of the book itself it may be said that Mr. Bell<br /> has executed his task with excellent taste, for he<br /> has made it clear that the story of the author&#039;s<br /> life must not be taken into account in judging<br /> his literary merit. Note is taken of the high<br /> opinion in which Whitehead was held by Rossetti,<br /> Professor Wilson, Lord Lytton, and Douglas<br /> Jerrold, chiefly as the author of “Richard<br /> Savage.” -<br /> Miss Eleanor Tee has written a book for young<br /> women and girls entitled “This Everyday Life.”<br /> It has a preface by the Rev. C. Pickering Clarke,<br /> in which the object of the work is thus described:<br /> “The book is designed to give working women<br /> and girls a true insight into the meaning of that<br /> life here, which seems so heavily weighted by the<br /> obligation to work.” Miss Tee has set herself<br /> the difficult task of bringing home the idea of<br /> the “dignity of labour to some of the workers<br /> whose duties are styled service.”<br /> Mr. Thomas McCarthy, instructor in gymnas-<br /> tics, has written for the “use of public elementary<br /> schools,” in accordance with the new code, “An<br /> Easy System of Physical Exercises and Drill.”<br /> The directions given are intended for those other<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 83 (#97) ##############################################<br /> <br /> TIIE. A UTIIOIR. 83<br /> than drill serjeants who wish to learn how to<br /> drill school boys and school girls. From the<br /> great number of the directions and their complex<br /> nature it is clear the new code must demand a<br /> very comprehensive system of muscular training.<br /> We are aware that many parents are not entirely<br /> satisfied with the reasons given for the compulsory<br /> drilling of their children, and, if they are at all in<br /> ignorance of what that system is, Mr. McCarthy’s<br /> book can teach them. English people other than<br /> yeomanry cavalry and militia have been drilled<br /> for years, but it is a common remark that if they<br /> have to march in procession—unfortunately a<br /> growing custom—they do it very badly. Perhaps<br /> Mr. McCarthy’s book will help to change that.<br /> It is published by W. H. Allen and Co.<br /> Mr. Robert Bingley’s “Borderlands,” a volume<br /> of poems, religious and secular, including some<br /> translations, has passed into a second edition.<br /> It is published by the Oxford University Press.<br /> Every Saturday evening for a good many weeks<br /> —or months—the readers of the JWestminster<br /> Gazette were invited to read a most charming<br /> little dialogue, full of cleverness, epigram.<br /> The epigrams were not barbed, nor were they<br /> intended to wound, nor was the cleverness<br /> obtruded. These delicate and sprightly things<br /> were signed A. H. They are now collected and<br /> published at the office of the JWestminster Gazette.<br /> And they are the work of Mr. Anthony Hope,<br /> author of the “Prisoner of Zenda.”<br /> Mr. Julian Sturgis has issued a volume of<br /> poems (Longman and Co.), in which he proves<br /> that his power as a writer of verse is equal to<br /> that of a writer of prose.<br /> Mr. R. E. Salwey has completed a new novel,<br /> called “Ventured in Wain,” which will be pub-<br /> lished in September by Messrs. Hurst and<br /> Blackett in two-volume form.<br /> Miss Frances Mary Peard&#039;s novel, “An<br /> Interloper,” which has been running as a serial<br /> in Temple Bar, will be published in two-volume<br /> form by Messrs. Bentley and Son, and simul-<br /> taneously by Messrs. Harpers in America.<br /> Mr. Anthony C. Deane will publish, in the<br /> early autumn, a volume of light verse, reprinted<br /> from the magazines and journals in which it<br /> first appeared. Among them are Punch, where<br /> the larger part was first produced, the Cornhill,<br /> Longman&#039;s, Temple Bar, St. James&#039;s Gazette, the<br /> Globe, the Westminster Gazette, the Pall Mall<br /> Gazette, the Granta, and Vanity Fair. The<br /> publishers are Messrs. Henry and Co.<br /> Mr. R. Thistlethwaite Casson, author of “Bonnie<br /> Mary,” “A Modern Ishmael,” “The Doctor&#039;s<br /> Doom,” and many other successful serials, has<br /> been commissioned by Mr. George Newnes, M.P.,<br /> to write a series of novelettes for the “Illustrated<br /> Penny Tales,” now being published by George<br /> Newnes Limited. - -<br /> Mrs. Preston has translated some of the poems<br /> of Friedrich von Bodenstedt, which will be pub-<br /> lished by the Roxburghe Press early in August<br /> under the title of “The Mountain Lake.”<br /> Mrs. Stevenson, the author of “Mrs. Severn,”<br /> published by Messrs. R. Bentley and Son, and<br /> which the Guardian compared for power with<br /> “Janet&#039;s Repentance,” has another story on<br /> intemperance now in the press. It is appearing<br /> first in the Temperance Chronicle, whose critic<br /> judged “Mrs. Severn &quot; as “the most powerful<br /> temperance story that has ever been written,”<br /> and later it will form one of the C.E.T.S.<br /> Azalea series. Its title is “Helena Hadley.”<br /> Last year Messrs. R. Bentley and Son published<br /> “Mrs. Elphinstone of Drum ” for the same<br /> writer.<br /> A second edition of “A Girl’s Ride in Iceland,”<br /> by Mrs. Alec Tweedie, will appear in a few days.<br /> It will be published by Horace Cox.<br /> Mrs. James Suisted sends us a lively little<br /> volume, published at Dunedin (Otago Daily<br /> Times Office), New Zealand. It is a record of<br /> travel, and is called “From New Zealand to<br /> Norway.” It is, perhaps, useless to wish for a<br /> book published only in a colony success in the<br /> English book market.<br /> Mr. E. St. John Fairman, 66, Southampton-<br /> row, W.C., publishes his new book himself. It<br /> is called “An Electric Flash on the Egyptian<br /> Question.”<br /> A copy of Mrs. Dixon&#039;s book on “Columbia.”<br /> has been graciously accepted by the Queen. It<br /> was presented by Sir Henry Ponsonby.<br /> By the publication of “A Seventh Child” (F.<br /> W. White and Co.) in one volume instead of two,<br /> John Strange Winter has been the first among<br /> popular authors to adapt herself to the new state<br /> of things brought about by the circulars issued<br /> by Smith and Mudie on special library editions.<br /> “A Seventh Child” deals with the subject of<br /> clairvoyance, and derives its title from the super-<br /> stition that “the seventh child of a seventh<br /> child is gifted with the second sight.” The story,<br /> which records the experiences of such child, has<br /> been running as a serial in Mrs. Stannard&#039;s<br /> magazine Winter’s Weekly.<br /> Professor Raleigh has written a book for<br /> Murray’s “University Extension Manuals” on<br /> the history of the English novel, from its origin<br /> to Sir Walter Scott. Could not the history be<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 84 (#98) ##############################################<br /> <br /> 84<br /> TIIE AUTHOR.<br /> extended, so as to include Thackeray, Dickens,<br /> Reade, Collins, Kingsley, George Eliot, the<br /> Brontës, and Mrs. Gaskell?<br /> ... The papers have been full of discussions, letters,<br /> and leaders on the subject of the three-volume<br /> novel. A collection of cuttings has been made<br /> by Mr. Thring, on which we may find an<br /> opportunity of speaking in the next number.<br /> Some of the papers speak as if the novel must be<br /> killed when the three-volume form is abandoned.<br /> Will not the libraries, then, take any of the one-<br /> volume form P. The following remarks are taken<br /> from the St. James&#039;s Gazette. In the second<br /> line, for the “Incorporated Society of Authors”<br /> read “those who are novelists in the Society of<br /> Authors,” the resolution of the council having<br /> been adopted mainly in consequence of their<br /> singular unanimity. The novelists on our list<br /> form perhaps one-fourth of the whole number.<br /> Nor have the “Authors”—meaning the society<br /> —said a word in their resolution on the subject<br /> of the libraries.<br /> “The three-volume novel seems to be in the<br /> painful position of Mr. Pickwick in the Pound—<br /> of having no friends. The Incorporated Society<br /> of Authors has, with only a single dissentient,<br /> pronounced against it ; and that society has been<br /> generally regarded as having especially at heart<br /> the interests of young novelists, in whose favour<br /> chiefly the three-volume system has been supposed<br /> to operate. The Authors argue that the only<br /> possible persons to profit by the plan were the<br /> libraries, who under it became monopolist middle-<br /> men between the producers and consumers of all<br /> new novels for the most profitable period. Yet<br /> the late M. Mudie protested that he hated it;<br /> and it is the libraries whose present action has<br /> threatened its continued existence. The three-<br /> volume novel looks as if it were going to die<br /> without any mourner to drop the sympathetic tear<br /> —except, perhaps, the Bishop of London, who<br /> will be unable henceforward to begin his fiction<br /> with the third volume.<br /> “When it is gone we shall all begin to regret<br /> the easy print and ample margin; for, after all,<br /> for the really long novel it is the most agreeable<br /> form. ‘Middlemarch&#039; and ‘Daniel Deronda,”<br /> are disagreeable enough in the single volumes, and<br /> without perseverance and good eyesight it needs<br /> faith or fashion to get one through the new<br /> ‘Marcella.&#039; But the price of the three volumes<br /> was prohibitive, and the generality of the old<br /> custom of a first appearance in this form not<br /> easily defensible.”<br /> WHAT THE PAPERS SAY.<br /> CERTAIN REMEDIES.<br /> R. JOHNSTON&#039;S remark that ‘ the books<br /> &amp; 4<br /> M of certain novelists had had a more<br /> potent effect on him than all the<br /> quinine and drugs he had introduced into Africa’<br /> suggests a new vein for publishers&#039; advertise-<br /> ments. Why not work the hygienic motive on<br /> which so many other advertisements rely with<br /> such success? As thus:—<br /> BESANT&#039;s World-FAMED CURE.-Unrivalled for Head-<br /> ache, Lassitude, and a Sluggish Liver. Worth a Guinea.<br /> a Volume. A Circulating Librarian writes:– “I take<br /> them regularly, and am now sensible of a marked<br /> improvement in my whole system.’<br /> BLACK&#039;s Soot HING SYRUP (Highland Blend).-Indis-<br /> pensable when yachting. A sure preventive of mal de<br /> mer. Should be taken (on subscription) in all Climates.<br /> Put up in Uniform Doses; one quality throughout. An<br /> Analyst writes:—‘I have examined Mr. William Black&#039;s<br /> various Preparations. All the samples seem to be com-<br /> pounded of the same well-tried ingredients in various pro-<br /> portions, and can be warranted absolutely harmless, even<br /> for the most delicate. A Sound Family Medicine. Have<br /> you a nasty taste in your mouth on waking up in the<br /> morning (after reading Latter-day Fiction overnight) P<br /> Then TRY BLACK&#039;s Soo THING SYRUI”.<br /> For ANZEMIA : TRY RIDER HAGGARD.—From an African<br /> Recipe. Unrivalled for the Blood. The Young like it ;<br /> Children take it readily.<br /> PLAIN PILLS FROM THE HILLS.–(Registered Title.)<br /> Put up in Small Doses. An Anglo-Indian writes: “Please<br /> send me a fresh consignment.” Caution.—Insist on seeing<br /> R. Kipling’s Name on Label.<br /> DR. ConAN DOYLE&#039;s PRESCRIPTION.—A Certain Solu-<br /> tion. Equal to the most Obscure Cases. Does not fool<br /> about the place, but quickly finds out what is wrong, and<br /> puts it right. No Holmes without it.”<br /> JWestminster Gazette.<br /> Our Paris correspondent telegraphs: “M.<br /> Leconte de Lisle, Victor Hugo’s successor in the<br /> Academy, and since his death the chief French<br /> poet, died on Tuesday night from heart disease.<br /> He had an attack of pneumonia on Friday, from<br /> which he never rallied. He was born in 1820 in<br /> the island of Réunion, whither his parent had<br /> emigrated from Brittany. He was sent to Rennes<br /> to be educated, and in 1853 published “Poèmes<br /> Antiques.” A second volume, ‘Poèmes Bar-<br /> bares,” appeared in 1862, and in 1882 he issued<br /> * Poèmes Tragiques.’ These works made no bid<br /> for general popularity, but were addressed to the<br /> cultured few capable of appreciating artistic per-<br /> fection. He was, as it were, a sculptor in poetry.<br /> His love of the classics was shown by numerous<br /> translations, sometimes rugged, but admirably<br /> chiselled. In 1873 his tragedy “Les Erynnies’<br /> was played at the Odéon, and in 1888 he published<br /> a second tragedy, “L’Apollonide,” which was<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 85 (#99) ##############################################<br /> <br /> TIIE AUTIIOI?. 85<br /> never acted. M. Gaston Deschamps, in the<br /> Temps, after dwelling on his superiority to all<br /> vulgar ambitions and artifices, says:—&quot; He closes,<br /> or nearly so, the series of great poets who have<br /> given a voice to our century. His verses will long<br /> resound in our charmed and faithful memory.<br /> But we also lose in him a consoling example, an<br /> intellectual and moral authority, not easily re-<br /> placed. Fate would almost seem bent on un-<br /> crowning France. To lose in two years Taine,<br /> Renan, Leconte de Lisle are too many bereave-<br /> ments at once. Who will console us P Who will<br /> guide us on the uncertain road to truth and<br /> beauty P I see, indeed, in the throng of young<br /> contemporaries, admirers, disciples, and especially<br /> detractors of these illustrious men. I do not see<br /> their successors.’”—Times, July 19.<br /> *~ * ~ *<br /> LITERATURE AT OXFORD,<br /> D&quot; LENTZNER will deliver five Free Public<br /> Lectures in Comparative Literature at<br /> Oxford, during the Michaelmas Term,<br /> 1894, viz., one in English, called “Some Aspects of<br /> Literature,” on Monday, Oct. 22, at noon ; two in<br /> English, on Björnstjerne Björnson, on Mondays,<br /> Oct. 29 and Nov. 5, at noon ; and two in German,<br /> on “Richard Wagner als Dichter,” on Mondays,<br /> Nov. I 2 and 19, at noon.<br /> &gt;ec:<br /> NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS,<br /> Theology.<br /> BEECHING, REv. H. C. Seven Sermons to Schoolboys.<br /> With a Preface by Canon Scott Holland. Methuen.<br /> 2s. 6d.<br /> CANTERBURY, ARCHBISHOP OF. 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Allen. 30s.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 86 (#100) #############################################<br /> <br /> 86<br /> TIII)<br /> A UTIIOIP.<br /> Life of General Sir Hope Grant.<br /> KNoLLys, CoLoREL.<br /> Blackwood. 21s. -<br /> LEE, SIDNEY. Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 39.<br /> Morehead—Myles. Smith and Elder. I5s., 20s.<br /> LESLIE, RobHRT C. A. Waterbiography. Illustrated by<br /> the Author. Chapman and Hall. 78. 6d.<br /> LoDGE, REv. SAMUEL. Scrivelsby, the Home of the Cham-<br /> pions. Second edition. Elliot Stock.<br /> MAGNUs, LADY. Boys of the Bible. Illustrated by John<br /> Lawson and Henry Rylands. Raphael Tuck.<br /> MALDEN, HENRY ELLIOT. English Records : A Companion<br /> to the History of England. Methuen. 3s. 6d.<br /> MAxwell, SIR HERBERT, M.P. Life of the Right Honour-<br /> able William Henry Smith, M.P. With a portrait and<br /> other illustrations. New edition. Blackwood. 3s.6d.<br /> M£NEvAL, BARON CLAUDE DE. 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Sunday School Union.<br /> IS.<br /> CRANE, LILLIE. My Lady Dimple. 2 vols. Remington.<br /> DALE, DARLEY. The Game of Life. 3 vols. Hutchinson.<br /> DoNNISON, A. Winning a Wife in Australia. Ward,<br /> Lock. 3s. 6d.<br /> ELMSLIE, THEODORA.<br /> Downey. -<br /> FAwcETT, EDGAR. Her Fair Fame and the Story of a<br /> Statue. Ward, Lock. 38. 6d.<br /> GALLIENNE, RICHARD LE. Prose Fancies. With a litho-<br /> graphed portrait of the author by R. Wilson Steer.<br /> Elkin Mathews. 5s.<br /> GREGOR, MRs. JAMEs. Whose was the Blame P With a<br /> prologue translated from the Russian of Prince Galitzen.<br /> Sonnenschein. 3s. 6d.<br /> IHAGGARD, H. RIDER. The Witches Head. 33rd thousand.<br /> Longmans. 38. 6d. -<br /> HAGGARD, H. RIDER, AND LANG, A. The World&#039;s I)esire.<br /> New edition. Longmans. 3s. 6d.<br /> HAWTHORNE, JULIAN. An American Monte<br /> W. H. Allen. 28.<br /> HEMYNG, BRACEBRIDGE. A Stock Exchange Romance.<br /> Edited by George Gregory. Tenth Thousand. 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Osgood<br /> M&#039;Ilvaine. 38. 6d. -<br /> William Dlacklock, Journalist.<br /> Lord Ormont and his Amiata.<br /> The Sunday<br /> **<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 88 (#102) #############################################<br /> <br /> 88. TIIE<br /> A UTHOIR.<br /> NISBET, HUME. A. Singular Crime. F. W. White. Is.<br /> OLIPHANT, MRs. Young Musgrave. Macmillan. 3s.6d.<br /> OMAN, J. CAMPBELL. The Stories of the Ramayana and<br /> the Mahabharata. With Notes, Appendices, and<br /> Illustrations. George Bell. 5s.<br /> OTTOLENGUI, Ro15RIGUES. A Modern Wizard. Putnam. 28.<br /> PEARD, FRANCES MARY. An Interloper. Bentley. 2 vols.<br /> PINKERTON, PERCY. Adriatica. Gay and Bird. 5s. net.<br /> REID, SYBIL B. Sweet Peas. Remington. 2s.<br /> “RITA.” Naughty Mrs. Gordon. F. W. White. Is.<br /> RössETTI, M. FRANCESCA. A Shadow of Dante. Longmans.<br /> 38. 6d. • t<br /> Scott, CLEMENT. Poppy-Land. Fourth edition. Illus-<br /> trated by F. H. Townsend. Jarrold and Sons. 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268https://historysoa.com/items/show/268The Author, Vol. 05 Issue 04 (September 1894)<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=%3Cem%3EThe+Author%3C%2Fem%3E%2C+Vol.+05+Issue+04+%28September+1894%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 05 Issue 04 (September 1894)</a><a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Publication">Publication</a>1894-09-01-The-Author-5-489–112<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=89&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=5">5</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=76&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1894-09-01">1894-09-01</a>418940901C be El u t b or,<br /> (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors.<br /> Monthly.)<br /> CONDUCTED BY WALTER BES.A.N.T.<br /> WOL. W.-No. 4.]<br /> SEPTEMBER 1, 1894.<br /> [PRICE SIXPENCE.<br /> For the Opinions eaſpressed in papers that are<br /> signed or initialled the Authors alone are<br /> responsible. None of the papers or para-<br /> graphs must be taken as eaſpressing the<br /> collective opinions of the committee unless<br /> they are officially signed by G. Herbert<br /> Thring, Sec.<br /> HE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all<br /> remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and<br /> requests that all members not receiving an answer to<br /> important communications within two days will write to him<br /> without delay. All remittances showld be crossed Union.<br /> Bank of London, Chancery-lame, or be sent by registered<br /> letter only.<br /> Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on<br /> all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub-<br /> jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are<br /> returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS.<br /> *~ * ~ *<br /> g- - -—s<br /> WARNINGS AND ADVICE,<br /> I. RAWING THE AGREEMENT.-It is not generally<br /> . understood that the author, as the vendor, has the<br /> absolute right of drafting the agreement upon<br /> whatever terms the transaction is to be carried out.<br /> Authors are strongly advised to exercise that right. In<br /> every form of business, this among others, the right of<br /> drawing the agreement rests with him who sells, leases, or<br /> has the control of the property.<br /> 2. SERIAL RIGHTS.—In selling Serial Rights remember<br /> that you may be selling the Serial Right for all time; that<br /> is, the Right to continue the production in papers. If you<br /> object to this, insert a clause to that effect.<br /> 3. STAMP YOUR AGREEMENTS. – Readers are most<br /> URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements<br /> immediately after signature. If this precaution is neglected<br /> for two weeks, a fine of £10 must be paid before the agree-<br /> ment can be used as a legal document. In almost every<br /> case brought to the secretary the agreement, or the letter<br /> which serves for one, is forwarded without the stamp. The<br /> author may be assured that the other party to the agree-<br /> ment seldom neglects this simple precaution. The Society,<br /> to save trouble, undertakes to get all the agreements of<br /> members stamped for them at no ea pense to themselves<br /> eacept the cost of the stamp.<br /> 4. ASCERTAIN WHAT A PROPOSED AGREEMENT GIVES To<br /> BOTH SIDES BEFORE SIGNING IT.-Remember that an<br /> WOL. W.<br /> arrangement as to a joint venture in any other kind of busi-<br /> ness whatever would be instantly refused should either party<br /> refuse to show the books or to let it be known what share he<br /> reserved for himself. *<br /> 5. LITERARY AGENTS.—Be very careful. You cannot be<br /> too careful as to the person whom you appoint as yowr<br /> agent. Remember that you place your property almost un-<br /> reservedly in his hands. Your only safety is in consulting<br /> the Society, or some friend who has had personal experience<br /> of the agent. Do not trust advertisements alone.<br /> 6. COST OF PRODUCTION.--Never sign any agreement of<br /> which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part,<br /> until you have proved the figures.<br /> 7. CHOICE OF PUBLISHERs.—Never enter into any cor-<br /> respondence with publishers, especially with those who ad-<br /> vertise for MSS., who are not recommended by experienced<br /> friends or by this Society.<br /> 8. FUTURE WORK.—Never, on any account whatever,<br /> bind yourself down for future work to anyone.<br /> 9. PERSONAL RISK.—Never accept any pecuniary risk or<br /> responsibility whatever without advice.<br /> IO. REJECTED MSS.—Never, when a MS. has been re-<br /> fused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises<br /> they may put forward, for the production of the work.<br /> II. AMERICAN RIGHTS.–Never sign away American<br /> rights. Keep them by special clause. Refuse to sign any<br /> agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the<br /> publisher, unless for a substantial consideration.<br /> 12. CESSION OF COPYRIGHT.-Never sign any paper,<br /> either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright,<br /> without advice.<br /> 13. ADVERTISEMENTs. --Reep some control over the<br /> advertisements, if they affect your returns, by a clause in<br /> the agreement.<br /> I4. NEVER forget that publishing is a business, like any<br /> other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy,<br /> charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with<br /> business men. Be yourself a business man.<br /> Society&#039;s Offices :—<br /> 4, PORTUGAL STREET, LINCOLN&#039;s INN FIELDs.<br /> *—- - -º<br /> •- - -,<br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.<br /> I. VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive<br /> advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-<br /> lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his<br /> business or the administration of his property. If the advice<br /> sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member<br /> I 2<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 90 (#104) #############################################<br /> <br /> 90<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> has a right to an opinion from the Society’s solicitors. If the<br /> case is such that Counsel’s opinion is desirable, the Com-<br /> mittee will obtain for him Counsel’s opinion. All this<br /> without any cost to the member.<br /> 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright<br /> and publisher&#039;s agreements do not generally fall within the<br /> experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple<br /> to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually<br /> engaged upon such questions for us.<br /> 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past<br /> accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in<br /> order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree-<br /> ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively<br /> so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any<br /> agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor-<br /> mation thus obtained may prove invaluable.<br /> 4. If the examination of your previous business trans-<br /> actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should<br /> take advice as to a change of publishers.<br /> 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro-<br /> posed document to the Society for examination.<br /> 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in<br /> the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish-<br /> ing firm in the country.<br /> 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you<br /> are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are<br /> reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing<br /> the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen-<br /> dence of the writer.<br /> 8. Send to the Editor of the Author notes of everything<br /> important to literature that you may hear or meet with.<br /> *~ * ~ *<br /> g- &gt; ---,<br /> THE AUTHORS&#039; SYNDICATE.<br /> EMBERS are informed :<br /> 1. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate takes charge of<br /> the business of members of the Society. With, when<br /> necessary, the assistance of the legal advisers of the Syndi-<br /> cate, it concludes agreements, collects royalties, examines<br /> and passes accounts, and generally relieves members of the<br /> trouble of managing business details. -<br /> 2. That the expenses of the Authors&#039; Syndicate are<br /> defrayed solely out of the commission charged on rights<br /> placed through its intervention. Notice is, however,<br /> hereby given that in all cases where there is no current<br /> account, a booking fee is charged to cover postage and<br /> porterage.<br /> 3. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate works for none but those<br /> members of the Society whose work possesses a market<br /> value.<br /> 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiation<br /> whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia-<br /> tions are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all<br /> communications relating thereto are referred to it.<br /> 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by<br /> appointment, and that, when possible, at least four days’<br /> notice should be given.<br /> 6. That every attempt is made to deal with the corre-<br /> spondence promptly, but that owing to the enormous number<br /> of letters received, some delay is inevitable. That stamps<br /> should, in all cases, be sent to defray postage.<br /> 7. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate does not invite MSS.<br /> without previous correspondence, and does not hold itself<br /> responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice.<br /> 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for<br /> lectures by some of the leading members of the Society;<br /> that it has a “Transfer Department” for the sale and<br /> purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a “Register<br /> of Wants and Wanted ” has been opened. Members anxious<br /> to obtain literary or artistic work are invited to com-<br /> municate with the Manager.<br /> There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services<br /> will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It<br /> is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the<br /> Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in<br /> the Syndicate.<br /> *~ * →<br /> NOTICES,<br /> HE Editor of the Author begs to remind members of the<br /> Society that, although the paper is sent to them free<br /> of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very<br /> heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great<br /> many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest<br /> 6s. 6d. subscription for the year.<br /> The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and<br /> communications on all subjects connected with literature<br /> from members and others. Nothing can do more good to<br /> the Society than to make the Awthor complete, attractive,<br /> and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this<br /> work send their names and the special subjects on which<br /> they are willing to write P<br /> Communications for the Author should reach the Editor<br /> not later than the 21st of each month.<br /> All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether<br /> members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate<br /> to the Editor any points connected with their work which<br /> it would be advisable in the general interest to publish.<br /> Members and others who wish their MSS. read are<br /> requested not to send them to the Office without previously<br /> communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable<br /> despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in<br /> which they are received. It must also be distinctly under-<br /> stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances,<br /> undertake the publication of MSS.<br /> The Authors’ Club is now open in its new premises, at<br /> 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary<br /> for information, rules of admission, &amp;c.<br /> Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they<br /> have paid their subscriptions for the year P. If they will do<br /> this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker&#039;s<br /> order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the<br /> trouble of sending out a reminder.<br /> Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the<br /> warning numbered (8). It is a most foolish and may be a<br /> most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding<br /> for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they<br /> would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five<br /> years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest<br /> or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then<br /> hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them-<br /> selves into literary bondage for three or five years P<br /> Those who possess the “Cost of Production ” are<br /> requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15<br /> per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble<br /> of “doing sums,” the addition of three shillings in the<br /> pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding<br /> is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be<br /> added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at<br /> 489 48. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 91 (#105) #############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 9 I<br /> as can be procured; but a printer&#039;s, or a binder&#039;s, bill is so<br /> elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at.<br /> Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged<br /> in the “Cost of Production” for advertising. Of course, we<br /> have not included any sums which may be charged for<br /> inserting advertisements in the publisher&#039;s own magazines,<br /> or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too<br /> often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from<br /> sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket,<br /> by inserting any number of advertisements in his own<br /> magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are<br /> who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those<br /> who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it.<br /> *-* -º<br /> * * *<br /> LITERARY PROPERTY,<br /> I.—Fox-Bourn E v. WERNoN AND Co.<br /> HIS case, finished on Aug. 3, heard before<br /> T the Lord Chief Justice and a special jury,<br /> was one in which an editor claimed twelve<br /> months&#039; notice of dismissal, whereas he had only<br /> received six months&#039; notice. The jury found a<br /> verdict for the defendants. The case would have<br /> little interest for this paper but for the words<br /> of the judge in defining what is meant by<br /> “custom &#039;&#039; (see the Times, Aug. 4, 1894).<br /> “Custom,” he said, “in its strict legal sense,<br /> was a uniform and universal practice so well<br /> defined and recognised that contracting parties<br /> must be assumed to have had it in their minds<br /> when they contracted.” Contracting parties,<br /> that is, on both sides. If, for instance, one side<br /> intends to falsify accounts, and excuses himself<br /> on the ground that it is a trade custom, while<br /> the other side know nothing of his intention, and<br /> had never heard of the alleged “custom,” the<br /> excuse, according to this judge&#039;s definition, would<br /> not be allowed. This definition agrees with the<br /> opinion of Mr. Cozens-Hardy, Q.C., and Mr.<br /> Rolt, published in the Author of March last. Of<br /> course the fact that such a practice was common,<br /> not to say universal, would have to be proved.<br /> The warning which the Lord Chief Justice<br /> addresses to journalists equally applies to writers<br /> of books, writers in magazines, dramatists, and<br /> every kind of literary worker. The following is<br /> the summing-up referred to (Times, Aug. 4):—<br /> The Lord Chief Justice, in summing-up, said the plaintiff<br /> was a journalist of good position and long experience,<br /> who had been employed by the defendants as their editor,<br /> and had received from them a six months&#039; notice. The<br /> question for the jury was whether plaintiff was entitled to<br /> twelve months&#039; notice or whether six months’ notice was<br /> such a notice as the defendants were legally entitled to<br /> give plaintiff. Although the case seemed to have excited a<br /> good deal of feeling between journalists and proprietors,<br /> it had no general importance, as in the future journalists<br /> would only have themselves to blame if they had not insisted<br /> upon having an agreement. The jury had no question of<br /> “custom&quot; to consider, for “custom,” in its strict legal<br /> sense, was a uniform and universal practice, so well defined<br /> and recognised that contracting parties must be assumed<br /> to have had it in their minds when they contracted. The<br /> fact that in a large percentage of cases there were special<br /> agreements showed that no such universal custom existed.<br /> But on plaintiff&#039;s behalf it was sought to establish the<br /> existence of a “practice” regulating the relations between<br /> editors and proprietors. What that practice was would be<br /> some guide to the jury in coming to a conclusion as to what<br /> Was or was not a reasonable notice in this case. The case<br /> of Bremon v. Gilbart-Smith, which had been cited, was<br /> really not in point at all, for in that case no notice was<br /> given, and the question of twelve months&#039; notice only arose<br /> incidentally with a view of fixing the amount of damages<br /> plaintiff was entitled to.<br /> II.-MUSICAL COPYRIGHT IN AMERICA.<br /> Mr. G. Dixey, secretary of the Music Pub-<br /> lishers&#039; Association, writes from 9, Air-street,<br /> Regent-street, W., Aug. 4:—“I am instructed<br /> by this association to inform you that the plain-<br /> tiffs in the celebrated American test action of<br /> Novello and Co. v. The Oliver Ditson Company<br /> and others, have just received a telegram from<br /> their counsel, Mr. L. L. Scaife, of Boston, to the<br /> effect that the judge who tried the action has<br /> decided in the plaintiffs&#039; favour on all points.<br /> The action, as you are aware, relates to the<br /> correct construction of what is known as the<br /> manufacturing clause in the American Copyright<br /> Act of 1891, and it was brought to test the ques-<br /> tion whether ‘a book&#039; within the meaning of that<br /> clause includes “musical composition,’ which, in<br /> an earlier part of the Act is mentioned, together<br /> with “book’ and other subjects of copyright, as<br /> being entitled to protection under that Act. The<br /> judgment just delivered has settled the point for<br /> the present, and until that judgment is upset or<br /> varied it must be accepted that the law of the<br /> United States of America is, that the expression<br /> ‘book’ in the Act of 1891 does not include<br /> ‘musical composition,’ and that consequently it<br /> is not necessary that such compositions should<br /> be printed in America as a condition of obtaining<br /> copyright there.”—Times, Aug. 7.<br /> III.--ARTISTS PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT.<br /> (From an American Correspondent.)<br /> Boston, Mass., Aug. 8.-A decision by Judge<br /> Putnam in the United States Circuit Court, filed<br /> to-day, holds that an artist having copyrighted a<br /> painting may restrain reproductions of the paint-<br /> ing, and that a bill in equity for an injunction<br /> may be maintained by one to whom the artist has<br /> sold the right and who has taken out a copyright<br /> in his name. -<br /> The decision was given in the case of Emil<br /> Werckmeister v. The Pierce and Bushnell Manu-<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 92 (#106) #############################################<br /> <br /> 92 THE AUTHOR.<br /> facturing Company. G. Naujok, a resident of<br /> Germany, painted a picture called “Die Heilige<br /> Cecilia,” and later executed an instrument con-<br /> veying to the complainant the exclusive right of<br /> reproduction. The painting was publicly exhi-<br /> bited at Munich, and afterwards sold, and its<br /> present location is unknown. The complainant<br /> secured a copyright and filed a photograph of the<br /> painting at Washington. The defendant subse-<br /> quently sold in this country a photograph, which,<br /> it was claimed, is an infringement. The court<br /> ordered a decree for the complainant.<br /> IV.--THREE YEARS OF AMERICAN CoPYRIGHT.<br /> The Daily Chronicle (Aug. 14) publishes<br /> an instructive “interview º&#039; with Professor<br /> Brander Matthews, of Columbia College, New<br /> York, on the result of three years&#039; working<br /> of the American Copyright Act. In the first<br /> place, the pirates are nearly all “knocked out.”<br /> The pirate chief, Lovell, is bankrupt, and his<br /> stock of several millions is being sold at “dry<br /> good stores” at 4d. and 5d. a volume. When<br /> these have been worked through the book market<br /> will improve. Meantime, we must note the<br /> necessity of copyrighting everything. Mr.<br /> Matthews points out how three notable books<br /> of last season—“Dodo,” “The Yellow Aster,”<br /> and “Ships that Pass”— through neglect of this<br /> precaution were pirated and sold for 8 cents.<br /> Next, the effect on American literature is that<br /> American authors no longer have to compete<br /> with stolen goods.<br /> The publishers already show a very large<br /> increase of American books in proportion to<br /> British books. Harper Brothers show British<br /> books in their lists numbering 25 per cent. of<br /> the whole, as against 75 per cent. thirty<br /> years ago. Houghton, Mifflin, and Co. have<br /> reduced the percentage of British books to<br /> Io per cent. London houses in New York are<br /> putting out American books in excess of English<br /> books. -<br /> As to the price of books; novels, as a rule,<br /> appear in One volume, at four, five, or six<br /> shillings. The Americans are, as a rule, a book-<br /> buying, not a book-borrowing, people.<br /> The effect of free libraries tends in America,<br /> he thinks, first to beget and encourage the habit<br /> of reading, and next to develop the desire to<br /> possess books. They make people buyers of<br /> books.<br /> Mr. Matthews further gave his views as to the<br /> difference between the circulation of English and<br /> American magazines. He said:<br /> The main fact is, no doubt, that our reading public is so<br /> much larger than yours, and that for that very reason our<br /> I can learn,<br /> magazine proprietors are enabled to pursue a much more<br /> systematic and spirited policy than is possible with you.<br /> We have made magazine editing at once a fine art and a<br /> science. Each of our great magazines occupies the whole<br /> time and thoughts of a very large editorial staff, consisting<br /> in one case of an editor-in-chief, an associate editor, an<br /> assistant editor, two editorial assistants, and four or five<br /> editorial clerks, to say nothing of two or three art editors.<br /> Every manuscript that is sent in is examined, and articles<br /> and drawings are always paid for on acceptance, instead of,<br /> as with you, on publication. Harper&#039;s or the Century will<br /> often have £10,000 worth of stock in hand, paid for, and<br /> ready for use as occasion offers. The policy of these<br /> magazines is mapped out for years beforehand by experts in<br /> the art of meeting the public taste. But such a policy, it<br /> is clear, can be pursued only when a very large sale is<br /> assured. The circulation of the magazines I have named<br /> runs to something like 200,000 copies a month. From all<br /> no high-priced illustrated magazine on<br /> your side commands more than one-fourth of that<br /> sale. It is a noteworthy fact that not a single English<br /> magazine is to be seen on the American bookstalls, as our<br /> magazines are seen on yours. In the days of piracy your lead-<br /> ing reviews used to be reprinted every month and sold at<br /> low rates, but even before the passing of the Copyright<br /> Act that practice was found unremunerative, and was<br /> accordingly dropped. Now, a few sets of your leading<br /> reviews are sent over in sheets, stitched, and sold to<br /> clubs and libraries. They have practically no general sale<br /> whatever.<br /> “And our cheap magazines, such as the Strand—have<br /> you any periodicals of that class P” -<br /> “No,” replied Mr. Matthews, “and why P. Because<br /> their place is almost precisely occupied by the Sunday<br /> editions published by all our leading daily papers. These<br /> contain serial novels, short stories, and general articles, of<br /> exactly the same class as those which appear in your<br /> cheaper magazines, and illustrated in much the same style.<br /> In fact, the same stories and articles are often supplied by<br /> syndicates to your cheap magazines and to our Sunday<br /> papers.”<br /> W.—THE THREE-VoI,UME Nov EL.<br /> The fate of the three-volume novel still con-<br /> tinues to furnish matter for discussion. The<br /> Publisher&#039;s Circular naturally takes the keenest<br /> interest in the subject.<br /> The writer of an article in the August number<br /> on the Resolution of our council, puts forward<br /> certain statements and opinions which we can<br /> hardly accept. Thus he says:<br /> “We do not know how far this Resolution repre-<br /> sents, the mind of the great body of English<br /> novelists. . The opinion of writers in general, or<br /> even of the majority of the members of the<br /> Authors’ Society, was not, we believe, taken before<br /> the council passed its sweeping motion, and there<br /> are, we fancy, many writers of fiction who would<br /> repudiate this official declaration.”<br /> Now, the great body of English novelists are<br /> members of this Society. With a very few<br /> exceptions all novelists of standing are members.<br /> The Secretary received instructions to ask the<br /> opinions of all those members who are novelists,<br /> but not of other members. A “private and<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 93 (#107) #############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 93<br /> confidential” circular was drawn up giving<br /> the facts of the case : and the opinions which<br /> were sent in were practically unanimous. Of<br /> course there may be, as the writer of the article<br /> thinks, some who would not agree with the Reso-<br /> lution, but they did not come forward.<br /> He says, further, that the “mass of the people<br /> does not read fiction.” The general opinion is<br /> that fiction is all that the mass does read—<br /> that part of the mass which reads anything<br /> besides the daily paper.<br /> He goes on to say, “Possibly the Council did<br /> not see that its resolution, if carried into effect,<br /> would deprive three-fourths of the members of<br /> the Society of their occupation and means of<br /> living.” -<br /> Let us, once more, take refuge in those<br /> figures which do so seriously annoy those who<br /> love a good broad general statement. There are<br /> between 1300 and 1400 members of the Society.<br /> Three-fourths of this number means about a<br /> thousand. It has been pretty conclusively<br /> proved in back numbers of the Author that the<br /> number of novelists whose works possess any<br /> commercial value at all with Mudie and Smith is<br /> under 300, of whom about one hundred are<br /> likely to be affected by the abolition of the three-<br /> volume system. It is a great mistake to suppose<br /> that the members of the Society are nearly all<br /> novelists. Statements to this effect have been<br /> made, over and over again, with intent to injure,<br /> but not in the Publisher&#039;s Circular, whose<br /> attitude towards the Society is generally fair.<br /> The writer probably reveals the truth when he<br /> says that depression in trade has brought about<br /> the present crisis. It is certainly more than<br /> twenty years since the three-volume novel was<br /> fiercely denounced; but it survived. Times<br /> were good; libraries took large numbers; cheap<br /> editions could wait. Now, smaller numbers<br /> must be taken at a less price; that is what the<br /> libraries say. Let us, therefore, go straight to<br /> the general public. That is what the majority of<br /> novelists say ; that is what many of the best<br /> novelists have already begun to do; that is what<br /> many publishers have declared their intention to<br /> do for the future. It is a significant commen-<br /> tory on this article, written clearly in favour of<br /> the old system, that the back page of the<br /> JPublisher&#039;s Circular contains an announcement<br /> that Messrs. Sampson Low, Marston, and Co.<br /> will no longer issue three-volume novels, except<br /> under special circumstances.<br /> The three-volume novel, however, is not yet<br /> dead.<br /> WI.--THE COPYRIGHT Congress AT ANTWERP.<br /> The Association Littéraire et Artistique Inter-<br /> nationale informed us that a copyright congress<br /> would be held at Antwerp from the 18th to the<br /> 25th of Aug., and invited this Society to send<br /> delegates. We regret extremely that the invita-<br /> tion should not have come into our hands until<br /> after the last committee meeting, so that, our<br /> members having dispersed, there was no oppor-<br /> tunity of arranging for the proper representation<br /> of the Society. We wait for a report of the<br /> proceedings. The following is the official pro-<br /> gramme :-<br /> PROGRAMME Gână RAL DEs TRAvAUx.<br /> Du contrat d&#039;édition, en matières littéraires, artistiques et<br /> musicales.<br /> Rapportewrs: MM. Pouillet et Ocampo.<br /> De l&#039;arbitrage en matière de contestation relative à la pro-<br /> priété intellectuelle.<br /> Rapportewr: M. Maunery.<br /> De la propriété littéraire en fait de noms individuels.<br /> Rapportewr: M. Georges Maillard.<br /> De la propriété littéraire en fait de titres.<br /> Rapportew&quot;: Dr. Max Nordau.<br /> De la collaboration.<br /> Rapporteur : M. Harmand.<br /> De la propriété artistique en matière de portrait.<br /> De la propriété des types (clichés) de reproduction.<br /> Rapportewr: M. Davaune. -<br /> De la création d&#039;un répertoire universel au bureau inter-<br /> national de Berne.<br /> De l&#039;obligation du dépôt.<br /> De l&#039;enregistrement.<br /> Rapportewr: M. Jules Lermina.<br /> De la traduction.<br /> De la caution Judicatwm Solvi.<br /> De la photographie.<br /> Rapportewr: M. Eugène Pouillet.<br /> Des droits des auteurs en matière de représentation<br /> gratuite.<br /> Rapportewr: M. Wauwermans.<br /> De la clause de la nation la plus favorisée.<br /> Rapporteur: M. A. Darras.<br /> *- 2-º<br /> -- w -<br /> A POET&#039;S LOWE,<br /> [Imitated from a poem by Felix d&#039;Anvers, quoted by Ste. Beuve<br /> Nouv. Lundis. III., 351.]<br /> Love leaped like instant lightning to my breast<br /> And made himself therein a secret throne :<br /> The hopeless slavery I bear unknown,<br /> By her who caused it least of all is guessed.<br /> I pass her often, as in darkness dressed,<br /> And even when by her side am still alone;<br /> Nor when I lie beneath my burial-stone<br /> Will prayer of mine have ever marred her rest.<br /> She whom God made so tender and so kind<br /> Perceives not, bent upon her daily task,<br /> The sighs of love that round her presence go;<br /> But wrapped in duty, innocently blind, -<br /> Reading the words I write of her, will ask—<br /> “Who was the woman that he worshipped so<br /> H. G. R.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 94 (#108) #############################################<br /> <br /> 94<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> THE PRICE OF THE NOVEL–1750-1894.<br /> HE following is a table of the prices at which<br /> the English novel has been issued from the<br /> year 1750 to the year 1860.<br /> It has been<br /> compiled from catalogues and lists published at<br /> the end of books, from magazines, and from<br /> advertisements. The compiler, Mr. R. English,<br /> of the British Museum, made no choice, but wrote<br /> down selections from the lists at random, three<br /> or four for each year. Some of the novels<br /> whose authorship was subsequently acknow-<br /> ledged appeared at first anonymously.<br /> Year. Author. Title, Vols. Price.<br /> I750 Fielding ........................ Tom Jones ...................................................... 4. 3o 12 O<br /> 35 Paltock ........................ Peter Wilkins........... © tº 4 tº e s tº a 4 º&#039; s s º is a t t e º e º tº e º a s - e s a e s is s a e s &amp; 8 2 o 6 O<br /> I75I Smollett ........................ Peregrine Pickle ............................................. 4. O I2 O<br /> 33 Anonymous..................... Adventures of Lucy Frail.................................... I O 3 O<br /> 1760 35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adventures of Sylvia Hughes .............................. I O 3 O<br /> 1761 25 - - - - - - - - - . . . . . . . . . . . . Memoirs of Miss Sidney Biddulph ........................ 2 o 7 6<br /> 1762 Author of Roderick Random Sir Launcelot Greaves ....................................... 2 O 6 O<br /> 25 Anonymous..................... Longwood, Earl of Salisbury .............................. 2 o 6 o<br /> 1770 3 * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adventures of a Bank Note ................................. 4 O I 2 O<br /> 33 33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Constantia ...................................................... I O 3 O<br /> 1771 33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Captive; or, the History of Mr. Clifford ......... 2 o 6 O<br /> 1772 Author of Roderick Random Expedition of Humphrey Clinker................. ......... I O 3 O<br /> 1780 Anonymous..................... Alwyn ; or, the Gentleman Comedian..................... 2 o 6 O<br /> 1782 33 • - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - George Bateman ............................................. 3 o 7 6<br /> 1784 23 - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barnham Downs ............................................. 2 o 7 o<br /> 1789 L. Lewis ........................ Lord Walford................................................... 2 O 6 O<br /> I790 Mrs Bonhote .................. Darnley Wale; or, Emilia Fitzroy ........................ 3 o 7 6<br /> 32 Anonymous..................... History of Miss Meredith.................................... 2 O 6 O<br /> 35 35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Man of Feeling .......................................... 2 O 5 O<br /> 33 33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Recluse ................................................... 2 O 5 O<br /> 99 35 - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Maid of Kent ............................................. 3 O 9 O<br /> 35 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Louisa Forester................................................ 3 7 6 o<br /> 33 Charlotte Lennox ............ Euphemia. ...................................................... 4. O I 2 O<br /> I79I Jane Timbury.................. The Philanthropic Rambler ................................. I O 3 O<br /> 33 Anonymous..................... St. Julian&#039;s Abbey............................................. 2 O 5 O<br /> 33 35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charles Henley ................................................ 2 O 5 O<br /> 33 35 - - - - - - - - * * * * * * * * * * * * * Sempronia ...................................................... 3 O 9 O<br /> 33 Clara Reeve .................. School for Widows............................................. 3 O 9 O<br /> 33 J. White ........................ - The Adventures of Richard Coeur de Lion.............., 3 O 9 O<br /> I792 Anonymous..................... Dinabas ......................................................... I O 3 O<br /> 33 By a Lady ..................... The Baroness of Beaumont ................................. 2 O 6 O<br /> 33 Anonymous..................... Modern Miniature ............................................. 2 O 6 O<br /> 33 33 • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Delineations of the Heart.................................... 3 O 9 O<br /> 33 Charlotte Smith ............... Desmond, a Novel............................................. 3 O 9 O<br /> I793 35 • * * * * * * * * * * * * Wanderings of Warwick .................................... I O 4 O<br /> 33 Anonymous..................... Siavery; or, the Times....................................... 2 O 6 O<br /> 33 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . History of Philip Waldegrave .............................. 2 O 6 O<br /> 33 35 - &quot; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Dupe ...................................................... 2 O 5 O<br /> 33 33 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Selinor............................................................ 6 O 18 O<br /> I794 Geo. Hutton .................. Amantus and Elmore ....................................... I O 3 O<br /> 35 Anonymous..................... Ivey Castle ...................................................... 2 O 6 O<br /> 33 33 s = &lt; * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Tales of Elam............................................. 2 o 6 o<br /> 35 S. Pearson ..................... The Medallion ................................................ 3 O 9 O<br /> 32 55 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ellen, Countess of Castle Howell ........................ 4 O I 2 O<br /> I795 Anonymous..................... The Ghost-Seer ................................................ I O 3 O<br /> 35 Geo. Brewer ... ............... The Motto ...................................................... 2 O 6 O<br /> 33 Anonymous..................... Elisa Powell ................................................... 2 o 7 o<br /> 33 Mary E. Parker ............... Orwell Manor................................................... 3 O 9 O<br /> 33 Anonymous..................... Secrecy, a Novel ............................................. 3 O 9 O<br /> 53 35 - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Henry, a Novel ................................................ 4. O I 2 O<br /> 1796 J. Palmer ..................... The Haunted Cavern.......................................... I O 3 O<br /> 3? Anonymous..................... Arville Castle................................................... 2 O 6 O<br /> 93 IRichard Hey .................. Edington, a Novel............................................. 2 o 6 o<br /> 33 Mary Robinson ............... Angelina, a Novel ............................................. 3 O I3 O<br /> 33 Mrs. Meeke..................... The Abbey of Clugny ....................................... 3 O 9 O<br /> 35 Anonymous..................... Agatha, a Novel ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 O I 2 O<br /> 1797 93 s = &lt; * * * * * &amp; 2 e º e º &#039;º e s tº a c is The Village Curate ...... a 2 &amp; º º ſº tº is º f tº 6 s is tº 4 e º a tº 9 s s a s s a tº e s s s a s a I o 3 6<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 95 (#109) #############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> Year. Author. Title. Wols. Price.<br /> 1797 Anonymous..................... The Inquisition ................................................ 2 O 6 O<br /> 25 23 ° e º • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Nun......................................................... 2 O 8 O<br /> 35 M. G. Lewis .................. The Monk ...................................................... 3 o IO 6<br /> 23 J. Fox ........................... Santa Maria ................................................... 3 O 1 o 6<br /> 33 Anonymous..................... The Church of St. Sifford.................................... 4. O I4. O<br /> 1798 33 s = * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Statira ; or, the Mother....................................... I o 3 6<br /> 33 33 - &quot; - e s • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Henry Willoughby............................................. 2 o 7 o<br /> 23 Anna Plumtree ............... The Rector&#039;s Son ............................................. 3 O IO 6<br /> 35 Mrs. Tomlins ................. Rosalind de Tracy............................................. 3 O IO 6<br /> 33 Geo. Walker .................. Cinthelia ...................................................... - - - 4. O I4. O<br /> I799 Anonymous.......... .* * * * * * * * * * * The Orphan Heiress of St. Gregory........................ I O 4 O<br /> 23 33 - - - - - - - * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Helen Sinclair ................................................ 2 O 7 o<br /> 25 3) - - - - - - - - - * * * * * * * * * * * * Sketches of Modern Life .................................... 2 O 7 o<br /> 25 33 - &quot; &quot; &quot; - s • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Tale of the Times ............................................. 3 O I 2 O<br /> 53 3 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Castle of St. Donats.......................................... 3 O IO 6<br /> 33 E. Helme........................ Albert, a Novel ................................................ 4 O I4. O<br /> I8OO A. Thicknesse.................. The School of Fashion ....................................... 2 O I2 O<br /> 33 Anonymous...................... A Northumbrian Tale ....................................... I o 4 6<br /> 33 Mrs. Robinson ſº tº e s : s a The Natural Daughter ....................................... 2 O 7 O<br /> 32 Anonymous..................... Selina, a Novel ................................................ 3 O IO 6<br /> 33 Miss Gunning .................. The Gipsey Countess.......................................... 4. O I4. O<br /> 33 Anonymous..................... Exhibitions of the Heart .................................... 4 I I O<br /> 33 C. Selden........................ Serena ............................................................ 3 o Io 6<br /> 18OI Anonymous..................... The Castle of Eridan.......................................... I O 4 6<br /> 23 33 - * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Picture of the Age ....................................... 2 o 6 O<br /> 22 Mrs. Burke ..................... Elliot, a Novel ................................................ 2 o 8 O<br /> 25 P. Littlejohn .................. The Mistake ................................................... 3 O I2 O<br /> 33 Anonymous..................... Adonia, a Novel................................................ 4. o 18 O<br /> 33 M. A. Hanway ............... Andrew Stuart ................................................ 4 O 18 O<br /> 1802 Miss Hatfield .................. She Lives in Hopes, &amp;c. .................................... 2 O 9 O<br /> 33 Anonymous..................... Belmont, a Novel ............................................. 3 O IO 6<br /> 39 Anne Plumtree ............... Something New ; or, Adventures at Campbell House... 3 O I5 O<br /> 25 H. Ventum ..................... Justinia, a Novel ..... ... .................................... 4. O 18 O<br /> 33 Mrs. Hunter .................. Letitia, a Novel ................................................ 4 I I O<br /> 1803 Anonymous..................... Lucy Osmond................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I O 3 O<br /> 33 Eliza N. Bromley ............ The Cave of Cosenza.................... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * , , , 2 O I2 O<br /> 33 Anonymous..................... Lady Geraldine Beaufort .................................... 3 O IO 6<br /> 35 Mrs. Hunter .................. Letters from Mrs. Palmerston, &amp;c......................... 3 O I5 O<br /> : 3 Anonymous..................... Follies of Fashion ............................................. 3 o 13 6<br /> 23 33 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Helen of Glenross ............................................. 4. O 16 o<br /> 1804 25 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Leopold ; or, the Bastard.................................... 2 o 8 O<br /> 33 25 - - - - - - - - - - - - - . . . . . . . . Letters of Mrs. Riversdale ........................ ... . . . . . . 3 o 13 6<br /> 2 3 Eugenia de Acton ............ A Tale without a Title ....................................... 3 O I2 O<br /> 23 Anonymous..................... Pride of Ancestry ............................................. 4. o 16 O<br /> 33 Mrs. Thomson.................. St. Clair of the Isles .......................................... 4. O I4. O<br /> 1805 Mrs. Hunter .................. The Unexpected Legacy .................................... 2 O 9 O<br /> 33 Mary Goldsmith............... Casualities ............ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .................. 2 O 6 O<br /> 22 Mrs. Le Noir .................. Village Anecdotes ............................................. 3 O I2 O<br /> 3) A. M. Porter .................. The Lake of Killarney ....................................... 3 o 13 6<br /> 33 Anonymous..................... What You Please, &amp;c. ......................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. o 16 o<br /> 33 M. Malden ..................... Jessica Mandeville............................................. 5 o 17 6<br /> I806 Anonymous..................... - Belville House ............................................. ... 2 O 8 O<br /> 23 35 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - A Sailor&#039;s Friendship ....................................... 2 O 8 O<br /> 33 33 - - - - * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Flim Flams, &amp;c................................................. 3 I I O<br /> 35 Mrs. Opie ..................... Adeline Mowbray ............................................. 3 o 13 6<br /> 33 Eliz. Helme..................... Pilgrim of the Cross.......................................... 4. O 18 O<br /> 33 R. C. Dallas .................. The Morlands................................................... 4. I I O<br /> 1807 F. Lathom ..................... The Impenetrable Secret .................................... 2 o 6 O<br /> 33 Robert Semple ............... Charles Ellis ................................................... 2 O 9 O<br /> 35 Mrs. Edgworth ............... Lenora...........• * * * g e s e e s tº e º e s - a • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 2 o IO 6.<br /> 33 J. Mackintosh ............... Men and Women ............................................. 3 o 13 6<br /> 93. Mrs. Opie ..................... Simple Tales .............................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 I I O<br /> 33 M. A. Lewis .................. Feudal Tyrants ........................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 I 8 O<br /> 1808 M. Rymer ..................... The Spaniard, &amp;c. ........................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I O 4 O<br /> 92 Anonymous..................... Helen, a Novel ................................................ 2 o Io 6<br /> 22 39 &amp; B tº º e º &#039;º - e º a º - G tº a c e º e &amp; George the Third ............................................. 3 o 13 6.<br /> WOL. W. K.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 96 (#110) #############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> Wear. Author, Title. Wols. Price.<br /> 1808 Anonymous................ © e º e e Theodore; or, the Enthusiast .............................. 4. I I O<br /> 3? Madame Genlis ............... Alphonsine, &amp;c. ................................................ 4 I 8 O<br /> 1809 || Anonymous..................... Theodore; or, the Peruvians .............................. I o 4 6<br /> 22 F. Lathom ..................... The Fatal Wow ................................................ 2 O 9 O<br /> 33 J. N. Brewer .................. Mountville Castle ............................................. 3 O I5 O<br /> 33 G. Amphlett .................. Ned Bentley ................................................... 3 O I5 O<br /> 33 Peter Peregrine ............... Matilda Montford ............................................. 4. I I O<br /> 33 Miss M. Linwood ............ Leicestershire Tales .......................................... 4. I I O<br /> 1810 Anonymous..................... Faulconstein Forest .......................................... I O 6 6<br /> 25 92 - e s - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Calibia, Choosing a Husband .............................. 2 O IO O<br /> 55 Miss Edgeworth............... Tales of Fashionable Life.................................... 3 O 18 O<br /> 33 Anonymous.......... * . . . . . . . . . . The Acceptance................................................ 3 o 18 o<br /> 33 Harriet Jones.................. The Family of Santraile ..................... .............. 4 I 4 O<br /> 35 Alicia T. Palmer............... The Daughters of Isonberg ................................. 4 I 4 O<br /> 33 F. Melville ..................... The Benevolent Monk ....................................... 3 o 13 6<br /> 25 Anne Ormsby.................. The Soldier&#039;s Family... ...................................... 4 I 6 O<br /> 35 Anonymous............... ..... “Frederick” ................................................... 2 O I 2 O<br /> 181 I C. H. Wilson .................. The Irish Valet ....................................... ........ I O 5 O<br /> 35 Anonymous..................... The Reformist ................................................ 2 O IO O<br /> 33 23 ° - * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Self Control ................................................... 3 I 4 O<br /> 33 Theodore Edgeworth ......... The Shipwreck ................................................ 3 O I5 O<br /> 35 Emma Parker.................. Virginia, &amp;c. ................................................... 4. I 4 O<br /> 1812 Mrs. Roberts ................. Rose and Emily................................................ I o 5 6<br /> 33 Anonymous..................... Things by their Right Names .............................. 2 O IO 6<br /> 33 33 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Rhydisel; or, the Devil in Oxford ........................ 2 O Io 6<br /> 32 23 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Adventures of Dick Distich ................................. 3 O 16 6<br /> 33 Mrs. Opie ..................... Tempter ; or, Domestic Scenes ........................... 3 I I O<br /> 35 Ann Plumtree.................. History of Myself and Friend .............................. 4 I 8 O<br /> 1813 Anonymous .................... The Sisters, a Domestic Tale .............................. I O 5 O<br /> 55 Miss Benger .................. The Heart and the Fancy........................... ........ 2 O I 2 O<br /> 35 Anonymous..................... She Thinks for Herself ....................................... 3 o 16 6<br /> 92 Mrs. Peck ..................... Waga ; or, View of Nature ................................. 3 O 18 O<br /> 93 Miss Burney .................. Traits of Nature................................................ 4. I 8 O<br /> 1814 Anonymous..................... Sara, a Tale ............... 6 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I o 5 6<br /> 33 W. H. Hitchener ............ The Towers of Ravenswold ................................. 2 O IO O<br /> 32 Anonymous..................... The Adventures of a Dramatist ........................... 2 O I 2 O<br /> 33 Lady Morgan .................. O&#039;Donnel, a National Tale ................................. 3 I I O<br /> 33 Miss Houghton ...... ..... .. The Border Chieftain.......................................... 3 O 18 O<br /> 95 Maria Edgeworth ............ Patronage, a Novel .......................................... 4. I 8 O<br /> 1815 Maria Benson .................. System or no System.......................................... I O 6 O<br /> 22 John Gamble .................. Howard, a Novel ............................................. 2 O 9 O<br /> 35 Sir Walter Scott...... . . . . . . . . . Guy Mannering ................................................ 3 I I O<br /> 23 Emma Parker.................. The Guerrilla Chief .............................. ........... 3 I I O<br /> 25 Anonymous..................... History of John de Castro ................................. 4 I 4 O<br /> 33 Ann M. Porter ............... The Recluse of Norway....................................... 4 I 4 O<br /> 1816 Anonymous..................... A Tale for Gentle and Simple .............................. I o 7 o<br /> 95 23 ° - * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Adventures of Peter Wilkins .............................. 2 o Io 6<br /> 33 Mrs. Opie ..................... Valentine&#039;s Eve ................................................ 3 I I O<br /> 35 T. S. Surr ..................... Magic of Wealth ............................................. 3 O 18 O<br /> 32 Anonymous..................... Chronicles of an Illustrious House ........................ 5 I 7 6<br /> 33 23 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * s Clara Albin........ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * , , , s a s 4. I 8 O<br /> 1817 33 ° e º s • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Headlong Hall ..................... ... ............. ......... I O 6 o<br /> 93. Emma Parker.................. Self Deception .......................................... . ... 2 O I 2 O<br /> 35 Anonymous..................... Melincourt, &amp;c. ............ ............................. ..... 3 O 18 O<br /> 53 3 x * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Six Weeks at Long&#039;s.................................... . ... 3 I I O<br /> 35 Fanny Holcroft ............... Fortitude and Frailty * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * s g g a s e e 4. I 2 O<br /> 33 Anonymous..................... The Pastor&#039;s Fireside * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * . e. e. 4 I I I 6<br /> 1818 Eliz. B. Lester ............... The Quakers ............... ....................... ... ........ I O 6 o<br /> 33 Anonymous..................... Northern Irish Tales............... .. • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * e s e 2 O I 2 O<br /> 2) }} • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Manners, a Novel .............................. ... ........... 3 O 18 O<br /> 33 Anna M. Porter ............... The Knight of St. John ... ... ........... ................. 3 I I O<br /> 33 Mrs. Opie ..................... New Tales ...................................................... 4 I 8 O<br /> 35 By the Earl of Erpingham... Some Account of Myself ............ .....,.............. .. 4 I 2 O<br /> 33 Anonymous..... tº s e º e º e s a s a e º e a e Rosabella ; or, Mother&#039;s Marriage ......,,................ 5 I IO O<br /> 1819 33 - &quot; &quot; &quot; &quot; &quot; : * * * * * * * * * * * * s a Conidans, &amp;c,.................. . . ........................... I o 7 O<br /> 25 Madame Planche ,,,,,,,,, A Year and a Day... ................... i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 O I2 O<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 97 (#111) #############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 97<br /> Year. Author. Title, Wols. Price,<br /> 1819 Anonymous..................... Errors and their Consequences.............................. 2 O I3 O<br /> 35 Miss Porter..................... The Fast of St. Magdalen......................... 3 I I O<br /> 22 Miss Croker .................. The Question, Who is Anna P .............................. 3 I 4 O<br /> 33 Mrs. Robert Moore............ Eveleen Mountjoy ............................................. 4. I 4 O<br /> 182O M. A. Grant .................. Tales Founded on Facts .................................... I O 7 O<br /> 29 Anonymous..................... The Retreat ................................................... 2 O I 2 O<br /> 22 A. Marmacopt.................. The Wharbroke Legend....................................... 2 O 14 O<br /> 33 Sir Walter Scott............... The Abbot ...................................................... 3 I 4 O<br /> 35 Mrs. Opie ..................... Tales of the Heart............................................. 4. I 8 O<br /> 32 R. C. Dallas .................. Sir Francis Darrell............................................. 4. I 8 O<br /> 33 Anonymous..................... The Mystery of Forty Years Ago ........................ 3 I I O<br /> 1821 H. B. Gascoigne............... Sympathy, &amp;c. ............... ................................ I O 5 O<br /> 32 J. H. Brady .................. The Spanish Rogue .......................................... 2 O I5 O<br /> 95 Anonymous..................... Concealment ......................... # * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * s a e s s 3 I I O<br /> 95 Lee Gibbons .................. The Cavalier ................................................... 3 I I O<br /> 39 Anonymous..................... A Legend of Argyle .............................. . ......... 3 I I O<br /> 1822 Sir Walter Scott ............ The Pirate ...................................................... . 3 I I I 6<br /> 53 Charlotte C. Richardson ... The Soldier&#039;s Child ... ....................................... 2 O I 2 O<br /> 22 Anonymous..................... Maid Marian ................................................... I o 7 o<br /> 33 James Hogg .................. Three Perils of Man .......................................... 3 I 4 O<br /> 33 Anonymous..................... Pen Owen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 I II 6<br /> 33 Sir Walter Scott..... ......... Peveril of the Peak ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. 2 2 O<br /> 1823 Anonymous..................... A New England Tale.......................................... I o 6 o<br /> 3? 35 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Which is the Heroine P....................................... 2 O I 2 O<br /> 33 33 s • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Confederate................................................ 3 I I O<br /> 39 99 • * * * * * * * * e &amp; © tº a 9 tº e º e º e King of the Peak ................................ ............ 3 I I O<br /> 33 Sir Walter Scott............... Quentin Durward ............................................. 3 I I I 6<br /> 33 Anonymous..................... Reginald Dalton................................................ 3 I I I 6<br /> 1824 35 s • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Stranger&#039;s Grave ....................................... I O 6 O<br /> 33 Geo. Soane ..................... The Outcasts ................................................... 2 o 16 O<br /> 2 3 Geo. Butt........................ The Spanish Daughter ....................................... 2 o 16 o<br /> 35 Anonymous..................... Trials, a Novel ................................................ 3 I I O<br /> 2 3 Sir Walter Scott............... Red Gauntlet ................................................... 3 I I I 6<br /> 33 3.5 s = * * * * * * * * * * * * * St. Roman&#039;s Well ............................................. 3 I I I 6<br /> 1825 B. D&#039;Israeli..................... Vivian Grey ................................................... 2 O 18 O<br /> 23 Anonymous..................... Matilda, a Tale of the Day .............. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I O IO 6<br /> 33 33 • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Story of a Life .......................................... 2 o 18 o<br /> 35 35 • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Foresters................................................... 3 I 7 O<br /> 23 5 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Tremaine; or, Man of Refinement ........................ 3 I 4 O<br /> 5 § Sir Walter Scott.............., Tales of the Crusaders ....................................... 4. 2 2 O<br /> 92 H. Willis........................ Castle Baynard ................................................ I O 8 O<br /> 35 T. Lister........................ Granby ......................................................... 3 I I I 6<br /> 25 H. Smith........................ Brambletye House .............................. ... . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 I I I 6<br /> 1826 Anonymous..................... Sir John Chiverton, a Romance ........................... I O IO 6<br /> 33 33 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Truth, a Novel ................................................ 3 I 4 O<br /> 33 Allan Cunningham............ Paul Jones ...................................................... 3 I I I 6<br /> 35 33 - e s • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Tor Hill, a Novel ....................................... 3 I I I 6<br /> 1827 33 e s , , s a s • * * * * * * * * * * * * * Falkland, a Novel............................................. I o Io 6<br /> 35 23 ° • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Confessions of an Old Bachelor ........................... I o Io 6<br /> 35 32 - . . . * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Belmour, a Novel ..................... ....................... 2 O 18 O<br /> 33 39 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - English Fashionables Abroad ........................... &amp; e &amp; 3 I I I 6<br /> 33 35 • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Historiettes, Tales of Continental Life .................. 3 I I I 6<br /> 32 33 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Richmond, &amp;c., a Novel .................................... 3 I I I 6<br /> 1828 Sir Walter Scott............... Tales of a Grandfather....................................... I o Io 6<br /> 33 Anonymous..................... Yes or No, a Novel .......................................... 2 I I O<br /> 92 35 . . . * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Confessions of an Old Maid .............. .................. 3 I 8 6<br /> 35 25 - - - - - - - * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Herbert Lacy, a Novel ................................... ... 3 I I I 6<br /> 33 35 • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Tales and Legends.............. .............................. 3 I II 6<br /> 35 33 - e s • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * De Lisle; or, the Distrustful Man ........................ 3 I I I 6<br /> 93 35 e s • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Herbert Milton ............................................. tº &amp; &amp; 3 I I I 6<br /> 1830 Marryatt........................ The King&#039;s Own................................................ 3 I I I 6<br /> 25 Ritchie........................... The Game of Life ............................................. 2 O 18 O<br /> 22 E. Lane ........................ The Fugitives................ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I O 9 O<br /> 1835 Sir E. B. Lytton............... The Student .................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 I I O<br /> 39 Anonymous..................... Agnes Searle ................................................... 3 I II 6<br /> ?? ?? * * * * * * * * * * * * Finesse, a Novel * c s , , , , , , , , , , , , , a t w w w w • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 2 I I Q<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 98 (#112) #############################################<br /> <br /> 98<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Year. Author. Title. Wols. Price.<br /> 1840 G. P. R. James ............... The King&#039;s Highway................................. ........ 3 I I I 6<br /> 1841 Anonymous..................... Bllen Braye; or, the Fortune Teller ..................... 2 I I O<br /> 1845 35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mary Aston..................... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I O 6 O<br /> 35 D. Lister........................ College Chums ................................................ 2 I I O<br /> 33 G. P. R. James ............... The Smuggler............................ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 3 I I I 6<br /> 1850 Anonymous..................... Shadow and Sunshine ...................... ................. I O 6 O<br /> 33 35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Silwood, a Novel ............................................. 2 I I O<br /> 35 P. Leicester..................... Ada Greville ................................................... 3 I I I 6<br /> I86o Capt. Wraxall.................. Camp Life ...................................................... I O IO 6<br /> 32 Anonymous..................... Hulse House, by the Author of Anne Grey............... 2 I I O<br /> 2 3 F. J. Greenwood ............ Under a Cloud ................................................ 3 I I I 6<br /> If we analyse this list the following facts are<br /> established:<br /> 1. From 1750 to 1792 inclusive the ruling price<br /> of a novel was 3s. a volume, so that a four-volume<br /> novel was 12s. and a three-volume novel was 98.<br /> Occasionally, however, there is observed a<br /> tendency to cheaper forms, as in 1790, when<br /> there occur two cases of novels at 2s. 6d. a<br /> volume. This price was “net;” there was no<br /> reduction or discount to the public.<br /> The novels of this period were for the most part<br /> very short; now and then, as in the case of “Tom<br /> Jones” and “Peregrine Pickle,” they were long;<br /> as a rule they were much shorter than the modern<br /> Three-Decker. .<br /> 2. In the year 1793 there is a sign of an<br /> upward tendency. A single volume book is<br /> announced at 4s. Then for three or four years<br /> the old price is maintained. In 1796 Mary<br /> Robinson’s “Angelina.” is priced at 4s. 6d. a<br /> volume, and “Agatha,” whatever her merits may<br /> have been, appears at 4s. a volume. In 1797<br /> 3s. 6d. and 4s. are the rule. In 1798 the old<br /> price is forgotten. In 1799 nothing is under<br /> 3s. 6d. In 1800 prices range from 3s. 6d.,<br /> 4s. 6d., 5s. 3d., to 6s. a volume. In 18O1,<br /> nothing is higher than 4.s. 6d. In 1802 we range<br /> from 4s. 6d. to 5s. 3d. The same prices are<br /> asked in 1803, 1804, 1805.<br /> of “Flim Flams ” asks 7s. a piece for his<br /> volumes. A common form is now the four-<br /> volume novel at a guinea. Here and there, all<br /> the time, we find the old price of 3s. In 1807<br /> Lewis’s “Feudal Tyrants” is issued in four<br /> volumes at £1 8s. In 1808 Mdme. Genlis&#039;<br /> “Euphrosyne” is published in four volumes at<br /> the same price. In 1809 and 18 IO 6s. a volume<br /> is the rule. In 181 I an Anonymous issues a<br /> three-volume novel at £I 4s.--we are getting<br /> very close to the guinea and a half. From 1812<br /> to 1821 prices range from 6s. to 8s. a volume.<br /> In 1822 for the first time occurs the ominous<br /> price of a guinea and a half. There may<br /> be earlier cases, but the first discovered by Mr.<br /> In 1806 the author<br /> English was that of Sir Walter Scott&#039;s “Pirate,”<br /> in three volumes. In the same year “Peveril of<br /> the Peak” was published in four volumes at<br /> 282 2s., viz., half a guinea for every volume.<br /> From 1823 to 1830 one-volume novels are<br /> issued at 6s, and at Ios. 6d., but by far the<br /> larger at the latter price. Two-volume novels<br /> appear at 12s., 16s., 18s., and a guinea. Three-<br /> volume novels at a guinea, 31 48., 31 7s., and<br /> 31 IIs. 6d. That is, out of twenty-one three<br /> volume novels on this list fifteen are at a guinea.<br /> and a half, two at £1 8s. 6d., one at £I 7s.,<br /> two at £1 4s., and one at a guinea.<br /> From the year 1825 to 1860 the price of half a<br /> guinea for every volume was the rule, with here<br /> and there a rare exception.<br /> Of late years there have been many experiments<br /> in price and form. Certain well-known writers<br /> have never produced a three-volume novel at all;<br /> the price of the single volume has become a<br /> uniform 6s., exactly double the price a hundred<br /> years ago.<br /> The first appearance of the cheap edition<br /> seems to have been the series of novels issued by<br /> Messrs. Colburn and Bentley in 1831, called<br /> “Bentley’s Standard Novels and Romances,” at<br /> 2s. 6d. each. Of this series the Athenæum of<br /> that date says: “If these works do not succeed,<br /> and eminently, it is no use catering honestly for<br /> the public. These are among the very best and<br /> cheapest ever issued from the press.”<br /> The first appearance of the six-shilling novel<br /> seems to have been in 1861, when Messrs.<br /> Blackwood and Sons published at that price<br /> George Eliot’s “Silas Marner.” Others followed<br /> at the same price, and the London publishers, as<br /> Bentley and Son, Sampson Low, &amp;c., speedily<br /> began to publish at the same price.<br /> The second and cheap edition of the novel, in<br /> regular succession, either at 6s. Or 3s. 6d., or less,<br /> is a thing of not more than thirty years’ existence.<br /> The old rule was one form of publication, either<br /> serially or in three-volume form, and then an end.<br /> Until the year 1865 or thereabouts, if a novel<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 99 (#113) #############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 99<br /> appeared in a magazine, that was its first and final<br /> appearance. The two-shilling novel, for which<br /> Miss Braddon is chiefly responsible, began the<br /> cheap edition. But the ordinary successful<br /> novelist did not, as a rule, look forward to a cheap<br /> edition of his story, however well it was received<br /> by the public, and there were critics who spoke of<br /> a reprint, even if it contained an acknowledgment<br /> of the journal from which it was taken, as if the<br /> publisher and the author were committing some<br /> kind of fraud upon the public in presenting old<br /> Wares a,S new.<br /> The rise in price from 3s. to half a guinea a<br /> volume may perhaps be explained by more than<br /> one theory. Perhaps the following explanation<br /> may find acceptance :<br /> The rise in price begins towards the close of<br /> the last century.<br /> For nearly a quarter of a century the country<br /> was engaged in a deadly contest for life and<br /> liberty. This contest demanded the most cruel<br /> sacrifices. Therefore, although the seas were<br /> kept pretty well open and a great part of our<br /> foreign trade remained with us, the taxation fell<br /> heavily on all classes, but most heavily on that<br /> class which then formed the great bulk of readers<br /> —the clergy and the professional people. The<br /> examples of Edinburgh, Lichfield, Exeter, Norwich,<br /> and other places illustrate the importance of the<br /> literary circles—some of them containing men of<br /> great literary ability—which had sprung up all<br /> over the country. The members of these coteries,<br /> perforce, ceased to buy books; they formed book<br /> clubs and circulating libraries. The natural result<br /> of the narrowed circulation was a rise in price.<br /> From 3s. a volume the novel became gradually, as<br /> we have seen, half a guinea. And this price con-<br /> tinued, because the people had lost the habit of<br /> buying books, and, though the book clubs fell to<br /> pieces and the literary coteries were broken up,<br /> the habit of reading remained and was extended<br /> more and more, while the central circulating<br /> library took the place of the country book club<br /> and supplied the reading, the demand for which<br /> far exceeded, and still exceeds, the purchasing<br /> power of the people.<br /> *-<br /> r= - -<br /> THE AUTUMN ANNOUNCEMENTS,<br /> HEY have already begun in the Athenæum.<br /> The number for August 25 contains the<br /> autumn lists of four publishers. It is<br /> proposed to analyse and classify these lists as was<br /> done last year in these columns. This classifica-<br /> tion cannot be complete before the end of October<br /> or perhaps later. Meantime, with thirty-five<br /> WOL. W.<br /> new books and new editions announced by<br /> Messrs. Longman; fifty-four by Messrs. Chatto<br /> and Windus; seventeen by Messrs. Chambers;<br /> and four by Messrs. Putnam, we make a good<br /> beginning. At present we may only observe that,<br /> as appears from these lists, the three-volume<br /> novel is not dead yet.<br /> *- - -º<br /> ON “WARNINGS AND ADVICE.”<br /> CORRESPONDENT addresses a letter to<br /> the editor which seems to demand especial<br /> attention. He writes to this effect :<br /> “I read your paper regularly from beginning<br /> to end. It afflicts me, every month, with a pro-<br /> found melancholy on account of your “Warnings<br /> and Advice.’ They may be most useful, for those<br /> who can follow them. I cannot. I am one of<br /> those whose first desire is to get my work pub-<br /> lished at all. Why? Because I have a message<br /> for the world? Not at all. But because I can<br /> write things of a kind which command a certain,<br /> but not a great, success. My line is the novel, but<br /> there are many others, like myself, though in other<br /> lines, who can produce work which gets bought,<br /> somehow, to some small extent. They write<br /> readable essays; ‘ historical’ chapters, cribbed<br /> from recent investigations in the Record Office<br /> and elsewhere; concocted out of old books in a<br /> library, and made to look something like work of<br /> Original research among unpublished documents;<br /> biographies of half-forgotten celebrities; poetry.<br /> But the poets are not quite up to my level,<br /> for they have to pay for their things; I want<br /> my work published, and not at my own cost. I want,<br /> also, to be known in my own circle as a man of<br /> letters. It gives one a certain distinction to have<br /> produced one book and to be engaged upon<br /> another. My vanity is, I believe, the leading<br /> motive. But, besides, I always have a suspicion<br /> that my work may be worth large sums of money,<br /> and I naturally want all I can get, and more.<br /> So that I go to my publisher, first and above<br /> all things, anxious that he should take my stuff;<br /> next, suspicious of his terms; and, lastly, afraid to<br /> stipulate any conditions. As for independence, I<br /> really haven’t any. I am in his hands; he makes<br /> me feel that he is obliging me. Not that he is<br /> insolent ; he is even kindly ; sometimes he makes<br /> me miserable by telling me how much he loses<br /> by his authors; sometimes he makes me mad by<br /> little condescensions and words of patronage.<br /> Always, of course, I am to be the obliged and<br /> grateful party in the business. I am never, as<br /> you desire me to be, independent of him. He<br /> will very kindly take my work ; he will very<br /> I.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 100 (#114) ############################################<br /> <br /> I OO<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> nobly, though he says he is certain to be a loser by<br /> it, make me an offer. He has produced half-a-dozen<br /> books of my mine; on every one he says he has lost;<br /> yet he is always ready to take another. There-<br /> fore, as he is a business man, I do not believe<br /> him. But I don’t dare tell him so. What have<br /> your warnings and your information done for<br /> me P. Well, they have proved clearly that, even<br /> with my limited sale, the gratitude should be on<br /> his side, not mine. As a (hitherto) grateful<br /> dependant on this disinterested Patron, it is<br /> gall and wormwood to me to learn what his<br /> agreement really means, and what it is that I<br /> have had to accept. Your “Warnings and Advice’<br /> are fourteen in number; they are all practical;<br /> they are all, I dare say, to other people, useful.<br /> But, alas ! they are of no use to me, because I am<br /> Quite unable to adopt any of them. I might, it<br /> is true, go so far as to stamp the agreement—I<br /> don’t think he would find it out—but the<br /> nature of the document makes it quite un-<br /> necessary for me. The other man can stamp his,<br /> if he likes, but it seems unnecessary. Then,<br /> again, I might take your advice about a literary<br /> agent, but I fear that my commercial value at<br /> the best is not great enough to make any agent<br /> anxious to have me as a client—my last book,<br /> produced on the half-profit plan, showed a loss of<br /> eleven pounds, eleven and eightpence. As regards<br /> “future work, my Patron has not yet tried to bind<br /> me down; but he would do so, I dare say, if he<br /> thought of it. And as for drawing the agreement<br /> myself, or reserving anything, or having a say in<br /> the advertisements, I think I see my Patron&#039;s face<br /> if I dared to suggest anything of the kind. One<br /> poor man, a friend in the same line as myself, and<br /> of about equal commercial value, ventured once<br /> to suggest to his Patron that he might have the<br /> accounts of the joint venture audited. “What?’<br /> cried the Patron, “do you think I mean to cheat<br /> you ?’ The retort was obvious ; there can be<br /> but one reason for your partner hiding his books;<br /> but my friend did not dare to make use of it.<br /> I myself on one occasion when a royalty was<br /> offered—I will not lower myself in your eyes<br /> by confessing the amount of that royalty or<br /> the number of copies which had to be sold<br /> before the royalty began—ventured to ask<br /> Smilingly—it was a hollow, forced smile, I fear<br /> —what share of profit the proposed arrange-<br /> ment might leave to the other side. He replied,<br /> icily, that he must really be allowed to manage<br /> nis property—he called it his property—in his<br /> own way, and it was no affair of mine whether<br /> he lost or gained. Most likely, he added, pump-<br /> ing up a sigh, he should be a very heavy loser.<br /> “In plain words, I am entirely dependent on<br /> my publisher. He gives me exactly what he<br /> chooses; I must accept or go elsewhere. And<br /> where should I go? Your advice is excellent, in<br /> fact, to those whose books are commercially valu-<br /> able. For the rank and file I submit that it is<br /> unpractical.”<br /> That the writer&#039;s position is such as he<br /> describes one need not doubt. That he is one<br /> of many in the same position we know too well.<br /> That the position is one of necessity is another<br /> question. For, if we consider, very nearly the<br /> whole business of the smaller publisher—and of<br /> all publishers except a few large houses—lies<br /> with the writers of the day, and of these by<br /> far the greater number, like our correspondent,<br /> possess individually but little commercial value.<br /> Yet, taken together, they may be very valuable,<br /> because every one represents a certain amount<br /> of gain to the publisher, otherwise his books<br /> would not be produced, and one or two among<br /> them, especially among the younger sort, may at<br /> any moment become popular and very valuable<br /> indeed.<br /> If such a writer, then, would offer his next work<br /> on our conditions to his friend the “Patron,” he<br /> would probably find it indignantly refused. He<br /> could then try elsewhere, and here the Society<br /> might possibly help him. But if all such<br /> writers—all that very large class of writers<br /> whose works possess some commercial value,<br /> however small—demanded such conditions, the<br /> result would be — must be — submission and<br /> acceptance. For, since our conditions involve<br /> nothing in the world that can be considered<br /> derogatory to the publisher, nothing unfair,<br /> nothing out of the common course, nothing but<br /> the common sense of an ordinary business trans-<br /> action, and nothing more than the Ordinary pre-<br /> cautions with which one person admits another<br /> to the management of, or partnership in, his<br /> property, it stands to reason that opposition<br /> would disappear as soon as it was found<br /> impossible or difficult to get such agency or such<br /> partnership without these conditions. The<br /> “warnings and advice,” on the other hand, to<br /> those whose work is in demand are so simple<br /> that it is their own fault if they do not stipulate<br /> for their observance. For instance, in the<br /> common case of a royalty, the “warnings”<br /> numbered respectively (I), (3), (4), (7), (8), (II),<br /> and (I2) are the only points necessary to be<br /> observed, and of these especially numbers (4),<br /> (8), (II), and (I2).<br /> Next, it must be remembered that the business<br /> of the Society is to defend literary property, and<br /> to show how it must be defended. If writers<br /> will not trouble to defend their property because<br /> it is of small value that is their concern. We<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 101 (#115) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> IO I<br /> tell them, at least, how they may estimate its<br /> possibilities, and how they may guard and keep<br /> their own. In defence of other kinds of property,<br /> the law does not permit the invasion of its rights<br /> where the value is small any more than when it<br /> is large. A pocket must not be picked of a<br /> handkerchief any more than of a watch. Nor<br /> should a literary agreement over a small property<br /> be more unfair than one over a large property.<br /> There is another way of looking at it. The<br /> one-sided old I oper cent. royalty; the penny in the<br /> shilling; the 20 per cent. when 5000 copies (say)<br /> have been sold ; and many other of the tricks<br /> which we know so well—if they are now tried with<br /> even the youngest and most dependent writer,<br /> are tried with the consciousness that they have<br /> been exposed; that the victim can ascertain for<br /> himself the reality of his position; and that,<br /> dependent as he may be for the moment, should<br /> the day of success arrive when his works would<br /> become by themselves an income to his pub-<br /> lishers, he will certainly go elsewhere. The<br /> Society has rendered many of the old “dodges *<br /> impossible by ascertaining and publishing what<br /> is really meant by the mysterious Cost of<br /> Production.<br /> To return to the class represented by our cor-<br /> respondent. They want to publish, very often,<br /> because they believe that their work is “as good<br /> as other people’s.” This desire overcomes, as is<br /> apparent from this letter, every other considera-<br /> tion. In order to be published they will accept any<br /> terms. This desire, therefore, makes the author<br /> a supplicant and a dependant. He invites a one-<br /> sided offer. If he refuses it the chances are<br /> that he is not worth much, and he is told to<br /> go elsewhere. On the other hand, if he is a<br /> young man, it is possible that he may become a<br /> success, in which case it is, perhaps, wiser to treat<br /> him with fairness, as a client whose business is<br /> desirable. This consideration smoothes the way<br /> to a better understanding.<br /> Here is a very simple rule. Such a writer<br /> generally avoids the leading Houses, thinking<br /> foolishly that he will do better with the smaller<br /> Houses—and forgetting that there is but one<br /> public. Let him, therefore, before going to one of<br /> the smaller Houses examine its lists. If he finds<br /> that it can show only one or two works of any<br /> popular author, and those his earliest works, let<br /> him ask why this popular author left this<br /> House. Naturally, because he was, or thought he<br /> was, unfairly treated. Then let this young<br /> writer make up his mind to avoid a House which<br /> cannot keep its clients. On the other hand, a<br /> House which has long lists of popular authors is,<br /> primá facie, one which acts so as to retain the<br /> confidence of writers.<br /> But if a writer considers that warning which<br /> stands last in our list, he will do well, either by a<br /> man of business or in person, to address a<br /> publisher as one business man with another.<br /> “Here,” he will say, “is a work which I believe<br /> to be a possible property, even if a small<br /> property. If your advisers also think so, is it<br /> worth your while to undertake its production<br /> on the following terms P I contribute the work<br /> itself; you contribute the liability to pay the<br /> difference, if any, between the actual cost<br /> of production and the demand for the book.<br /> You also undertake the distribution, collection,<br /> &amp;c.; in return for which you shall have such a<br /> share of the profits as may be agreed upon as<br /> equitable. The partnership is to be quite open,<br /> as between two honourable men ; books always<br /> accessible ; nothing charged but out of pocket<br /> expenses; the proposed list of advertisements to<br /> be arranged with me : and, of course, no secret<br /> profits of any kind.” Such a letter, at all events,<br /> would not be the letter of a dependant. And the<br /> answer would probably show the true character of<br /> the publisher to whom it was addressed.<br /> NOTES AND NEWS,<br /> Rº: of the Author will rejoice to learn<br /> that Mr. Robert Sherard is about to resume<br /> his Letters from Paris in these columns.<br /> Arrangements have also been made for a Letter<br /> from New York, on American Literature and<br /> Literary Folk. The former letter will begin, it is<br /> hoped, next month ; the latter in November or<br /> December.<br /> Mr. Strachey&#039;s paper in the National Review<br /> for August, on the Heroic Couplet in English<br /> verse, indicates a new line of critical research,<br /> which will, I hope, be followed up either by Mr.<br /> Strachey or by other competent scholars. The<br /> construction—the structure—of English poetry,<br /> not the lives of the poets, or criticisms on their<br /> works, but the origin, growth, and development<br /> of its many metres, has never, so far as I know, been<br /> seriously and adequately treated. Mr. Strachey&#039;s<br /> paper is only a chapter, and that an imperfect<br /> chapter, on one branch of the subject. Where did<br /> Chaucer find his favourite metre P Why did he<br /> choose that metre in preference to the shorter line<br /> most common in the fabliaua, or the longer line<br /> which was used by his friend Eustache Deschamps?<br /> Where did Skelton find—or did he invent—his<br /> short metre P How was it that the six-foot line<br /> failed to hold its own? Sonnet, blank verse, ode,<br /> lyrical ballad, song—every branch of poetry down<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 102 (#116) ############################################<br /> <br /> I O2<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> to the new-old metres of modern versifiers—the<br /> ballade, triolet, villanelle, chanson royale—which<br /> seem to have had their day. Again, there is the<br /> splendid music of Swinburne. Is there anything,<br /> anywhere, in the history of poetry, which can<br /> compare with his march of song P Can there be<br /> any verse, anywhere, to which he owes anything P<br /> Such a paper as Mr. Strachey&#039;s takes time and<br /> reading and scholarship. Therefore it is rare.<br /> I have received from America the First Part<br /> of “The Art of Short Story Writing.” It is<br /> only a typewritten part, and I am earnestly<br /> begged to guard it from being published in this<br /> country. It would therefore be unfair to quote<br /> from the pages, or to set forth the methods and<br /> plan of the book, or to express any opinion upon<br /> the treatment or the literary value of the book,<br /> or its probable usefulness to beginners. The<br /> author of the work prefers to remain anonymous,<br /> which is perhaps wise. Many writers, seeing the<br /> terrible mistakes and the waste of good material<br /> committed by beginners in their first attempts,<br /> have thought that a school of fiction might do<br /> useful preliminary training work just as well as a<br /> school of painting. The anonymous author of<br /> this work, which will be issued by “the Revised<br /> Literary Bureau,” of New York, declares him-<br /> self strongly of this opinion. The first and<br /> obvious objection to such a school is that every-<br /> body so far has got on without it. Quite true.<br /> On the other hand, how many would have got on<br /> more quickly and better with it P. How many,<br /> again, would have been deterred from entering<br /> upon a line of work for which they had no ability?<br /> There is in the construction, the arrangement, the<br /> setting, the dialogue of a novel, as much art asthere<br /> is in the grouping of a picture, the management of<br /> the light, &amp;c. This truth, which is perfectly well<br /> known to all those who have studied, and intelli-<br /> gently attempted, the art of fiction, has been<br /> denied, or derided, by those who write on the<br /> subject without any study of it or any sympathy<br /> with it. It may be objected that those who have<br /> the natural aptitude will find out these things<br /> for themselves. Perhaps they will ; perhaps<br /> they will not; perhaps it will take them years of<br /> work and partial failure, with the sacrifice of<br /> their best materials. Of course, those who have<br /> not the natural gift will never be able to use, even<br /> if they find out, the true methods. Why, then,<br /> teach them P. We cannot create a story teller,<br /> any more than a poet, by teaching; but we may<br /> stop at the outset those who are certain, to fail;<br /> we may teach the methods, and put into the right<br /> line the rank and file of the story tellers; and we<br /> may save genius itself from blunders and from<br /> disappointments. Another objection, however,<br /> less obvious, presents itself. After going to such<br /> a school the candidate who failed would most<br /> certainly throw the whole blame of failure upon<br /> the school. It would therefore be mecessary for<br /> the lecturers and teachers to be very ready with<br /> their warnings. He must be a stupid person,<br /> however, who was unable in six months to find<br /> out whether a student would fail or succeed. We<br /> now await the American treatise.<br /> Every year, as regularly as the showers of<br /> August, appears the letter complaining of the<br /> bold bad smuggler who imports Tauchnitz editions<br /> in his pockets. The whole family, girls and all, enter<br /> with zeal into the smuggling business; impromptu<br /> pockets are devised in feminine garments; men’s<br /> coats are found to contain stowage room pre-<br /> viously unsuspected; a successful run is made ;<br /> and the family shelves are enriched with another<br /> row of Tauchnitz books. They have been bought<br /> at half the cost of the English edition, you see.<br /> Cheapness before anything. These books, more-<br /> over, are openly sold in this country; one may<br /> sometimes see rows of them in the secondhand<br /> shops. What is to be done P. It is impossible to<br /> touch the conscience of the traveller homeward<br /> bound. He will not smuggle lace, because he<br /> understands that lace is property—it is visible<br /> property—he must not defraud the revenue;<br /> literary property he does not understand—he<br /> cannot see it. Here is a book—why cannot he<br /> take the book home with him P Because the law<br /> prohibits? Nonsense; it can hurt nobody. It is<br /> impossible to make him see that to import this<br /> book is an infringement of right; a robbery of<br /> author or publisher, or both. Therefore some-<br /> thing else must be attempted. What? Let us<br /> take counsel together. There must surely be some<br /> way of preventing the smuggling of books. Now<br /> the rough and ready way by which dockyard<br /> labourers are prevented from stealing dockyard<br /> stores might be attempted. Wardens of the yard<br /> stand at the gates and feel the men as they pass.<br /> An expert hand would detect a Tauchnitz in the<br /> coat pocket. And a substantial fine judiciously<br /> and sternly administered would do the rest. But<br /> perhaps some other method might be suggested.<br /> - We referred last month to the critic who<br /> desires the reduction of three volumes to one,<br /> because we should then get a shorter novel. I<br /> have before me two novels, each in one volume.<br /> One is called “Marcella,&quot; and the other “The<br /> Manxman.” The former contains about 28O,OOO<br /> words, and is therefore twice as long as the<br /> ordinary three-volume novel; the latter contains<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 103 (#117) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> IO3<br /> about 236,000 words, and is therefore half as<br /> large again. No ; we shall not necessarily get<br /> our novels any shorter when they are published<br /> in orie volume; and, as was said last month, a<br /> book may be very short and yet very ill-con-<br /> structed.<br /> It is well known that Mr. Hall Caine<br /> deliberately resolved to try the result of appealing<br /> to the public at once with his new novel “The<br /> Manxman.” The following was the result, pub-<br /> lished here with the author&#039;s sanction, eight days<br /> before the day of issue:—<br /> Mudie&#039;s subscription .......... IOOO<br /> Smith’s 35 ............... 200<br /> Smith&#039;s railway stalls............ ... 2COO<br /> The trade, &amp;c. ..................... 4OOO<br /> Separate Colonial edition ......... 5OOO<br /> Total, I 2,260, before the book was out. Now, it<br /> must be remembered that Izoo, or even looo, is a<br /> very large subscription for a three-volume novel.<br /> The publishers’ immediate returns, therefore, are<br /> probably more than doubled by the new system.<br /> Everybody, however, it is objected, is not so<br /> popular as Mr. Hall Caine. That is quite true.<br /> The figures must therefore be taken to show what<br /> may be meant by a popular work, and they<br /> certainly do carry encouragement to those<br /> who believe in going to the whole public of<br /> readers in the first instance.<br /> Since this was written the Athenaeum (Aug. 25)<br /> states that the first edition of 20,000 “ ran low ’’<br /> in a fortnight.<br /> We have been accused of encouraging persons<br /> who have not the faintest chance of achieving<br /> either kind of literary reputation—that is,<br /> reputation for literary style, or popularity—to<br /> believe that figures such as these may apply to<br /> themselves. Disappointment most probably awaits<br /> those sanguine persons, But is it not the same<br /> in other professions P. The freshman from the<br /> country grammar school goes up to the university<br /> dreaming of the Craven, with a first-class and a<br /> fellowship to follow. In five or six years he has<br /> found his place as a third-class man and an<br /> assistant master in his old school. The young<br /> barrister recognises the splendid prizes of his<br /> profession and dreams of becoming a leader, a<br /> Q.C., a judge, a Lord Chancellor. Why should<br /> not the young writer in the same way dream of<br /> vast popularity ? Meantime, as the Society is in<br /> existence mainly for the defence of literary pro-<br /> perty, is it not necessary to show what literary<br /> property means ?<br /> A paper on the “Art of the Novelist,” by the<br /> late Amelia B, Edwards, is published in the<br /> August number of the Contemporary. The<br /> paper bears the appearance of being unfinished,<br /> or, at least, uncorrected, being out of proportion,<br /> covering too much ground, and generally “un-<br /> workmanlike.” But, for one thing, it is valuable.<br /> The author speaks out strongly on behalf of a<br /> novelist whom we seem to be forgetting, viz.,<br /> Anthony Trollope. His works will perhaps be<br /> read again, but not until the time comes when<br /> the society of this century has become the study<br /> of the historian. Then, indeed, Trollope will be<br /> found a mine of wealth for the ideas, the habits,<br /> the prejudices of that kind of society — the<br /> higher middle class — which he drew so well.<br /> Perhaps no novelist has ever understood his own<br /> generation better than Trollope. Dickens knew<br /> the lower middle class; Trollope knew the class<br /> above — the gentlefolk of the country town;<br /> the clergy; the country people; the professionals. .<br /> Last year in America. I met a lady—a lady no<br /> longer young—a lady of reading and culture—<br /> who declared to me that, in her opinion, whatever<br /> might be said to the contrary, Trollope was the<br /> first English novelist of this century. Trollope&#039;s<br /> greatest vogue was in the Sixties. When he died<br /> —was it not in 1879 P−he had not outlived his<br /> reputation, because there were millions who<br /> remembered his work, but his circle of readers<br /> had wofully diminished. Those of us who<br /> remember the Sixties can recall the joy with<br /> which his novels were received, one after the other;<br /> the firm drawing; the clearly outlined portrait—<br /> all his figures were types; the individuality of<br /> the author who owed nothing to any predecessor.<br /> Thinking over these things, I understood what<br /> that American lady meant. And here is Amelia B.<br /> Edwards, after her death, speaking to us to much<br /> the same effect. I wonder how a modern young<br /> lady would like one of Trollope&#039;s novels of the<br /> Sixties, with its illustrations — the dumpy girl<br /> with her hair in a net, the crinolined skirts, the<br /> flat heels, her round face with the great innocent<br /> eyes, her honest worship of Man the Superior—<br /> ohl so very, very different from her daughter,<br /> from the new girl, who defers to no masculine<br /> mind, talks on all subjects, writes on all, and<br /> carries a latch key !<br /> The testimony of Professor Brander Matthews,<br /> of New York (see p. 29), to the working of the<br /> American Copyright Act, which we owe to the<br /> Daily Chronicle, is extremely valuable. He<br /> shows, especially, how the Act has weeded out<br /> the reprints of English authors, and encouraged<br /> and stimulated American authors, who for the<br /> first time find themselves, he says, free from com-<br /> petition with stolen goods. Henceforth all the<br /> best books will belong to both countries alike;<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 104 (#118) ############################################<br /> <br /> IO4<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> but the bulk of the more popular literature will<br /> remain American for the Americans, and British<br /> for Britons; in other words, while the writers<br /> who can command an audience on both sides of<br /> the Atlantic will enjoy the widest audience that<br /> was ever granted to any writer in any country,<br /> the people for their daily reading will prefer their<br /> own folk, their own local setting, and their own<br /> dialect. I am pleased to read Professor<br /> Matthews’ opinion on the effect of free libraries,<br /> because I have always maintained, from my own<br /> experience, observation, and conversation with<br /> those who know, viz., librarians themselves, pre-<br /> cisely the same opinion.<br /> As regards the magazines, it is also pleasant<br /> to find Professor Matthews practically saying<br /> exactly what has been said in the Author. In<br /> one or two points he does not speak from know-<br /> ledge. For instance, he says that the American<br /> weekly paper contains much the same kind of<br /> work, and is illustrated in the same way, as our<br /> Strand. Obviously he has never seen the illustra-<br /> tions of the Strand, or he would not compare<br /> them with the terrible things of the American<br /> weekly. Again, I doubt his “main&quot; fact;<br /> namely, that the American reading public is so<br /> much larger than our own. He quotes a circula-<br /> tion of 200,000 copies. We can show a circulation<br /> of 3OO,OOO copies of this same magazine, the<br /> Strand. The questions are, it seems to me—<br /> What makes popularity ? Is good work com-<br /> patible with popularity ? The example of the<br /> American magazines seem to prove that it is—<br /> unless, which would be a most humiliating con-<br /> fession, we must own that the middle class in<br /> this country is below the corresponding class in<br /> America in intelligence, taste, and cultivation.<br /> WALTER BESANT.<br /> *-* →<br /> r- - -,<br /> PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN AMERICA.”<br /> C{INCE writing the notes on English Free<br /> S Libraries and the books read by the people<br /> who use them, for the number of August,<br /> I have received a work by Mr. William J.<br /> Fletcher, Librarian of Amherst, on the Public<br /> Libraries in America (Columbian Knowledge<br /> Series: Sampson Low and Co). This little book<br /> supplements the information already gathered<br /> concerning our own libraries. The greater part<br /> of it is, it is true, devoted to topics belonging to<br /> * Public Libraries in America. By William J. Fletcher,<br /> M.A., Librarian of Amherst College. London; Sampson<br /> Low, Marston, and Co. 1894,<br /> librarians, such as classification, cataloguing, pre-<br /> servation, distribution, buying, and binding.<br /> There are, however, many points of more general<br /> interest. For instance, as to the number of public<br /> libraries. In the year 1858 there were in the<br /> United States no more than IOO libraries, with<br /> something like a million volumes altogether.<br /> The largest was that of Harvard College, with<br /> 70,000 volumes. In 1890 the number of libraries<br /> in the country was 4000, the number of volumes<br /> amounted altogether to 27,OOO,OOO ; and there<br /> were fifty libraries with more than 50,000 volumes<br /> each. Moreover, free libraries are multiplying<br /> much more rapidly than ever before. Not only<br /> are there founded every year many new libraries,<br /> but it is found that the old libraries cost more<br /> every year to maintain, the growth of a large<br /> library being much faster in proportion than<br /> that of a small library. Neglected depart-<br /> ments are discovered and brought up to date;<br /> serial publications have to be continued; the<br /> reference department is always increasing.<br /> A great deal has been done in the States by<br /> private gifts. This book contains a list of donors<br /> and donations, including only those of 50,000<br /> dollars and upwards, amounting in all to<br /> 17,OOO,OOO dollars, or three and a half million<br /> sterling ! How much has been given to free<br /> libraries in this country by private persons P<br /> The incomes of the hundred largest public<br /> libraries are also given in a classified list ;<br /> they amount to nearly a million and a half of<br /> dollars, or £300,000, but the returns of ten out of<br /> the hundred are not complete. The number of<br /> free public libraries which contain more than<br /> 10,000 volumes does not much exceed one hundred.<br /> But in the smaller towns there are a great many<br /> libraries as yet quite small, too small to be<br /> included in the Government report.<br /> The 4ooo libraries above mentioned may be<br /> divided roughly as follows:<br /> College and school libraries... . 2 OOO<br /> Subscription libraries ... 5CO<br /> Libraries of societies, &amp;c. . IOOO<br /> Free public libraries 5CO<br /> The free public libraries are all lending libraries.<br /> For instance, in the Newark (New Jersey) library<br /> any resident of the town may freely borrow books,<br /> under certain conditions to insure the library<br /> against loss. This extension of the public library,<br /> once introduced, seems essential for its true<br /> usefulness. A large number of the libraries are<br /> open on Sunday, but not the greater number.<br /> Again, there are a large number of special<br /> libraries not included in the lists already con-<br /> sidered. Almost every State has its Historical<br /> Society, which has its library, free and open to<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 105 (#119) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> iO5<br /> any student. There are also the State libraries,<br /> which are composed chiefly of law books and<br /> public documents, of great use for purposes of<br /> reference. And there are the special collections of<br /> scientific books. At Washington alone there are<br /> nine special libraries, including more than a<br /> million volumes, and of the university libraries<br /> there are six at least which contain over IOO,OOO<br /> volumes each ; that of Harvard alone contains<br /> 43O,OOO volumes.<br /> What do the people who use these libraries read?<br /> This little book gives no lists or details. But it<br /> states, what everyone might guess beforehand, that<br /> the fiction circulated far exceeds all other classes of<br /> books together, “the great majority of readers<br /> seeming to care for nothing else.” Not that the<br /> American librarian groans over the fact. “This,”<br /> he says, “simply shows how great is the demand<br /> for reading as recreation. To the masses of the<br /> people, hard worked and living humdrum lives,<br /> as well as to their pining for something to kill<br /> time, the novel comes as an open door into an<br /> ideal life, in the enjoyment of which, even in<br /> fancy, one may forget the hardships or the<br /> tedium of real life.” Something is said as to the<br /> guidance exercised by librarians in this respect.<br /> Enough has been said to show that the Ameri-<br /> cans are much in advance of us in the matter of<br /> libraries. Four thousand libraries with over Io,000<br /> volumes each, and a great many more with from<br /> one to ten thousand; more libraries continually<br /> being founded ; rich men continually giving great<br /> sums of money for the foundation and mainten-<br /> ance of libraries; this is a statement with which<br /> comparison is not calculated to inflate our own<br /> pride.<br /> One thing more. Everything good in litera-<br /> ture becomes instantly, as soon as published, the<br /> common property of all the English-speaking<br /> peoples. These figures illustrate and prove, what<br /> we have persistently maintained, that already a<br /> popular book, of whatever kind — historical,<br /> scientific, religious, imaginative—commands in<br /> Great Britain and Ireland, the Colonies, India,<br /> and the United States, taken all together, an<br /> audience from the libraries alone which has never<br /> yet been equalled in the history of literature.<br /> There are writers belonging to this country alone,<br /> writers in every branch of literature, who<br /> command on the first appearance of a new book<br /> the subscription of every important library over<br /> the vast area where our language prevails. And<br /> great as is already this audience, it is nothing<br /> compared with that which awaits the writer and<br /> teacher of fifty years hence. When the number<br /> of libraries will be multiplied by fifty, and<br /> the number of readers by ten, one hundred<br /> millions of English-speaking people will be two<br /> hundred millions: if there are now only ten<br /> millions of readers there will then be a hundred<br /> millions. W. B.<br /> *– A –iº<br /> r- - -<br /> LOWE&#039;S COMPLETION.<br /> Dim are the memories of those early days<br /> When Love was only in the bud as yet ;<br /> Swift glances—peeps of tangled woodland ways:—<br /> The hues she wore, the way her hair was set.<br /> Like broken lights upon some fairy stream,<br /> When Dian’s silver shafts are shivered there,<br /> Through misty veil seen faintly as in dream,<br /> So gleam those far off days, so dimly fair.<br /> As we forget its tributary rills,<br /> When seawards borne upon the river&#039;s breast ;<br /> The flashing breakers boom ; amid the hills<br /> The becks are hushed, or murmur at the best.<br /> So, launched on Life’s inexorable sea,<br /> Those echoes of the past have ceased to move<br /> Our wedded souls; their whispers drowned—Ah me !—<br /> In the imperial symphony of love<br /> F. B. DOVETON.<br /> *- a sº-º<br /> sº- - -<br /> LITERATURE OR PHYSICAL SCIENCE:<br /> OR the last twenty years, the increasing<br /> predominance of subjects other than<br /> literary in English education has been<br /> most marked. An active movement has been<br /> observable to deprive letters of the prominent<br /> place they had hitherto occupied; and confident<br /> predictions have been uttered that this revolution<br /> will be complete, that art and letters will be<br /> entirely replaced by the absorbing pursuit of the<br /> knowledge afforded in physical science.<br /> No doubt, the scientific method of investi-<br /> gation is a most valuable discipline, and it is<br /> desirable that everyone should have some expe-<br /> rience of it ; but it is folly to deny that Art and<br /> Poetry and Eloquence have the capability of<br /> refreshing and delighting us, and possess for<br /> mankind a fortifying, elevating, quickening, and<br /> suggestive power. However, for the time being<br /> the partisans of Science are popularly supposed<br /> to have the victory; and gloomy prognostications<br /> are to be heard with reference to the future of<br /> modern literature as well as antique. .<br /> These apprehensions have been felt elsewhere<br /> in Europe. The late M. Renan asserted that<br /> “one hundred years hence the whole of the<br /> historical and critical studies in which his life<br /> had been passed, and his reputation made, will<br /> have fallen into neglect, and that natural science<br /> will exclusively occupy man’s attention.” No<br /> one, familiar with the history of European litera-<br /> ture, will for a moment accept this view. It is<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 106 (#120) ############################################<br /> <br /> 106<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> only by the pursuit of this study that we can<br /> rightly appreciate the history of the race. Litera-<br /> ture is the voice of the people. I believe that so<br /> long as man exists, from the very constitution of<br /> the human mind, there will always be moral and<br /> aesthetic cravings, which Science, however attrac-<br /> tive, can never gratify. I think, therefore, that<br /> the “splendour and rapid march of the physical<br /> sciences” have partially eclipsed, but will never<br /> extinguish, the interest in the older subject of<br /> literature.<br /> However, some of those whose opinions carry<br /> weight in the scholastic world have asserted that<br /> it cannot be taught, and that the experiment has<br /> failed. The signs of this failure are to be found in<br /> the modifications of certain examinational require-<br /> ments, in which literature has been degraded to<br /> a secondary place, or altogether eliminated, or<br /> recognised only in connection with Philology.<br /> “Literature has been regarded as mere material<br /> for the study of words. All that constitutes its<br /> intrinsic value has been ignored. Its master-<br /> pieces have been resolved into exercises in<br /> grammar, syntax, and etymology; its history<br /> into a barren catalogue of names and works and<br /> dates. No faculty but that of memory has been<br /> called into play in studying it.” That it should<br /> have failed therefore to commend itself as an<br /> instrument of education is no more than might<br /> have been expected.<br /> The aim and purpose of modern culture are<br /> distinctly utilitarian ; all studies have been<br /> appraised and valued, and “saleable knowledge”<br /> is the most sought. No wonder the proper<br /> study of literature can find no place in the<br /> system of modern education. Indeed, it is better<br /> out of it.<br /> Wise men are pointing out the necessity in<br /> these days for finding some effective agency for<br /> cherishing within us the ideal, and herein is the<br /> great value of literature to all those who seek<br /> the higher education, with a genuine desire for<br /> true culture. It supplies a want, which, how-<br /> ever much the exclusively scientific may ignore,<br /> will make itself felt in the human heart. It was<br /> well said by a great Oxford scholar that “the<br /> object of literature in education is to open the<br /> mind, to correct it, to refine it, to enable it to<br /> comprehend and digest its knowledge, to give it<br /> power over its own faculties, application, flexi-<br /> bility, method, critical exactness, sagacity, ad-<br /> dress, and expression.”<br /> support the truism that literature is a most<br /> valuable agent in self-culture. But we can avoid<br /> the mistake of those who confound its pursuit<br /> with education, or regard it as the sole and<br /> sufficient agent. Burke said, “What is the<br /> education of the world? Reading a parcel of<br /> We need not pause to<br /> books? No! Restraint and discipline, examples<br /> of virtue and of justice, these are what form the<br /> education of the world.” -<br /> Let us avoid all extravagance, however, and<br /> remember that it contains “the best that has<br /> been thought and said in the world,” and there-<br /> fore regard it as a priceless factor in self-<br /> cultivation.<br /> But enough, perhaps, has been said upon the<br /> disciplinary and educative character of the study<br /> of literature. It contains other sources of<br /> interest; it brings to our knowledge many whom<br /> it is a delight to know. While some excite our<br /> reverent admiration, and some afford endless<br /> entertainment, there are others who call forth<br /> deeper feelings by the loveableness of their<br /> character—the noble-minded, in whom pride and<br /> vanity, resentment and self-love have no place,<br /> who in pure simplicity and singleness of heart<br /> give their great knowledge and power unre-<br /> servedly to the world, solely that all may share<br /> their own happiness; men whose lives seem<br /> realised ideals of what is most excellent in moral<br /> beauty.<br /> *-- * ~ *<br /> e- - -º<br /> BOOK TALK.<br /> AS the one-volume fiction anything to fear<br /> from the one-volume collections of short<br /> stories? It would be very interesting to<br /> know whether the circulation of “Tife&#039;s Little<br /> Ironies” has equalled that of the one-volume edition<br /> of any of Mr. Hardy&#039;s other novels. Perhaps such<br /> a collection of good short stories, already popular,<br /> is likely to become more popular than the long<br /> novel, whether in one or three volumes. In the<br /> words of a recent critic, “the tendency of the<br /> public taste is in the direction of brevity and wit<br /> rather than of long drawn-out narratives and<br /> elaborate word painting!” No rule, however,<br /> can be laid down as to length, that depends on<br /> the subject; on the author&#039;s style; on the inci-<br /> dents; on a thousand things. If a novel can be<br /> too long, it may also be too short. And, indeed,<br /> every one knows novels which one would like to<br /> go on for ever. The impatience of readers on the<br /> length of a novel belongs to London, or to the rush<br /> of life in great cities, which leaves little time for<br /> reading. In the country, or quiet colonies, there<br /> is no such impatience: the reader loves to linger<br /> among the creations of the novelist.<br /> Mr. Morley Roberts&#039; new book, “The Purifica-<br /> tion of Dolores Silva, and other Stories,” is one<br /> which must leave a good impression on the reader<br /> as far as the art of short story writing is con-<br /> cerned, but, at the same time, the impression is a<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 107 (#121) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> IO7<br /> sad one. In the first story, “ Initiation,” a girl&#039;s<br /> first lover, or, let us say, would be lover, is treated<br /> with surely more than usual severity, even by<br /> the most startled innocence. In the second story<br /> the lover never knows till after her death that the<br /> heroine cared about him at all. In the third,<br /> called “When She May,” the luckless proverb is<br /> complete. She does get May—a May lasting a<br /> lifetime. “Panic ’’ is the next, and is the one<br /> story in the book which everyone will have read<br /> before, we forget where it appeared, but it was<br /> spoken of as a good story at once. We cannot be<br /> quite sure whether, after carefully showing that<br /> the chief character was a coward, the author did<br /> not mean to convey the idea that after all he had<br /> a certain amount of courage—as much as a great<br /> many men. However lily-livered, however great<br /> a “cur” a man may be, to cut one&#039;s throat with a<br /> a razor in front of a looking glass requires some<br /> nerve. The “Fair-trader’ is, perhaps, the most<br /> worthy of praise, but it provokes the question<br /> whether it is at all founded on fact. If European<br /> girls who disappear are really drafted into<br /> Mohammedan households, it is surely a question<br /> for public meetings and Parliament.<br /> When we take up Miss Ella Hepworth Dixon&#039;s<br /> story, “A Modern Woman,” it is natural just<br /> now to wonder beforehand whether or not we are<br /> going to have the fin-de-siècle young person over<br /> again. It is therefore particularly pleasing to<br /> find that a modern woman as described by a<br /> woman need not necessarily imply a pretty piece<br /> of up-to-date vulgarity. We have in Mary<br /> Erle, Miss Dixon&#039;s heroine, as sensible a girl as<br /> One would expect the daughter of an eminent<br /> scientist to be; her father&#039;s distinguished position<br /> gives her a footing in society, but at his sudden<br /> death she has to earn her own living. The story<br /> opens with some account of the professor&#039;s<br /> funeral, which might have been pruned a little,<br /> true as it is to the dismal facts of our methods<br /> of interment. From this point we have a history<br /> of the girl’s fruitless attempts to become an<br /> artist, and afterwards of her success as a society<br /> journalist and writer of stories. With the account<br /> of these struggles is interwoven that of her own<br /> and her friend’s love affairs, which the author<br /> refuses in either case to bring within the possibi-<br /> lity of a happy ending. We doubt whether<br /> Miss Dixon has been as successful with her men<br /> characters, but we confess to have been suffi-<br /> ciently interested to want to know what became<br /> of them in the real end—“Jimmie,” for instance,<br /> and the A.R.A.<br /> One method of trying to arrive at the best<br /> relation between producer and consumer is to<br /> compare our system with that of other nations,<br /> and the question is asked, when his (the<br /> novelist&#039;s) story has passed through the magazines<br /> or the syndicate of newspapers, must he fling it<br /> on to the world as one volume, and let people buy<br /> it or not as they think fit * That is what he has<br /> to do in France, that is what he has to do in<br /> Germany, that is what he has to do in the United<br /> States. Whether foreigners can be called greater<br /> readers than Englishmen because they may be<br /> greater buyers appears doubtful—we have had our<br /> system, they have had theirs. But if our three-<br /> volume system has given way, there are those<br /> who say that the foreign system of publication<br /> has become quite as risky.<br /> For instance, apropos of the novel in Paris, we<br /> have lately read: “A member of a great novel pub-<br /> lishing firm tells me that now it does not pay to<br /> bring out novels unless there is some great name<br /> on the title page.” Zola still makes money, but<br /> this business man believes the turn of the tide<br /> has in his case begun. Before advocating any<br /> foreign system, American, then, or continental,<br /> the author would require a much more exact<br /> knowledge than we at present possess of the<br /> agreements entered into between publisher and<br /> author in those countries. As it is, it has taken<br /> this Society many pages of recapitulation to<br /> get its members to understand that while there<br /> is no sentiment in business, every plausible man<br /> of business knows there is a great deal of<br /> business in sentiment.<br /> Perhaps the most striking, because the most<br /> ignorant, comment on the recent three-volume<br /> novel discussion, is the following:—“The simple<br /> fact is, that until the public can be educated<br /> to buy books instead of borrowing them, the<br /> attempt to produce original works of fiction<br /> in one volume must inevitably result in a<br /> ruinous failure.” Well, but how about the thou-<br /> sands—the hundreds of thousands—the millions<br /> of one-volume novels which are bought every<br /> year P. How about the returns of those who write<br /> them P The fact is, the public does buy books<br /> in vast numbers. Perhaps the numbers should be<br /> even greater, but it is absurd still to speak of the<br /> public as a borrowing instead of a buying body.<br /> As to the price asked, perhaps the critic could<br /> help by giving his opinion as to whether the book<br /> is worth buying at all, or at any other price.<br /> Rarely, if ever, in our leading reviews do we<br /> see the price of the book mentioned or discussed,<br /> but now it really seems a false shame on their<br /> part to persistently avoid the pecuniary question<br /> when perusing a book; but however that may be,<br /> apart from excellence in literary criticism, the<br /> duty of educating the public to become book<br /> buyers must lie chiefly in the hands of the critics.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 108 (#122) ############################################<br /> <br /> IO8<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> May we not therefore leave the reading powers<br /> of the public alone for a minute, and revert to<br /> the idea of property? In every family there will<br /> be those who read and those who prefer other<br /> amusements; but the outlay of money upon books,<br /> the investment in books, the formation of a<br /> library, which in the ordinary course of events<br /> would pass to a man&#039;s children or be sold—why<br /> should this be generally left to chance? Why<br /> should a householder be so careless of the value<br /> of the books admitted into his home that on his<br /> demise they will only fetch I d. or 2d. a volume?<br /> Yet how often is that found to be the case ?<br /> A valuable book is certainly more within the<br /> reach of most men than are valuable pictures,<br /> but because some books can be obtained cheap,<br /> like some prints, that is no reason why some<br /> discrimination should not be used. Library<br /> is perhaps too big a term for most people&#039;s<br /> collection of books, but, on the other hand,<br /> modern literature must have fallen very low<br /> indeed if it excites no desire in the reader to<br /> possess and re-read what has appeared to be<br /> worth finishing when once taken up.<br /> Mr. Lockwood has published through the Rox-<br /> burghe Press his lecture on the Laws and the<br /> Ilawyers of Pickwick, with a sketch of Mr.<br /> Serjeant Buzfuz as a frontispiece. Every reader<br /> of Pickwick has his own idea of what Buzfuz<br /> was probably inclined to be like, and those who<br /> sometimes may find amusement in visiting the<br /> public galleries of the courts may have fixed on<br /> quite a different type of counsel as representative<br /> of that distinguished advocate. Surely Serjeant<br /> Buzfuz&#039;s handkerchief ought to appear. As the<br /> lecture consisted mostly of readings, the author<br /> tends an apology for reproducing it in book form ;<br /> but perhaps he did not intend it to be much<br /> more than a souvenir of what must have been<br /> an enjoyable evening to each of his audience.<br /> A new novel, entitled “The Birth of a Soul’’<br /> —a psychological study — by Mrs. Alfred<br /> Phillips, author of “Benedicta,” &amp;c., will be<br /> published in England and America early in<br /> October, in one volume.<br /> “A Spanish Singer,” by Annabel Gray (Stone-<br /> man), vol. 2 of the Annabel Gray library, is a<br /> well-constructed and dramatic story depicting<br /> the artistic experiences of a young débutante in<br /> opera, in Italy. Vocalists will find much to<br /> interest them in this realistic sketch of art<br /> abroad.<br /> In Mr. S. R. Crockett’s “Mad Sir Uchtred of<br /> the Hills,” the author has at least done one thing,<br /> and that a difficult one ; he has added another<br /> “ cat’’ to literature. The madman has a broken-<br /> legged wild cat which performs a grand feat in<br /> the destruction of a weasel. The introduction<br /> of this incident, and the manner of describing it,<br /> seems to us to be the best thing in this clever book.<br /> The late Professor Romanes wrote poetry and<br /> printed his verse, but refrained from publishing<br /> it. His poems, which are said to be chiefly<br /> religious in their tone, were given to his friends<br /> only. It would be possible, perhaps, to secure<br /> the publication of those which may appear<br /> worthy of the author&#039;s reputation as a man of<br /> science.<br /> Mr. Samuel H. Church thinks that Oliver<br /> Cromwell has never had justice done him by any<br /> of his English biographers. He has therefore<br /> addressed himself seriously to the subject, and<br /> the result has been issued by Putnam&#039;s, New<br /> York.<br /> A presentation copy of “Among the Boers and<br /> Basutas; or, a Study of our Life on the Frontier,”<br /> by Mrs. Barkly, has been graciously accepted by<br /> the Queen. The book is now in its second<br /> edition.<br /> The Rev. Prebendary Jones has issued (Smith,<br /> Elder, and Co.) a new and cheaper edition of his<br /> “Holiday Papers.”<br /> This is the very deadest time of all the year. The<br /> book advertisements are chiefly lists of the<br /> “Standard ” works and “Favourite ” novels.<br /> The “ announcements’ have hardly begun. The<br /> dear old phrase— ‘Messrs. Bungay and Co.<br /> promise us”—as if we were all waiting anxiously<br /> for that distinguished Firm to tell us what it<br /> has got in the bag—has not yet appeared; it will<br /> begin next week. It is a mistake, however, to<br /> suppose that it is the month of the least reading.<br /> If the publishers of the Saturday or the Spectator<br /> would divulge secrets it would probably be shown<br /> that the circulation goes up, not down, while the<br /> people are running about the country, killing long<br /> hours in the train, sitting in lonely seaside<br /> lodgings with a rainy day to get through.<br /> Holiday time is reading time with a large number<br /> of people who are too much occupied with busi-<br /> ness and society to read while they are at home.<br /> The magazines which are tossed over in June are<br /> read through in August.<br /> Of literary articles there are not many in the<br /> August magazines. One observes in the Contem-<br /> porary a paper by the late Amelia B. Edwards on<br /> the “Art of the Novelist; ” a paper by Hall<br /> Caine in the National Review on “The Novelist<br /> in Shakespeare; ” and No. 1 of a series of papers<br /> on “The Historical Novel” by Mr. George<br /> Saintsbury in Macmillan. All on fiction.<br /> The friends of the late Rev. Henry Allon, D.D.,<br /> will note with pleasure that the story of part, at<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 109 (#123) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> IO9<br /> least, of his life, that of his Ministry, has been<br /> written and published. The biographer is the<br /> Rev. W. Hardy Harwood ; the publishers are<br /> Cassell and Company. It would seem, however,<br /> that his literary life, which would interest many,<br /> apart altogether from his career as an indepen-<br /> dent minister, is not included. Yet he was for<br /> many years the editor of the British Quarterly<br /> Ičeview, a magazine which was the home of many<br /> admirable papers—literary, social, and historical,<br /> as well as controversial. Dr. Allon was a per-<br /> sonal friend of the late Dean Stanley, and<br /> acquainted with most of the men of leading in<br /> that part of the literary world which is engaged<br /> on subjects treated in quarterly reviews. He was<br /> a many sided man ; his views on literature were<br /> broad, and while he was its editor the British<br /> Quarterly Review was a power of considerable<br /> weight and authority.<br /> Mr. Grant Allen’s new book “The Tidal<br /> Thames” (Cassell and Co.), is a sumptuous work,<br /> illustrated by—and illustrating—twenty original<br /> drawings by W. L. Wyllie, A.R.A. It is not,<br /> perhaps, a cheap edition—35 15s. 6d. cannot be<br /> called cheap—but the drawings are exquisite;<br /> everything that is fine, however, is in a sense<br /> cheap, whatever price be put upon it; because<br /> there is no measuring of artistic worth by money,<br /> and the only question is whether one can afford<br /> to pay the price asked for the work desired.<br /> Mr. Standish O&#039;Grady&#039;s heroic Irish romance,<br /> “The Coming of Cuculain,” will be published<br /> early in October by Methuen and Co., illustrated<br /> by Mr. D. Murray Smith. The story is now run-<br /> ning serially through the Warder (Dublin) and<br /> the Northern Whig (Belfast). The hero of Mr.<br /> O&#039;Grady’s tale is the famous Cuchullin of High-<br /> land tradition, the Cuthullun of MacPherson’s<br /> eplc.<br /> *~ * ~ *<br /> g- - --e.<br /> CORRESPONDENCE,<br /> I.—THE LAUREATESHIP.<br /> &amp; HAVE read with great interest the article<br /> | on the Laureateship and its long abeyance<br /> in the Author for this month. It would be<br /> impossible to put the view of the case which we,<br /> who are in favour of maintaining this ancient and<br /> unique office, entertain in terser or more forcible<br /> language. To my mind the delay is one which<br /> can in no way be excused. There is one point<br /> which I should like to emphasise which the<br /> writer of the article has passed over, and it is<br /> this. It is notorious that poetry in England does<br /> not in general pay. Long after Mr. Tennyson<br /> had published his most characteristic and<br /> popular poems his income consisted mainly of the<br /> pension from the Consolidated Fund, which he<br /> retained to his death. But, on his appointment<br /> as Laureate, his income is said to have risen<br /> enormously. Without going into figures, it<br /> is certain that his position as Laureate very<br /> largely affected his popularity and increased his<br /> income.<br /> What the gains of a new Laureate would be on<br /> appointment it is impossible to tell. If he should<br /> unfortunately be a writer with no public,<br /> probably they would be but small. If he<br /> already had a considerable circulation, it is<br /> certain that the appointment would mean a<br /> very largely increased income.<br /> It is of this substantial advantage that the<br /> perhaps natural hesitation of extreme age has<br /> deprived the literary profession for nearly two<br /> years. It is well that the literary public should<br /> know that it is not the pittance of £80 or so,<br /> which is the nominal salary, that is at stake, but<br /> a much larger sum, to say nothing of the great<br /> discouragement which the blank silence of the<br /> authorities has inflicted upon the chief glory of<br /> our literature for a period without precedent in<br /> the history of the vacant office.<br /> II.-M. MALLARME&#039;s SCHEME.<br /> I hope that the Society will take up and at least<br /> ventilate the proposal made by M. Mallarmé in<br /> the Figaro that the literature of the past should<br /> become the property of the nation, or at least of<br /> living writers. How much would have been<br /> realised by the works of Sir Walter Scott had<br /> there been a royalty of 1d. in the shilling laid<br /> upon every volume issued since the copyright<br /> came to an end ? And why, M. Mallarmé asks,<br /> should this great property be handed over, not to<br /> the nation, but to a small class of tradesmen P<br /> Pray let us know more about it. A MEMBER.<br /> III. ON THE WARNINGS AND ADVICE.<br /> (Our correspondent&#039;s letter on this subject will<br /> be found with comments on p. 99).<br /> IV.—ON THE CO-OPERATION OF MEMBERS.<br /> Now that the dead season gives one time to<br /> look round and think, I should like to ask you,<br /> Mr. Editor, if the time has not come to take the<br /> members’ opinions upon many subjects concerning<br /> which the Author has spoken from time to time.<br /> I would suggest that a list of subjects of<br /> importance to the craft be drawn up, taken one<br /> after the other, and referred to the whole body of<br /> members. I think that your hands would be<br /> strengthened, the members would feel that they<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 110 (#124) ############################################<br /> <br /> I IO<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> were having a voice, and that many ways of joint<br /> action might be arrived at. A Journal,IST.<br /> W.—THE SocIETY&#039;s READERs.<br /> I submitted a MS. to be read. I received an<br /> opinion which was careful and courteous, and not<br /> complimentary. It pointed out certain definite<br /> objections to the work as reasons why it would<br /> not be accepted. I have now removed those<br /> objections, yet it is not accepted.<br /> A BEGINNER.<br /> [It is to be hoped that the Society&#039;s reader did<br /> not commit himself to the statement that altera-<br /> tion would mean improvement, or that the<br /> removal of certain objections would mean<br /> acceptance by publishers. Everyone knows the<br /> common criticism on a new author. “Well, he<br /> knows, at least, how to write.” Any publisher&#039;s<br /> reader also knows the MS. of which he says,<br /> “Well, at least he has not yet learned to write.”<br /> The Society&#039;s reader can only suggest why the<br /> latter judgment was pronounced, and here the<br /> “way to write” can be discovered.]<br /> &gt;e cº<br /> WHAT THE PAPERS SAY.<br /> I.—THE LATE MR. WYATT PAP worTH.<br /> R. WYATT PAPWORTH, F.R.I.B.A.,<br /> M curator of Sir John Soane’s Museum,<br /> died at the museum on Sunday, Aug. 19.<br /> Mr. Papworth was distinguished for his literary<br /> work in connection with architecture, especially<br /> in his contributions to the Transactions of the<br /> Royal Institute of British Architects, among<br /> which those “On the Superintendents of English<br /> Buildings in the Middle Ages, with especial<br /> reference to William of Wykeham,” and “Collec-<br /> tions for an Historical Account of Masons, their<br /> Customs, Institutions, &amp;c.,” are of historical<br /> importance. He was also a constant contributor<br /> to Notes and Queries. To his labours the<br /> architectural profession is indebted for the pro-<br /> duction of “The Dictionary of Architecture”<br /> (Architectural Publication Society), recently com-<br /> pleted in eight volumes folio, begun in 1852<br /> on the lines of the notes and collections of<br /> himself and his late brother, Mr. J. W. Pap-<br /> worth, and, until its completion in 1892, carried<br /> out under his sole editorship. Mr. Papworth, as<br /> a member of the Court and Master and Past<br /> Master of the Clothworkers&#039; Company, took a<br /> leading part in the promotion of technical<br /> education and in the City and Guilds Institute.—<br /> Times, Aug. 21.<br /> II.--THE AIM AT PopULARITY.<br /> The man who aims at being popular and<br /> admired is not nearly so likely to be popular and<br /> admired as the man who thinks little or nothing<br /> about it, but aims simply at his own individual<br /> ideal. Here, again, the failure of the direct aim<br /> appears to be due to its real and perceived<br /> inferiority to those aims which usually secure it.<br /> The man who directly aims at getting admira-<br /> tion and esteem will hardly deserve them, for he<br /> cannot deserve them without cherishing plenty of<br /> aims which would be very likely to risk or forfeit<br /> other persons’ admiration and esteem. The man<br /> who lives for the good opinions of others, cannot be<br /> deserving of those good opinions, for he cannot<br /> contribute much to teach others, by the indepen-<br /> dence of his own life. In this case also, then, the<br /> ill-success of the direct pursuit of admiration is<br /> simply due to the fact that that pursuit is a lower<br /> aim than any consistent with the attainment of<br /> the admiration pursued. But if happiness be the<br /> true standard and end of life, why should it fall<br /> into the hands only of those who do not directly<br /> seek it P Surely, if it is not safe to pursue it<br /> directly, it can only be because it is not the<br /> proper end and aim of life—because while it may<br /> be the natural reward of the pursuit of better<br /> ends, it is not itself the chief end. Nothing could<br /> well be more improbable than that the one<br /> standard and best fruit of human action should<br /> be carefully wrapped up in the folds of inferior<br /> ends, so that you may come upon it by accident,<br /> if you are to taste it properly at all.<br /> R. H. HuTTON.<br /> a-i----~~~&quot;<br /> •-Fs-e-es-e-<br /> NEW. BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS,<br /> Theology.<br /> BROWNE, CANON. The Christian Church in these Islands<br /> before the Coming of Augustine. Three lectures<br /> delivered at St. Paul&#039;s in January, 1894. Society for<br /> Promoting Christian Knowledge.<br /> DAVIDS, PROFEssoR RHYs. Buddhism.<br /> S.P.C.K. 2s. 6d.<br /> EVE, NOAH, ABRAHAM : a study in Genesis. By a Layman.<br /> Cassell. Is.<br /> GRAY, REV. HERBERT B. Men of Like Passions, being<br /> Characters of some Bible Heroes, and other sermons,<br /> preached to boys at Bradfield College. Longmans. 58.<br /> KING, RIGHT REv. E. Practical Reflections on Every Werse<br /> of the Prophet Isaiah. Longmans. 4s. 6d.<br /> MALDONATUS, JOHN. A Commentary on the Holy<br /> Gospels : St. Matthew&#039;s Gospel. Part III. Translated<br /> and edited from the original Latin by George J. Davie.<br /> John Hodges. Is... net.<br /> History and Biography. -<br /> CHURCH, CANON. Chapters in the Early History of the<br /> Church of Wells, I 136-1333. Limited edition. Elliot<br /> Stock, and Barnicott and Pearce, Taunton. 158.<br /> New edition.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 111 (#125) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I I I<br /> RLVIN, REv. C. R. S. The History of Walmer and Walmer<br /> Castle. Canterbury : Cross and Jackman.<br /> FoRREST, G. W. The Administration of the Marquis of<br /> Lansdowne, Viceroy of India, 1888-94. Calcutta :<br /> Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing.<br /> FREEMAN, PROFESSOR. The History of Sicily from the<br /> Earliest Times. Wol. IV. From the Tyranny of Diony-<br /> sios to the Death of Agathokles. Edited from post-<br /> humous MSS., with supplements and notes, by Arthur<br /> J. Evans. Oxford, at the Clarendon Press. Henry<br /> Frowde. 2 Is.<br /> GAsquièT, DR. FRANCIs A. Henry VIII. and the English<br /> Monasteries. Sixth Edition. Part I. Hodges. Is.<br /> HARRIs, THOMAs. Three Periods of English Architecture.<br /> B. T. Batsford. 7s. 6d.<br /> HowARD, MAJOR-GENERAL O. O.<br /> Funk and Wagnalls. 6s.<br /> HUME, MAJOR-GENERAL JoHN R. Reminiscences of the<br /> Crimean Campaign, with the 55th Regiment. The<br /> Author, 27, Pilgrim-street, Ludgate-hill. Cheap edition.<br /> 3s.6d.<br /> RAYSERLING, DR. M. Christopher Columbus. Translated<br /> from the author’s MS. with his sanction and revision, by<br /> Charles Gross. Longmans. 5s.<br /> LLOYD-VERNEY, COL., and HUNT, LIEUT.-COL. J. M.<br /> Records of the Infantry Militia, Battalions of the<br /> County of Southampton from A.D. 1757 to 1894. And<br /> Records of the Artillery Militia Regiments of the<br /> County of Southampton from A.D. 1853 to 1894. With<br /> Isabella of Castile.<br /> portraits and illustrations Longmans. 3O8.<br /> MoRRIs, WILLIAM, and MAGNUsson, EIRíKR. The<br /> Heimskringla. Vol. II. By Snorri Sturluson. Trans-<br /> lated from the Icelandic. Being Vol. IV. of the Saga<br /> Library. Quaritch. 31. I Is. 6d.<br /> SHUCKBURGH, EVELYN S. A. History of Rome to the<br /> Battle of Actium. Macmillan. 8s. 6d.<br /> THIERs, Lou Is ADOLPHE. History of the Consulate and<br /> the Empire of France under Napoleon. Translated by<br /> D. Forbes Campbell and John Stebbing. With thirty-<br /> six steel plates. Chatto and Windus. Twelve vols.<br /> 12s. each.<br /> WALTON, CoL. CLIFFORD, C.B. History of the British<br /> Standing Army A.D. 1660 to 1700. Harrison and<br /> Sons.<br /> General Literature.<br /> ABBOTTs, W., M.D. Stammering, Stuttering, and other<br /> Speech Affections: Their Causes and Cure. The<br /> Savoy Press. Is. -<br /> BADDELEY, M. J. R. Guide to the Peak District. Dulau<br /> and Co., Soho-square. 3s.<br /> BAKER, JAMEs. The New Guide to Bristol and Clifton.<br /> Edited. J. Baker and Son.<br /> BRASSEY, LORD. Papers and addresses on Work and<br /> Wages. With an introduction by G. Howell, M.P.<br /> Longmans. 58.<br /> BRITISH MUSEUM : Supplement to the CATALOGUE of the<br /> ARABIC MSS., by Charles Rien ; CATALOGUE of<br /> ARABIC Books, by A. G. Ellis, Vol. I. A to L; CATA-<br /> LoGUE of HEBREW Books acquired during the years<br /> 1868 to 1892, by S. van Straalen. Longmans,<br /> Quaritch, Asher, Kegan Paul, and Henry Frowde.<br /> CALVERT, ALBERT F. The Aborigines of Western<br /> Australia. Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, and<br /> Co.<br /> CASE AGAINST DIGGLEISM. Published for the Progressive<br /> School Board Election Council by Alexander and<br /> Shepheard. Is.<br /> CHANUTE, O. Progress in Flying Machines.<br /> American Engineer and Railroad Journal.<br /> New York :<br /> CICERO, M. T. Correspondence. Edited, with a revision<br /> of the text, a commentary, and introductory essays, by<br /> Professor Tyrrell and L. C. Purser. Wol. IV. Long-<br /> mans, Green. I5s.<br /> CYNICUs, HIs HUMOUR AND SATIRE.<br /> Company. Is.<br /> DAVIs, A. H. Dover College Register, 1871-1894. Edited<br /> by. Dover : the Editor. 2s. 6d.<br /> DEMBO, DR. J. A. The Jewish Method of Slaughter, com-<br /> pared with other Methods. Translated from the<br /> German. Kegan Paul. Boards, 2s. 6d. net.<br /> DOLAN, DR. THOMAS, M. Our State Hospitals. Leicester :<br /> John Richardson and Co. 2s. 6d.<br /> DUBOIs, F#1,Ix. The Anarchist Peril. Translated, edited,<br /> and enlarged with a supplementary chapter by Ralph<br /> Derechef. T. Fisher Unwin. 5s.<br /> EDGAR, John. Voluntary Schools and Board Schools Con-<br /> trasted. R. W. Simpson.<br /> ELLISTON, THOMAS. Organs and Tuning. Weekes and<br /> Co., Hanover-street, W. 3s. 6d. net.<br /> FUR AND FEATHER SERIES : THE GROUSE ; Natural<br /> History by the Rev. H. A. Macpherson, Shooting by<br /> A. J. Stuart-Wortley, Cookery by George Saintsbury;<br /> with illustrations by A. J. Stuart-Wortley and A.<br /> Thorburn. Longman&#039;s. 58.<br /> FURSE, COLONEL GEORGE. The Organisation and Adminis-<br /> tration of the Lines of Communication in War. Clowes<br /> and Sons. I28. -<br /> GREEN wooD, MAJOR. The Personal Responsibility of<br /> Judges. Paper Covers. G. Barber, Cursitor-street.<br /> HART, ERNEST, D.C.L. On the Use of Opium in India.<br /> Prepared by. Smith, Elder. Is.<br /> HATFIELD, T. H. Land o&#039; Nod. Gay and Bird. 6d. net.<br /> HELLER, THOMAS EDMUND. The New Code for Evening<br /> Continuation Schools (1894-95). With Introduction,<br /> Notes, and Index. Bemrose and Sons. 6d.<br /> HEwiTT, J. F. The Ruling Races of Prehistoric Times in<br /> India, South-Western Asia, and Southern Europe.<br /> Archibald Constable and Co. 18s.<br /> |HOOPER, W. H., and PHILLIPs, W. C. Manual of Marks<br /> on Pottery and Porcelain. Macmillan. 4s 6d.<br /> ICTHYosAURUs. Hints and Wrinkles on Sea Fishing.<br /> Iliffe and Son. Is.<br /> Cynicus Publishing<br /> JONES, BENJAMIN. Co-operative Production. With a<br /> Prefatory Note by Mr. Acland, M.P. 2 vols. Henry<br /> Frowde. I5s.<br /> Journa L OF THE SANITARY INSTITUTE, for July. Stan-<br /> ford. 2s. 6d.<br /> LEHMANN, R. C. Conversational Hints for Young Shooters.<br /> Chatto and Windus.<br /> LE QUEUx, WILLIAM. The Great War in England in<br /> 1897. Illustrated by Captain Cyril Field and T. S. C.<br /> Crowther. Tower Publishing Company. 6s.<br /> LLOYD&#039;s YACHT REGISTER, Supplement No. 2, alterations<br /> and additions to July 26, 1894. Paper covers.<br /> Low&#039;s HANDBOOK TO THE CHARITIES OF LONDON. Edited<br /> by H. R. Dumville. Fifty-eighth year. Sampson Low.<br /> Is. 6d.<br /> LUNN, REv. HENRY S. The Grindelwald Conference, 1894.<br /> 5, Endsleigh-gardens, N.W.<br /> LUSSICH, ANTONIO D. Celebrated Shipwrecks.<br /> covers. Monte Video : El Siglo Ilustrado.<br /> MARTIN, JOHN. Chats on Invention. Offices of Invention. Is.<br /> MILLAIS, J. G. Game Birds and Shooting Sketches.<br /> Second Edition. Sotheran and Co. 18s. net. -<br /> MURRAY&#039;s HANDBOOK FOR SCOTLAND. Sixth Edition.<br /> John Murray. 9s.<br /> OUR NEXT WAR in its Commercial Aspect ; with some<br /> account of the premiums paid at Lloyd&#039;s from 1805 to<br /> 1816. Blades, East, and Blades.<br /> Paper<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 112 (#126) ############################################<br /> <br /> II 2<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> PARROTT, J. E. The Industrial and Social Life and<br /> Duties of the Citizen. W. H. Allen and Co. Is.<br /> PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL Coloni AL INSTITUTE. Wol.<br /> XXV., 1893-94. Edited by the Secretary. The Royal<br /> Colonial Institute, Northumberland-avenue.<br /> QUARTERLY RETURN OF THE MARRIAGES, BIRTHS, AND<br /> DEATHS registered in England. Eyre and Spottis-<br /> woode. 9d.<br /> REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNIVERSITY<br /> ExTENSION Congress, LONDON, 1894. P. S. King.<br /> IS.<br /> RUTHERFORD, MILDRED. American Authors. A Hand-<br /> book of American Literature from Early Colonial to<br /> Living Writers. The Franklin Printing and Publishing<br /> Company.<br /> SHAw, LIEUT.-CoI. WILKINson J. Elements of Modern<br /> Tactics. Eighth edition. Kegan Paul.<br /> SIMs, G. R. Dagonet on Our Islands. Fisher Unwin. Is.<br /> SLACK, CAPT. CHARLEs. Formations for Battalion Attack.<br /> Clowes and Sons.<br /> STAY-AT-Homſ E HUSBANDS AND How TO MANAGE THEM.<br /> By One of Themselves. Edited by the Rev. Sydney<br /> Mostyn, Bachelor. Gay and Bird. 3s.6d.<br /> STEAD, W. T. Chicago To-day. Review of Reviews Office.<br /> IS.<br /> TIMBER TRADEs Journ AL : LIST OF SHIPPING MARKS ON<br /> SAwN AND PLANED WooD, 1894. W. Rider and Son,<br /> Bartholomew-close. 6s.<br /> WALLIS, J. WHITE. Manual of Hygiene. Kegan Paul.<br /> WALLIS-TAYLOR, A. J. The Sanitary Arrangement of<br /> Dwelling Houses. Crosby Lockwood.<br /> WILKIE, JAMEs. The Life Assurance Agent&#039;s Wade-<br /> Mecum. Compiled by. Edinburgh : Andrew Elliot. Is.<br /> WIRE, ALFRED P., and T)AY, G. Knowledge through the<br /> Eye. George Philip. Is.<br /> Fiction,<br /> BLACKMoRE, R. D. Perlycross. Sampson Dow, Marston,<br /> and Co. 6s.<br /> Boot HBY, GUY. In Strange Company. Ward, Lock, and<br /> Bowden. 58.<br /> CAINE, HALL. The Manxman. Heinemann. 6s.<br /> CALow, RoRERT. Brookfield. Remington. Ós.<br /> CHRISTIson, NEIL. Wedded to a Genius. A novel. 2 vols.<br /> Bentley.<br /> CLARK RUSSELL, W. The Frozen Pirate. New and cheaper<br /> edition. Sampson Low. 3s. 6d.<br /> CLOUT, CoLIN. Norman ; or Inherited Fate.<br /> Long. 6s.<br /> CRoCKETT, S. R. The Autonym Library : Mad Sir Uchtred<br /> of the Hills. Fisher Unwin. Is. 6d.<br /> DE LA PASTEUR, MRs. HENRY. A Toy Tragedy. Cassell<br /> and Co. Is.<br /> HAGGARD, H. RIDER. Mr. Meeson&#039;s<br /> thousand. Longmans. 38. 6d.<br /> HETHERINGTON, HELEN F., and BURTON, REV. F. D.<br /> Led On. 3 vols. Ward and Downey.<br /> HousTON, MRs. 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269https://historysoa.com/items/show/269The Author, Vol. 05 Issue 05 (October 1894)<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=%3Cem%3EThe+Author%3C%2Fem%3E%2C+Vol.+05+Issue+05+%28October+1894%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 05 Issue 05 (October 1894)</a><a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Publication">Publication</a>1894-10-01-The-Author-5-5113–140<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=89&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=5">5</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=76&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1894-10-01">1894-10-01</a>518941001C be El u t b or,<br /> (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)<br /> CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESA NT.<br /> VoI. W.-No. 5.]<br /> OCTOBER 1, 1894.<br /> [PRICE SIXPENCE.<br /> For the Opinions eaſpressed in papers that are<br /> signed or initialled the Authors alone are<br /> responsible. None of the papers or para-<br /> graphs must be taken as eaſpressing the<br /> collective opinions of the committee unless<br /> they are officially signed by G. Herbert<br /> Thring, Sec.<br /> HE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all<br /> remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and<br /> requests that all members not receiving an answer to<br /> important communications within two days will write to him<br /> without delay. All remittances showld be crossed Union.<br /> Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered<br /> letter only.<br /> Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on<br /> all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub-<br /> jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are<br /> returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS.<br /> *— - --&gt;<br /> g- &gt; -º<br /> WARNINGS AND ADVICE.<br /> {. RAWING THE AGREEMENT.—It is not generally<br /> understood that the author, as the vendor, has the<br /> absolute right of drafting the agreement upon<br /> whatever terms the transaction is to be carried out.<br /> Authors are strongly advised to exercise that right. In<br /> every form of business, this among others, the right of<br /> drawing the agreement rests with him who sells, leases, or<br /> has the control of the property.<br /> 2. SERIAL RIGHTS.–In selling Serial Rights remember<br /> that you may be selling the Serial Right for all time; that<br /> is, the Right to continue the production in papers. If you<br /> object to this, insert a clause to that effect.<br /> 3. STAMP YOUR AGREEMENTs. – Readers are most<br /> URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements<br /> immediately after signature. If this precaution is neglected<br /> for two weeks, a fine of £10 must be paid before the agree-<br /> ment can be used as a legal document. In almost every<br /> case brought to the secretary the agreement, or the letter<br /> which serves for one, is forwarded without the stamp. The<br /> author may be assured that the other party to the agree-<br /> ment seldom neglects this simple precaution. The Society,<br /> to save trouble, undertakes. to get all the agreements of<br /> members stamped for them at no ea pense to themselves<br /> eaccept the cost of the stamp.<br /> 4. ASCERTAIN WHAT A PROPOSED AGREEMENT GIVES To<br /> BOTH SIDES BEFORE SIGNING IT.-Remember that an<br /> WOL. W.<br /> reservedly in his hands.<br /> arrangement as to a joint venture in any other kind of busi-<br /> ness whatever would be instantly refused should either party<br /> refuse to show the books or to let it be known what share he<br /> reserved for himself.<br /> 5. LITERARY AGENTS.–Be very careful. Yow cannot be<br /> too careful as to the person whom yow appoint as yowr<br /> agent. Remember that you place your property almost un-<br /> Your only safety is in consulting<br /> the Society, or some friend who has had personal experience<br /> of the agent. Do not trust advertisements alone.<br /> 6. CoST OF PRODUCTION.—Never sign any agreement of<br /> which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part,<br /> until you have proved the figures.<br /> 7. CHOICE OF PUBLISHERS.–Never enter into any cor-<br /> respondence with publishers, especially with those who ad-<br /> vertise for MSS., who are not recommended by experienced<br /> friends or by this Society.<br /> 8. FuTURE Work.—Never, on any account whatever,<br /> bind yourself down for future work to anyone.<br /> 9. PERSONAL RISK.—Never accept any pecuniary risk or<br /> responsibility whatever without advice.<br /> Io. REJECTED MSS.—Never, when a M.S. has been re-<br /> fused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises<br /> they may put forward, for the production of the work.<br /> II. AMERICAN RIGHTS.–Never sign away American<br /> rights. Keep them by special clause. Refuse to sign any<br /> agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the<br /> publisher, unless for a substantial consideration.<br /> 12. CESSION OF COPYRIGHT.-Never sign any paper,<br /> either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright,<br /> without advice.<br /> 13. ADVERTISEMENTS. – Keep some control over the<br /> advertisements, if they affect your returns, by a clause in<br /> the agreement.<br /> I4. NEVER forget that publishing is a business, like any<br /> other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy,<br /> charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with<br /> business men. Be yourself a business man.<br /> Society’s Offices :—<br /> 4, PORTUGAL STREET, LINCOLN&#039;s INN FIELDs.<br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY,<br /> I. VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive<br /> advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-<br /> lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his<br /> business or the administration of his property. If the advice<br /> sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member<br /> M 2<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 114 (#128) ############################################<br /> <br /> II 4.<br /> THE AUTHOR,<br /> has a right to an opinion from the Society’s solicitors. If the<br /> case is such that Counsel&#039;s opinion is desirable, the Com-<br /> mittee will obtain for him Counsel’s opinion. All this<br /> without any cost to the member. -<br /> 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright<br /> and publisher&#039;s agreements do not generally fall within the<br /> experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple<br /> to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually<br /> engaged upon such questions for us.<br /> 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past<br /> accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in<br /> order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree-<br /> ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively<br /> so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any<br /> agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor-<br /> mation thus obtained may prove invaluable.<br /> 4. If the examination of your previous business trans-<br /> actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should<br /> take advice as to a change of publishers.<br /> 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro-<br /> posed document to the Society for examination.<br /> 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in<br /> the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish-<br /> ing firm in the country.<br /> 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you<br /> are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are<br /> reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing<br /> the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen-<br /> dence of the writer.<br /> 8. Send to the Editor of the Awthor notes of everything<br /> important to literature that you may hear or meet with.<br /> *- - -º<br /> e- * -s.<br /> THE AUTHORS, SYNDICATE.<br /> EMBERS are informed :<br /> 1. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate takes charge of<br /> the business of members of the Society. With, when<br /> necessary, the assistance of the legal advisers of the Syndi-<br /> cate, it concludes agreements, collects royalties, examines<br /> and passes accounts, and generally relieves members of the<br /> trouble of managing business details.<br /> 2. That the expenses of the Authors&#039; Syndicate are<br /> defrayed solely out of the commission charged on rights<br /> placed through its intervention. Notice is, however,<br /> hereby given that in all cases where there is no current<br /> account, a booking fee is charged to cover postage and<br /> porterage.<br /> 3. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate works for none but those<br /> members of the Society whose work possesses a market<br /> value.<br /> 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiation<br /> whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia-<br /> tions are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all<br /> communications relating thereto are referred to it.<br /> 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by<br /> appointment, and that, when possible, at least four days’<br /> notice should be given.<br /> 6. That every attempt is made to deal with the corre-<br /> spondence promptly, but that owing to the enormous number<br /> of letters received, some delay is inevitable. That stamps<br /> should, in all cases, be sent to defray postage.<br /> 7. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate does not invite MSS.<br /> without previous correspondence, and does not hold itself<br /> responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice.<br /> 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for<br /> lectures by some of the leading members of the Society;<br /> that it has a “Transfer Department” for the sale and<br /> purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a “Register<br /> of Wants and Wanted * has been opened. Members anxious<br /> to obtain literary or artistic work are invited to com-<br /> municate with the Manager.<br /> There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services<br /> will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It<br /> is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the<br /> Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in<br /> the Syndicate.<br /> * - a -4°<br /> NOTICES,<br /> HE Editor of the Author begs to remind members of the<br /> Society that, although the paper is sent to them free<br /> of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very<br /> heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great<br /> many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest<br /> 6s. 6d. subscription for the year.<br /> The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and<br /> communications on all subjects connected with literature<br /> from members and others. Nothing can do more good to<br /> the Society than to make the Author complete, attractive,<br /> and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this<br /> work send their names and the special subjects on which<br /> they are willing to write P<br /> Communications for the Author should reach the Editor<br /> not later than the 21st of each month.<br /> All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether<br /> members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate<br /> to the Editor any points connected with their work which<br /> it would be advisable in the general interest to publish.<br /> Members and others who wish their MSS. read are<br /> requested not to send them to the Office without previously<br /> communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable<br /> despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in<br /> which they are received. It must also be distinctly under-<br /> stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances,<br /> undertake the publication of MSS.<br /> The Authors’ Club is now open in its new premises, at<br /> 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary<br /> for information, rules of admission, &amp;c.<br /> Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they<br /> have paid their subscriptions for the year P If they will do.<br /> this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker&#039;s<br /> order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the<br /> trouble of sending out a reminder.<br /> Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the<br /> warning numbered (8). It is a most foolish and may be a,<br /> most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding<br /> for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they<br /> would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five<br /> years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest<br /> or dishonest ? Of course they would not. Why then<br /> hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them-<br /> selves into literary bondage for three or five years P<br /> Those who possess the “Cost of Production ” are<br /> requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15<br /> per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble<br /> of “doing sums,” the addition of three shillings in the<br /> pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding<br /> is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be<br /> added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at<br /> £9 48. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth,<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 115 (#129) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 115<br /> as can be procured; but a printer&#039;s, or a binder&#039;s, bill is so<br /> elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at.<br /> Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged<br /> in the “Cost of Production” for advertising. Of course, we<br /> have not included any sums which may be charged for<br /> inserting advertisements in the publisher&#039;s own magazines,<br /> or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too<br /> often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from<br /> sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket,<br /> hy inserting any number of advertisements in his own<br /> magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are<br /> who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those<br /> who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it.<br /> *- - --&gt;<br /> LITERARY PROPERTY.<br /> I.—MAYNARD, MERRILL, and Co., appellees, v.<br /> WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARRISON, appellant.<br /> May, 1894.<br /> (Before Judges WALLACE, LACOMBE, and SHIP-<br /> MAN, United States Circuit Court of Appeal.)<br /> Q(HIPMAN, C.J.-The complainant, Maynard,<br /> Merrill, and Co., a corporation duly created<br /> under the laws of the State of New York,<br /> and having its principal office in the City of New<br /> York, was, in June, 1893, the owner of the<br /> copyright of a book entitled “Introductory<br /> Language Work,” of which Alonzo Reed was<br /> the author, and which had been duly copy-<br /> righted by him in July, 1891, under the<br /> laws of the United States respecting copyrights.<br /> The complainant is a book publisher, and<br /> has been in the habit of sending the printed<br /> and unbound sheets of this book, and of other<br /> books which it published, to George W. Alex-<br /> ander&#039;s bookbindery, in the City of New<br /> York, to be stored there until it gave Mr.<br /> Alexander an order to bind a specified quantity,<br /> who would sometimes bind a lot in anticipation<br /> of such orders. On June 21, 1893, a destructive<br /> fire occurred in this bindery, the result of which<br /> was, as the complainant supposed, to destroy the<br /> commercial value of all the property which it had<br /> in the building.<br /> One of its employés, at its request, examined<br /> the débris and reported that there was nothing of<br /> value which the complainant could use in the<br /> manufacture or sale of books. Alexander there-<br /> upon sold the entire débris which had fallen into<br /> the cellar to one Fitzgerald, who resold it, with-<br /> out moving it, to some Italian dealers in waste<br /> paper, and in order to prevent them from using<br /> the paper and books for other purposes than<br /> paper stock, incorporated the following provision<br /> in the contract of sale: “It is understood that all<br /> paper taken out of the building is to be utilised<br /> as paper stock, and all books to be sold as paper<br /> stock only, and not placed on the market as any-<br /> thing else.”<br /> “The cellar was cleared of this class of mate-<br /> rial, and subsequently a quantity of damaged<br /> copies of “Introductory Language Work”<br /> appeared in the market, as owned and offered for<br /> sale by the defendant, William Beverley Harrison,<br /> a dealer in second-hand books, and a citizen of<br /> the State of New York and residing in the City<br /> of New York. The leaves of the books were dis-<br /> coloured and stained by smoke and water, but<br /> the covers had a respectable appearance, and the<br /> complainant supposed that the unbound sheets<br /> which had escaped the fire had been rebound by<br /> Barrison, or under his direction, or with his<br /> privity, and that he was selling such newly bound<br /> books, as well as some bound books which had<br /> escaped serious injury, and thereupon brought a<br /> bill in equity before the United States Circuit<br /> Court, to restrain his alleged infringement of its<br /> copyright. The bill counted entirely upon the<br /> right of the complainant under the copyright<br /> statutes of the United States. Upon its motion,<br /> the Court granted an injunction pendente lite.<br /> Harrison denies, in his affidavit, that he pur-<br /> chased any sheets or loose covers of the book.<br /> He further says, rather vaguely, that he “learned<br /> that certain dealers had come into possession of<br /> the salvage from the fire at said Alexander&#039;s<br /> place; that affiant visited the premises where<br /> said salvage was stored, and from them purchased<br /> a number of bound and completely finished<br /> volumes, some of which were the publications of<br /> the complaimant.” He further says that he “pur-<br /> chased the said books in the regular course of trade,<br /> without any knowledge of any understanding or<br /> arrangement, if any there was, between com-<br /> plainant and others, and that he accepted the<br /> same, as he believes, according to the established<br /> usage of the trade, believing them to be books<br /> which had been put upon the market as Salvage,<br /> as damaged books are bought and sold.”<br /> The affidavits show that the complainant, which<br /> was the owner of the copyright. permitted<br /> Alexander to sell absolutely all its copyrighted<br /> books in his cellar, and that his vendee obtained<br /> the entire legal title to these damaged volumes.<br /> They were sold again, together with other papers<br /> and books, under express restrictions against their<br /> use for any other purpose than for the manufac-<br /> ture of paper. Harrison says that he bought the<br /> books in question without knowledge of this<br /> restriction. Whether he had notice of facts which<br /> should have put a purchaser upon inquiry to<br /> ascertain whether he was being made a party to<br /> a violation of contract cannot be determined upon<br /> the affidavits.<br /> The question, as it arises upon the bill and the<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 116 (#130) ############################################<br /> <br /> I i 6<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> affidavits, is, can the owner of a copyright restrain,<br /> by virtue of the copyright statutes, the sale of a<br /> copy of the copyright book, the title to which he<br /> has transferred, but which is being sold in viola-<br /> tion of an agreement entered into between him-<br /> self and the purchaser; or are the remedies of the<br /> original owner confined to remedies for a breach<br /> of contract P<br /> So long as the owner of a copyright retains the<br /> title to the copies of the book which he has the<br /> exclusive right to vend, by virtue of the copyright,<br /> he can impose restrictions upon the manner in<br /> which and upon the persons to whom the copies<br /> can be sold. Having the exclusive right to vend,<br /> he has the right to appoint to whom the book<br /> shall be sold. If his agents, to whom he has<br /> intrusted the possession of his books, violate his<br /> instructions and fraudulently sell to a person with<br /> knowledge or notice of the fraud,-such fraud will<br /> be an infringement of the copyright, with which<br /> the original owner has never parted, and can be<br /> restrained by virtue of the Statutes of the United<br /> States. Thus, if the owner of a copyrighted book<br /> entrusts copies of the book to an agent or<br /> employé for sale only by subscription and for<br /> delivery to the subscribers, and the agent fraudu-<br /> lently sells to non-subscribers, who have know-<br /> ledge or notice of the fraud, such sale is an<br /> infringement of the original owner&#039;s copyright,<br /> who can disregard the pretended sale and have<br /> the benefit of all the remedies which the statute or<br /> the law furnish. This right to enjoy the benefit<br /> of the copyright statutes results from the fact<br /> that the owner has never parted with the title to<br /> the book or the copyright, although he parted<br /> with the possession of the book.<br /> But the right to restrain the sale of a parti-<br /> cular copy of the book, by virtue of the copyright<br /> statutes, has gone when the owner of the copy-<br /> right and of that copy has parted with all his<br /> title to it, and has conferred an absolute title to<br /> the copy upon a purchaser, although with an<br /> agreement for a restricted use. The exclusive<br /> right to vend the particular copy no longer<br /> remains in the owner of the copyright by the<br /> Copyright statutes. The new purchaser cannot<br /> reprint the copy, he cannot print or publish a<br /> new edition of the book; but the copy having<br /> been absolutely sold to him, the ordinary inci-<br /> dents of ownership in personal property, among<br /> which is the right of alienation, attach to it. If<br /> he has agreed that he will not sell it for certain<br /> purposes, or to certain persons, and violates his<br /> agreement and sells to an innocent purchaser, he<br /> can be punished for a violation of his agreement,<br /> but neither is guilty under the copyright statutes<br /> of an infringment. If the new purchaser parti-<br /> cipates in the fraud he may also share in the<br /> punishment : (“Clemens v. Estes,”<br /> 899.) . . .<br /> The distinction between the remedy of the<br /> owner of a copyright and the books published<br /> under its protection, who has retained the title<br /> to the books and the copyright, and has been<br /> defrauded by an unauthorised sale to a purchaser,<br /> with notice, and the remedy of a copyright owner<br /> who has parted with his title to a copy of the<br /> copyrighted book, and has been injured by the<br /> failure of the purchaser to comply with his con-<br /> tract in regard to its use, is stated by Judge<br /> Hammond in “Henry Bill Publishing Company<br /> v. Forsythe’’ (27 Fed. Rep. 914) as follows:<br /> “The owner of the copyright may not be able<br /> to transfer the entire property in one of his<br /> copies, and retain for himself an incidental<br /> power to authorise a sale of that copy, or rather<br /> the power of prohibition on the owner that he<br /> shall not sell it, holding that much, as a modicum.<br /> of his former estate, to be protected by the copy-<br /> right statute; and yet he may be entirely able,<br /> so long as he retains the ownership of a particular<br /> copy for himself, to find abundant protection<br /> under the copyright statute for his then inci-<br /> dental power of controlling its sale. This copy-<br /> right incident of control over the sale, if I may<br /> call it so, as contradistinguished from the power<br /> of sale incident to ownership in all property—<br /> copyrighted articles like any other—is a thing<br /> that belongs alone to the owner of the copyright<br /> itself, and as to him only so long as and to the<br /> extent that he owns the particular copies involved.<br /> Whenever he parts with that ownership, the<br /> ordinary incident of alienation attaches to the<br /> particular copy parted with, in favour of the<br /> transferee, and he cannot be deprived of it.<br /> This latter incident supersedes the other —<br /> swallows it up, so to speak—and the two cannot<br /> co-exist in any owner of the copy except he be<br /> the owner at the same time of the copyright;<br /> and, in the Inature of the thing, they cannot be<br /> separated so that one may remain in the owner<br /> of the copyright as a limitation upon or denial of<br /> the other in the owner of the copy.” -<br /> The case of “Murray v. Heath &quot; (I Bain &amp;<br /> Adol. 804), which is somewhat relied upon by<br /> the defendant’s counsel, does not throw a strong<br /> light upon a case arising under the statutes of<br /> the United States. The question was whether<br /> the sale of the engravings was, under the circum-<br /> stances of the case, a violation of the English,<br /> statutes, which prohibited a piratical publication,<br /> of the engravings of another, or was a breach of<br /> contract. The Court was of opinion that the<br /> statutes were not applicable. -<br /> The other cases which were cited on the argu-<br /> ment are not applicable to the facts of this case, ,<br /> 22 Fed. Rep.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 117 (#131) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 117<br /> although they are instructive upon the rights of<br /> copyright owners, under copyright statutes, or of<br /> the rights of owners of manuscripts: (“Stephens<br /> v. Cady,” 14 How. 529; “Stephen v. Gladding,”<br /> 17 How. 447; “Parton v. Prang,” 3 Cliff. 537;<br /> “Bartlette v. Chittenden º’ 4 McLean, 3oo;<br /> “Prince Albert v. Strange,” 2 De G. &amp; S. 652;<br /> “Taylor v. Pillow,” L. R. 7 Eq. Cases, 418;<br /> “Howitt v. Hall,” Io Weekly Rep. 381 ; “Hud-<br /> son v. Patten,” I Root, Con. 133.) The dis-<br /> cussion by Judge Hammond upon the general<br /> subject, in “Henry Hill Co. v. Smythe.” (supra) is<br /> most valuable, and anyone who has occasion to<br /> examine this subject will find that the territory<br /> bas been thoroughly explored.<br /> Our conclusion is that, upon the facts stated<br /> in the bill and in the affidavits, the complainant<br /> has no remedy under the copyright statutes of<br /> the United States, and, as both parties are<br /> deemed to be citizens of the State of New York,<br /> the complainant is without remedy in the Circuit<br /> Court for the Southern District of New York.<br /> The order of the Circuit Court for a preliminary<br /> injunction is reversed and set aside, with costs.<br /> Wallace and Lacombe, J.J. concur.<br /> New York Law Journal, June 13.<br /> II.-MUSICAL CoPYRIGHT IN AMERICA.<br /> We published in the September number of<br /> the Author a letter addressed by Mr. G. Dixey,<br /> secretary of the Music Publishers’ Association,<br /> on a recent decision in an American court.<br /> To repeat the last words of that letter, “The<br /> judgment thus delivered has settled the point<br /> for the present, and until that judgment is upset<br /> or varied it must be accepted that the law of<br /> the United States of America is, that the expres-<br /> sion “book’ in the Act of 1891 does not include<br /> ‘ musical composition and that, consequently it is<br /> not necessary that such compositions should be<br /> printed in America as a condition of obtaining<br /> copyright there.”<br /> On this point Mr. R. H. Johnson writes from<br /> New York as follows: “I hope the news of the<br /> confirmation by the courts of our contention that<br /> music does not have to be manufactured here will<br /> be widely published in your country. It closes<br /> a chapter in the history of International copyright<br /> Music is now a thing produced and published, and<br /> not subject to exclusion because the method of<br /> publication may be like that of books or chromos.<br /> My testimony as to the intention of the framers<br /> of the bill was part of the plaintiff&#039;s brief, and<br /> that consideration seems to have had weight in<br /> the decision.” -<br /> III.-AUTHORSHIP FALSELY AsCRIBED.<br /> A publisher of New York printed in 1873 a<br /> volume, the authorship of which was ascribed to<br /> Bret Harte. This volume contained four chapters<br /> of a story that had actually been written by Bret<br /> Harte ten years previously, while the remaining<br /> chapters making up the volume were written by<br /> some person unknown. To the whole story Bret<br /> Harte&#039;s name was prefixed, but at the end of<br /> his portion of the story appeared an explanatory<br /> note. .<br /> The facts having been proved as above stated,<br /> the court granted Harte&#039;s application for an<br /> injunction under which further sale of the book<br /> was restrained. The judge said, in his opinion:<br /> “I think that the plaintiff has such an interestin<br /> his name and in his reputation as an author as<br /> entitles him to invoke the aid of a court of equity<br /> in restraining the defendant in falsely repre-<br /> senting that a literary production published and<br /> sold by the defendant is the work of the plaintiff.<br /> . . . It seems to me that the act of the defen-<br /> dant is calculated to mislead the public, and<br /> induce the purchase of the work referred to in<br /> the complaint, under the impression that said<br /> work is wholly written by the plaintiff. The case<br /> is analogous to that of a trade mark, and the<br /> principle on which the relief is granted in such<br /> cases is that a defendant shall not be permitted<br /> by the adoption of a trade mark that is untrue or<br /> deceptive, to sell his own goods as those of the<br /> plaintiff, which is injuring the latter and also<br /> defrauding the public. In this case the gen ral<br /> public would, in my judgment, be misled by the<br /> title-page of the book in question into supposing<br /> that the whole of the book was a production of<br /> the plaintiff, and the facts seem to point strongly<br /> to the conclusion that it was the design of the<br /> defendant thus to mislead the public. &amp;<br /> It is no answer to this to say that every one who<br /> read the book must necessarily read the note at<br /> page 34, as that note is better calculated to call<br /> the attention of the purchaser to the fact that he<br /> has been deceived rather than to prevent the<br /> deception. Entertaining these views, I shall<br /> direct that an order be granted continuing the<br /> injunction until the case can be tried, plaintiff<br /> to pay all the costs of the motion.”<br /> -—-º-º-º-º-º-<br /> IV.—HANFSTAENGL v. NEWNEs.<br /> The “living picture * cases, Hanfstaeng! v.<br /> Newnes, 7 R. Aug. 80; Hanfstaeng! v. Empire<br /> Palace, &#039;94, 2 Ch. 1, 7 R. Sept. 84 (both in C.A.),<br /> make a good example of the true principles of<br /> copyright law. Copyright is not a property in<br /> ideas conferred by the law of nature, as certain<br /> philosophers have vainly talked, but a monopoly<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 118 (#132) ############################################<br /> <br /> 1 18<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> specially created by law on grounds of public<br /> utility, and a monopoly not in ideas or artistic<br /> motives in the abstract, but in particular forms<br /> of expression. Therefore copyright in a work of<br /> literature or art can be infringed only by a repro-<br /> duction ejusdem generis, a picture by something<br /> pictorial, and so forth. It does not follow, how-<br /> ever, that infringement might not be indirectly<br /> committed by reconstruction of the original design<br /> from something which was not itself an infringe-<br /> ment, even if the reconstructor had no direct<br /> acquaintance with the original ; it was expressly<br /> allowed by the Court of Appeal that it could be<br /> so, though they held that in the particular case it<br /> was not. The questions of dramatising literary<br /> work and of “performing rights * are not touched<br /> by these decisions, and stand on a special footing.<br /> —Law Quarterly Review for October.<br /> *– ~ *-*<br /> THE INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT<br /> CONGRESS AT ANTWERP,<br /> R. J. E. MUDDOCK, F.R.G.S., was the<br /> sole representative of England at the<br /> Congress, which closed its sittings on the<br /> 26th of August, Mr. Muddock, who went over<br /> by special invitation of the committee, speaks in<br /> glowing terms of the princely hospitality offered<br /> to the foreign delegates by their Belgian confrères<br /> Without making any invidious comparison, he<br /> wishes to particularise the exceeding kindness and<br /> courtesy of the Hon. Paul Cogel, President of the<br /> Antwerp Society of Bibliophiles; of M. Victor<br /> Robyns, the esteemed President of the Antwerp<br /> Cercle Artistique, Litteraire, and Scientific; and<br /> M. Franz Gittens, the well-known Belgian<br /> dramatic author. Fetes, illuminated corteges,<br /> receptions, dinners, excursions, and visits to all<br /> that is interesting in Antwerp, were the order of<br /> the day, and the wonder is that the guests have<br /> survived all this kindness. They have not only<br /> survived, however, but are unanimous in their<br /> expressions of satisfaction and gratitude for the<br /> magnificent hospitality of their hosts. Notwith-<br /> standing all the feasting and junketing much solid<br /> work was done, as two seances were held each day,<br /> and some six hours a day were consumed in this<br /> way. At the opening sitting, M. Robyns, in the<br /> name of the old and intellectual city of Antwerp,<br /> extended a warm welcome to the foreign delegates,<br /> and he alluded in graceful terms to the great<br /> interest manifested in the Congress by His<br /> Majesty the King of the Belgians. It was a<br /> good sign when representatives of nearly every<br /> European nation assembled to discuss amicabl<br /> their mutual interests in the products of intellect,<br /> whether such products took the form of litera-<br /> ture, art, science, poetry, the drama, or music.<br /> Meetings like that did more to bring about the<br /> longed for universal brotherhood than anything<br /> else could possibly do; for there was no nation-<br /> ality in brain work. Literature and art were<br /> cosmopolitan, they recognised no frontiers, and<br /> gatherings of that kind served to strengthen the<br /> bond of good feeling which literary men and<br /> women, musicians, artists, composers, &amp;c., enter-<br /> tained for one another, irrespective of country.<br /> Great strides had been made of late years in<br /> securing to authors and artists universal recogni-<br /> tion of their rights in the works they created.<br /> But there was still much to do, though the good<br /> work that had already been done was a guarantee<br /> for the future; and it might safely be asserted<br /> that there would be no pause until the literary<br /> and artistic millenium was reached. Then nations<br /> would be compelled to recognise, by the laws of<br /> their respective countries, that the products of a<br /> man’s brain labour could no more be filched<br /> from him with impunity than could his land, his<br /> houses, his household effects, or anything that<br /> was legitimately his.<br /> The sentiments expressed by the President<br /> were received with warm approval, and Dr.<br /> Albert Osterrieth, who spoke in the name of<br /> the Congress of German authors, said that<br /> throughout Germany there was a very strong<br /> desire to promote in every possible way the<br /> interests of international copyright. M. Pfeiffer,<br /> of the Syndicate of the Musical Composers of<br /> Paris; Dr. Lundstadt, in the name of Swedish<br /> publishers, and of the Literary and Artistic<br /> Circle of Stockholm ; Herr Stoutz, for Switzer-<br /> land; and Mr. J. E. Muddock, for England, said<br /> that authors and composers of their respective<br /> countries would not rest until their rights<br /> in literary and artistic property were fully<br /> recognised.<br /> At the second sitting there was a very large<br /> attendance, including the Princess Napoleon<br /> Bonaparte-Weiss, and several women of letters,<br /> amongst them being Madame Brun, the well-<br /> known Belgian novelist and journalist. When<br /> the meeting had been declared open by the<br /> President, M. Bonilla, who represented the<br /> “Society of Spanish Writers,” rose to address<br /> the assembly. Speaking in Spanish, he made a<br /> stirring and eloquent appeal for the universal<br /> recognition of the results of intellectual labour.<br /> He insisted that workers with the pen and pencil<br /> had been too long regarded as mere time-servers<br /> of the public, whose mission was to give to the<br /> world the efforts of their genius, but like the<br /> slaves of old they could own nothing. Fortu-<br /> nately a more enlightened era was dawning, and<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 119 (#133) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I Ig<br /> the day could not be far distant when authors<br /> and artists would have cause to rejoice that they<br /> had clamoured for an equitable recognition of<br /> their interests by all nations.<br /> A long discussion followed on the rights of<br /> translation. Translation in principle is said to<br /> be a mode of reproduction, but while that prin-<br /> ciple is admitted in some countries it is contested<br /> in others. It was certainly proclaimed at the<br /> Brussels Congress in 1858; and since then the<br /> International Literary Union has endeavoured to<br /> get it universally recognised. Under any cir-<br /> cumstances, the desirability was urged of pro-<br /> longing the term during which an author&#039;s<br /> consent has to be obtained before his works can<br /> be translated, and twenty years was named as an<br /> equitable limit. This was objected to by M.<br /> Ernest Eisenmann, an avocat of Paris, and the<br /> author of an important work on the rights of<br /> authors and journalists. He maintained that if<br /> such restrictions were placed upon the rights<br /> of translation they would militate against the<br /> author&#039;s themselves. That would certainly be<br /> the case in dramatic and musical composition.<br /> When the subject had been well threshed out,<br /> without any very definite conclusion being<br /> arrived at, M. Alcide Darras, one of the general<br /> secretaries of the union, laid before the assembly<br /> a brief but lucid account of the legislative move-<br /> ments that had been made with regard to inter-<br /> national copyright during the past few years.<br /> He spoke bitterly of the action of the United<br /> States, and said it was something more than an<br /> anomaly that Canada should be disposed to favour<br /> American writers in preference to all others.<br /> England had given copyright to English authors<br /> in the whole of the British Empire, and that<br /> copyright was secured by an international treaty;<br /> nevertheless Canada showed a strong disposition<br /> to give American authors Canadian rights,<br /> although America had treated English authors so<br /> scurvily. Referring to Mexico, M. Darras said it<br /> was greatly to the credit of that country that<br /> Mexican subjects, or anyone producing a literary<br /> work in Mexico, had the advantage of perpetual<br /> copyright, while great liberality was shown to<br /> authors of all nationalities. It certainly would<br /> be more honourable on the part of the Govern-<br /> ment of the United States if they took a leaf out<br /> of their neighbour&#039;s book. At the subsequent<br /> sittings of the Congress long and interesting dis-<br /> cussions took place on the relations of publishers<br /> and authors, in so far as those relations were<br /> concerned in contracts of publications. All the<br /> speakers pointed out that in every country, as<br /> matters now stood, the author was entirely in the<br /> hands of his publisher, and if the publisher chose<br /> to act dishonestly, as he often did, the author<br /> WOL. W.<br /> suffered, and had no remedy. It was pertinently<br /> asked why literary contracts should not be<br /> placed upon the same basis as any other<br /> commercial contract. If an author wrote a<br /> book, and a publisher undertook to publish<br /> it on terms of mutual profit, there was a<br /> distinct partnership created. The author&#039;s<br /> capital in the business was represented by his<br /> work, and the value of that work must be taken<br /> to be equal in every sense to the amount the pub-<br /> lisher invested when he printed and put the<br /> work on the market. The author should there-<br /> fore be in a position to know precisely what busi-<br /> ness is being transacted and what returns are<br /> coming in. As matters now stood, he was<br /> entirely dependent for this information on the<br /> bare statement of the publisher. And, while it<br /> was not assumed for a moment that all pub-<br /> lishers were dishonest, it could not be denied that<br /> the temptation to make a little extra profit by<br /> the manipulation of accounts and the suppression<br /> of information that ought to be afforded was very<br /> great indeed; and human nature was the same in<br /> a publisher as it was in other buman beings, often<br /> more so. It was admitted that the subject was a<br /> very difficult one to deal with in an international<br /> sense, for transactions of the kind often had to be<br /> determined by local circumstances. But there<br /> was no reason why some general principles<br /> should not be laid down and adopted by the<br /> union. And it was suggested that in default of<br /> distinct stipulation to the contrary a contract of<br /> publication should be taken to mean one edition<br /> only, whether it was of a musical or literary<br /> work. The number of that edition should be<br /> expressly stated in the contract, and every copy<br /> of it should be numbered and signed by publisher<br /> and author. This scheme would at once afford<br /> an author a ready means of knowing how many<br /> copies of his work had been sold, and it would be<br /> a safeguard against unauthorised reproduction.<br /> Of course the same regulations would apply to<br /> any subsequent editions.<br /> Although no definite decision was arrived at<br /> on this subject owing to various difficulties that<br /> presented themselves, it was admitted that it was<br /> too important to be shelved, and that it should<br /> be brought forward next year, and in the mean-<br /> time some concerted plan of action should be.<br /> worked out which should aim at doing justice to.<br /> all parties without wounding the susceptibilities.<br /> of any.<br /> Mr. Wolfgang Kirschbach, the well-known.<br /> theatrical critic and editor of the Dresdner.<br /> Nachrichten, then invited the Congress to meet.<br /> next year at Dresden, and he said he was autho-<br /> rised to promise a welcome and a reception in the<br /> name of the Saxon Government, as well as of the<br /> N<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 120 (#134) ############################################<br /> <br /> I 20<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> municipal authorities. And he further promised<br /> that the warmest support would be accorded te<br /> the work and aims of the Congress by the whole<br /> of Germany, North and South. The invitation<br /> was accepted, and Dresden fixed as the next<br /> place of meeting.<br /> Altogether it may be said that the Congress<br /> has been productive of many good results, and the<br /> work so far achieved is just and equitable to all<br /> who labour with their brains. And, as M.<br /> Bergerem, the Minister of Justice, said at the<br /> grand banquet given by the President to the<br /> distinguished foreigners gathered together in<br /> Antwerp in the name of literature, science, and<br /> art, the objects of the association must, in the<br /> end, be universally triumphant. They had right<br /> on their side, and they would soon have power<br /> to enforce those rights.<br /> It is greatly to be regretted that the entire<br /> English press, from the Times downwards, should<br /> have been so utterly indifferent to this important<br /> Congress that no report of it has appeared in any<br /> paper in this country. Journalists cannot afford<br /> to ignore the aims and objects of the association,<br /> and it surely would have been worth while for<br /> the great London dailies to have instructed<br /> their foreign correspondents to furnish to their<br /> respective papers some particulars of the labours<br /> of the Congress. It is also a matter of surprise<br /> that Mr. Muddock was not supported by some<br /> of his London confrères. The question of inter-<br /> national copyright is one which very closely affects<br /> us as a literary people, and particularly in so far<br /> as our dealings with America are concerned. And<br /> unless writers and artists here think their<br /> property is not worth protecting, they would do<br /> well to show that they are in full accord with the<br /> spirit and aims of these annual congresses, and<br /> attend in numbers to speak and vote on all that<br /> tends to promote the common welfare of the<br /> great brotherhood of the pen and pencil.<br /> *— — —”<br /> * * *<br /> NOTES FROM PARIS.<br /> AM writing this from a fishing village at the<br /> extreme southern point of the Bay of Biscay,<br /> in a desolate land of dunes, with the purple<br /> line of the Pyrenees in front of me, and all<br /> around a forest of pine trees. . A coin perdu. if<br /> ever there was one, yet at the time of the English<br /> rule in Aquitaine, a place of some importance.<br /> In the middle of the village rises the “Tower of<br /> the English,” and many of the houses were built<br /> by English hands. g e gº<br /> Is it a fallacy that, as many of us imagine, soli-<br /> stude and quiet are very necessary to the man<br /> who would produce his best work, and that a<br /> man works hardest where there is little tempta-<br /> tion for him to leave his writing-table P Zola has<br /> recorded the fine fevers of industry which come<br /> upon him in the country, but then Zola will<br /> work anywhere and under any circumstances.<br /> Daudet, on the other hand, has told me that at<br /> the seaside at least he is never able to work.<br /> “The sea is a terrible waster,” he said, and added<br /> that having sought solitude in a little village on<br /> the Mediterranean coast, he remained six weeks<br /> without putting pen to paper. For my part my<br /> experience is that a solitary and monotonous way<br /> of life is fatal to literary production. One<br /> cannot think when one yawns. And again, the<br /> song of the sea is one continual invitation to<br /> idleness, whilst the fields and the forest have<br /> mysterious and syremlike voices to tempt one<br /> away. People who have read “Jack,” will remem-<br /> ber the poet D’Argenton, who, having longed for<br /> years for a quiet retreat in the country, found,<br /> when he was able to afford one, that he could not<br /> work there, and wasted six years in idle endea-<br /> vours. Perhaps the reason of this is that the<br /> country is so delightful that idleness becomes a<br /> real pleasure.<br /> It is a characteristic trait of the American<br /> critics that when reviewing a translation all men-<br /> tion of the translator, even in quoting the title of<br /> the book, is omitted by them. Translation, it<br /> would appear, after their manner of thinking, is<br /> and cannot be otherwise than hack work. Yet<br /> one of Charles Baudelaire&#039;s chief titles to fame is<br /> in his masterly translation of Poe&#039;s tales.<br /> American journalism, by the way, seems to be<br /> sinking lower and lower into infamy. Not many<br /> days ago I was passing a delightful hour in the<br /> pine forest near my house, with my dog and my<br /> grey donkey for companions, and an odd volume<br /> of Montaigne in my hand. I could see the great<br /> red sun going down into the sea, athwart the<br /> pines; the air was fresh and balsamous, and only<br /> the cooing of the turtle-doves broke the stillness.<br /> I was away for the time from everything that was<br /> common and cruel, and ugly and human. And<br /> then broke in upon my tranquil meditation<br /> American journalism, in the form of a cablegram<br /> from New York, an unclean thing that I threw<br /> away from me with disgust as soon as I had read<br /> it. It came from a great American editor, and<br /> requested me to nose out the dirty story of an<br /> American milliardaire, who, it appears, has fallen<br /> into the toils of some Parisian Phryne. I was to<br /> “ mail photos,” and to accompany the same with<br /> a “rip-roarer story of their intimacy.” After<br /> reflection I picked the filthy paper up again, and<br /> have pasted it up in my study as a reminder of<br /> the things to which American journalism leads.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 121 (#135) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I 2 I<br /> Inasmuch as, by the stress of circumstances,<br /> there are many writers who engage in literature<br /> in a purely commercial spirit, might not the<br /> critics exact that the publishers in sending in<br /> ibooks for review should mention, besides the<br /> price of each volume, the amount of remunera-<br /> tion which was assured to the author when he<br /> sat down to the task of its production. This<br /> knowledge might dispose them to greater<br /> leniency or severity, as the case might be. The<br /> critic might be very exacting in the case of a<br /> book for which the author had received or was<br /> to receive several hundred pounds, and less so<br /> in the case of work paid for with as many six-<br /> pences. I would like to read some such sentence<br /> in a literary critique as the following: “This is<br /> a hastily-written book, immaturely considered.<br /> Still, when we remember that the author<br /> produced it at the rate of fourpence halfpenny<br /> for each hour&#039;s work, we cannot but commend it<br /> as extremely good value for money.” In this<br /> matter also the philosophy of Mrs. Gamp holds<br /> good, and them as wants titivating must pay<br /> accordingly.<br /> Alphonse Daudet has just finished a new<br /> novel. It is one of the very few of his stories—<br /> is it not the only one P-which contains a murder.<br /> There are a husband and wife who each suspects<br /> the other of the crime, and so on. It ends in a<br /> reconciliation. I am glad to say that Daudet&#039;s<br /> health is improving. I had a long letter from<br /> him a few days ago, entirely in his own hand,<br /> firm, healthy writing “in his least nervous pen.”<br /> Be usually dictates to his secretary, the amiable<br /> M. Ebner. He tells me that his son’s book,<br /> “Les Morticoles,” is still selling very well,<br /> already in a tenth edition, I believe.<br /> Apropos of Léon Daudet, who, it will be<br /> remembered, married Victor Hugo&#039;s grand-<br /> daughter, the last time I saw him he told me<br /> that Hugo&#039;s books were selling very badly<br /> indeed, and he is in a position to know the<br /> facts, as husband of the lady who is entitled<br /> to one half the revenue from the Hugo copy-<br /> rights. This disposes of various accounts we<br /> have heard of the continued demand for these<br /> works.<br /> Emile Zola, leaves for Rome next month to<br /> collect materials for the second volume of “Les<br /> Trois Villes &quot; series, which is to be called “Rome.”<br /> I am afraid that he will not succeed, as he had<br /> hoped, in securing an interview with the Holy<br /> Father, and it is to be feared that the odium<br /> theologicum provoked by “Lourdes,” will put<br /> many difficulties in his way. In the meanwhile<br /> “Lourdes&#039;&#039; is in its hundredth edition, and<br /> Charpentier&#039;s presses are still hard at work<br /> turning out copies by the thousand. It is expeeted<br /> WOL. V.<br /> that this book will have the largest sale of any of<br /> Zola&#039;s works. *<br /> Edmund de Goncourt, I am sorry to say, is, as<br /> I hear from Champrosay, ailing with “a liver<br /> crisis.” This splendid old man is, however, so<br /> robust that I expect him to outlive us all. He is<br /> resting his pen at present, though, of course, he<br /> continues to keep his daily diary, as he has done<br /> for the past thirty years.<br /> The widow of Leconte de Lisle is preparing<br /> her late husband&#039;s manuscripts for the press.<br /> She is working in collaboration with De Héredice,<br /> and they hope to collect sufficient material for a<br /> volume of poems, which shall add to the reputa-<br /> tion of the author of “Poémes Barbares.” The<br /> task is a difficult one, as the late poet was very<br /> critical about his own work, and they are anxious<br /> not to print anything which he would have<br /> refused to publish. Leconte de Lisle destroyed<br /> more than four thousand lines of verse which he<br /> deemed unsatisfactory, and what he published<br /> had been revised and revised again.<br /> A new life of Napoleon is being prepared in<br /> Paris by a Boston Professor, and will run for two<br /> years in the Century Magazine. I myself was<br /> recently invited by the proprietors of another<br /> American magazine to do another life of Napoleon,<br /> and very good terms were offered. But the<br /> matter fell through when I was informed that<br /> Napoleon had to be treated in an entirely favour-<br /> able light, as I found it impossible to do so. The<br /> Americans all have an immense admiration for<br /> Napoleon, chiefly, no doubt, because of the persis-<br /> tent way in which he plagued England. A study<br /> of Napoleon as the Arch-Anarchist and forerunner<br /> of the anarchy of this fin de siècle would be<br /> interesting. ROBERT H. SHERARD.<br /> Capbreton, Landes, Sept. 19.<br /> *– ~ –”<br /> g- &gt; -e<br /> AUGUSTA WEBSTER,<br /> HE death of Augusta Webster on Sept. 5<br /> takes from us a poet of very remarkable<br /> powers, and of achievement second to no<br /> woman of the age who has attempted poetry.<br /> She was a daughter of the late Admiral Davies,<br /> who for many years filled the post of Chief<br /> Constable for Cambridgeshire, and lived at Cam-<br /> bridge.<br /> Augusta Davies published her first volume of<br /> verse in the year 1861 or 1862. It was entitled<br /> “Blanche Lisle,” and bore the assumed name of<br /> Cecil Horne. After her marriage to Mr. Thomas<br /> Webster, a classical scholar and a Fellow of Trinity,<br /> she published under her own name translations<br /> of “Prometheous Vinctus ” and the “Medea,”<br /> N 2<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 122 (#136) ############################################<br /> <br /> I 22<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> she also published another volume of verse under<br /> her nom de plume. The works that followed were<br /> “Dramatic Studies” (1866), “A Woman Sold”<br /> (1867), “Portraits” (1870), “The Auspicious<br /> Day” (1872), “Yu-Pe-Yas&#039;s Lute” (1874),<br /> “Disguises” (1879), “A Book of Rhyme’”<br /> (1881), “In a Day” (1882), “Daffodil and the<br /> Croaxaxicans” (1884), and “The Sentence”<br /> (1887). In addition to these volumes of verse,<br /> Mrs. Webster produced a book of essays called<br /> “A Housewife&#039;s Opinions.” She wrote for the<br /> Eacaminer when William Minto was its editor,<br /> and, it is understood, for the Athenæum. She<br /> also essayed a novel, but, apparently, without<br /> success, and for six years she was a member of<br /> the London School Board.<br /> It will be seen that her time of greatest<br /> activity was in the sixties and the seventies. It<br /> seems a long time ago, but the time has not yet<br /> come for an estimate of Augusta Webster&#039;s place<br /> among the poets of the Victorian age—an age<br /> which produces more fine verse in a decade<br /> than was written during the whole of the last<br /> century, and an age in which critics are continu-<br /> ally bemoaning the decay of verse; an age in<br /> which we are so busy over our own work that we<br /> have no time to read the work of others; an age<br /> in which a new great Inovelist, if not a new great<br /> poet, is boomed every month; an age in which<br /> the poet of to-day will be clean forgotten to-<br /> morrow. The contemporaries of Augusta<br /> Webster—those who lived in the sixties and<br /> the seventies—have read her works and found in<br /> them qualities of the highest order, purity of<br /> thought, beauty of expression, music in rhythm,<br /> dexterity in metre, power of conceiving and<br /> drawing character. Does the younger genera-<br /> tion read her P Ome knows not. Will the works<br /> of this singer survive? Out of all she wrote,<br /> surely, something. He would be a bold critic who<br /> would foretell immortality, even a limited im-<br /> mortality—an existence prolonged for three<br /> generations—for any poem of the day. But to<br /> him who remembers those early volumes—the<br /> “Dramatic Studies,” “Portraits,” and the trans-<br /> lations—Augusta Webster will always remain a<br /> figure in contemporary literature among the fore-<br /> most, and among the worthiest. W. B.<br /> ** a 2–º<br /> r- - -,<br /> NOTES AND NEWS.<br /> R. JAMES PAYN writes that if he had<br /> twenty lives he would give them all to<br /> the profession of Letters. He says,<br /> moreover, that no profession is more free from<br /> jealousies and acrimonies. Well, a certain depress-<br /> ing work on the “Quarrels of Authors” is to be<br /> found in most of our libraries. Some day it will<br /> be brought up to date, and then some very pretty<br /> jealousies and acrimonies of the present day, of<br /> which the world is now ignorant, will be brought<br /> to light. There have been two or three actions in<br /> the High Court of Justice produced by “acri-<br /> monies’’ of literary men. And there are too<br /> often to be seen even in signed articles, criticisms<br /> and judgments by literary men concerning other<br /> literary men that are certainly not kindly either<br /> in phrase or intention. In fact, one of the prin-<br /> cipal reasons which has hitherto kept men of<br /> letters apart from each other, is the unhappy pre-<br /> judice that it is the duty of a writer to criticise<br /> and sit in judgment upon other writers, as if the<br /> power of writing verse should make a critic as<br /> well as a poet. That criticism should be con-<br /> temptuous and derisive; that it should not be<br /> written with the view of pointing out what ought<br /> to be, but to inflict as much pain as possible by<br /> exaggerating what is, in the volume: these are<br /> articles of belief that seem happily passing away.<br /> The editor of the immediate future will certainly<br /> insist on as much courtesy in his columns as at<br /> his dinner table.<br /> I have before me certain extracts from the<br /> registers of St. Bartholomew&#039;s Church, which<br /> formerly stood on the site now occupied by the<br /> east wing of the Bank of England. The dates<br /> of these registers are from 1568 down to 1720 or<br /> thereabouts. There are baptisms, marriages, and<br /> deaths. Among them are three entries which<br /> are curious. They are all in the burials, and are<br /> as follows:<br /> 1672. Katharine Dufoe.<br /> I687. Katharine Dufoe.<br /> 1708. Mary Defoe.<br /> Now Daniel Defoe, son of Thomas Foe, of<br /> Cripplegate, and said to be the grandson of<br /> Thomas Foe, of Elton, assumed the “De &#039;’ about<br /> the year 1684. It is generally assumed that he<br /> did so in the hope of passing for one of gentle<br /> birth. These entries, however, make it clear that<br /> there was one family, perhaps two, in the City<br /> of the name of Dufoe or Defoe. It is probablé,<br /> therefore, that this was the older way of spelling<br /> his name, and that he was really connected with<br /> families who so spelled the name.<br /> The Rev. Dr. Bell, of Cheltenham, calls my<br /> attention to the question in the September<br /> number of the Author : “Is not the Sheridan<br /> family the only family on record which has con-<br /> tinued to hand down its best characteristics from<br /> One generation to another ?” He reminds me of<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 123 (#137) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I 23<br /> the Arnold family as another which has also done<br /> so. He mentions the names of Matthew Arnold,<br /> Thomas Arnold, Mrs. Humphry Ward, Mr. Oakley<br /> Arnold Forster. Undoubtedly this is another<br /> case of hereditary genius, which in the domain of<br /> literature is exceedingly rare. In music and in<br /> law hereditary ability is more often found. What<br /> descendants of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton,<br /> Wordsworth, Byron, Shelley, have ever distin-<br /> guished themselves in literature ?<br /> In another column will be found some kind of<br /> answer—though of necessity incomplete—towards<br /> the question of what the people read. Setting<br /> aside fiction, an army of Io,000 borrowers, in<br /> one library, read during one year 65,000 works of<br /> history, travels, philosophy, art, and science.<br /> This for a body of people only just beginning to<br /> read seems pretty well. We must remember that<br /> they are nearly all working people; that a great<br /> many of them—the women especially—have very<br /> long hours of work; that during the summer<br /> months they will naturally take their recreation<br /> in the open air; and that a large proportion of<br /> the men have been accustomed to take their<br /> winter recreation in public houses.<br /> Let us remember also that without this library<br /> only very few of these working men would have<br /> read any book at all. Not any book at all. It is<br /> rare to find books in a working man&#039;s lodging ;<br /> it is still rarer to find him buying books. How<br /> can he buy books unless out of the twopenny<br /> basket P Indeed, to those who ignorantly accuse<br /> us, as a nation, of not buying books, the first<br /> reply is, that whether we want to buy books or<br /> not we cannot afford to do so, because, out of the<br /> whole 37,000,000 population or 7,400,000 families<br /> in this our United Kingdom, there are but<br /> 250,000 families which earn an income of so much<br /> as 32OO a year, and not more than 400,000<br /> families which either earn or possess that modest<br /> income. Now, with the lowest possible standard<br /> of necessary comfort, what margin can be left<br /> with an income of £200 for the purchase of<br /> books P From time to time we read letters in the<br /> papers on the economy of small incomes. Some-<br /> thing is put down for the luxury of trips and<br /> excursions—for change of air is necessary; the<br /> gentility of a pew, instead of a free seat, is never<br /> forgotten ; but nothing is ever left for books.<br /> Why? Because books cannot be afforded. And<br /> those who cannot buy books are now growing<br /> eager to read them. “We would buy,” they say,<br /> “if we could. But, indeed, we are not able to<br /> buy.”<br /> --&gt;e-<br /> As for those favoured few—the happy 4OO,OOO<br /> families—whose income is 32OO a year and over,<br /> they have hitherto bought all the books that are<br /> sold—new or secondhand—all but the books of<br /> elementary education. The new public libraries are<br /> now stepping in as purchasers. When we speak of<br /> the vast audience which already awaits a success-<br /> ful writer, whether historian, poet, exponent of<br /> science, preacher, philosopher, or novelist, it<br /> must be remembered that this great body of<br /> readers who cannot buy will always form the<br /> largest part. And if, as seems probable, the<br /> 400,000 families above-named become reduced in<br /> number, and their incomes grow steadily and<br /> yearly less, there will be nobody at all left to buy<br /> books, and the libraries will be the only pur-<br /> chasers. Meantime what the 400,000 do buy and<br /> how much they buy, and how far the reproach is<br /> just that they do not buy, must be considered by<br /> the light of actual figures. And these figures<br /> we will try to collect and to publish.<br /> The New York Critic of Aug. 11 contained a<br /> paper on Art in the Magazines, suggested by cer-<br /> tain comparisons made in these columns between<br /> the advance of the American magazines and the<br /> seeming decline of our own. The writer says:<br /> “Among other reasons advanced for this state of<br /> things is the abundance of illustrations that we<br /> give, but the most important thing is omitted,<br /> viz., their quality. With us illustration is an art;<br /> in England it is a pastime—it entertains without<br /> instructing. The same class of men do not prac-<br /> tise it in both countries; and, furthermore, the<br /> English draughtsmen have not yet learned to<br /> draw for the photo-engravers, as have the<br /> American and the French.” He goes on to<br /> criticise the artistic character of a certain English<br /> magazine. The remarks under this head may be<br /> omitted. The following, however, is an American&#039;s<br /> opinion on American art. One would like that<br /> of an English artist on the same work:<br /> Now take the August Harper’s and see the difference<br /> between the American process-work and that of England.<br /> Note Mr. Smedley’s illustrations in Mr. Ralph&#039;s story of<br /> “Old Monmouth,” in Mr. Matthews’s “A Vista in Central<br /> Park,” or in Mr. Warner&#039;s story. They are made by the<br /> Kurtz process. Here we have the artist and the process-<br /> engraver working in perfect harmony, and the result is<br /> almost as fine as that brought about by the graver. Mr.<br /> Remington’s illustrations of his own paper are even better.<br /> There are few artists who know so well how to work for<br /> mechanical engraving as Mr. Remington. An admirable<br /> piece of work is Mr. Thulstrup&#039;s in “Up the Coast of<br /> Norway.” The illustration on page 381 has all the softness<br /> and light and shade of a mezzotint engraving. Mr. Du<br /> Maurier&#039;s illustrations of “Trilby’’ lend themselves parti-<br /> cularly well to the work of photo-engraving, because they<br /> are pen-and-ink drawings. The engraver could probably<br /> not reproduce them any better, if as well. But to see just<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 124 (#138) ############################################<br /> <br /> I 24<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> what delicaey and tone the engraver&#039;s hand gives to a picture,<br /> we must turm to the frontispiece, “On Shark River,” drawn<br /> and engraved by Victor Bernstrom. In Mr. Castaigne we<br /> have another artist who is a master of the art of drawing<br /> for process-engraving. He is a Frenchman, and learned his<br /> art in France, where they have long made a specialty of it.<br /> I doubt whether the engraver could do him the justice that<br /> the camera does. It would be very difficult to catch his<br /> peculiar effects with the hand. His illustrations to<br /> “Washington as a Spectacle,” in the Century, make this<br /> clear, especially the picture on page 490. Mr. Sterner<br /> shows himself in a new light in his illustration of “Poe in<br /> the South.” There is an imaginative quality in his work<br /> that goes well with that of the author he illustrates. For<br /> work with the graver it would be hard to find anything<br /> more satisfactory than Mr. Timothy Cole&#039;s reproduction of<br /> Quentin Matsy’s portrait of his second wife. Here we have<br /> something that mechanical engraving can never give—the<br /> personality of the engraver, the touch of the artist. In<br /> looking at this picture one feels the dignity of handwork<br /> over that of the machine. Another fine example of the<br /> engraver&#039;s art is the frontispiece of Scribner&#039;s, Carolus .<br /> Duran’s “The Poet with the Mandolin,” engraved by W. B.<br /> Closson. Here, again, we have what photo-engraving cannot<br /> give. The name of W. S. Vanderbilt Allen is comparatively<br /> new in the art world, but it accompanies some spirited<br /> scenes of Newport life, which have had the distinction of<br /> being engraved. Kaemmerer&#039;s illustrations of Professor<br /> C. G. D. Roberts&#039;s poem would have gained much, had<br /> Florian touched them into life; as it is, they have lost by<br /> the “process.” On the other hand, it is doubtful whether<br /> the engraver could have done more for Castaigne&#039;s illus-<br /> trations of Mr. Bunner&#039;s story. Process work has seldom<br /> been seen to better advantage than in the picture opposite<br /> page I64. Mr. Sterner&#039;s illustrations of “An Undiscovered<br /> Murder” are, if anything, better than those he has in the<br /> Centwry. They are certainly more pleasing in subject, and<br /> the one on page 183 is a gem. No ; one does not find such<br /> art in the English magazines.<br /> Everybody is interested in the Autocrat of<br /> Boston. Therefore I make no doubt that every-<br /> body will read the following extract from the<br /> New York Critic (Sept. 8, 1894). I had the<br /> pleasure of an afternoon with the most amiable<br /> of poets and essayists last year. We drove from<br /> Salem to Beverly one fine afternoon in July, the<br /> party consisting of Prof. Woodberry, Mr. Sprigge,<br /> and myself. And we spent a couple of hours<br /> talking to the Autocrat, who was in the best<br /> spirits, and the best health possible. At Beverly<br /> he has a charming country house on a hill with<br /> a large garden and a delightful view.<br /> Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes’s birthday, of which the<br /> Critic had brief mention last week, was celebrated in a very<br /> quiet manner, as the poet himself desired. He is not only<br /> adverse to publicity on that day, but finds it best to protect<br /> his health as far as possible by preventing intrusion into his<br /> Sanctum. The good Doctor is always kindly in feeling and<br /> expression towards every reporter who calls, but yet has be-<br /> come now extremely reserved. To the first reporter who<br /> came last week he gave an interview, and then, when the<br /> other gentlemen of the press trod the path to his Beverly<br /> Summer home, he presented each with a printed slip con-<br /> taining this same interview, thus saving time and exertion.<br /> The friends who called on his birthday were glad to find that<br /> in spite of the prolonged illness which prostrated both mind<br /> and body (infact, the doctor himself says that it was the longest,<br /> illness he ever had), the Autocrat is regaining his physical<br /> strength. He is no longer able to answer the hosts of letters.<br /> that pour in upon him as they always have, people by the score<br /> having simply flooded his table with queries and with manu-<br /> scripts to which they have invited his attention ; and, while the<br /> Doctor has always expressed himself as gratified at words.<br /> of affection, he has not been able of late to answer even the<br /> complimentary notes. Indeed, he does no writing now at<br /> all, and whatever dictation he is able to carry out is devoted<br /> to the completion of his autobiography, now made his great.<br /> lifework, and not destined to be published until after his<br /> death. Someone suggested to the Doctor, when the latter<br /> spoke of the cramp that affected his hand in writing, that<br /> he learn to use the type-writer, but the poet smilingly<br /> replied that he did not propose to forsake an old friend for<br /> a new one at his time of life. For eight summers now Dr.<br /> Holmes has been at Beverly Farms, which he regards as the<br /> most perfect of summer resorts (barring the east winds),<br /> and he delights in telling visitors about all the surroundings.<br /> of the place. He points out, with delightful interest, the<br /> two islands in front of his house, quaintly named “Great.<br /> Misery&quot; and “Little Misery&quot;—terms derived from a game<br /> of cards called Boston,” invented by some British officers.<br /> who were quartered upon those islands during the early<br /> wars. Of course, the trees still consume a great deal of his<br /> attention. Recently, it is said, he has found a new tree in.<br /> Beverly, which he considers the most beautiful of all; and<br /> to its base he drives several times each week, there to sit<br /> in its shade and enjoy its protection. If he can hear of any<br /> big tree within any reasonable distance of his home he is sure<br /> to visit it.<br /> Speaking about his health to a caller, Dr. Holmes said:—<br /> “I am afraid that I am commencing to grow old. Since<br /> last February, when I had a severe attack of the grip, I<br /> have not been very well, and I have been obliged to take.<br /> good care of myself. Walking and riding principally, an<br /> occasional call and receiving some of my friends who are<br /> kind enough to call upon me, form the day’s routine.” He<br /> spoke briefly of literary people he had known, stating that<br /> he had been visited by almost every literary Englishman,<br /> who had come to Boston since Dickens&#039;s time. He added<br /> sadly, “Lowell’s death affected me keenly, it makes.<br /> me feel that I am old, that I have outlived my genera-<br /> tion.” It is a well known and remarkable fact that<br /> the year which saw Dr. Holmes’s birth, 1809, also saw<br /> the births of Tennyson, Darwin, Gladstone, Robert C.<br /> Winthrop, and Abraham Lincoln. Dr. Holmes himself<br /> once spoke of this, mentioning all except himself in noting:<br /> the “wonders” of the year, and when his visitor added,<br /> “You have forgot to mention one birth, Doctor, that of<br /> Oliver Wendell Holmes,” the Autocrat quickly responded,<br /> “Oh, that doesn’t count ; I ‘sneaked in, as it were.” Dr.<br /> Holmes’s birthday this year was remembered, as usual, by<br /> his publishers, Houghton, Mifflin and Co., with a magnificent.<br /> bouquet of eighty-five roses, one for each year of the poet&#039;s,<br /> life, while other friends sent remembrances.<br /> The classification of Literature is a subject<br /> which belongs especially to the Institute of<br /> Librarians. If, however, the existing methods of<br /> classification are to be considered by this body,<br /> we may ask to send representatives to the<br /> deliberating committee. A letter by Mr. J.<br /> Taylor Kay, in the Daily Chronicle for Sept. 18,<br /> proposes that a commission consisting of one or<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 125 (#139) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I 25<br /> two members of the crafts of author, publisher,<br /> bookseller, journalist, and librarian, shall be<br /> appointed to consider existing systems, and to<br /> recommend, or to create, a classification for<br /> general use. Meantime Mr. Kay gives the<br /> classification which he considers the best, that of<br /> Mr. Melville Dewey, proposed in 1876. Here it<br /> IS :—<br /> CLASSES AND DIVISIONs.<br /> O 480 Greek.<br /> IO Bibliography. 490 Other Languages.<br /> 2O Book Rarities and 500 NATURAL SCIENCE.<br /> MSS. 5IO Mathematics.<br /> 30 General Cyclopedias. 520 Astronomy.<br /> 40 Polygraphy. 53O Physics.<br /> 50 General Periodials. 540 Chemistry.<br /> 6O General Societies. 550 Geology.<br /> 70 Bookbinding. 560 Paleontology.<br /> 80 Catalogues. 57O Biology.<br /> 90 58o Botany.<br /> IOO PHILOSOPHY. 590 Zoology.<br /> I IO Metaphysics. 6OO USEFUL ARTs.<br /> I 20 - 6IO Medicine.<br /> 130 Anthropology. 62O Engineering.<br /> 140 Schools of Psychology. 630 Agriculture.<br /> I 5o Mental Faculties. 64o Domestic Economy.<br /> 16O Logic. 650 Communication and<br /> 17o Ethics. Commerce.<br /> 180 Ancient Philosophies. 660 Chemical Technology.<br /> 190 Modern Philosophies. 670 Manufactures.<br /> 2OO Theology. 68o Mechanic Trades.<br /> 2Io Natural Theology. 690 Building.<br /> 22O Bible. 700 FINE ARTs.<br /> 23o Doctrinal Theology. 7Io Landscape Gardening.<br /> 240 Practical and Devo- 720 Architecture.<br /> tional. 730 Sculpture.<br /> 250 Homiletical and Pas- 740 Drawing and Design.<br /> toral. 75o Painting.<br /> 26O Institutions and Mis- 76o Engraving.<br /> sions. 77O Photography.<br /> 270 Ecclesiastical History. 78o Music.<br /> 28o Christian sects. 790 Amusements.<br /> 290 Non-Christian Reli- 8oo LITERATURE.<br /> gions. 8Io Treatises and Collec-<br /> 3OO SOCIOLOGY. tions.<br /> 3IO Statistics. 820 English.<br /> 320 Political Science. 830 German.<br /> 330 Political Economy. 84o French.<br /> 340 Law. 85o Italian.<br /> 350 Administration. 86o Spanish.<br /> 360 Associations and In- 870 Latin.<br /> tutions. - 88o Greek.<br /> 37O Education. 890 Other Languages.<br /> 380 Commerce and Com- 90o HISTORY.<br /> - munication. 9IO Geography and De-<br /> 390 Customs and Cos- scription.<br /> tumes. 920 Biography.<br /> 4OO PHILOLOGY. 930 Ancient History.<br /> 4IO Comparative. 940 Europe.<br /> 42O English. 950 º ſ:<br /> 430 German. 96o 3 || Africa.<br /> 44O French. 97O 3 4 North America.<br /> 450 Italian. 98o 3 | South America.<br /> 460 Spanish. 990 Oceanica and<br /> 47O Latin. Polar Regions.<br /> . . Each of these divisions is, of course, capable of<br /> mine further sub-divisions. In adapting the<br /> 8th Alabama Regiment.<br /> system to shelving arrangements, the above<br /> numbers are the subjects or class numbers, and<br /> a decimal point number being added, acts at the<br /> order of numeration on the shelves, which in each<br /> case will, of course, run to infinity.<br /> An interesting point in literary history is<br /> touched upon by an “Old Novel Reader”<br /> (p. 129). He informs us that the first attempt<br /> to introduce cheap books was made in Ireland<br /> nearly sixty years ago, by Mr. John Simms, of<br /> the firm of Simms and MacIntyre, of Belfast.<br /> Mr. Henry Herman is dead. One was sur-<br /> prised to learn, first, that he was sixty-three<br /> years of age, and next, that he was formerly a<br /> Confederate officer—Lieutenant-Colonel of the<br /> He was the author,<br /> in collaboration with Mr. Henry Arthur Jones,<br /> of the “Silver King,” and he wrote “Claudian.”<br /> He also wrote, with Mr. David Christie Murray,<br /> two novels, and several without collaboration.<br /> He was a man of strong friendships, of great<br /> resource, and of wide personal experience.<br /> Sir Frederick Pollock (p. 126) objects to the<br /> “language” of a note of mine about the importa-<br /> tion of Tauchnitz books. He complains that it is a<br /> note of “vituperation.” I thought, in my feeble<br /> way, that it was a note written in good temper<br /> and without any calling of names. I have read<br /> it again ; and again I fail to find any “vitupera-<br /> tion.” Is it right, or is it not, to bring these<br /> books into England P. If it is not right, one is<br /> justified in saying so. The reason why the prac-<br /> tice is common is that many excellent people who<br /> carry it on are ignorant that it is much the same<br /> thing as smuggling a roll of lace. And this was<br /> pointed out in the note. However, as some<br /> readers have not perhaps read the note of<br /> September who will read Sir Frederick&#039;s remarks<br /> in October, I reproduce it, vituperation and all :<br /> Every year, as regularly as the showers of August,<br /> appears the letter complaining of the bold bad smuggler who<br /> imports Tauchnitz editions in his pockets. The whole family,<br /> girls and all, enter with zeal into the smuggling business;<br /> impromptu pockets are devised in feminine garments;<br /> men’s coats are found to contain stowage room previously<br /> unsuspected; a successful run is made ; and the family<br /> shelves are enriched with another row of Tauchnitz books.<br /> They have been bought at half the cost of the English<br /> edition, you see. Cheapness before anything. These books,<br /> moreover, are openly sold in this country; one may some-<br /> times see rows of them in the secondhand shops. What is<br /> to be done P. It is impossible to touch the conscience of the<br /> traveller homeward bound. He will not smuggle lace,<br /> because he understands that lace is property—it is visible<br /> property—he must not defraud the revenue ; literary pro-<br /> perty he does not understand—he cannot see it. Here is a<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 126 (#140) ############################################<br /> <br /> 126<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> book—why cannot he take the book home with him P<br /> Because the law prohibits P Nonsense ; it can hurt nobody.<br /> It is impossible to make him see that to import this book is<br /> an infringement of right; a robbery of author or publisher,<br /> or both. Therefore something else must be attempted.<br /> What? Let us take counsel together. There must surely<br /> be some way of preventing the smuggling of books. Now<br /> the rough and ready way by which dockyard labourers are<br /> prevented from stealing dockyard stores might be at-<br /> tempted. Wardens of the yard stand at the gates and feel<br /> the men as they pass. An expert hand would detect a<br /> Tauchnitz in the coat pocket. And a substantial fine<br /> judiciously and sternly administered would do the rest. But<br /> perhaps some other method might be suggested.<br /> About the magnitude of the mischief; Sir<br /> Frederick puts it down at £50 or £100. Let us<br /> see. Every year there are at least 300,000<br /> travellers from the British Isles on the Continent.<br /> These include the people who crowd the hotels of<br /> Biarritz, the Riviera, and Italy in the winter; the<br /> people who stay at the mountain resorts; and the<br /> people who travel in the spring, summer, and<br /> autumn. All these people buy for their reading<br /> the Tauchnitz books. This collection contains<br /> 2Ooo works, I believe, in about 25oo volumes. It<br /> is certainly not too much to estimate the annual<br /> purchase at one volume for each traveller. If<br /> only half of these volumes—say 150,000, repre-<br /> senting I2O,OOO works—are brought back to Eng-<br /> land, it means that I2O,OOO works printed abroad<br /> are annually brought over here, to the great detri-<br /> ment and loss of books printed in this country. We<br /> certainly must not assume that every book brought<br /> over prevents the purchase of an English manufac-<br /> tured book. But, remembering the way that<br /> books get lent, and that in certain houses, where<br /> not much can be spent in new books, every book<br /> is circulated, we may be pretty sure that the<br /> Tauchnitz books do prevent the purchase of a<br /> very large number of English books. I should be<br /> disposed, roughly, to estimate the yearly loss at<br /> something like 60,000 volumes, which means a<br /> good many thousand pounds, and I think that if<br /> the Society could do anything to stop the practice<br /> of bringing over these books, it would be doing<br /> good service to everybody concerned.<br /> The new departure which was observed by<br /> Messrs. Sampson Low, Marston, and Co. in the<br /> publication of Mr. Blackmore’s “Perlycross&quot;<br /> has been followed in Mr. William Black&#039;s new<br /> novel “Highland Cousins.” The first issue of<br /> the novel in book form is in one volume at 6s.<br /> The edition consisted of 6000 copies, and the 4th,<br /> 5th, and 6th thousand are so numbered on the<br /> title page. The month which produces “Trilby’’<br /> and “Perlycross” and “Highland Cousins” is<br /> fortunate indeed. WALTER BESANT.<br /> NOTES BY THE WAY.<br /> HE correspondent who complains, in the<br /> September number of the Author, that he<br /> dares not talk to his publisher like a man<br /> of business, has another way open to him. If he<br /> really believes in his own estimate of the com-<br /> mercial value of his work, he can easily make sure<br /> whether his view or the publisher&#039;s is right. Let<br /> him publish on commission. But this, it may be<br /> said, involves risk. Of course it does. Nothing<br /> venture, nothing have. In the usual forms of<br /> publishing contract the author is insured against<br /> risk by the publisher. People will not insure your<br /> book against publishing risks for nothing, any<br /> more than they will insure your house against<br /> fire, or your crops against storm. This insurance<br /> is not separately charged, but is one of the many<br /> elements determining the author&#039;s share of<br /> profits. In the case of an author who is already<br /> successful, the risk and the insurance premium<br /> may be taken as less than any assignable quan-<br /> tity. In the case of an unknown or hitherto<br /> unsuccessful author they are and must be appre-<br /> ciable. The fact that a new author&#039;s book suc-<br /> ceeds does not show that there was no risk, no<br /> more than the fact of one&#039;s house not being burnt<br /> down or one&#039;s ship wrecked shows that it was<br /> foolish to insure. For the rest, the Society can<br /> and does give information and advice to its<br /> members; it cannot provide them with back-<br /> bones.<br /> 2. I must deprecate the language of the note<br /> about importing Tauchnitz editions. It is use-<br /> less to call people thieves and robbers for not<br /> being in advance of public opinion ; and I must<br /> also protest against the suggestion of adding<br /> some new inquisitorial procedure to the terrors<br /> of our custom houses, which are already, since<br /> the dynamite scare of ten or twelve years ago, the<br /> most troublesome in Western Europe. Neverthe-<br /> less, a law-abiding man ought to satisfy law and<br /> conscience, and at the same time do a work of<br /> charity to other travellers, by leaving his foreign<br /> reprints asan addition to some hotelorship library.<br /> Public opinion has to be educated on this point,<br /> but it is not to be done by vituperation. Mean-<br /> while, I should like to know whether the total<br /> loss to British publishers and authors by the<br /> private importation of Tauchnitz copies amounts<br /> to anything like 3100 or £50 in a year. We<br /> certainly cannot assume that every one who brings<br /> in a Tauchnitz copy of a popular book would<br /> otherwise have bought an English one. It seems<br /> to me that we have more important things to<br /> attend to, even in this particular line. For<br /> example, the book market of the minor colonies is,<br /> or very lately was, supplied almost wholly by<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 127 (#141) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 127<br /> pirated issues notwithstanding the efforts already<br /> made by the Society to procure better inforce-<br /> ment of the law. The same mischief exists,<br /> though not so largely, in Canada.<br /> 3. The question of filling up the Laureateship<br /> iseems to me outside the business of the Society<br /> of Authors. Individual members are entitled to<br /> their opinions. I shall not state mine, but I feel<br /> sure that any corporate attempt at meddling in<br /> this matter could only bring the Society into<br /> ridicule.<br /> 4. I have observed with uneasiness, in the<br /> Author and elsewhere, a tendency to revive the<br /> high metaphysical theory of copyright as a per-<br /> petual and immutable right of property conferred<br /> by the law of nature. This theory is, in my<br /> opinion, unsound, and at all events it has been<br /> definitely rejected by English and American law.<br /> &#039;Copyright is property, but not a property in<br /> ideas; it is a monopoly or exclusive franchise,<br /> created for reasons of policy, in particular forms<br /> whereby ideas are expressed. M. Mallarmé&#039;s<br /> project is of a different order. It is an instal-<br /> ment of Socialism, and points towards a proposal<br /> which I quite expect to see seriously made some<br /> day, namely, to abolish copyright and substitute<br /> the endowment of literature by a State depart-<br /> ment, which department would, as a probable<br /> though not necessary corollary, be invested with<br /> large powers of censorship. Let authors consider<br /> how they would like this. -<br /> FREDERICK POLLOCK.<br /> *— - -º<br /> HAMMERSMITH PUBLIC LIBRARY,<br /> - HE Report of the Commissioners for the<br /> Public Library of Hammersmith for the<br /> year 1893-94 has been sent to us. The facts<br /> and figures are instructive. By an unfortunate<br /> omission the rules of the library are not presented<br /> with the report, so that the subscription or price<br /> of a ticket for the lending library cannot be<br /> learned. That it is very small is shown from the<br /> return of receipts for the year, in which<br /> 320 Os. 5d. is set down for sales of tickets.<br /> Comparing the number of applicants for new<br /> tickets with the amount realised, it would seem<br /> that 2:#d. was the price of a ticket, but perhaps<br /> this is wrong.<br /> Bowever, there are about Io,000 borrowers.<br /> An analysis of the professions and trades of the<br /> 2OOO who enrolled themselves during the year<br /> shows 350 belonging to the professional classes,<br /> among them two authors, three publishers, one<br /> barrister, one solicitor, fourteen clergymen, two<br /> missionaries, nine journalists, while the rest are<br /> all working men and working women. The<br /> library, therefore, belongs to all classes. It con-<br /> tains II,500 books, of which more than one-fourth<br /> belong to fiction. It is greatly to be hoped that<br /> in the next report the commissioners will give an<br /> analysis of the books taken out, showing the<br /> names of the authors mostly read. There is,<br /> however, a classified list showing the number of<br /> books in each class. The figures are very satis-<br /> factory. The IO,OOO borrowers between them,<br /> representing, in the proportion, viz., 18 per cent.<br /> of the professional to 82 per cent. of the working<br /> classes, read between them the following:<br /> Theology and Philosophy 1,958 books<br /> History and Biography... 7,088<br /> Voyages and Travels 5,220 , ,<br /> Law and Politics ......... 679 ,<br /> Arts and Sciences......... 8,027 ,<br /> Fiction ..................... I 25,827 ,<br /> Poetry, Drama, and<br /> Classics .................. I,725 23<br /> Miscellaneous and Maga-<br /> Zines ..................... 9,469 ×<br /> Juvenile Literature ... ... 28,350 ,<br /> Music........................ 1,871 ,,<br /> In all they read I 90,214 books, which, divided<br /> among the IO, SOO, means very nearly twenty<br /> books a-head. Since reading is no longer to the<br /> great mass of mankind study but recreation, and<br /> since it may be allowed that the Commissioners<br /> and the librarian between them know how to<br /> present only literature that is worthy of being<br /> read, we need not wonder at fiction representing<br /> 60 per cent. of the books taken out. If, however,<br /> we ask what fiction is read, the answer exactly<br /> agrees with what has been repeatedly advanced in<br /> these columns; that the general public turned<br /> into a public library read exactly what the limited<br /> public turned into Mudie’s library read, viz., the<br /> newest fiction by living writers first, and that they<br /> call for these books oftenest. This must neces-<br /> sarily be the case, because the books of the day will<br /> always interest more than the books of yesterday.<br /> Thus Rider Haggard’s books go out at the rate of<br /> 56 copies a year for each volume, but Scott&#039;s<br /> only 22 ; Thomas Hardy’s novels are taken out<br /> at the rate of 47 copies a year for each book;<br /> Charles Dickens&#039;s at the rate of 35; Thackeray,<br /> 23; Charles Kingsley, 36. The dead novelists<br /> still in demand at the Hammersmith Library<br /> may be classified as follows:–<br /> Wilkie Collins ............... 26O4 issues.<br /> Harrison Ainsworth ......... I926 ,<br /> Miss Muloch .................. I 594 3,<br /> Lord Lytton .................. I494 3,<br /> Anthony Trollope ............ I494 3,<br /> Dickens ........................ I388 ,<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 128 (#142) ############################################<br /> <br /> fº&amp;<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> Sir W. Scott ~<br /> II 22 issues.<br /> Lever ................. ......... 815 ,<br /> George Eliot .................. 696 »<br /> Thackeray ..................... 5I 7 2,<br /> Charlotte Bronté ............ 347 ,<br /> As to the popularity of living authors the<br /> returns are not trustworthy, because the collections<br /> do not appear to be complete.<br /> On the same subject the Tibrarian of the<br /> Clerkenwell Public Library—Mr. J. D. Brown—<br /> writes as follows: “My experience is that slush<br /> and truck are avoided even by the classes who<br /> are supposed to have nothing in the nature of<br /> educated perception about them. Give even the<br /> ordinary public library boy reader his choice<br /> between one of Henty’s tales and ‘Broadway<br /> Bill’s Adventures in Denver,’ and it will soon be<br /> seen that Paternoster-row licks the Bowery.’”<br /> • *=~~~~~<br /> --z-------<br /> FICTION.<br /> HE following is an enumeration of the prin-<br /> T cipal novels and tales published in one,<br /> two, and three volumes respectively during<br /> the last three years—Sept. 1891 to Aug. 1894, both<br /> included. It is compiled from the monthly list of<br /> , “New Books and New Editions” published in<br /> the Author, these lists being prepared from the<br /> daily announcements. Each work is counted<br /> once only, taking no account of the numerous<br /> new editions. Translations are not included :-<br /> 1891. 1892. 1893.<br /> 1. 2 3 1. 2 3 1 2 3<br /> Vol. Wols. Vols. Vol. Vols. Vols. Vol. Vols. Vols.<br /> September ... Ig | 2 || 5 || 2 I | 2 | II || 48 || 1 || 12<br /> October ...... 28 || 4 || 7 || 62 || 2 || 14 || 81 8, 16<br /> November ... 52 || 3 || 6 || 52 || 8 || Io || 75 || 6 || Io<br /> December ... 18 || 3 9 || 35 | 5 || 5 || 51 || 6 9<br /> 1892. 1893. 1894.<br /> January ....., I6 || 2 7 I I I 2 8 || 24 2 6<br /> February ... I9 || 3 || 5 || I4 5 8 || 20 || 4 8<br /> March ...... 28 2 8 || 2I IO || 23 4 4.<br /> April ......... I9 || 4 4 || 26 2 6 || 30 7 7<br /> May ......... 35 || 5 || IO 27 | 5 9 || 28 || 4 || 13<br /> June ......... 23 2 6 || 38 || 4 || I4 || 41 || 8 || 14<br /> July ......... 18 4 3 : 36 I 5 || 28 3 3<br /> August ...... I9 2 3 || 25 | I 3 I7 2 2<br /> Totals... 204] 36 || 73 ||368 || 37 IO3|466 55 IO2<br /> Note, in connection with this list, a passage in<br /> the Author for Sept. 1894, page IO7:—<br /> “Perhaps the most striking, because the most<br /> ignorant, comment on the recent three-volume<br /> novel discussion is the following:—‘The simple<br /> fact is, that until the public can be educated to:<br /> buy books instead of borrowing them, the attempt<br /> to produce original works of fiction in one volume:<br /> must inevitably result in a ruinous failure.’”<br /> It will be observed that the one-volume form.<br /> has increased in two years from 294 to 466. This.<br /> form is produced for the buying public. Some of<br /> the books have run into many thousands of copies;,<br /> we have not heard of any ruinous failures in<br /> consequence of their appearance.<br /> II.—THE THREE-VoIUME NOVEL.<br /> The London Booksellers’ Society has addressed<br /> a letter to publishers. The letter was published<br /> on July 18 in the Westminster Gazette, from<br /> whose columns it is here quoted. By accident the<br /> slip has been delayed two months:–<br /> “We observe in the circular addressed to you<br /> by Messrs. Mudie and Messrs. W. H. Smith and<br /> Son, with reference to the price of three-volume:<br /> novels, that they suggest—‘That you shall<br /> agree not to issue cheaper editions of novels and<br /> of other books, which have been taken for library<br /> circulation, within twelve months from the date.<br /> of publication.” We beg to convey to you our<br /> unqualified disapproval of such a proposal, and<br /> in the event of your being inclined to entertain<br /> the idea, we desire, at this early stage, to enter<br /> our formal protest against such an injustice to:<br /> the bookseller. At the same time we are very<br /> conscious that on this subject your own ideas.<br /> and ours run on parallel lines. As the whole<br /> question of three-volume novels is now being<br /> raised, we should like to say that it would be a<br /> great satisfaction to us if good works of fiction<br /> ceased to be issued in this way. We are unani-<br /> <br /> mously in favour of such novels being published<br /> at once in a six-shilling form, or, at any rate, at<br /> some popular price, and we feel convinced that.<br /> not only would the bookseller order such volumes<br /> in large numbers, but that the library orders.<br /> would not be diminished. As to ‘other books,’<br /> we have long been of opinion that the price at<br /> which they are issued upon first publication pro-<br /> hibits sales.”<br /> III.-LoRD CHESTERFIELD ON NOVELS.<br /> In connection with the discussion on the length.<br /> of novels, I think the following quotation from<br /> Lord Chesterfield is not inapposite: “I am in<br /> doubt whether you know what a novel is : it is a<br /> little gallant history, which must contain a great<br /> deal of love, and not eaceed one or two small,<br /> volumes. The subject must be a love affair, the<br /> lovers are to meet with many difficulties and<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 129 (#143) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I-29<br /> obstacles, to oppose the accomplishment of their<br /> wishes, but at last overcome them all, and the<br /> conclusion or catastrophe must leave them happy.<br /> A novel is a kind of abbreviation of a romance;<br /> for a romance generally consists of twelve<br /> volumes, all filled with insipid love nonsense and<br /> most incredible adventures.”<br /> F. Norreys Conn ELL.<br /> IV.--THE Two-WOLUME, NOVEL.<br /> As no voice has so far been raised on behalf of<br /> the two-volume novel during your late interest-<br /> ing discussion upon the rival merits of its longer<br /> and shorter sister, might Inow urge my feeble plea<br /> for it P. In the first place, would not many three-<br /> volume novels be improved in quality by some<br /> compression P. How often the padding will come<br /> out in that third inevitable volume. Witness<br /> even “Lord Ormont and his Aminta.” I am an<br /> ancient and omnivorous novel reader, and I speak<br /> the name of George Meredith with all due<br /> reverence, but here for the first time I did strip<br /> some irrelevant (as it seemed to me) details and<br /> conversations, not bearing in his usual admirable<br /> way upon the plot, which helped to expand two<br /> very short first vols. and this filled up last one<br /> into the publishers’ fatal three.<br /> I speak in ignorance of the financial aspect of<br /> the question. Perhaps you would enlighten us a<br /> little as to that matter. As regards the reader,<br /> his pocket would benefit of course, though less<br /> than if the com oression into one solid mass,<br /> involving smaller type and poorer margins,<br /> became general. But then our eyes. We<br /> especially who go on loving fiction in our<br /> decrepitude. Besides, who has the courage to<br /> face a one-volume “Middlemarch &quot; or “Diana<br /> of the Crossways,” if even the shabbiest of<br /> second-hand editions in decent print can be had<br /> second-hand on easy terms ?<br /> May I venture, in my role of sexagenarian, to<br /> correct a statement in your August number to<br /> the following effect, and by so doing do justice<br /> to an enterprising Irish firm of publishers ?<br /> “The cheap edition” you say “was introduced<br /> about thirty years ago.” It is almost double that<br /> term of years since Mr. John Simms, of the firm<br /> of Simms and MacIntyre, an old established firm<br /> in Belfast, invented the shilling novel. This<br /> gentleman is still alive. I inclose his address<br /> On the chance that you may care to have a few<br /> particulars of his venture. I remember, when<br /> a child, the arrival of each gay green monthly<br /> volume as it came to be read aloud of an evening,<br /> and then added to the long rows of its fellows on<br /> the book-shelves. These bore on their backs the<br /> names of Miss Mitford, Mary Howitt, Mrs. Gore,<br /> shilling.<br /> Mrs. Trollope (Anthony&#039;s mother), the Banims.<br /> (O&#039;Hara family), Carleton, Gerald Griffin, and<br /> numbers of other good novelists, to say nothing<br /> of the great “Monte Christo,” “Consuelo,” and<br /> hosts of the better sort of French and German.<br /> stories, translated for the first time into English.<br /> All these came to us at the modest price of one<br /> With many apologies for intruding on<br /> your space, I am, sir, yours faithfully,<br /> AN OLD NOVEL READER.<br /> THE AUTUMN ANNOUNCEMENTS.<br /> Tº: following announcements are reduced<br /> and classified from the lists published in<br /> the Athenæum up to Sept. 22. The order<br /> followed is that of their appearance in that.<br /> paper.<br /> Among the more important books announced<br /> by Messrs. Longmans are Froude&#039;s “Life and<br /> Letters of Erasmus;” Gardimer’s “History of<br /> the Commonwealth;” “Wandering Words,” by<br /> Sir Edwin Arnold; Liddon’s “Life of Pusey,”<br /> third vol. ; Liddon’s “Clerical Life and Work;”<br /> the Bishop of Peterborough’s “Hulsean Lectures.<br /> for 1894.” They announce one three volume<br /> novel, one novel in one volume, and a complete.<br /> set of Mrs. Walford’s books. A new edition of<br /> Max Müller’s “Chips from a German Workshop;”<br /> a new edition of Chesney’s “Indian Polity;” and<br /> a new edition of Leslie Stephen’s “Playground<br /> of Europe,” are also in their list of thirty-seven<br /> new books.<br /> Messrs. Chatto and Windus will produce fifty-<br /> seven new books, including three novels in<br /> three volumes; five in two volumes; twenty-five-<br /> in one volume ; some of these being cheap<br /> editions only. In what is called more solid.<br /> literature will be issued Wols. III. and IV. of<br /> Justin Huntly M*Carthy’s “French Revolution;”<br /> the Life and Inventions of Edison ; a translation.<br /> of the Memoirs of the Duchess de Gontant ;.<br /> Flammarion’s “Popular Astronomy ; ” George<br /> MacDonald’s Poetical Works. Not belonging to .<br /> “solid&quot; literature, is Lehmann’s “Conversational.<br /> Guide to Young Shooters,” from Punch.<br /> Messrs. Chambers&#039;s announcements are mainly<br /> of fiction. Nine one volume novels; four new<br /> volumes of popular biographies; and certain.<br /> elementary works.<br /> Messrs. G. P. Putnam&#039;s Sons announce forty--<br /> two works. Among these are biographies and<br /> studies of Rufus King, Oliver Cromwell, Tinto-<br /> retto, Napoleon, Prince Henry, Julian the<br /> Apostate, Louis XIV., Thomas Jefferson, Thomas<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 130 (#144) ############################################<br /> <br /> I 30<br /> THE AUTHOR,<br /> Paine—a sufficiently miscellaneous collection—<br /> and five novels.<br /> Messrs. Macmillan and Co. announce in all<br /> eighty-two works, including reprints and new<br /> editions and selections, and republished essays and<br /> papers. Among the reprints and old authors we<br /> find Shakespeare: a new Concordance to Shake-<br /> speare; Tennyson, “Gulliver&#039;s Travels;” Froissart,<br /> Thoreau, Chaucer, Keble, Southey, a new version<br /> of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, and several new<br /> editions of classical works. The more important<br /> of the new books are Matthew Arnold’s Letters;<br /> Mrs. Oliphant’s “Reign of Queen Anne,” Mrs.<br /> Steele&#039;s “Tales of the Punjab,” novels by Marion<br /> Crawford and Sir H. Cunningham, the Life of<br /> Dean Church, the Life of Cardinal Manning, the<br /> Life of Sir A. C. Ramsay, Frederic Harrison on<br /> “The Meaning of History;” Five Lectures by<br /> Freeman; Canon Atkinson on “Whitby,” and a<br /> book on Sport and Natural History, by the<br /> late George Kingsley.<br /> Mr. John Nimmo will publish eight new books,<br /> and will complete the “Border Waverley.”<br /> Among these books will be a biography of the<br /> late John Addington Symonds; a posthumous<br /> work by Symonds on Boccaccio; and a selection<br /> from the stories of Bandello.<br /> Mr. Edward Arnold announces twenty-six<br /> works, including a Life of Sir John Macdonald ;<br /> a Memoir of Maria Edgworth ; the Recollections<br /> of the Dean of Salisbury; Robert Sherard’s Life<br /> of Alphonse Daudet; Dean Hole&#039;s “Thoughts<br /> upon England spoken in America; ” and a selec-<br /> tion from Ste. Buive.<br /> Messrs. Hutchinson announce thirty-four new<br /> books. Among these are novels by Mrs. Oliphant,<br /> D. C. Murray, Mrs. Spender, the author of the<br /> - “Yellow Aster,” F. Frankfort Moore, Mrs. Dilke,<br /> Mrs. Alfred Marks, “Rita.” Adeline Sergeant,<br /> Amelia Barr, and Sarah Tytler.<br /> The Sunday School Union announces five books,<br /> including a volume to which Archdeacon Farrar<br /> - contributes. -<br /> Messrs. Cassell and Co. announce thirty-eight<br /> works. These include the second volume of<br /> Traill’s “Social History of England; ” George<br /> Augustus Sala’s Autobiography; a “Life of<br /> Daniel Defoe;” by Thomas Wright; and novels by<br /> Frank Stockton, Hesba Stretton, Max Pember-<br /> ton, H. Hutchinson, L. T. Meade, Mrs. Alex-<br /> ander, Mrs. Molesworth, Anthony Hope, Frank<br /> Barrett, Egerton Castle, Maurus Jokai, and<br /> Elizabeth Stuart Phelps.<br /> Messrs. Partridge and Co. announce twenty-<br /> seven works. Among these are Biographies of<br /> Reginald Heber, John Howard, Elizabeth Fry,<br /> and Bishop Alwyn. There are novels by G.<br /> Manville Fenn and Sarah Doudney, and there are<br /> books for boys and girls.<br /> The S.P.C.K. announce sixteen works. Among<br /> the writers are Mrs. Charles, Professor Maspero,<br /> G. Manville Fenn, F. Frankfort Moore, Harry<br /> Collingwood, and others,<br /> Messrs. Innes and Co. announce six new books,<br /> besides story books, for these children&#039;s series.<br /> Dorothea Gerard and Stanley Weyman have<br /> intrusted them with two novels.<br /> Messrs. Oliphant, Anderson, and Ferrier<br /> announce three new books, including one novel by<br /> Maggie Swan.<br /> Messrs. Bell announce twenty-eight books.<br /> Among them are a new volume of Pepys; a<br /> History of the British Navy, by Capt. Robinson,<br /> R.N. ; a new edition of “Eros and Psyche,” by<br /> Robert Bridges; a “Handbook to the Ruins of<br /> Rome,” by the Rev. Robert Burn; and a transla-<br /> tion of Gregorovius&#039;s “History of Rome in the<br /> Middle Ages.”<br /> Messrs. A. and C. Black announce nineteen<br /> works. Among them are Archdeacon Farrar on<br /> “The Life of Christ as represented in Art;” an<br /> “Introduction to the Book of Isaiah,” by the Rev.<br /> T. K. Cheyne; Haikel’s “Monism,” translated;<br /> “Syriac Literature,” by the late William Wright;<br /> “The Religion of the Semites” (new edition), by<br /> the late Professor Robertson Smith ; and three<br /> novels.<br /> Messrs. Methuen and Co. have forty-six books<br /> in preparation. Among them are six selections of<br /> English verse and one of English prose; additions<br /> to the different series running for this firm ; a<br /> History of Egypt, by Professor Flinders Petrie; a<br /> book on the French Riviera, by Mrs. Oliphant; a<br /> book of Ballads, by Rudyard Kipling; and novels<br /> in one volume by Baring Gould, W. E. Norris,<br /> Gilbert Parker, Anthony Hope, Conan Doyle,<br /> Robert Barr, “X, L.,” and Standish O&#039;Grady.<br /> Messrs. Sonnenschein and Co. announce fifty-<br /> six works, of which thirteen are educational and<br /> thirteen belong to social and political economy.<br /> There is a volume of Ethical Discourses by<br /> Leslie Stephen; a new series, called “Social Eng-<br /> land Series,” will be commenced; and there are<br /> four novels.<br /> Mr. Fisher Unwin announces fifty-seven works.<br /> Among them are a translation of Villari’s<br /> Florence ; “A Literary History of the English<br /> People,” by M. J. J. Jusserand; the Life of<br /> Charles Bradlaugh, by his daughter; a Life of<br /> Abraham Lincoln, by John Nicolay and John<br /> Hay; Henry Norman&#039;s Travels in the Far East;<br /> four or five books of new verse; twenty novels,<br /> including one by the Rev. S. R. Crockett and<br /> one by “Rita; ” the Tales of John Oliver Hobbes,<br /> now first collected, in one volume ; and the com-<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 131 (#145) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I31<br /> mencement of a series called the “Criminology<br /> Series.”<br /> Messrs. Wells Gardner and Co. announce<br /> twenty-three works, including seven stories.<br /> Mr. John Hogg announces two books, viz., one<br /> on Whist and a collection of stories.<br /> The Cambridge University Press announce<br /> fifty-one books, of which the greater part are<br /> theological, classical and educational. Not a<br /> single mathematical or scientific work is in the<br /> list. The most important of the new books are<br /> “The History of English Law,” by Sir Frederick<br /> Pollock and Frederic William Maitland; “Chap-<br /> ters on the Principles of International Law,” by<br /> J. Westlake; “The Growth of British Policy,”<br /> by Sir J. R. Seeley; “Outlines of English<br /> Industrial History,” by W. Cunningham and E.<br /> A. McArthur; “The Europeans in India,” by H.<br /> Morse Stephens; and “The Foundation of the<br /> German Empire,” by J. W. Headlam.<br /> Messrs. Chapman and Hall are producing<br /> fifteen new books. The more important are Sir<br /> C. P. Beauchamp Walker&#039;s “Days of a Soldier&#039;s<br /> Tife,” Col. Malleson’s “Tife of Warren Hastings;<br /> Col. Cooper King’s “Life of George Washington,”<br /> “Life of General Lee,” by Fitzhugh Lee, his<br /> nephew ; six books of sport and travel, and five<br /> novels.<br /> Messrs. Heinemann has a list of thirty-five new<br /> books. Among them may be mentioned “Letters<br /> of Samuel Taylor Coleridge,” edited by Ernest<br /> Hartley Coleridge; “In Russet and Silver,” a<br /> new volume of poems by Edmund Gosse; three<br /> new volumes of the “Great Educator’”; seven-<br /> teen novels by Mrs. Lynn Linton, W. E.<br /> Norris, M. L. Pendered, including transla-<br /> tions of Björnstjerm, Björnson, Tourjuénief, and<br /> Zola.<br /> The “Roxburghe Press” announce sixteen<br /> books. Among them is the address of the<br /> Marquis of Salisbury to the British Association,<br /> revised.<br /> Mr. David Nutt announces twenty-one books.<br /> They are not all reprints of mediaeval and Tudor<br /> literature. Among them is Canon Jenkinson&#039;s<br /> “Cardinal Toussure and the Jesuits in China,”<br /> and “Lectures on Darwinism,” by the late<br /> Alfred Milne Marshall. -<br /> Messrs. Nisbet and Co. announce twenty-five<br /> new books, with a note of “several new volumes<br /> in the ‘Pilgrim’ and other series.” With the<br /> exception of two stories, they appear to be of a<br /> religious character.<br /> Messrs. Blackie and Sons announce five new<br /> books and a new series.<br /> Messrs. Routledge and Sons announce six new<br /> novels, beginning a series—new editions of Long-<br /> fellow, Grace Aguilar, Randolph Caldecott, and<br /> “The Three Musketeers,” and Harry Furniss&#039;s,<br /> Book of Romps.<br /> Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton announce<br /> thirty works. Of these twelve are devotional,<br /> seven are novels, the rest chiefly biographical.<br /> Messrs. Henry and Co. announce five books—<br /> One of sport, one of rhymes, one of housewifery,<br /> and two novels, of which one is by John Oliver<br /> Hobbes.<br /> Messrs. Oliphant, Anderson, and Farrier<br /> announce twelve books. Of these three are bio--<br /> graphical, one is devotional, seven are novels.<br /> *- = -º<br /> a- - -<br /> M. MALLARMES PROPOSAL.<br /> MALLARME&#039;S proposal, published in<br /> M the month of August, called forth a .<br /> * considerable amount of discussion, for<br /> the most part favourable as to the general.<br /> principle involved, viz., that if literary property<br /> is to become everybody’s property after a term.<br /> of years it might very well be subject to a .<br /> tax, i.e., that those who, for trading purposes,<br /> produce books whose time of copyright has<br /> expired should pay to the State for that privi-.<br /> lege a royalty upon every copy sold. It is not<br /> expected that persons interested in this kind.<br /> of property should welcome the proposal —<br /> indeed, one or two such persons have already<br /> cried out pretty loudly against “taxing the<br /> public ’’ and “taxing knowledge.” But it would<br /> not be taxing the public at all, nor would it.<br /> be taxing knowledge; it would be taxing the<br /> publisher for permission to use literary pro-.<br /> perty for his own individual emolument. We.<br /> may be very certain that a book now sold.<br /> for a shilling, if it were subject to a half.<br /> penny stamp, would continue to be sold for a<br /> shilling.<br /> The opinion of our Chairman, Sir Frederick<br /> Pollock, on the proposal will be found in another<br /> column (p. 127). Meanwhile, without consider-<br /> ing the possibility or even the wisdom of such a .<br /> scheme, let us see how it would work.<br /> Suppose such a tax imposed. It would be<br /> collected by the simple process of affixing a<br /> stamp on every copy that went out of the pub-<br /> lisher&#039;s office. It would produce say, at a half-<br /> penny in the shilling, a small revenue, say, of<br /> 320,000 a year. What could be done with that<br /> money P Would the heirs of the authors by the<br /> sale of whose books it was raised be entitled to<br /> take it all? Clearly not, because then the needy<br /> author would be induced to sell his possible.<br /> claims in futurity as he now sells his copyright,<br /> very likely for a mere song. It must, therefore,<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 132 (#146) ############################################<br /> <br /> ** * * *<br /> I:32:<br /> be thrown into a special Fund—not the Literary<br /> Fund, which exists only for the relief of<br /> occasional distress, but a special Fund which<br /> shall distribute the income. The rights of<br /> successful books would then belong to the<br /> mation in trust. This Fund would be used for<br /> the purpose of preventing distress. It is always<br /> a miserable and a humiliating thing to appeal<br /> to the Literary Fund for assistance; it would be<br /> well not to extend the humiliations. Such a Fund<br /> as that proposed should be used for conferring<br /> pensions on the children and grandchildren of<br /> great writers, should they be in want; and in giv-<br /> ing pensions to living writers should their works<br /> warrant the grant. Such pensions to the living<br /> would be like a good-service pension in the navy,<br /> an honour and a distinction. It is not, however,<br /> in the least likely that the proposal will ever go<br /> farther.<br /> One point rises out of the discussion. It is<br /> fifty years since the question of terminable copy-<br /> right was discussed. Perhaps the time has now<br /> returned when the question should be again<br /> -discussed. If the same arguments would be<br /> used which then prevailed they would at least be<br /> clothed in new language, and would be set forth<br /> by leader writers and magazine writers in<br /> language that would be understood by the<br /> people. Whatever the conclusion of such a<br /> discussion might be as to the law, one good<br /> result would certainly follow: that authors would<br /> better understand what is meant by copyright,<br /> and would more stiffly demand agreements in<br /> accordance with their rights of property. It may<br /> be quite true that only one book in a thousand<br /> enjoys an existence of a hundred years; it is cer-<br /> tainly quite true that most agreements are based<br /> on the tacit understanding that the work will not<br /> become a classic. At the same time, every writer<br /> should act as if his book was going to become<br /> immortal.<br /> *— — —”<br /> a- - -<br /> A DISHONEST AUTHOR,<br /> R. HEINEMANN communicates to the<br /> Daily Chronicle the following story:<br /> “Years ago a clever author brought<br /> to the publisher an incomplete MS., saying that<br /> the remainder should be delivered within a few<br /> weeks, and pressing the publisher to at once go<br /> to press with the part delivered. His plausible and<br /> pleasant manner persuaded the unsuspecting<br /> publisher to do so, and, with the additional plea<br /> of poverty, he obtained a large sum of money on<br /> account of the price of the whole. For years the<br /> publisher vainly begged, prayed, clamoured,<br /> insisted to be given the remainder of that MS.,<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> so that the book could be published; but, waiving<br /> aside all trivial considerations of honesty and<br /> good faith, the author, with a splendid indiffe-<br /> rence, steadily declined to again put his pen to<br /> paper to complete the work in question. Neither<br /> did he vouchsafe any satisfaction to his victim.<br /> When all amicable means failed, and the publisher<br /> found himself duped and deceived, the arm of<br /> the law was called in, but every stick that the<br /> author owned had been cleverly donated to<br /> another. The book was never completed, never<br /> published, except that the author used the<br /> identical title for a later work issued through<br /> another channel. The publisher, however,<br /> resigned himself to his loss, and refrained even<br /> from attempting to persuade a British jury that<br /> money had been obtained from him under false<br /> pretences.”<br /> One has heard from time to time of this case,<br /> but vaguely. It is like a nursery story beginning<br /> “Once upon a time.” It would be well if it<br /> were fitted with a name and date. Meantime<br /> we may note Mr. Heinemann&#039;s sweeping state-<br /> ment that publishers are “only too often victims<br /> of thieves most cunning, robbers most unscru-<br /> pulous.” Only “too often &quot; ? Then let us hear<br /> another case or two, if another can be found.<br /> No good is accomplished by exaggerating the<br /> importance of a single fact so as to make it<br /> appear like a typical instead of an isolated fact.<br /> Publishers, in fact, are not “too often º’ victims<br /> of such dishonesty; though they may be sometimes<br /> treated in this manner. No one supposes that<br /> every writer is therefore an honourable man.<br /> Publishers may also lend money to an author in<br /> difficulties, and find it difficult to get that money<br /> back, a thing which happens in every profession<br /> or trade. Would it not be better to recognise<br /> all along that between author and publisher<br /> the same business precautions should be observed<br /> as between any other two parties to a business<br /> transaction ?<br /> No one pretends that perfect confidence should<br /> be placed in an author because he is an author;<br /> nor does any man in any business, except that<br /> of publishing, demand that absolute confidence<br /> shall be placed in him simply because he is in that<br /> business.<br /> &gt;<br /> º:<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 133 (#147) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I 33<br /> BOOK TALK.<br /> R.S. STEVENSON will contribute a new<br /> volume to Messrs. Hutchinson’s series of<br /> “Homespun Stories.” It will be called<br /> “Woodrup&#039;s Dinah, a Tale of Nidderdale.” She<br /> has also nearly ready a story entitled “Helena<br /> Hadley.”<br /> Among the reprints announced in the literary<br /> columns, the most interesting to one old enough<br /> to remember the literature of the sixties is that<br /> of Henry Kingsley&#039;s novels. He had the misfor-<br /> tune to be the rival of his brother, who came first<br /> and had the advantage always conferred by a<br /> serious and a religious turn. Kingsley&#039;s Devon-<br /> shire lads who sailed westward ho! all carried<br /> a Bible in their pockets, and were extremely<br /> careful not to use naughty words. . In “Alton<br /> Locke” and in “Yeast ’’ Charles Kingsley was a<br /> reformer and a radical ; in “Hypatia” he gave<br /> us nineteenth century difficulties discussed by<br /> philosophers in Alexandria from an English point<br /> ..of view taken about the year 1860. Henry<br /> Kingsley, on the other hand, had no reforms to<br /> propose, no grievances to remove, no difficulties<br /> to encounter. He took the world as he found it; he<br /> had no theological difficulties; he was not plagued<br /> with “questions; ” and he wrote his stories about<br /> the men and women that he knew. Thirty years<br /> ago they were rattling good stories—considered as<br /> stories, a good deal better than his brother could<br /> produce, with a lighter touch and a more<br /> dramatic instinct. Whether, after all these years,<br /> one would find them as bright and interesting<br /> remains to be seen. Mr. Clement Shorter edits<br /> the books and contributes a memoir. I have<br /> Beard that Henry Kingsley wrote the most<br /> delightful letters possible, but I have never had<br /> the opportunity of reading any of them. Perhaps<br /> Mr. Shorter will be able to give the world an<br /> illustration.<br /> Mr. John Bloundelle-Burton&#039;s new novel, “The<br /> Hispaniola Plate,” will commence in the St.<br /> James&#039;s Budget, on Friday, the 5th inst., and will<br /> be illustrated by M. G. Montbard. In this novel<br /> the scene will be laid partly in the present day<br /> and partly in the last days of the Stuart period,<br /> bothepochs being connected by incidents pertaining<br /> to the ends of the seventeenth and nineteenth<br /> centuries. The action of the story takes place<br /> principally in the Virgin Islands.<br /> A translation of “Astronomie Populaire,” by<br /> M. Camille Flammarion, the well-known French<br /> astronomer, will be published immediately by<br /> Messrs. Chatto and Windus. The work, which is a<br /> very interesting and popular one, written expressly<br /> for the general reader, had an enormous sale in<br /> France, no less than IOO,OOO copies having been<br /> sold in a few years Several new illustrations<br /> have been added, and the work has been carefully<br /> brought up to date by the translator, Mr. J. E.<br /> Gore, F.R.A.S.<br /> Cecil Clarke has just issued a new novel,<br /> entitled “An Artist&#039;s Fate,” through Mr. Elliot<br /> Stock.<br /> Mr. Maberly Phillips, F.S.A., of the Bank<br /> of England, Newcastle-on-Tyne, has written a<br /> book on the History of Banks and Bankers of<br /> Northern England. The book deals with early<br /> currency, the establishment of the first north-<br /> country bank, traces the evolution from their<br /> early beginnings of the many well-established<br /> banking concerns which now exist, and gives<br /> most interesting accounts of the serious failures<br /> which attended the efforts of the earlier bankers<br /> to cope with the rapid strides in trade and<br /> industry which followed the epoch-making inven-<br /> tion of steam power. It will be published<br /> immediately by Messrs. Effingham, Wilson,<br /> and Co.<br /> Mr. C. A. M. Fennell, Litt.D., proposes a<br /> “National Dictionary of English Language and<br /> Literature.” It is to be issued in monthly parts<br /> at a subscription of three guineas paid in advance,<br /> or four guineas in parts. The work will be based<br /> on full indexes of certain selected authors, with<br /> quotations from many others.<br /> We learn from the New York Critic that<br /> Messrs. Dodd, Mead, and Co., of Boston, are<br /> about to issue a new edition of Mrs. Trollope&#039;s<br /> famous “Domestic Manners of the Americans,”<br /> in two volumes, with ninety-four illustrations<br /> from contemporary drawings reproduced from<br /> the first edition of 1832.<br /> From the same paper we learn that a new and<br /> complete Concordance to Shakespeare, by Mr.<br /> John Bartlett, who has been engaged upon the<br /> work for eighteen years, will be published in<br /> New York immediately. It will fill 1910<br /> double column quarto pages. Also that Mr.<br /> Richard Watson Eddis&#039;s poems will shortly be<br /> issued in a collected form by the Century<br /> Company.<br /> Max O’Rell sails for America this month on a<br /> fourth lecture tour in the States.<br /> On Longevity of Authors, “H. G. K.” says:<br /> “You might have noted Hobbes, Fontenelle,<br /> St. Evremond, and Goethe, whose united ages<br /> amount to 368, an average of 92.”<br /> A new edition has just appeared of Mr. Powis<br /> Bale’s “Handbook for Steam Users” (Long-<br /> mans), and a new and enlarged edition of “Wood-<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 134 (#148) ############################################<br /> <br /> I34.<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> working Machinery; its Rise, Progress, and Con-<br /> struction ” (Crosby, Lockwood, and Son).<br /> Early in the autumn a new serial story by Fitz-<br /> gerald Molloy, entitled “A Justified Sinner,” will<br /> be run through Messrs. Tillotson&#039;s syndicate of<br /> newspapers.<br /> The same author began in the third week of<br /> this month (September) a sensational serial novel<br /> called “In Shadow of Shame,” in Cassell’s<br /> Saturday Journal. This story deals with a cer-<br /> tain operation performed on the brain, and the<br /> consequences which follow. The incident has<br /> not previously been used in fiction. Mr. Fitz-<br /> gerald Molloy recently told an interviewer<br /> that such a case was brought to his notice<br /> by a distinguished surgeon, and that the<br /> chapter in which he, the author, deals with<br /> the subject is largely copied from the medical<br /> reports, all distressing and disagreeable details<br /> being omitted.<br /> Mr. Thomas Aspden, author of “The House of<br /> Stanley,” “Queen Victoria,” &amp;c., will produce a<br /> political novel this month called “The Member<br /> for Workshire; or Church and State.” The pub-<br /> lishers are Swan, Sonnenschein, and Co.<br /> Mr James Baker, F.R.G.S., has had two works<br /> published during the past month; one, “Pictures<br /> from Bohemia,” being this year&#039;s volume of the<br /> “Pen and Pencil” series of the Religious Tract<br /> Society. The volume is very artistic, being<br /> illustrated by Walter Crane, Henry Whatley, and<br /> other artists who have travelled with the author<br /> in distant Bohemia; a country crowded with<br /> historical and picturesque and artistic surprises.<br /> The second work of Mr. James Baker is wholly<br /> historical, entitled “A Forgotten Great English-<br /> man.” It deals with the life of Peter Payne, a<br /> great leader of men in the 15th century, who, as<br /> principal of an Oxford college, had to flee for his<br /> opinions, and became a chief in Bohemia of the<br /> powerful Hussite movement, being first always in<br /> debates, in councils, and in treaties; a man with<br /> whom Pope, Kaiser, and kings had to reckon; a<br /> leader of thought of his century, and yet forgotten<br /> |by his own country, as the letters embodied in the<br /> volume from such authorities as the late Pro-<br /> fessor E. A. Freeman, Professor J. A. Froude,<br /> Mr. W. E. Gladstone, Professor James Rowley,<br /> and others fully prove. This volume, like the<br /> first, is the outcome of Mr. Baker’s travels and<br /> researches in Bohemia.<br /> Readers and students of Scandinavian litera-<br /> ture and history may note that they may obtain<br /> catalogues of Scandinavian books at the Skandi-<br /> navisk Antiquaria, 49, Gothersgade, Copen-<br /> hagen.<br /> Mr. Robert Sherard has now completed his<br /> biographical study of Alphonse Daudet. It will<br /> be published this autumn with a portrait, a fac-<br /> simile letter, and other illustrations.<br /> Mr. John Codman Roper, author of “The<br /> Campaign of Waterloo,” has written the “Story<br /> of the American Civil War.” It will be pub-<br /> lished by Putnams in three volumes.<br /> Mr. James Field has collected his papers, which<br /> appeared originally in Scribner&#039;s, into a volume,<br /> which will be published by the same house.<br /> Max O’Rell&#039;s new book “John Bull and Co. :<br /> the Great Colonial Branches of the Firm,” will<br /> be issued simultaneously in England, America,<br /> and France.<br /> Mr. John Burroughs has a new volume of<br /> “Outdoor” essays in the press (Houghton,<br /> Mifflin, and Co.). Three other “Outdoor” books<br /> are announced in the New York Critic from the<br /> same firm.<br /> The “Book Hunter in London,” by W.<br /> Roberts, will appear in the autumn. It will form<br /> a companion to M. Octave Uzanne’s “Physio-<br /> logie des Quais de Paris,” better known under<br /> the title of the English translation of “The<br /> Book-Hunter in Paris.” In this contribution<br /> to the history of book-collecting the results<br /> of many years’ inveterate book-hunting will<br /> be chronicled, and the experiences not only<br /> of the compiler but of many past and present<br /> distinguished “hunters” will be laid under con-<br /> tribution. The introductory chapter takes the<br /> form of an essay on “The Theory and Practice of<br /> Book-Hunting.” This is followed by a disserta-<br /> tion on book-hunting in London from the<br /> earliest times to the eighteenth century. Other<br /> chapters deal with book auctions and auctioneers;<br /> with some famous collections and collectors;<br /> with book thieves; with bookstalling in London;<br /> with famons booksellers; with lady book-col-<br /> lectors; with the prices paid for particular books<br /> in past and present times, booksellers&#039; catalogues,<br /> and other interesting matters connected with the<br /> subject. In a book covering such a wide field<br /> it is naturally impossible for the efforts of one<br /> man to gather into his net all the numerous<br /> incidents and anecdotes connected with book-<br /> hunting in London. The author, therefore,<br /> invites any information or suggestion sent without<br /> delay to him, as well as the loan or indication<br /> of rare or curious pictorial illustrations of the<br /> subject, at 86, Grosvenor-road, S.W.<br /> A new method of publication is about to be put<br /> to the test by the Roxburghe Press, of 3, Victoria-<br /> street, Westminster, and 32, Charing-cross, S.W.,<br /> who announce a “time ’’ limited edition of<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 135 (#149) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I 35<br /> “Phantasms,” a volume of original stories,<br /> illustrating posthumous personality and character,<br /> by Wirt Gerrare, author of “Rufus&#039;s Legacy.”<br /> Instead of confining the edition to a predeter-<br /> mined number of copies, the publishers will<br /> supply booksellers until Dec. 31 next, after which<br /> date all sales by the publishers will be stopped,<br /> and no other edition will be issued during the<br /> continuance of the copyright. The sole edition<br /> will be popular and modern in price and form, and<br /> the limit is made with a view to guard booksellers<br /> from deterioration in value of any stock carried<br /> over at the end of the season, and as affording a<br /> safer investment than offered by the purchase of<br /> first editions, subject to cheap reissues and<br /> remainder sales.<br /> The Roxburghe Press have in preparation “The<br /> Magistracy,” being a directory and biographical<br /> dictionary of the justices of the peace of the United<br /> Ringdom, revised to date and edited by Charles<br /> F. Rideal; “Evolution,” a retrospect by the<br /> Marquis of Salisbury, K.G., being the address<br /> (slightly revised by the author) recently delivered<br /> before the Royal British Association; a second<br /> edition of the “Law and Lawyers of Pickwick,”<br /> by Frank Lockwood, Q.C., M.P., slightly revised,<br /> with an original drawing by the author of Mr.<br /> Sergeant Buzfuz; a third edition of “Wellerisms”<br /> from “Pickwick” and “Master Humphrey&#039;s<br /> Clock,” selected by Charles F. Rideal,” with an<br /> introduction by Charles Kent and an entirely<br /> original drawing of “Sam Weller,” by George<br /> Cruickshank, jun. ; “Woman Regained,” a novel<br /> of artistic life by George Barlow; a second<br /> revised edition of “Charles Dickens&#039; Heroines<br /> and Women Folk,” some thoughts concerning<br /> them, by Charles F. Rideal, with original<br /> drawings or Edith Dombey and Dot ; “The<br /> Reunion of Christendom,” by Cardinal Vaughan,<br /> being the slightly revised address recently<br /> delivered before the Catholic Truth Society;<br /> “Young Gentlemen of to-day,” by Charles F.<br /> Rideal, illustrated by “Crow’”; “Phantasms,”<br /> Original stories illustrating posthumous character<br /> and personality, by Wirt Gerrare, a time-limited<br /> &#039;edition ; “The Mountain Lake and other Poems,”<br /> from the works of Friedrich von Bodenstedt,<br /> translated by Mrs. Percy Preston, an edition<br /> limited to 450 copies; “Told at the Club,” some<br /> short stories, being No. 1 of the “Pot-boiler”<br /> series, by Charles F. Rideal; “Accidents,” by<br /> I)r. G. M. Lowe, lecturer and examiner to the St.<br /> John Ambulance Association; “Young Babies,<br /> their Food and Troubles,” by Mrs. Truman and<br /> Miss Edith Sykes; and a second edition of 5000<br /> copies of “Food for the Sick” by the same<br /> authors; “The Reminiscences of a Septuagenarian<br /> Citizen,” by Edward Callow.<br /> CORRESPONDENCE,<br /> I.—PRoof SHEETs.<br /> AY I suggest to writers, especially writers<br /> of fiction, that it would be a kindness to<br /> - send their proof sheets to any hospital<br /> they may choose, for the use of the patients P<br /> The lightness of the sheets is a distinct advantage<br /> for those who have to read in bed.<br /> F. M. PEARD.<br /> II.-PERSONAL.<br /> Will you allow me, through the medium of The<br /> Author, to thank the Society of Authors and<br /> their secretary for aiding me to obtain an<br /> acknowledgment from two papers of infringe-<br /> ment of my copyright in title and matter. The<br /> first, a paper, boldly adapted my title of “By the<br /> Western Sea.” The second, a case of a reprint<br /> of a Canadian article entitled “ British v.<br /> German,” which is bodily taken from pages 25,<br /> 27, 31, 33, 34, 45, 46, and 95, of my “Our<br /> Foreign Competitors.” Individually I doubt if<br /> I could have obtained these public acknowledg-<br /> ments, as one editor laughed at my first very<br /> polite note suggesting an infringement of copy-<br /> right had been committed; but the letters from<br /> the Society’s secretary had a salutary effect, and<br /> tardy and reluctant justice was done to my little<br /> book and title, and the acknowledgment given<br /> as wished. JAMES BAKER.<br /> III.-GEORGE ELIOT.<br /> It is a matter of wonder to me that Miss<br /> Gilchrist&#039;s remarks on George Eliot in the July<br /> Author have remained unchallenged. As a lover<br /> of George Eliot let me say that I cannot discover<br /> the “barren fatalism” in her work. Why, the<br /> great difference between the ancients and George<br /> Eliot stands in the fact that the former depicted<br /> mortals at the mercy of a predestined fate outside<br /> their own personality, and independent of it<br /> altogether, men and women like CEdipus or<br /> Helen being “sculptured in black marble on the<br /> wall of their fate,” while the George Eliot made<br /> man master of his fate. Let me refer you to<br /> Sidney Lanin&#039;s masterly essays on the English<br /> novel on the subject of George Eliot : “An me<br /> peut €tre juste qu’envers ceux qu’en aime.”<br /> S. S.<br /> Will “Sans Souci.” be so good as to give<br /> the Editor an opportunity of answering her letter<br /> of Aug. 5*<br /> IV.-HEREDITARY GENIUS.<br /> The Rev. Dr. Bell, of Cheltenham, writes:<br /> “In your brief notice of Lady Dufferin&#039;s<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 136 (#150) ############################################<br /> <br /> 136<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> Memoirs, by her son, you ask : “Is not the<br /> Sheridan family the only family on record which<br /> has continued to hand down its best charac-<br /> teristics from one generation to another ?” May<br /> I in reply remind you that genius has shown<br /> itself to be hereditary in the family of the late Mr.<br /> Thomas Arnold, the eminent head master of<br /> Rugby, and author of “A History of Rome,”<br /> “Lectures on Modern History,” and other valu-<br /> able works. Mr. Matthew Arnold, the distin-<br /> guished poet, essayist, and critic, was his son,<br /> and his place in English Literature has become<br /> assured. Another son, Mr. Thomas Arnold, is<br /> well known in the literary world as the editor of<br /> Pope, the author of a volume on Literature, and<br /> is now engaged on a work, likely to add to his<br /> reputation, for the Rolls Office on the history of<br /> Bury St. Edmunds. His daughter, Mrs. Hum-<br /> phry Ward, has won herself a name in literature<br /> as the authoress of three novels which have<br /> commanded a large share of popular attention,<br /> and made their mark in the domain of fiction.<br /> Mr. Oakley Arnold Forster, a son of Mr. William<br /> Arnold, and grandson of Dr. Thomas Arnold, has<br /> a seat in the House of Commons for West<br /> Belfast, and has already shown distinct states-<br /> manlike qualities which augur well for his future,<br /> He also has proved himself possessed of literary<br /> powers. All who have the privilege of intimacy<br /> with the daughters of Dr. Arnold, one of whom<br /> is the widow of the eminent statesman the Right<br /> Hon. William Forster, will bear ready witness to<br /> their culture, charm, and intellectual powers, both<br /> of thought and expression, though those have<br /> been confined to the quiet sphere of home, and<br /> not sought the suffrages of the public. I may<br /> say, however, that Mrs. Forster has edited a new<br /> edition of her father&#039;s “Sermons on the Interpre-<br /> tation of Scripture and the Christian Life.”<br /> Surely you will allow that in the Arnold family,<br /> as well as in the Sheridan, literary genius is here-<br /> ditary. The great grandchildren are too young<br /> as yet to prove by their works what they can<br /> achieve.”<br /> W.—A NEW FoEM OF PAPER FOR TYPE-<br /> WIRITER.S.<br /> All who use a typewriter know what an amount<br /> of time is consumed in putting in, adjusting, and<br /> taking out the sheets of finished copy, particularly<br /> if one is duplicating by the use of carbon paper.<br /> I wish to suggest an improvement which I venture<br /> to think will save much time, particularly in MSS.<br /> of great length. Instead of the ordinary sheets<br /> of paper cut to 8in. by Ioin., or foolscap, why<br /> could we not have paper furnished us on rolls<br /> 8in. wide, and in lengths that would make IOO or<br /> 200 ordinary manuscript pages. The paper could<br /> then be put on a little adjustable reel and fed to<br /> the machine as the huge rolls of paper are fed to:<br /> printing machines. To make a duplicate copy<br /> two reels will be required, one placed above the<br /> other, and between these a long strip of carbon<br /> paper may be inserted. The sheets may be after-<br /> wards torn off as one tears off a cheque. I<br /> believe this to be perfectly practicable and intend<br /> to give it a trial, and will let your readers know<br /> the result of my experiment (with your permis-<br /> sion) later. J. H. H.ILL.<br /> *– ~ *-*<br /> *=s<br /> NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS,<br /> Theology.<br /> A KEY TO THE BIBLE. By an Oxford M.A.<br /> Marshall. Is.<br /> DAVIE, REv. G. J. John Maldonatus’s Commentary on<br /> the Holy Gospels. Translated and edited. St. Matthew’s,<br /> Gospel. Part IV. Paper covers. John Hodges. Is.<br /> net.<br /> GIRDLESTONE, CANON.<br /> New edition. R.T.S.<br /> HEDLEY, JOHN C. A Retreat, consisting of Thirty-three<br /> Discourses with Meditations, for the use of the Clergy,<br /> Religious, and Others. Burns and Oates. 6s.<br /> HOLLAND, REv. W. L. The Bible Hymnal. Compiled<br /> by. Edinburgh : R. W. Hunter. Is. and 2s. 6d.<br /> net.<br /> HUMPHREY, REv. W.M.<br /> and Sacraments. Second edition, enlarged.<br /> and Leamington Art and Book Company. 58.<br /> MEYER, KUNo. Hibernica Minora, being a fragment of an<br /> Old Irish Treatise on the Psalter, with a translation<br /> and facsimile, glossary, and an appendix. Edited by.<br /> Anecdota Oxeniensia, Mediaeval and Modern Series,<br /> Part VIII. Henry Frowde. 7s.6d.<br /> MONCKTON, REv. J. G. A Key to the Figures of the Bible,<br /> &amp;c. Paper covers. Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.<br /> MossMAN, REv. D. T. W. The Great Commentary of Cor-<br /> nelius à Lapide upon the Holy Gospels, Translated<br /> and edited. Fifth edition. Part I. Paper covers.<br /> John Hodges. Is. net.<br /> NYE, G. H. F. The Church and Her Story. New and re-<br /> vised edition. Paper covers. Simpkin, Marshall.<br /> Is. 6d. net.<br /> PALMER, JoBIN. Catechisms for the Yonng. Third Series:<br /> The Prayer Book. Church of England Sunday School<br /> Institute. Is. 4d<br /> PRYNNE, REv. G. R. The Truth and Reality of the<br /> Eucharistic Sacrifice. Longmans. 3s. 6d.<br /> RHYs DAVIDs, T. W. The Questions of King Milinda.<br /> Part II. Translated from the Pāli. Being Vol.<br /> XXXVI. of Sacred Books of the East, Edited by F. Max<br /> Müller. Henry Frowde. 12s. 6d.<br /> RocK, DR. DANIEL. The Hierurgia ; or the Holy Sacrifice.<br /> of the Mass. New and revised edition by W. H. J.<br /> Weale. Paper covers. Part II. John Hodges. Is..<br /> net. -<br /> WATson, REv. DR. R. A. The Book of Numbers. Expo-<br /> sitor&#039;s Bible, seventh series. Hodder and Stoughton-<br /> 7s.6d. . ,”<br /> Simpkin,<br /> How to Study the English Bible.<br /> The One Mediator, or Sacrifice.<br /> London<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 137 (#151) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I37<br /> History and Biography.<br /> ACCOUNTS OF THE CoRPORATION OF THE CITY OF<br /> LONDON FOR 1893. Paper covers. Charles Skipper<br /> and East.<br /> AIYA, W. NAGAM. Report on the Census of Travancore.<br /> Boards. Vol. I., Report. Vol. II., Appendix. Madras:<br /> Addison and Co.<br /> ARNOLD ForsTER, H. O. Things New and Old, or Stories<br /> from English History Standard W., Modern School<br /> Series. Cassell. Is. 6d.<br /> BELL, MALCOLM. Sir Edward Burne Jones, Bart. A<br /> Record and Review. Third edition. In special binding<br /> designed by Gleeson White. George Bell and Sons.<br /> 2Is. net.<br /> BROWN, ROBERT. The Story of Africa and its Explorers.<br /> Wol. III. Cassell and Co.<br /> CHANCELLOR, E. BERESFORD. The History and Antiquities<br /> of Richmond, Kew, Petersham, Ham, &amp;c. Richmond :<br /> Hiscoke and Son.<br /> CowAN, PROF. HENRY.<br /> the Reformation.<br /> 6d. net.<br /> CUNNINGHAM, MAJOR-GENERAI, SIR. A. Coins of Mediaeval<br /> India, from the Seventh Century down to the Moham-<br /> medan Conquests. B. Quaritch. I58.<br /> DUCREST, MME. Memoirs of the Empress Josephine, with<br /> Anecdotes of the Courts of Navarre and Malmaison.<br /> 2 vols. Limited edition. H. S. Nichols and Co.,<br /> Soho-square, W. 281 Is... net.<br /> GASQUET, FRANCIs A., D.D.<br /> English Monasteries. Sixth edition.<br /> Hodges. IS. net.<br /> HADDON, T. W. and HARRIson, G. C. Caesar’s Gallic<br /> War, Books I. and II. Edited by. Edward Arnold.<br /> Is. 6d. net.<br /> HISTORICAL NOTICES AND RECOLLECTIONS RELATING TO<br /> THE PARISH OF SOUTHAM IN THE COUNTY OF<br /> WARWICK. With the Parochial Registers from 1539<br /> and the Churchwardens’ accounts from 1580. Paper<br /> covers. Part I. 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270https://historysoa.com/items/show/270The Author, Vol. 05 Issue 06 (November 1894)<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=%3Cem%3EThe+Author%3C%2Fem%3E%2C+Vol.+05+Issue+06+%28November+1894%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 05 Issue 06 (November 1894)</a><a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Publication">Publication</a>1894-11-01-The-Author-5-6141–168<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=89&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=5">5</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=76&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1894-11-01">1894-11-01</a>618941101C be<br /> u t b or,<br /> (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors.<br /> Monthly.)<br /> CON DU CTED BY WA. L TER BES ANT.<br /> VOL. V.-No. 6.]<br /> NOVEMBER 1, 1894.<br /> [PRICE SIXPENCE.<br /> For the Opinions earpressed in papers that are<br /> signed or initialled the Authors alone are<br /> responsible. None of the papers or para-<br /> graphs must be taken as eaſpressing the<br /> collective opinions of the committee unless<br /> they are officially signed by G. Herbert<br /> Thring, Sec.<br /> HE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all<br /> remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and<br /> requests that all members not receiving an answer to<br /> important communications within two days will write to him<br /> without delay. All remittances showld be crossed Union<br /> Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered<br /> letter only.<br /> Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on<br /> all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub-<br /> jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are<br /> returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS.<br /> *-<br /> r- - -,<br /> WARNINGS AND ADVICE,<br /> I. RAWING THE AGREEMENT.—It is not generally<br /> understood that the author, as the vendor, has the<br /> absolute right of drafting the agreement upon<br /> whatever terms the transaction is to be carried out.<br /> Authors are strongly advised to exercise that right. In<br /> every form of business, this among others, the right of<br /> drawing the agreement rests with him who sells, leases, or<br /> has the control of the property.<br /> 2. SERIAL RIGHTS.—In selling Serial Rights remember<br /> that you may be selling the Serial Right for all time; that<br /> is, the Right to continue the production in papers. If you<br /> object to this, insert a clause to that effect.<br /> 3. STAMP YOUR AGREEMENTs. – Readers are most<br /> URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements<br /> immediately after signature. If this precaution is neglected<br /> for two weeks, a fine of £10 must be paid before the agree-<br /> ment can be used as a legal document. In almost every<br /> case brought to the secretary the agreement, or the letter<br /> which serves for one, is forwarded without the stamp. The<br /> author may be assured that the other party to the agree-<br /> ment seldom neglects this simple precaution. The Society,<br /> to save trouble, undertakes to get all the agreements of<br /> members stamped for them at no ea pense to themselves<br /> eaccept the cost of the stamp.<br /> 4. AsCERTAIN what A PROPOSED AGREEMENT GIVES TO<br /> BOTH SIDES BEFORE SIGNING IT.-Remember that an<br /> WOL. W.<br /> arrangement as to a joint venture in any other kind of busi-<br /> ness whatever would be instantly refused should either party<br /> refuse to show the books or to let it be known what share he<br /> reserved for himself.<br /> 5. LITERARY AGENTS.–Be very careful. You cannot be<br /> too careful as to the person whom yow appoint as your<br /> agent. Remember that you place your property almost un-<br /> reservedly in his hands. Your only safety is in consulting<br /> the Society, or some friend who has had personal experience<br /> of the agent. Do not trust advertisements alone.<br /> 6. CosT OF PRODUCTION.--Never sign any agreement of<br /> which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part,<br /> until you have proved the figures.<br /> 7. CHOICE OF PUBLISHERS.—Never enter into any cor-<br /> respondence with publishers, especially with those who ad-<br /> vertise for MSS., who are not recommended by experienced<br /> friends or by this Society. -<br /> 8. FuTURE Work.-Never, on any accownt whatever,<br /> bind yourself down for future work to anyone.<br /> 9. PERSONAL RISK.—Never accept any pecuniary risk or<br /> responsibility whatever without advice.<br /> Io. REJECTED MSS.—Never, when a M.S. has been re-<br /> fused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises<br /> they may put forward, for the production of the work.<br /> II. AMERICAN RIGHTS.—Never sign away American<br /> rights. Keep them by special clause. Refuse to sign any<br /> agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the<br /> publisher, unless for a substantial consideration.<br /> I2. CESSION OF COPYRIGHT.-Never sign any paper,<br /> either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright,<br /> without advice.<br /> 13. ADVERTISEMENTs. – Keep some control over the<br /> advertisements, if they affect your returns, by a clause in<br /> the agreement.<br /> I4. NEVER forget that publishing is a business, like any<br /> other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy,<br /> charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with<br /> business men. Be yourself a business man.<br /> Society’s Offices :-<br /> 4, Portugal, STREET, LINCOLN&#039;s INN FIELDs.<br /> *— - -*<br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.<br /> I. VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive<br /> advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-<br /> lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his<br /> business or the administration of his property. If the advice<br /> sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member<br /> O 2<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 142 (#156) ############################################<br /> <br /> I 42<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> has a right to an opinion from the Society’s solicitors. If the<br /> case is such that Counsel’s opinion is desirable, the Com-<br /> mittee will obtain for him Counsel’s opinion. All this<br /> without any cost to the member.<br /> 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright<br /> and publisher&#039;s agreements do not generally fall within the<br /> experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple<br /> to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually<br /> engaged upon such questions for us.<br /> 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past<br /> accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in<br /> order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree-<br /> ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively<br /> so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any<br /> agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor-<br /> mation thus obtained may prove invaluable.<br /> 4. If the examination of your previous business trans-<br /> actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should<br /> take advice as to a change of publishers.<br /> 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro-<br /> posed document to the Society for examination.<br /> 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in<br /> the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish-<br /> ing firm in the country.<br /> 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you<br /> are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are<br /> reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing<br /> the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen-<br /> dence of the writer.<br /> 8. Send to the Editor of the Awthor notes of everything<br /> important to literature that you may hear or meet with.<br /> *- ~ *<br /> &amp; -s<br /> THE AUTHORS&#039; SYNDICATE,<br /> EMBERS are informed :<br /> I. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate takes charge of<br /> the business of members of the Society. With, when<br /> necessary, the assistance of the legal advisers of the Syndi-<br /> cate, it concludes agreements, collects royalties, examines<br /> and passes accounts, and generally relieves members of the<br /> trouble of managing business details.<br /> 2. That the expenses of the Authors&#039; Syndicate are<br /> defrayed solely out of the commission charged on rights<br /> placed through its intervention. Notice is, however,<br /> hereby given that in all cases where there is no current<br /> account, a booking fee is charged to cover postage and<br /> porterage.<br /> 3. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate works for none but those<br /> members of the Society whose work possesses a market<br /> value.<br /> 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiation<br /> whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia-<br /> tions are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all<br /> communications relating thereto are referred to it.<br /> 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by<br /> appointment, and that, when possible, at least four days’<br /> notice should be given.<br /> 6. That every attempt is made to deal with the corre-<br /> spondence promptly, but that owing to the enormous number<br /> of letters received, some delay is inevitable. That stamps<br /> should, in all cases, be sent to defray postage.<br /> 7. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate does not invite MSS.<br /> without previous correspondence, and does not hold itself<br /> responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice.<br /> 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for<br /> lectures by some of the leading members of the Society ;<br /> that it has a “Transfer Department&#039; for the sale and<br /> purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a “Register<br /> of Wants and Wanted * has been opened. Members anxious<br /> to obtain literary or artistic work are invited to com -<br /> municate with the Manager.<br /> There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services<br /> will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It<br /> is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the<br /> Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in<br /> the Syndicate.<br /> --sº<br /> e--- - -<br /> NOTICES,<br /> HE Editor of the Author begs to remind members of the<br /> Society that, although the paper is sent to them free<br /> of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very<br /> heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great<br /> many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest<br /> 6s. 6d. subscription for the year.<br /> The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and<br /> communications on all subjects connected with literature<br /> from members and others. Nothing can do more good to<br /> the Society than to make the Awthor complete, attractive,<br /> and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this<br /> work send their names and the special subjects on which<br /> they are willing to write P<br /> or dishonest ?<br /> Communications for the Author should reach the Editor<br /> not later than the 21st of each month.<br /> All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether<br /> members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate<br /> to the Editor any points connected with their work which<br /> it would be advisable in the general interest to publish.<br /> Members and others who wish their MSS. read are<br /> requested not to send them to the Office without previously<br /> communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable<br /> despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in<br /> which they are received. It must also be distinctly under-<br /> stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances,<br /> undertake the publication of MSS.<br /> The Authors’ Club is now open in its new premises, at<br /> 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary<br /> for information, rules of admission, &amp;c.<br /> Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they<br /> have paid their subscriptions for the year P If they will do<br /> this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker’s<br /> order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the<br /> trouble of sending out a reminder.<br /> Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the<br /> warning numbered (8). It is a most foolish and may be a<br /> most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding<br /> for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they<br /> would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five<br /> years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest<br /> Of course they would not. Why then<br /> hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them-<br /> selves into literary bondage for three or five years P<br /> Those who possess the “Cost of Production&quot; are<br /> requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15<br /> per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble<br /> of “doing sums,” the addition of three shillings in the<br /> pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding<br /> is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be<br /> added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at<br /> £948. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 143 (#157) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I 43<br /> as can be procured; but a printer&#039;s, or a binder&#039;s, bill is so<br /> elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at.<br /> Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged<br /> in the “Cost of Production’’ for advertising. Of course, we<br /> have not included any sums which may be charged for<br /> inserting advertisements in the publisher&#039;s own magazines,<br /> or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too<br /> often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from<br /> sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket,<br /> by inserting any number of advertisements in his own<br /> magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are<br /> who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those<br /> who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it.<br /> * * =<br /> ELECTION OF MEMBERS.<br /> T the first meeting of committee after the<br /> vacation on Oct. 8, twenty-eight new<br /> members and associates were duly pro-<br /> posed and elected. There have been 196 new<br /> members elected since the beginning of the year.<br /> Against these, however, must be placed the<br /> number of those who are every year struck off<br /> the list either by death, or by resignation, or by<br /> neglecting to pay their subscription.<br /> Cases have arisen in which authors have joined<br /> for the purpose of obtaining aid and redress,<br /> and have then retired when their case has been<br /> won for them. In other words, they pay a guinea,<br /> put the Society to the expense of many guineas,<br /> and then retire.<br /> Authors are earnestly entreated to remember<br /> that the society exists for the common good;<br /> that to regard it as solely a means of obtaining<br /> individual advantage is contrary to the whole<br /> spirit of the association; that to carry a single<br /> case through often costs the subscriptions of a<br /> great many members, and that were it not for the<br /> subscriptions of those who are not likely to need<br /> its services at all, the Society would not be able to<br /> exist, or would be reduced to a powerless condition.<br /> &gt;<br /> c:<br /> LITERARY PROPERTY.<br /> I.—PAYING FOR PUBLICATION.<br /> HE advice of the Society with regard to<br /> payment for publishing is that a MS.<br /> which is refused by half a dozen good<br /> houses is probably without commercial value.<br /> The author, however, is too often persuaded that<br /> it possesses sufficient literary merit to justify him<br /> in paying for its production. He then receives<br /> an estimate from the firm to which he applies.<br /> In general this estimate is called Messrs. A. and<br /> B.’s “charge” for producing the work. It used<br /> to be called the “Cost of Production.” It is now<br /> Messrs. A. and B.’s “charge.” The charge<br /> includes a very liberal addition to the printer&#039;s<br /> bill—for themselves. It is a secret profit, and<br /> therefore absolutely indefensible. Of course a<br /> charge for services may be advanced, and may be<br /> granted, but it should be made openly. The<br /> following are quite recent examples of this<br /> method of giving estimates. They were brought<br /> to the Society, and through the machinery at the<br /> disposal of the Society the books were actually<br /> produced at the price given below, after that of<br /> the original estimate. It should be added that<br /> the actual publisher, not the person who sent in<br /> his “charges,” was in each case a fit and proper<br /> person, and that the books were produced in the<br /> best possible style of print and paper.<br /> First case.—Estimate for printing, paper,<br /> and binding ... ... ... 378<br /> Actual sum paid for produc-<br /> tion ... . . . . . . . ... 38<br /> Second case.—Estimate for printing, paper,<br /> and binding 39.18O<br /> Actual sum paid ... ... ... 8O<br /> Third case.—Estimate for printing, paper,<br /> and binding e tº ſº £220<br /> Actual sum paid I 50<br /> In the first case an overcharge was made of<br /> £40, in the second an overcharge of £IOO, and<br /> in the third of £70.<br /> In the first case the author was saved 50 per<br /> cent. On the first charge, in the second 55 per cent.,<br /> in the third 32 per cent.<br /> It seems, therefore, as if it were worth the<br /> consideration of authors about to pay for their<br /> own books, whether they should bring their<br /> estimates to the Society before signing their<br /> agreements.<br /> II.—CANADIAN COPYRIGHT.<br /> The following letters have appeared in the<br /> Times. That by Mr. Lancefield may be fairly<br /> assumed to represent the Canadian view : that<br /> by Mr. Daldy the answer of one who has long<br /> worked upon the question. The subject has<br /> been referred by the London Chamber of Com-<br /> merce to a committee upon which the Society of<br /> Authors is properly represented. The letters are<br /> given at length for obvious reasons.<br /> I.—To the Editor of the Times.<br /> SIR,--I have only recently seen a letter<br /> which appeared in your valuable paper some<br /> time ago (May 3, 1894) from Mr. F. R. Daldy<br /> on the question of Canadian copyright. Some of<br /> Mr. Daldy&#039;s statements certainly require correc-<br /> tion, as the views he set forth in his letter (which<br /> letter, I understand, was printed in full in various<br /> literary journals in England) place Canadians in<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 144 (#158) ############################################<br /> <br /> 144<br /> THE AUTHOIR.<br /> a most misleading and unfair light before your<br /> readers.<br /> In the first place, Mr. Daldy writes, he has<br /> “reason to believe that Canada has asked the<br /> Imperial Government to repeal all British Copy-<br /> right Acts so far as it is included under them<br /> and also to denounce Canada&#039;s connection<br /> with the Berne Convention.” This is correct.<br /> And why not P<br /> The B.N.A. Act of 1867 gives Canada the right<br /> to legislate on copyright, the same as on tariffs,<br /> patents, &amp;c. The Imperial Government allows<br /> us to pass such laws as we please with regard, for<br /> instance, to patents. We assert the same right<br /> with regard to copyright, and we maintain our<br /> position strengthened by the knowledge that every<br /> argument is in our favour.<br /> Mr. Daldy&#039;s second count deserves serious con-<br /> sideration. Not content with referring sneeringly<br /> to a royalty which the Canadian Government will<br /> collect for those who refuse or neglect to secure<br /> copyright in Canada as a “visionary” royalty, he<br /> says “no consideration whatever has been shown<br /> to artists and musical composers.” A serious<br /> indictment, if true. But what are the facts P<br /> I have before me the Canadian Copyright Act of<br /> 1889, passed unanimously by sº the House of<br /> Commons and Senate of the Dominion of Canada,<br /> but to which the Imperial Government refuses<br /> sanction. This Act enacts that “Any person<br /> domiciled in Canada or in any part of the British<br /> possessions who is the author of any<br /> book, map, chart, or musical or literary composi-<br /> tion, or of any original painting, drawing, statue,<br /> sculpture, or photograph, or who invents, designs,<br /> etches, engraves, or causes to be engraved, etched,<br /> or made from his own design any print or engra-<br /> ving, and the legal representatives of such person<br /> or citizen,” may secure copyright in Canada for<br /> twenty-eight years. It would appear from this<br /> that Mr. Daldy is either grossly ignorant on this<br /> question of Canadian copyright, or that he is<br /> deliberately misrepresenting the action of the<br /> Canadian Government, presumably in order to<br /> create and foster ill-feeling in England.<br /> Again, Mr. Daldy says “that it is no more<br /> difficult for Canadian than for United States<br /> publishers to enter into contracts with authors<br /> and artists direct.” Very nice in theory, but<br /> under present conditions practically impossible to<br /> put into practice. Why? Because the United<br /> States publisher, in nine cases out of ten, when<br /> buying the market for a new book, insists on<br /> Canada being included.<br /> The Canadian people, therefore,<br /> present the satisfaction (?) of seeing their market<br /> quietly handed over by the British author or<br /> publisher to alien United States publishers.<br /> have at<br /> Surely you cannot blame us for making an<br /> earnest, decided, emphatic protest against such a<br /> practice. Canadians are not surprised at the<br /> alien United States publishers insisting on the<br /> Canadian market being included. That is their<br /> business—to get all they can, and more, too, if<br /> possible. But we are surprised at the British<br /> authors and publishers conceding to the demand<br /> of the United States publishers. And we are doubly<br /> surprised that the British authors and publishers<br /> are our principal opponents when we ask the<br /> Imperial Government for such legislation as will<br /> enable us to say to the United States publishers,<br /> “You cannot control the Canadian market except<br /> on our own terms.”<br /> We are proud of the fact that we are part and<br /> parcel of the great British Empire. The recent<br /> conference of Colonial delegates at Ottawa proves<br /> that we are alive to our responsibilities to the<br /> Empire. I submit that it is not an edifying<br /> spectacle to witness many of our brethren in<br /> England making desperate and, as I have shown,<br /> unfair attempts to create prejudice against us in<br /> our efforts to secure our book market from the<br /> grasp of alien publishers.<br /> In any case we intend to expose such attempts<br /> and to persist in our agitation, as we are con-<br /> vinced that the Imperial Government must soon<br /> see the justness of our case and grant the relief<br /> asked for. -<br /> Mr. Daldy signs himself “Hon. Secretary of<br /> the [British PJ Copyright Association.” Very<br /> many are apt to look upon him as an authority<br /> on copyright. I have already shown that his<br /> statement as to no consideration whatever being<br /> shown by the Canadian Government to artists<br /> and musical composers is untrue. He is equally<br /> unreliable when he tries to frighten British<br /> authors and artists by the statement that if the<br /> British Government yields to the Canadian<br /> demand the English relations on copyright with<br /> the United States would be upset. Mr. Daldy&#039;s<br /> argument, then, is that justice must be denied<br /> Canada because, if granted, English copyright<br /> arrangements with the United Sta&#039;es will suffer.<br /> What utter nonsense !<br /> But Mr. Daldy reaches the height of absurdity<br /> when he gravely asserts that “the United States<br /> Government made the consent of Canada that<br /> American copyright should run in that Dominion<br /> a leading condition of their conceding it to the<br /> British nation.”<br /> This is news to us in Canada. Our consent<br /> was never asked to any such agreement. The<br /> British Government could not give the consent of<br /> Canada without first securing that consent.<br /> Neither the British Government, Mr. Daldy, nor<br /> the Copyright Association he represents need<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 145 (#159) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR,<br /> I 45<br /> think that Canada will recognise any arrange-<br /> ment without first consenting thereto.<br /> Mr. Daldy knows, without being told, that the<br /> day has gone by when the consent of Canada to a<br /> question so important as this of copyright can be<br /> taken for granted before formally securing said<br /> consent through the usual diplomatic channels.<br /> Thanking you for granting me space,<br /> I remain, Sir, yours in the bonds of Imperial<br /> Unity, RICHARD T. LANCEFIELD.<br /> Public Library, Hamilton, Canada September.<br /> II.—To the Editor of the Times.<br /> SIR,--The charges brought against me in<br /> Mr. Lancefield’s letter, published by you on<br /> the 11th inst., require, I think, an answer so<br /> far as the subject-matter of them is concerned,<br /> though I must respectfully decline to take more<br /> notice than is necessary of his personalities.<br /> He says, “I have placed Canadians in a most<br /> misleading and unfair light before your readers.”<br /> I certainly had no desire to do this, and I hope<br /> the following observations will satisfy your<br /> readers that I have not done so.<br /> He admits that Canada has asked the Imperial<br /> Government to repeal all British Copyright Acts<br /> so far as they include that Dominion, and says<br /> Canada has the right to legislate on copyright<br /> under the British North American Act of 1867.<br /> If Canada has that right, why ask England&#039;s<br /> help ? Lord Selborne and Lord Herschell, when<br /> at the Bar, on Nov. 7, 1871, advised the Copy-<br /> right Association that the above legislative<br /> authority “ has reference only to the exclusive<br /> jurisdiction in Canada of the Dominion Legisla-<br /> ture, as distinguished from the Legislatures of<br /> the provinces of which it is composed,” and they<br /> further said that the “Imperial Act 5 &amp; 6 Wict.<br /> c. 45 (our principal Copyright Act), is still in<br /> force in its integrity throughout the British<br /> dominions.” This view is corroborated by the<br /> decision in “Smiles v. Belford ” of the Supreme<br /> Court of Upper Canada and the opinions of<br /> recent law officers of the Crown.<br /> Mr. Lancefield objects to my reference to the<br /> way in which Canada collects, or neglects to<br /> collect, the royalty due to British and Colonial<br /> authors under the Imperial Act of 1847 and the<br /> Canadian Act of Aug. 1850, approved by<br /> Imperial Order in Council made Dec. 12, 1850.<br /> Perhaps he will not be suprised to hear that this<br /> royalty has only been spasmodically collected,<br /> although the Act was passed for Canada&#039;s benefit,<br /> and she undertook to make the collection. It is<br /> notorious that many books were imported by<br /> Canada without payment of this royalty, and I<br /> have before me now a correspondence showing<br /> that a copyright owner, who was entitled to<br /> royalty since 1883, had to send an agent to<br /> Canada, who traced one payment in 1885, but<br /> the customs authorities in Canada could not<br /> even then discover the collection of royalty on<br /> any other occasion, although the work had been<br /> largely circulated throughout the Dominion<br /> before that time. The first payment of this<br /> royalty, not in full, but “on account,” was not<br /> received by the copyright owner till 1889. Can<br /> Mr. Lancefield be surprised at the incredulity of<br /> English authors as to her honestly carrying out<br /> her engagements?<br /> Mr. Lancefield quotes from the Canadian Act<br /> of 1889 to prove that artists have received due<br /> consideration. He quotes the 4th section of that<br /> Act, but omits any reference to the 5th, which<br /> says the condition of obtaining copyright under<br /> the Act is that such artistic work shall be repro-<br /> duced in Canada within one month of production<br /> elsewhere. Hence, to obtain copyright under the<br /> Canadian Act, Sir F. Leighton, or any artist,<br /> must go to Canada and reproduce his picture<br /> there within a month of publication here. A new<br /> opera must be represented there within the same<br /> time. Am I right in saying “no consideration<br /> whatever has been shown to artists and musical<br /> composers ?” Is it not a mockery to offer copy-<br /> right on such terms?<br /> Mr. Lancefield says Canadian publishers cannot<br /> acquire copyright from British authors because<br /> United States publishers buy the Canadian<br /> market with the American market. Why does<br /> not the Canadian purchaser come forward first<br /> and buy the two markets P It is all a matter of<br /> commercial competition. Mr. Lancefield seems<br /> to think authors hand over their works to United<br /> States publishers by preference. What they<br /> prefer, and what they are entitled to, is the best<br /> price for the two intermixed markets, because it<br /> is against their interests to sell either separately.<br /> This arises from American, not British, legisla-<br /> tion. Mr. Lancefield cannot expect authors to<br /> forego the value of their copyrights in America<br /> merely to help Canadian reprinters to get the<br /> printing of them. Let Canadian printers come<br /> forward earlier, before American arrangements<br /> are made, and buy both markets.<br /> I regret to say American copyright for British<br /> authors is jeopardised by the apprehension of<br /> our allowing Canadian printers to reprint copy-<br /> right books without the author&#039;s sanction, and<br /> that on most trustworthy authority.<br /> Perhaps my observation about the consent of<br /> Canada as to American copyright running there<br /> is rather unfortunately worded, as of course her<br /> consent was not required. The facts are that<br /> the United States Government asked if American<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 146 (#160) ############################################<br /> <br /> I46<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> copyright ran in all British possessions, and, on<br /> Lord Salisbury assuring the United States<br /> Government that it did, the United States<br /> Government issued its proclamation giving the<br /> authors, &amp;c., of “Great Britain and the British<br /> possessions” copyright throughout the United<br /> States. (See United States Papers, No. 3 (1891),<br /> Correspondence on United States Copyright<br /> Act.)<br /> I am glad to find Mr. Lancefield proud of<br /> Imperial unity. Will he, in obedience to its<br /> requirements, advocate “copyright unity” as far<br /> as we are able to promote it? The laws of copy-<br /> right are too much mixed up with the commercial<br /> handling of copyright property. The one gives<br /> the title to the property; the other utilises it to<br /> the best advantage.<br /> I am, Sir, your obedient servant,<br /> FREDERIC R. DALDY.<br /> Aldine House, Belvedere.<br /> III.-LITTLETON ET AL. v. OLIVER DITSON Co.<br /> The inclosed judgment from one of the circuit<br /> courts in Massachusetts, supporting the decision<br /> recently published on musical copyright, may be<br /> of interest to the readers of the Author :<br /> LITTLETON ET AL. 27. OLIVER DITSON CO.<br /> (Circuit Court, D. Massachusetts. Aug. 1, 1894.)<br /> No. 3065.<br /> Copyright—Musical compositions—Manufacture<br /> in United States.<br /> The proviso in sect. 3 of the Copyright Act of<br /> March 3, 1891, that “ in the case of a book,<br /> photograph, chromo, or lithograph,” the two<br /> copies required to be delivered to the librarian<br /> of Congress shall be manufactured in this country,<br /> does not include musical compositions published<br /> in book form, or made by lithographic process.<br /> THIs was a suit by Alfred H. Littleton and<br /> others against the Oliver Ditson Company for<br /> infringement of copyrights.<br /> Lauriston L. Scaife for complainants.<br /> Chauncey Smith and Linus M. Child for<br /> defendant.<br /> CoLT, Circuit Judge.—This case raises a new<br /> and important question under the Copyright Act<br /> of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. I IO6). The plaintiffs,<br /> subjects of Great Britain, and publishers of<br /> music, have copyrighted three musical compo-<br /> sitions, two of which are in the form of sheet<br /> music, and one (a cantata) consists of some ninety<br /> pages of music bound together in book form, and<br /> with a paper cover. Two of these pieces were<br /> printed from electrotype plates, and one from<br /> stone, by the lithographic process. The inquiry<br /> in this case is whether a musical composition is a<br /> book or lithograph, within the meaning of the<br /> proviso in sect. 3 of the Act, which declares that in<br /> the case of a “book, photograph, chromo, or litho-<br /> graph &quot; the two copies required to be deposited<br /> with the librarian of Congress shall be manufac-<br /> tured in this country.<br /> The Act of March 3, 1891, is an amendment of<br /> the copyright law then existing. The principal<br /> change made is the extension of the privilege of<br /> copyright to foreigners by the removal of the<br /> restriction of citizenship or residence contained<br /> in the old law, and hence it is sometimes called<br /> “The International Copyright Act. Section I<br /> relates to the subject-matter of copyright, and<br /> delares that:<br /> The author, inventor, designer, or proprietor of any book,<br /> map, chart, dramatic or musical composition, engraving,<br /> cut, print, or photograph or negative thereof, or of a painting,<br /> drawing, chromo, statue, statuary shall, upon<br /> complying with the provisions of this chapter, have the sole<br /> liberty of printing, reprinting, publishing, &amp;c.<br /> Section 3 recites the conditions which must be<br /> complied with, and says:<br /> No person shall be entitled to a copyright unless he shall,<br /> on or before the day of publication in this or any foreign<br /> country, deliver at the office of the librarian of Congress, or<br /> deposit in the mail within the United States, addressed to<br /> the librarian, a printed copy of the title of the book,<br /> map, chart, dramatic or musical composition, engraving, cut,<br /> print, photograph, or chromo, or a description of the paint-<br /> ing, drawing, statue, statuary, for which he<br /> desires a copyright, nor unless he shall also, not later than<br /> the day of the publication thereof in this or any foreign<br /> country, deliver at the office of the librarian • OT<br /> deposit in the mail within the United States, addressed to<br /> the librarian, two copies of such copyright book,<br /> map, chart, dramatic or musical composition, engraving,<br /> chromo, cut, print, or photograph, or in case of a painting,<br /> drawing, statue, statuary, model, or design for a work of the<br /> fine arts, a photograph of same : provided, that in the case<br /> of a book, photograph, chromo, or lithograph, the two copies<br /> of the same required to be delivered or deposited as above<br /> shall be printed from type set within the limits of the<br /> United States, or from plates made therefrom, or from<br /> negatives, or drawings on stone made within the limits of<br /> the United States, or from transfers made therefrom.<br /> From the language of these provisions it seems<br /> clear that “book” was not intended to include<br /> “musical composition.” In the section which<br /> enumerates the things which may be copyrighted,<br /> “musical composition ” is mentioned as something<br /> different from “book,” and we find this same dis-<br /> tinction twice observed in the preceding part of<br /> the section which contains the proviso. It is as<br /> reasonable to suppose that “book” and “musical<br /> composition ” were as much intended to refer to<br /> different subjects as “map, chart, engraving,”<br /> and other enumerated articles.<br /> If Congress, in the proviso, had intended to<br /> include a musical composition among those copy-<br /> righted things which must be manufactured in<br /> this country, it should have incorporated it in the<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 147 (#161) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I 47<br /> list of things subject to this restriction. The<br /> omission in the proviso of “musical composition,”<br /> as well as of “map, chart, engraving,” and other<br /> things before enumerated, is very significant, as<br /> intimating that Congress never intended to extend<br /> this provision to any of these articles. And so,<br /> with respect to “lithograph,” if Congress had<br /> intended to cover by that word a musical compo-<br /> sition made by the lithographic process, it should<br /> have expressed its meaning in clear and unam-<br /> biguous terms, in view of the language used in<br /> other portions of the statute.<br /> If there is any doubt as to the meaning of the<br /> statute, it is proper to examine the history of<br /> legislation on this subject, in order, if possible, to<br /> discover the intent of Congress. As the bill<br /> passed the House of Representatives, this proviso<br /> was limited to “book,” but when it reached the<br /> Senate an amendment was offered and passed<br /> extending the proviso to various other subjects of<br /> Copyright, as “map, dramatic or musical compo-<br /> sition, engraving, cut, print,” &amp;c. A conference<br /> committee was appointed, and a compromise was<br /> agreed to enlarging the house provision by the<br /> addition of “photograph, chromo, or lithograph,”<br /> and the bill was finally passed in this form. In<br /> the debate in the Senate, reference was made to<br /> the fact that musical compositions had been<br /> eliminated from the proviso. The first and funda-<br /> mental rule in the interpretation of statutes is to<br /> carry out the intent of the Legislature if it can<br /> be ascertained, and I think an examination of<br /> the proceedings in Congress shows that it was<br /> intended to exclude musical compositions from<br /> the operation of this proviso: (22 Cong. Rec.<br /> pt. I, p. 32 ; pt. 3, pp. 2378, 2836; pt. 4,<br /> p. 3847.)<br /> “Book” has been distinguished from “musical<br /> composition ” in the statutes relating to copy-<br /> right since 1831 : (4 Stat. 436.) The specific<br /> designation of any article in an act or series of<br /> acts of Congress requires that such article be<br /> treated by itself, and excludes it from general<br /> terms contained in the same act or in subsequent<br /> acts: (Potter, Dwar. St. pp. 198, 272; Homer v.<br /> The Collector, I Wall. 486; Arthur v. Lahey,<br /> 96 U.S. 112 ; Arthur v. Stephani, Id. 125; Vietor<br /> v. Arthur, IO4 U.S. 498.) If, in a popular<br /> sense, and speaking particularly in reference to<br /> form, “book” may be said to include a musical<br /> composition, the answer to this proposition is<br /> that where two words of a statute are coupled<br /> together, one of which generically includes the<br /> other, the more general term is used in a mean-<br /> ing exclusive of the specific one : (Endl. Interp,<br /> St. sect. 396; Reiche v. Smythe, 13 Wall. 162.)<br /> The reasoning upon which this rule of specific<br /> designation is based is that such designation is<br /> WOL. W.<br /> tions to the Survey of the Literature of the Reign.<br /> expressive of the legislative intention to exclude<br /> the article specifically named from the general<br /> term which might otherwise include it: (Smythe<br /> v. Fiske, 23. Wall. 374, 38o ; Reiche v. Smythe,<br /> 13 Wall. 162, 164.) The English cases cited by<br /> the defendant to the effect that “book” includes<br /> “ musical composition &#039;&#039; are not material in the<br /> present controversy, because the statute law of<br /> the two countries is different. The early English<br /> statute of 8 Anne, c. 19, says, in the preamble,<br /> “books and other writings,” while, in the modern<br /> English statute (5 &amp; 6 Wict. c. 45, s. 2), “book’’<br /> is defined to include various specific things, as<br /> “map, chart, sheet of music,” &amp;c Nor do the<br /> American cases cited (Clayton v. Stone, 2 Paine,<br /> 382, Fed. Cas. No. 2872 ; Scoville v. Toland,<br /> 6 West. Law J. 84, Fed. Cas. No. 12,553; Drury<br /> v. Ewing, I Bond, 540, Fed. Cas. No. 4095) help<br /> the defendant. In none of these cases has the<br /> question ever been determined whether a musical<br /> composition is a book. It must also be<br /> remembered that the question now presented is<br /> not strictly whether a musical composition can<br /> ever be regarded as a book, but whether Congress<br /> meant in the Act of March 3, 1891, to include<br /> musical composition within the terms of the<br /> proviso referred to. Nor do I think the dictionary<br /> definitions of “book” render us much assistance,<br /> because the word is used in so many different<br /> senses. It may refer to the subject-matter, as<br /> literary composition ; or to form, as a number of<br /> leaves of paper bound together; or a written<br /> instrument or document; or a particular sub-<br /> division of a literary composition; or the words<br /> of an opera, &amp;c.<br /> Looking at the natural reading of the statute,<br /> the intent of Congress, and the rules which<br /> govern the construction of statute law, I am of<br /> opinion that the plaintiffs have complied with the<br /> provisions of the Act of March 3, 1891, respect-<br /> ing the three musical compositions complained of,<br /> and that the defendant should be enjoined from<br /> reprinting, publishing, or exposing for sale these<br /> compositions, or any essential part of them, as<br /> prayed for in the Bill.<br /> Injunction granted.<br /> IV.-ContLNUATION BY ANOTHER HAND.<br /> The following advertisement appeared in the<br /> New York Critic : -<br /> MASTERPIECES OF ENGLISH LITERATURE.-Entirely<br /> New and Finely Illustrated Editions.—A History of Our<br /> Own Times, from the Accession of Queen Victoria to the<br /> General Election of 1880. By Justin McCarthy, M.P.<br /> With an Introduction, and Supplementary Chapters bring-<br /> ing the work down to Mr. Gladstone&#039;s Resignation of the<br /> Premiership (March, 1894); with a New Index, and Addi-<br /> By G.<br /> P<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 148 (#162) ############################################<br /> <br /> I48<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> Mercer Adam, author of “A Précis of English History,” &amp;c.<br /> Profusely illustrated with new half-tone portraits of states-<br /> men and littérateurs. 2 vols., 12mo, handsome cloth,<br /> $3.oo; or, in three-quarter calf, $5.00. Popular edition,<br /> 2 vols., 12mo., without illustrations, cloth, $1.50.<br /> This advertisement was forwarded on to the offices<br /> of the Society by Mr. Justin McCarthy, M.P.<br /> Mr. McCarthy is indignant, and very naturally so,<br /> at the course the American publishers have<br /> thought fit to adopt, and all persons who are<br /> interested in the maintenance of literary property<br /> will no doubt support Mr. McCarthy&#039;s view as<br /> strongly.<br /> The work was published prior to the American<br /> Copyright Act, and therefore fell a lawful prey to<br /> the American reproducer.<br /> It has been selling in America for some years<br /> past in a cheap paper-bound edition.<br /> The author may perhaps have felt hurt that a<br /> work, the outcome of his brain, should be so<br /> freely circulated without bringing him in any-<br /> thing, but in those days, when books were pub-<br /> lished in England, the author produced his work<br /> with his eyes open to the possible consequences.<br /> But here insult has been added to injury, and<br /> Mr. McCarthy’s work has not only been appro-<br /> priated, but has also received the honour of an intro-<br /> duction, and several additional chapters to bring<br /> it up to date, from the pen of G. Mercer Adam.<br /> Surely it would have been an easy and<br /> courteous matter for the publisher to have written<br /> a line to the author or his English publisher to<br /> ask whether he had any views as to the continua-<br /> tion of the work. -<br /> Neither Messrs. Chatto and Windus nor Mr.<br /> McCarthy have had a line of notice, and the<br /> advertisement of the book in its present American<br /> form was the first intimation of what had taken<br /> lace.<br /> It is needless to say that there is no legal<br /> remedy, as the pnblishers have in their adver-<br /> tisement fully owned up to the additional chapters<br /> and their authorship. If this had not been done,<br /> but the work with added matter had been<br /> published under Mr. McCarthy&#039;s name—a pro-<br /> ceeding which has been known to take place with<br /> the works of other English authors—he might,<br /> perhaps, have had, some remedy under the<br /> American case quoted in last month&#039;s Author,<br /> p. 117, and the question might have been discussed<br /> under the law of trade marks and misleading the<br /> public.<br /> It is not worth while going into this side of the<br /> question, as even this point is doubtful. The<br /> American publisher has avoided this difficulty by<br /> openly avowing the facts. .<br /> But the unfortunate author, who has for some<br /> time been meditating the completion of his work,<br /> has had the American market taken away from<br /> him.<br /> Since the above was written Mr. McCarthy’s<br /> publishers, Messrs. Chatto and Windus, have<br /> received a letter from the American publisher,<br /> printed below. This letter bears out all the<br /> points put forward above, and explains how little<br /> regard is shown for the author and originator of<br /> a work, and how little thought or care may be<br /> bestowed upon the simple and familiar process<br /> of using for a man’s own profit the work of<br /> another man&#039;s brain—especially when there is<br /> no fear of legal consequences.<br /> Oct I I, 1894.—Dear Sirs, I am in receipt of your letter<br /> of the 1st. Oct., and am somewhat surprised that your<br /> remonstrance on behalf of the author of the “History of<br /> Our Own Times” should be addressed to us for issuing a<br /> continuation of the work. There are any number of editions<br /> of this work, which is not copyrighted, published in this<br /> country, and, therefore, it appears to me your remonstrance<br /> for continuing a non-copyright work is extremely ill-founded.<br /> Had I known that Mr. McCarthy intended to write a con-<br /> tinuation of his work, I should, of course, have been much<br /> pleased to have negotiated with him or his publishers for the<br /> American copyright, but under all the circumstances I can-<br /> not think that I have dome either him or you such an injury<br /> as entitles you to write me in the way you have, and I remain,<br /> —Yours very truly, CHARLEs W. Gould, Receiver.—<br /> Messrs. Chatto and Windus.<br /> -*--~~~~~<br /> --------<br /> LETTER FROM PARIS.<br /> AM writing this on the eve of my return to<br /> Paris, in a room full of the disorders of<br /> departure. The weather is so fine that it<br /> might be July rather than mid-October, and the<br /> sea is still very tempting for long and hazardous<br /> swims. But the vines are all leafless in my<br /> garden, and in the fields around the Indian corn<br /> has been harvested ; and, after all, as go one must,<br /> it is better to leave the country with a good im-<br /> pression and under smiling circumstances, than to<br /> outstay Nature&#039;s welcome and see in the farewell<br /> moment, a sullen face.<br /> “It is two days since we returned to Paris, and<br /> though my Parisienne is delighted to find her-<br /> self in her town once more, my little Edmée<br /> and I continue to regret the golden horizons of<br /> our peaceful Champrozay.” So writes Alphonse<br /> Daudet to me. In the same letter he says that he<br /> wishes to converse with me about “la perfide<br /> Albion,” which he has never seen, but wishes to<br /> visit before he “passes his rifle to the left.” I<br /> should not be surprised if, as a result of our con-<br /> versation, he were to pay a visit to England ere<br /> long.<br /> In looking over Daudet’s “Lettres de Mon<br /> Moulin’” the other day, I came across a quotation<br /> from his favourite Montaigne, which he applies<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 149 (#163) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I49<br /> to his friend the Provençal poet, Mistral. It<br /> occurred to me that the advice is so good, that for<br /> those of our readers who do not know, it may well<br /> be here reproduced : “Souvienne-vous de celuy<br /> à qui comme on demandoit à quoy faire il se<br /> peinoit si fort, en un art qui me powvoit venir à la<br /> cogmoissance de guére des gens. J&#039;en ay assez de<br /> peu, repondict-il. J&#039;en ay assez d’un. J&#039;em ay<br /> assez de pas un.” No better consolation could be<br /> found by the man of letters, who, doing his best,<br /> does not secure a success of popularity. But he<br /> must do his best. He must peiner fort.<br /> A group of distinguished Frenchmen were the<br /> other day discussing in my presence the young<br /> littérateur of to-day, who, after setting forth<br /> some great idea for a book, will add, with a sigh,<br /> “If only some publisher would give me an order<br /> for it.” It never occurs to him to write the book,<br /> for the sake of writing it, with the conviction<br /> that when written it will surely find both a pub-<br /> lisher and a public.<br /> We were all surprised to read Mallarmé&#039;s name<br /> in connection with the proposal that the State<br /> should inherit all lapsed copyrights and republish<br /> books for the general profit. Surprised, because<br /> of all living men of letters, Stephane Mallarmé is<br /> perhaps the one who has ever least troubled<br /> about the property side of literature. His own<br /> magnificent writings he printed at his own<br /> expense, in a most luxurious fashion, for himself<br /> and a very few friends. He has probably never<br /> received a sum of forty pounds, all reckoned,<br /> from the publishers.<br /> The proposal seems an ill-considered one.<br /> Fancy what a bitter stepmother the State, moved<br /> by odious political considerations, would be<br /> towards the work of certain authors. The power<br /> granted by this proposal, if it were carried into<br /> effect, would be tantamount to one of life and<br /> death, and the immortality, after which most<br /> writers strive as their highest and best reward,<br /> would be at the disposal of Government officials.<br /> With what glee would these censors condemn<br /> to obscurity the works of all those whose opinions<br /> clashed with the opinions which the Government<br /> desired to promulgate, and how lavishly would<br /> the writings of Prudhomme and Company be<br /> spread abroad<br /> One power might, to my thinking, be granted<br /> to the Government, namely, the right of levying<br /> on the profits of those who publish an author&#039;s<br /> works after the copyright in these has become<br /> public property, a trifling sum, sufficient to keep<br /> the grave of this author in decent and respectable<br /> order. If out of all the money which the pub-<br /> lishers have gained by publishing Oliver<br /> Goldsmiths&#039;s works a few pounds had thus been<br /> exacted, London would not to-day have the<br /> WOL. W.<br /> shame of Goldsmith’s abandoned and ruined<br /> grave, which anyone may see in the Temple, and<br /> blush at our English sordidness.<br /> The De Maupassant memorial subscription,<br /> which had never attained a figure in any way com-<br /> mensurate to the very modest requirements of the<br /> committee, was handsomely increased the other<br /> day by a donation of £200, subscribed by a person<br /> who expressed a wish to remain unknown. Poor<br /> De Maupassant seems to have passed into<br /> oblivion. His books are little asked for, and the<br /> dealers in the photographs of celebrities have<br /> ceased to keep his portrait in stock. One dies<br /> fast in these days.<br /> Poor Henry Hermann. He spent some years<br /> in France, and was at one time the collaborator<br /> of D. C. Murray. His forte was in the creation<br /> of plots, but he was less successful in delineation<br /> of character, description, and elaboration. Owing<br /> to an infirmity of the eyes he was forced to<br /> dictate to a secretary, and would grow quite<br /> excited as he dictated. “That’s literature, my<br /> boy,” he would exclaim, after composing some<br /> passage which pleased him particularly. When<br /> I knew him he had fallen on penurious days, and<br /> it was mournful enough to see so old a man, who<br /> had been so liberal in his days of fortune, often<br /> worried for the wherewithal to pay his rent or to<br /> buy his dinner. His courage, his industry, his<br /> cheerfulness of spirits were unflagging, and an<br /> excellent example.<br /> . It occurs to me that we of the Society of<br /> Authors might subscribe the trifling sum neces-<br /> sary for restoring Goldsmith’s grave. The whole<br /> expense would barely exceed £20, so that one<br /> hundred admirers, at four shillings each, could put<br /> the matter right. -<br /> I was interested in Mr. Hill&#039;s suggestion for a<br /> new form of paper for the typewriter, because a<br /> few days before the Author for last month came<br /> into my hands I had had exactly the same idea.<br /> I admit that I had not thought of the double<br /> roller for duplicating purposes. On reflection,<br /> however, I had come to the conclusion that the<br /> loss of time in cutting the length of paper, after<br /> it had been written on, into suitable takes, would<br /> be greater than the time lost at present in filling<br /> the machine with the sheets as supplied by the<br /> manufacturers. Certainly for the writer who<br /> prides himself on great production it would be<br /> pleasant, on rising from his machine, to see<br /> coiled on the floor, say eight yards of copy, but<br /> the coils might be cumbersome, and I can even<br /> imagine a fin de siècle Laocoon writhing in the<br /> embrace of a paper serpent. As it is, the type-<br /> writer produces too fast for a man to use it for<br /> his best work, and it is only by careful revision that<br /> typewritten copy can be made fairly prºble<br /> P<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 150 (#164) ############################################<br /> <br /> 150 THE<br /> AUTHOR.<br /> One would accordingly prefer to hear of the inven-<br /> tion of a drag or break to check its speed. At<br /> times, certainly, where speed is the requisite, the<br /> machine renders excellent service. One remembers<br /> T. P. O&#039;Connor’s “Life of Parnell,” which was<br /> produced so quickly; and I myself, on a day when<br /> I was very hard pressed, achieved 25,000 words<br /> of a translation in twelve hours.<br /> Léon Daudet’s “Les Morticoles &#039;&#039; is now in its<br /> seventeenth edition, of a thousand copies to the<br /> edition. This mean £400 to the good already,<br /> apart from royalties to come, both from further<br /> editions and from republication in the provincial<br /> papers. As Léon is only twenty-seven years of<br /> age he may be said to have enjoyed exceptional<br /> good fortune. I know of no French writer of<br /> standing whose début can, in point of success, be<br /> compared to his. We will not speak of Xavier de<br /> Montépin, who from the age of twenty mever<br /> made less than two thousand a year, because we<br /> do not consider him a writer.<br /> A circumstance of which we English may be<br /> proud is that of all foreign novelists it is our<br /> great George Meredith who is most esteemed by<br /> the French. I don’t mean to say that his works<br /> have a large sale in France, but I can vouchsafe<br /> the fact that the cultured who know English have<br /> his books, and that those who cannot read English<br /> are always glad to hear him discussed. His name<br /> is constantly referred to in the literary papers, and<br /> he is very evidently an influence in France. Does<br /> George Meredith know this P. There is also great<br /> curiosity about Thomas Hardy, and at the<br /> Authors’ Club dinner to M. Zola last year, Zola<br /> told me that he should advise Charpentier to<br /> arrange for a French translation of Hardy’s<br /> works. I believe that a French publisher who<br /> would produce a cheap edition of translations from<br /> our best English authors would make money.<br /> The French are sick of pornography, and are<br /> hungering for more solid fare. Young Léon&#039;s<br /> success is a proof of this. Unfortunately the<br /> French writers who know English so perfectly as<br /> to be able to give an adequate version of Meredith<br /> say, or Hardy, are very few ; on the other hand,<br /> French publishers do not care to pay anything<br /> like a fair price for translation. Eight pounds,<br /> or, in a liberal moment, ten, are considered a fair<br /> price for translating an ordinary novel. Hachette<br /> bought “David Copperfield” for twenty pounds,<br /> and paid the translator a similar sum, and this<br /> was a great event in hackdoms<br /> Translating is good exercise for writers who<br /> are afflicted with the knowledge of other<br /> languages than their own. I use the word<br /> “afflicted ” advisedly, for it is an established fact<br /> that the linguist never writes his own language<br /> as well as the writer who knows no other tongue<br /> *-- -<br /> He loses the sense of value of words, he falls into<br /> curious constructions, and may even, unconsciously<br /> be guilty of laches in grammar. In translating he<br /> has to pull himself together, to strive after the<br /> genius of his own tongue, to remember its charac-<br /> teristics, forgotten in the Babel of his brain.<br /> Amongst recent publications I notice a volume<br /> of essays by Maurice Barrés, chez Charpentier.<br /> It is entitled “Du Sang, de la Volupté et de la<br /> Mort.” Well, well, well<br /> RoBERT H. SHERARD.<br /> *-- ~ *<br /> “DISCOUNT PRICES.” IN 1852.<br /> HE frugal book-buyer will have noticed that<br /> for some time past attempts have been<br /> made by publishers, not by any means of<br /> the smaller sort, to abolish the system of “dis-<br /> count prices.” This question is not to be re-<br /> garded as a formal business detail, affecting “the<br /> trade ’’ alone, it is closely connected with authors’<br /> and readers’ rights, and it seems not unlikely<br /> that a serious controversy may ensue upon this<br /> movement in the book trade. As the whole<br /> question was raised and discussed some forty<br /> years ago, it may be profitable to follow in some<br /> details the features of the older crisis. The<br /> practice of booksellers giving discount off<br /> publishers&#039; prices was first commented on at<br /> the beginning of this century, and increased with<br /> the improvement in communications, till in 1848<br /> a Booksellers’ Association was formed to counter-<br /> act it. The prime movers in the scheme were<br /> not retail booksellers but publishers, and they<br /> were supported by nearly the whole body of book-<br /> sellers and publishers in London. In July, 1851,<br /> a stringent agreement was entered into ; the sub-<br /> scribing publishers, bound themselves to supply<br /> books at trade price to members of the Asso-<br /> ciation only; the booksellers agreed not to give<br /> more than IO per cent. discount to private<br /> Customers, or 15 per cent. to book societies. The<br /> trade discount being admittedly 33 per cent. on<br /> an average, it is evident that a considerable pro-<br /> fit was left for the booksellers. Anyone offending<br /> systematically against the regulations was to be<br /> expelled. The rule worked laxly from the first,<br /> for on the one hand members put a loose inter-<br /> pretation on the word systematically, and gave as<br /> much as 20 per cent. discount to large purchasers,<br /> without incurring the displeasure of the Associa-<br /> tion. Occasionally, however, the severest<br /> measures were taken against offending mem-<br /> bers, and, finally, one case threw the whole<br /> of the trade into a ferment. One member, an<br /> importer of American books, thought it would be<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 151 (#165) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 151<br /> *:<br /> more profitable, instead of disposing of his wares<br /> to “the trade” at the customary large discount,<br /> to sell directly to the public, charging them cost<br /> price, plus a percentage for profits. The matter<br /> was taken up by the Association, and the member,<br /> proving contumacious, was expelled (Jan. 1852).<br /> In his fall, however, he had with him the<br /> sympathies of the public and of part of the<br /> trade. Hereupon a fierce newspaper war sprung<br /> up, the Times and the Westminster Review<br /> particularly taking up the cause of the rebellious<br /> Associates in the public interest. Such was the<br /> heat of the quarrel that the “trade” became<br /> anxious, for their own sakes, to patch it up, and<br /> : was resolved to submit the matter to arbitra-<br /> 1Oll.<br /> Lord Campbell, George Grote, and Dean<br /> Milman were selected as arbitrators “for the<br /> purpose of deciding whether the Booksellers&#039;<br /> Association should be carried on under its then<br /> regulations or not, it being understood that the<br /> decision of Lord Campbell and the other literary<br /> gentlemen should be binding on the Committee,<br /> who agreed, if the decision were adverse, to<br /> convene the trade and resign their functions”<br /> (April 8).<br /> The arbitrators first met on the 15th of<br /> the same month, but the Association had it all<br /> its own way on that occasion, their opponents<br /> absenting themselves on the ground that they<br /> had been summoned only at the last moment;<br /> or, in some cases, that compromise was out of the<br /> Question. Lord Campbell refusing to sum up when<br /> only one side had been heard, the meeting was<br /> adjourned till May 17. Meanwhile, on May 8, a<br /> meeting was held at the rebellious member&#039;s house,<br /> with Charles Dickens in the chair, in opposition to<br /> the Association, when Lord Campbell, George Grote,<br /> and Dean Milman were selected as arbitrators<br /> (April 8). The Times report of this meeting is<br /> curious to read. The great novelist, in opening the<br /> proceedings, said that at first he had been disin-<br /> clined to associate himself with the agitation, as<br /> it appeared to be purely a booksellers&#039; question,<br /> but that he had acceded, seeing that a<br /> principle was at stake on which he felt very<br /> strongly : “that every man should have free<br /> exercise of his thrift and enterprise.”<br /> Mr. Babbage (the “tabulator,”) appeared as the<br /> champion of “Manchester Chum,” and wanted to<br /> know why books should be excepted from the<br /> beneficent operation of Free Trade, and moved a<br /> resolution accordingly. Tom Taylor, “speaking as<br /> a book-worm, a mere consumer of books, inclined<br /> to think that the booksellers must follow the<br /> farmers, and give in to Free Trade. Professor<br /> Owen, seconded by Professor Lankester, put a<br /> resolution, which was unanimously passed, that the<br /> regulation of retail prices acted unfavourably by<br /> adding to the already high prices of books on<br /> science, which have a limited circulation. George<br /> Cruikshank had no practical suggestion to make,<br /> he merelv enjoined peace and goodwill.<br /> Mr. Dickens&#039; letter, conveying the resolutions,<br /> was laid before the arbitrators, when proceedings<br /> were resumed to listen to the case against the<br /> Association.<br /> The able summing-up of Lord Campbell on<br /> behalf of the arbitrators affords a convenient<br /> summary of the views prevalent on either side.<br /> He thought the regulations enforced by the<br /> Association to be primá facie unreasonable, since<br /> to fix the price at which the retailer was to sell<br /> was a derogation from the right of ownership<br /> which he had acquired. Again, the regulations<br /> were said to be voluntary, but he believed, and<br /> had been assured by correspondents among the<br /> retailers, that they were not effective without<br /> coercion, which took the form of refusing to<br /> supply to non-members, and thus preventing<br /> them from earning a living. The advocates of<br /> the existing system had admitted that in order<br /> to prove the justice of the regulations, it would<br /> have to be shown that bookselling was different<br /> from other trades, and had attempted this by<br /> saying that the authors were protected (by the<br /> Copyright Acts) and so should the dealers be.<br /> Lord Campbell pointed out that the only pro-<br /> tection given to authors was that which the law.<br /> gave to property of every description. What<br /> weighed most with him, he said, was the peculiar<br /> mode in which the wares in the book trade was<br /> distributed. There was, no doubt, a great advan-<br /> tage to literature in the existence of respectable<br /> book shops all over the country, and, doubtless,<br /> their practice of having books in stock for<br /> inspection, which under a system of unlimited<br /> competition they might not be able to keep up,<br /> often produced purchases that would otherwise<br /> not have been thought of. He hoped, however,<br /> that the lessening of profits would be accom-<br /> panied by enhanced sales, and so by greater<br /> prosperity in the trade. It had also been asserted<br /> that although the removal of the regulations<br /> might not affect the sale of works by well-known<br /> writers, “that the meritorious, but second-rate,<br /> could not without a law against underselling, be<br /> ushered into the world.” Even so, said Lord<br /> Campbell, we should deny the justice of aiding<br /> dull men at the expense of men of genuis. -<br /> “For these reasons,” said the arbitrators, “we<br /> think that the attempt to allege the alleged<br /> exceptional nature of the commerce in books has<br /> failed, and that it ought to be no longer carried on<br /> under present regulations. We do not intend to<br /> affirm, however, that excessive profits are received<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 152 (#166) ############################################<br /> <br /> I 52<br /> THE AUTHOIR.<br /> in any branch of the bookselling trade. . . .<br /> We likewise wish it to be distinctly understood<br /> that our disapproval of the “regulations °<br /> extends only to the pretension of the publisher<br /> to dictate the terms on which the retail book-<br /> seller shall deal in his own shop, and to the means<br /> adopted for enforcing the prescribed minimum<br /> price. They add further: “The publishers are<br /> not bound to trust anyone whom they believe to<br /> be sacrificing his wares by reckless underselling.”<br /> Within ten days from this decision the associa-<br /> tion was dissolved, and the practice of giving 2d.<br /> in the shilling discount for cash became imme-<br /> diately widespread. It seems not improbable that<br /> the facility thus afforded was one of the prime<br /> factors in the weakening of the credit system,<br /> which up till then held nearly all retail transac-<br /> tions in its enervating grasp.<br /> *- - -<br /> NOTES AND NEWS,<br /> R. SHERARD in his Letter from Paris<br /> suggests that the members of the Society<br /> should themselves subscribe to repair the<br /> tomb of Goldsmith. He estimates that £20 would<br /> cover the expense. If members between them<br /> will guarantee that sum an estimate shall be<br /> made. Perhaps a single member would be willing<br /> to pay the whole amount—it is not a great sum—<br /> and it would be a service to the honour of<br /> literature. Perhaps twenty would guarantee one<br /> pound each. Anyhow, I hereby invite the readers<br /> of the Author to send me a promise, not a cheque,<br /> of so much if necessary; and then I will try to<br /> ascertain what is wanted to be done and what it<br /> would cost, and whether the new Master of the<br /> Temple would give his consent to the thing<br /> being done in this way.<br /> It is late to speak of Oliver Wendell Holmes.<br /> But it is impossible for the Author to appear,<br /> even three weeks after his death, without a word.<br /> Our words shall not be many. Holmes was one<br /> of the very few authors who enjoyed the personal<br /> love of all his readers. Greater writers there<br /> are still living—greater poets, greater novelists,<br /> greater essayists. There are none who live so<br /> deeply in the affections of their readers. This<br /> kind of influence is a gift; it cannot be acquired<br /> or learned, or imitated. How many—how few—<br /> living writers possess this gift P. In Holmes’s<br /> Case it was accompanied, or caused, by a<br /> singularly sunny and cheerful disposition. He<br /> neither spoke ill, nor thought ill, of anybody.<br /> The little spitefulnesses which so largely enter<br /> into the literature of many writers, and effectually<br /> deprive them of personal charm, were entirely<br /> wanting in Holmes. He was the Goldsmith of<br /> his age. -**-*-<br /> The following is from the biography of Froude<br /> in the Times of Oct. 22 : -<br /> “Froude could not refrain from a<br /> few incidental thrusts at the insincerity which,<br /> according to him, is the besetting sin of the<br /> clergy of all denominations. It so happened<br /> that just about this time his friend and brother-<br /> in-law, Charles Kingsley, was resigning the chair<br /> of Modern History at Cambridge, and in his<br /> farewell discourse denounced historians for their<br /> partisanship, carelessness, and habitual mis-<br /> representation. The opportunity was too good<br /> to be lost, and an academical wit, said to be the<br /> present Bishop of Oxford, circulated some lines<br /> here which, though well remembered in University<br /> circles, have not often been printed, and may<br /> therefore be quoted here:—<br /> While Froude assures the Scottish youth<br /> That persons do not care for truth,<br /> The Reverend Canon Kingsley cries<br /> “All history&#039;s a pack of lies.”<br /> What cause for judgment so malign f<br /> A little thought may solve the mystery;<br /> For Froude thinks Kingsley a divine,<br /> And Kingsley goes to Froude for history.”<br /> The following verses have also been recovered<br /> by the writer of the paper in the Times. They<br /> are by Froude, and appeared in Fraser&#039;s<br /> Magazine for May, 1862. They were written<br /> to his wife:—<br /> Sweet hand that held in mine,<br /> Seems the one thing I cannot live without,<br /> The soul’s own anchorage in this storm and doubt,<br /> I take them as the sign.<br /> Of sweeter days in store,<br /> For life and more than life when life is done,<br /> And thy soft pressure leads me gently on<br /> To Heaven’s own Evermore.<br /> I have not much to say,<br /> Nor any words that fit such fond request;<br /> Let my blood speak to them, and hear the rest,<br /> Some silent heartward way.<br /> Thrice blest the sacred hand,<br /> Which saves e&#039;en while it blesses; hold me fast;<br /> Let me not go beneath the floods at last,<br /> So near the better land.<br /> Sweet hand that stays in mine,<br /> Seems the one thing I cannot live without,<br /> My heart&#039;s one anchor in life’s storm and doubt,<br /> Take this and make me thine.<br /> I suppose that, if the modern school of history<br /> is right, the whole of English history will have<br /> to be re-written, thanks to the newly recovered or<br /> newly studied documents. The re-writing of<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 153 (#167) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I 53<br /> history will afford excellent occupation to a good<br /> many scholars now in their cradles. When one<br /> considers the immense accumulations of other<br /> historical documents — cuneiform bricks and<br /> tablets, inscriptions in all languages under the<br /> sun, letters, legal instruments, diaries, memoirs,<br /> and autobiographies, it is clear that all history<br /> will have to be re-written. As the public<br /> libraries will then be numbered by thousands,<br /> and as every library will have to take a copy of<br /> every new history, it is certain that the historian&#039;s<br /> lot will not be an unhappy one. Froude may<br /> cease, under these circumstances, to be an<br /> historical authority: so also may Macaulay,<br /> Freeman, and several others. But Froude will<br /> not cease to be a model of fine, picturesque, and<br /> vigorous English.<br /> There was a very pretty paper in the Spectator<br /> of Oct. 20th, called “The Literary Advantages of<br /> Weak Health.” The title was clumsy. It should<br /> have been called “The Bridle of Theages.” This<br /> bridle—as those who have read Plato&#039;s Dialogues<br /> ought to know—was the ill-health which kept<br /> Theages, the friend of Socrates, out of politics,<br /> and constrained him to follow philosophy. On this<br /> peg the writer points out very carefully how this<br /> same bridle has constrained others besides Theages<br /> to lead the retired life of meditation and experi-<br /> ment. Among those thus bridled he mentions<br /> Darwin, Pusey, J. A. Symonds among writers of<br /> our time; and of past time, Virgil, Horace, Pope,<br /> Johnson, Schiller, Heine, Pascal.<br /> hand, Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Dryden, Milton,<br /> Scott, Tennyson were all men of healthy consti-<br /> tutions, and even more than the average strength.<br /> It is certain that a sickly frame does not make a<br /> good writer: it is also certain that some minds<br /> work better in the retirement which ill-health<br /> forces upon one, and the excitement of society<br /> and social engagements cannot be good either for<br /> one who pursues philosophy or for one who<br /> cultivates imagination. One would not desire the<br /> Bridle of Theages; still, if it is laid upon our<br /> shoulders, we may remember how it has been<br /> used by some as a stimulus for work.<br /> America has her monuments sacred to literary<br /> associations, and America, like England, is fond of<br /> pulling them down and destroying them. The<br /> cottage in which Edgar Allan Poe lived and<br /> worked, at Fordham, is for sale with its grounds.<br /> It is laid out in “4% city lots”—eligible lots,<br /> because they are “on one of the main thorough-<br /> fares of the ‘Greater New York,&#039; within three<br /> minutes&#039; walk of the railroad and the electric<br /> line, less than half an hour from Grand Central<br /> Depôt, and in the midst of a growing popula-<br /> On the other<br /> tion.” The whole has been offered to a certain<br /> literary man for 3500 dollars cash and 30OO<br /> dollars mortgage. The literary man unfortu-<br /> nately does not see his way to buy it.<br /> A suggestion has been made in the New York<br /> Critic that it would be a graceful thing for<br /> editors of magazines to bring out occasionally a<br /> “ consolation’ number, containing only papers<br /> which had been rejected. But unless the<br /> “consolation’’ number was of colossal dimensions<br /> there would be no consolation, except to a few<br /> dozen—and what are they among so many ?<br /> They are an experimental people in Chicago.<br /> They have started a publishing firm, of which<br /> the directors are called “Author-Publishers,” a<br /> double-barrelled name, which may mean either<br /> that they are authors as well as publishers, or<br /> that they are publishers of authors. We wait<br /> for information on this point; also on the special<br /> merits and methods of these publishers. But<br /> they have certainly improved on our methods,<br /> because they announce themselves as their own<br /> literary agents. They conduct a literary bureau,<br /> in which they offer to read, correct, and criticise<br /> MSS.; to select—i.e., we suppose, to invent—<br /> plots and dramatic situations; to aid in securing<br /> publishers—other than themselves?—to explain<br /> the meaning of agreements, cost of production,<br /> royalties, &amp;c.; to look after copyright, and other<br /> useful things. In these pages I have always<br /> given my advice in favour of getting the business<br /> arrangements done by competent and trustworthy<br /> agents. Therefore one cannot but wish success<br /> to this agency. But that such an agency should<br /> form part of a publishing business is quite a new<br /> departure.<br /> The following from the Century Magazine is a<br /> dream of Poe concerning the future of magazines.<br /> He does not venture to dream of a circulation of<br /> more than 20,000. Yet it was a fine dream:—<br /> Before quitting the Messenger I saw, or fancied I saw,<br /> through a long and dim vista, the brilliant field for ambition<br /> which a magazine of bold and noble aims presented to him<br /> who should successfully establish it in America. I perceived<br /> that the country, from its very constitution, could not fail<br /> of affording in a few years a larger proportionate amount of<br /> readers than any upon the earth. I perceived that the<br /> whole emergetic, busy spirit of the age tended wholly to<br /> magazine literature—to the curt, the terse, the well-timed,<br /> and the readily diffused, in preference to the old forms of<br /> the verbose and ponderous and the inaccessible. I knew<br /> from personal experience that lying perdu among the<br /> innumerable plantations in our vast Southern and Western<br /> countries were a host of well-educated men peculiarly devoid<br /> of prejudice, who would gladly lend their influence to a<br /> really vigorous journal, provided the right means were taken<br /> of bringing it fairly within the very limited scope of their<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 154 (#168) ############################################<br /> <br /> I 54<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> observation. Now, I knew, it is true, that some scores of<br /> journals had failed (for, indeed, I looked upon the best<br /> success of the best of them as failure), but then I easily<br /> traced the causes of their failure in the impotency of their<br /> conductors, who made no scruple of basing their rules of<br /> action altogether upon what had been customarily done<br /> instead of what was now before them to do, in the greatly<br /> changed and constantly changing condition of things. In<br /> short, I could see no real reason why a magazine, if worthy<br /> the name, could not be made to circulate among 20,000<br /> subscribers, embracing the best intellect and education of<br /> the land. This was a thought which stimulated my fancy<br /> and my ambition. The influence of such a journal would be<br /> vast indeed, and I dreamed of honestly employing that<br /> influence in the sacred cause of the beautiful, the just, and<br /> the true. Even in a pecuniary view, the object was a<br /> magnificent one. The journal I proposed would be a large<br /> octavo of 128 pages, printed with bold type, single column,<br /> on the finest paper; and disdaining everything of what is<br /> termed “embellishment” with the exception of an occasional<br /> portrait of a literary man, or some well-engraved wood<br /> design in obvious illustration of the text. Of such a journal<br /> I had cautiously estimated the expenses. Could I circulate<br /> 20,000 copies at $5, the cost would be about $30,000,<br /> estimating all contingencies at the highest rate. There<br /> would be a balance of $70,000 per annum.<br /> -º-º-º-º-<br /> Are we really returning to our old love—fair<br /> Poesy P. It almost seems so. Edition after<br /> edition comes out of certain young poets—Le<br /> Gallienne, Norman Gale, John Davidson, and a<br /> few others. A few years ago they would have<br /> had to pay for the production of their verse. Now,<br /> it is to be hoped, the payment is on the other<br /> side. It may be that the editions are very<br /> small—anything else “may be ;” one thing remains<br /> certain—that there is a revival of interest in new<br /> poetry; new poets are talked about ; as for the<br /> standard of modern verse, that is certainly high ;<br /> it is to the credit of poets born in a less happy<br /> time that they have handed down the lamp<br /> trimmed and burning bright. Is it necessary,<br /> one would ask, always to speak of young poets as<br /> “minor poets P” Surely a great poet is not neces-<br /> sarily one who produces long poems. The young<br /> men do seem to confine themselves almost entirely<br /> to short poems; but if these short poems can be<br /> placed beside those of a “great &#039;&#039; poet, without<br /> suffering from the comparison, surely they them-<br /> selves must also be great. Certainly I have read<br /> poems by one young poet at least which seemed<br /> to me worthy of being placed beside anything.<br /> Miss Frances Power Cobbe, in her book of<br /> recollections, speaks of the limitations of literary<br /> influence. She was disappointed at the apparent<br /> failure of her books and papers—all of which had<br /> a purpose—to move the hearts of people. What<br /> are the limitations, if any, of literary influence #<br /> Carlyle, for instance, has had an amazing in-<br /> fluence upon the thought of the last fifty years.<br /> His only limitation was in himself. He had a<br /> message; he proclaimed it; then proclaimed it<br /> again and again in book after book. When he<br /> went outside that message nobody heeded him.<br /> Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe exercised an<br /> enormous influence over the whole English-<br /> speaking world. The reason was that her book<br /> was opportune; it came at a moment when every-<br /> body was thinking and talking of the slavery<br /> question. Sir John Seeley has exercised an<br /> enormous influence, first in placing old truths<br /> in new language, and next in making people<br /> realise the growth and the grandeur of the<br /> empire. The only limitation to his influence is<br /> himself. So long as he has a thing to teach, we<br /> shall listen. He gained that influence solely by<br /> showing in his books that he was a teacher. There<br /> is, in fact, no limitation at all to literary influence.<br /> It is only the first step that is troublesome. One<br /> has to persuade the world to listen, and one has<br /> to be provided with something to teach the world.<br /> This done, the rest is easy, and there is no bound<br /> whatever to the extent of the influence which<br /> follows. Of course, there is another point. The<br /> teaching must be adapted to the time and to the<br /> people. He who would preach Carlyleism in the<br /> eighteenth century would presently sit down with<br /> the sadness of one who feels that it really is no<br /> use going on. And if “Uncle Tom&#039;s Cabin’” had<br /> appeared in 1750, nobody would have read a work<br /> so low and grovelling. Then, if one is not a<br /> prophet, what is the good of advocating, preach-<br /> ing, or arguing P Because it is always useful to<br /> keep on teaching, however poorly or unsuccess-<br /> fully, the things that people should learn,<br /> because many things can only be taught by<br /> long and patient repetition, and by many teachers<br /> in different ways. And, again, no writer can<br /> estimate or learn the influence which his own<br /> work has possessed. Therefore, one may harm-<br /> lessly assume that it has been world-wide, and<br /> go on happy in that belief.<br /> =ººº-<br /> Another literary association. It is called the<br /> “Rose Club,” and it owns an organ called “The<br /> Briar Rose,” which appears every three months.<br /> Members are privileged to send in three papers<br /> every year for the editor&#039;s inspection and criti-<br /> cism. A critical notice of members’ papers will<br /> be published with every issue of “The Briar<br /> Rose.” Members lucky enough to be accepted<br /> are paid at the rate of two guineas for a story,<br /> and one guinea for an essay. The first number of<br /> “The Briar Rose” contains eighteen pages; two<br /> stories, two essays, and a poem. There are no<br /> critical notices in this number. The club is for<br /> women only.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 155 (#169) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I 55<br /> Whatever Mr. Welch, Librarian to the Cor-<br /> poration of London, says on the subject of Free<br /> Libraries must be received with attention.<br /> Therefore, the whole subject of Free Libraries<br /> being most important and most interesting, I<br /> have printed in another column the report of .<br /> his recent address as given in the Times. For<br /> my own part, I think he fails to recognise the<br /> enormous educational value of fiction. It is from<br /> novels that a very large section of the com-<br /> munity derives its ideas, its standards, its<br /> manners, its respect for literature, art, and<br /> science. The Free Libraries may have been<br /> founded on the conventional theory that every<br /> reader is a student. This is not so ; every tenth<br /> reader—perhaps every hundredth reader—is a<br /> student; the rest are reading for amusement.<br /> If Mr. Welch will look round the circle of his<br /> own acquaintance and friends, how many will he<br /> find who follow a hard day&#039;s work with a hard<br /> evening&#039;s study? Perhaps, none. Why, then, does<br /> he expect or hope to find this phenomenon among<br /> working people P. It is in the power of every<br /> library—it is the duty of every library—to keep<br /> out trash, whether in the shape of novels or any<br /> other kind of literature. But the theory that public<br /> libraries should be maintained for students alone<br /> cannot for a moment be allowed. They are educa-<br /> tional and they are recreative. It is quite as useful<br /> a function for the libraries to provide a hundred<br /> men of the working class with an evening&#039;s<br /> recreation as it is for them to find books of<br /> reference for half a dozen students.<br /> We must reserve until next month the autumn<br /> announcements of American books. This list,<br /> considered with care, will suggest many points of<br /> interest. At present one only may be noted—<br /> the proportion of English to American books. It is<br /> impossible to escape the conclusion that the Copy-<br /> right Act has given a great impetus to American<br /> work. While English work could be had for<br /> nothing, the American author in every branch<br /> was fatally overweighted. This obstacle removed,<br /> we begin to see what we expected—the great bulk<br /> of the literature of the States written by their<br /> own people, and only the exceptionally useful and<br /> popular authors of this country being published<br /> there. This proportion we may expect to find every<br /> year greater in favour of American writers. At<br /> the same time there will be found on both sides<br /> of the Atlantic a great and always increasing<br /> demand for the work of the first and best.<br /> An analysis in advance of the list shows the<br /> following numbers and comparative authorship :<br /> History, thirty-three works; seven by English<br /> writers, twenty-six by American.<br /> Biographies and Memoirs, thirty-four works; ten<br /> by English writers, twenty-four by American.<br /> General Literature, forty-eight works; fourteen<br /> by English writers, thirty-four by American.<br /> Poetry, thirty-four works; seven by English<br /> writers, twenty-seven by American.<br /> Fiction, seventy-seven works; twenty-one by<br /> English writers, fifty-six by American.<br /> Art and Music, thirteen works; four by English<br /> writers, nine by American.<br /> Travel, Adventure, and Description, thirty-three<br /> works; twelve by English writers, twenty-one<br /> by American. -<br /> Education and Text-book, eighty-five works; all<br /> by American editors and writers.<br /> Politics, Sociology, and Law, twenty-one works;<br /> five by English writers, sixteen by American.<br /> Theology and Religion, fifty-two works; sixteen<br /> by English writers, thirty-six by American.<br /> Science and Nature, thirty-six works; three by<br /> English writers, thirty-three by American.<br /> Mechanics and Engineering, twenty works; nine<br /> by English writers, eleven by American.<br /> Medicine and Hygiene, ten works; three by<br /> English writers, seven by American.<br /> Games and Sports, seven works;<br /> English writers, four by American.<br /> WALTER BESANT.<br /> three by<br /> SPRING TIME IN THE WIKING DAYS,<br /> NORWAY.<br /> SPRING and the sun are returning and winter is past; Aoi<br /> The bonds he has flung round the earth are loosened at<br /> last; Aoi<br /> Soft blows the breeze o&#039;er the mountain tops, melting the<br /> Snow ;<br /> Swoln are the rivers and, foaming and frothing, they flow<br /> Seaward. Right weary are we of the land and it&#039;s, Oh<br /> For the creak of the wind in the cordage aloft, and the<br /> flap of the sale by the mast ! Aoi !<br /> Seaward the breezes blow, bidding us idle no more, Aoi !<br /> Curling and flecking with foam-flakes the wide ocean<br /> floor. Aoi !<br /> Earth was our sojourn awhile, but the sea is our<br /> home.<br /> Hark! how he calls us on viking-cruise over the foam,<br /> As, surging and seething, he grinds at the beach. We<br /> will roam,<br /> And our longship no longer shall yearn for the waves,<br /> as she frets high and dry on the shore. Aoi<br /> Gather and run her down over the rollers of pine, Aoi !<br /> Down to the foam-tossing breast of the welcoming brine. Aoi!<br /> Upward to clasp her he flings his white arms in wild glee ;<br /> Downward she plunges, till knee-deep we stand, with<br /> the sea<br /> Laughing and leaping and curling round ankle and knee.<br /> Oh! sweeter the smell of the salt sea-waves than the scent<br /> and the savour of wine ! Aoi !<br /> From “Sagas and Songs of the Norsemen.”<br /> - By ALBANY F. MAJOR<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 156 (#170) ############################################<br /> <br /> I56<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES,<br /> N Thursday evening, Oct. 18th, a meeting<br /> of the Library Association of the United<br /> Kingdom was held at the Mansion-house,<br /> when a paper was read by Mr. Charles Welch,<br /> librarian to the Corporation of London, on “The<br /> Public Library Movement in London; a review<br /> of its progress, and suggestions for its consoli-<br /> dation and extension.” Mr. Richard Garnett,<br /> LL.D., presided, and delegates attended from<br /> numerous public libraries in the metropolis.<br /> Mr. Welch observed that it seemed at first that<br /> London would vie with the great municipalities<br /> in the kingdom in supporting free public libraries,<br /> when, in 1857, only two years after the passing of<br /> Ewart&#039;s principal Act, the parishes of St. Margaret<br /> and St. John, Westminster, united to establish a<br /> public library. Twenty-four years elapsed, how-<br /> ever, before another library was started, this time<br /> by the suburban parish of Richmond, to be<br /> followed by Twickenham in 1882. The year of<br /> her Majesty&#039;s jubilee gave a great impulse to<br /> what had then become a popular movement, and<br /> its subsequent progress inspired the hope that, in<br /> spite of the remarkable obduracy of certain<br /> parishes, the time was not far distant when every<br /> district of our great metropolis would enjoy the<br /> blessing of a well-stored library. Taking the<br /> whole fifty-four divisions of the county of London,<br /> they found that twenty-seven parishes, or divisions,<br /> had established public libraries, while twenty-six<br /> had hitherto declined to do so. In the remaining<br /> district, Southwark, the divisions of St. Saviour<br /> and Christ Church only had established libraries,<br /> the remaining parishes having, up to the present,<br /> held aloof from the movement. The City had<br /> been provided by the Corporation of Londom with<br /> an excellent reference library at Guildhall, and<br /> had also been furnished, by endowment from<br /> the City Parochial Charities Commission, with<br /> three other admirable institutions in Bishops-<br /> gate, Cripplegate, and St. Bride&#039;s, Fleet-<br /> street, to which extensive lending libraries<br /> were to be attached. With reference to the<br /> prejudices in London against the movement,<br /> beyond the question of any increase in<br /> taxation there was a stronger and more deep-<br /> seated objection, which was held very widely<br /> among men of culture and lovers of good litera-<br /> ture and loyal promoters of education. Their<br /> opposition was based, not upon the principle under-<br /> lying free library legislation, but upon its develop-<br /> ments as seen in the present condition and manage-<br /> ment of the public libraries throughout the<br /> country. Having quoted from the debates during<br /> the passage through Parliament of the measure<br /> for establishing free public libraries, he said he<br /> thought it would be clearly evident that the inten-<br /> tion of Mr. Ewart himself, and of his supporters<br /> in Parliament, was to provide for the education<br /> and intellectual advancement of the people<br /> and only in a subsidiary degree for their<br /> “innocent recreation.” At the request, however,<br /> of the editor of London, the librarians of seven-<br /> teen free public libraries in the metropolis made<br /> a return in April last, showing the classes of<br /> books read in the homes of the people. From<br /> this it appeared that the issue of fiction, as com-<br /> pared with other classes of literature reached a<br /> general average of 75 per cent., and in nine<br /> districts over 80 per cent. of the total issues.<br /> In connection with the management of the lending<br /> libraries established under the Free Libraries<br /> Acts in London, they were struck by the fact that<br /> the student had been ousted from his rightful<br /> place by the inordinate favour afforded to the<br /> demands of the general reader and the devourer<br /> of fiction. The principles of management which<br /> had made possible the statistics which he had<br /> brought under their notice had, he was convinced,<br /> alienated from the free library cause in every<br /> district the support of many friends of intel-<br /> lectual progress, and were at present a serious<br /> hindrance to the growth of the movement<br /> in the metropolis. Would it be too much to<br /> ask the novel reader to provide himself with the<br /> current fiction of the day and resort to the library<br /> for the masterpieces of fiction of the present and<br /> bygone times P Should Parliament be approached<br /> for permission to raise the limit of the library rate<br /> to 2d. (a course which he thought seemed most<br /> desirable), any such measures should undoubtedly<br /> be accompanied by a compulsory proviso that a<br /> definite proportion of the amount available for the<br /> purchase of books should be devoted to the pur-<br /> poses of a reference library. The present con-<br /> dition of the free library movement in London,<br /> and the erection of new libraries, which was<br /> continually proceeding in every district, suggested<br /> most strongly the need of some scheme for con-<br /> verting this aggregation of institutions into a<br /> systematic and harmonious system to provide for<br /> the needs of the metropolis as a whole. The<br /> popularity of the two existing free public libraries<br /> —those of the British Museum and the Guildhall<br /> —prove that similar institutions, placed in the<br /> midst of the homes of the people, would prove a<br /> boon of the highest kind. He felt most strongly<br /> that the present haphazard system in which our<br /> London libraries were growing up, owing to the<br /> different extent and circumstances of the various<br /> districts which maintained them, must end in<br /> confusion, perhaps (in some cases) in partial or<br /> complete failure; while, on the other hand, a<br /> well-considered scheme of mutual help and effort,<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 157 (#171) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHO/8.<br /> I 57<br /> the details of which might well be evolved from<br /> a general conference of the metropolitan library<br /> authorities, would result in placing London in a<br /> position second to no city in the world in respect<br /> of facilities for literary reference and research.<br /> —The Times.<br /> *— — —”<br /> AUTUMN ANNOUNCEMENTS.<br /> M*: SAMIPSON LOW AND CO.<br /> announce twenty-five new books, to-<br /> gether with several new volumesin Low’s<br /> Half-Crown Series of Boy’s Books, and a half-a-<br /> crown series of famous books of travel. Among<br /> the new works are “The Life of J. Greenleaf<br /> Whittier,” by S. T. Pickard ; “Lord John<br /> Russell,” by S. J. Reid; “Strange Pages from<br /> Family Papers,” by T. F. Thiselton Dyer; and<br /> fourteen novels.<br /> The Clarendon Press announce forty-seven<br /> new works and editions. These are mostly works<br /> of scholarship and education. Among them is<br /> the final volume of “Realm of India,” “Russell<br /> Colvin,” by Sir Auckland Colvin ; two more<br /> volumes of Professor Skeat&#039;s edition of<br /> Chaucer; two more letters of the New English<br /> Dictionary; and Mr. Hastings Rashdall’s<br /> “ Universities of the Middle Ages.”<br /> Messrs. Rivington, Percival, and Co. announce<br /> thirty-three works, nearly all are educational.<br /> Among them is Canon Taylor&#039;s “Names and<br /> their Histories.”<br /> Messrs. Dent and Co. announce sixteen works,<br /> chiefly reprints and new editions. Among the new<br /> books are “Annals of a Quiet Valley in the<br /> Wordsworth Country,” by Mr. William Watson;<br /> “Overheard in Arcady,” by R. Bridges; and<br /> “Studies in Literature,” by Mr. Wright<br /> Mabie.<br /> Messrs. T. and T. Clark announce ten new<br /> works, all theological.<br /> Messrs. Ward, Lock, and Bowden announce<br /> twelve new books, besides a reprint of Henry<br /> Ringsley&#039;s novels, and a new volume of the<br /> Waverley novels. Among the new books is Mr.<br /> Douglas Sladen’s “On the Cars and Off”; Mr.<br /> Bertram Mitford’s “Curse of Clement Wayn-<br /> flete; ” and Mr. George Meredith’s “Tale of<br /> Chloe.”<br /> Mr. Elkin Mathews announces seventeen new<br /> books, chiefly essays and poems. Among the<br /> authors are Mr. Wedmore, Mr. Lionel Johnson,<br /> Mr. Selwyn Image, Mr. Dowson, Mr. A.<br /> Galton, Mr. S. Hemingway, Mr. Quilter, Mr. W.<br /> B. Yeats, Mr. Rothenstein, Mrs. Radford, Mr.<br /> Bliss Carmen, and Mr. R. Hovey. “Revolted<br /> Woman: Past, Present, and to Come,” is by Mr.<br /> C. G. Harper,<br /> Messrs. Bemrose and Sons announce two<br /> books.<br /> Messrs. W. Blackwood and Sons announce<br /> fifteen new books. Among them are three<br /> biographies and five novels, including two by<br /> Mrs. Oliphant, and the “Son of the Marshes.”<br /> Messrs. Allen announce nine new works, inclu-<br /> ding a book on the “Portuguese in India,” by<br /> F. C. Danvers; on “Buddhism in Thibet,” by<br /> Surgeon-Major Waddell; a Bengali Manual; new<br /> volumes of the Naturalist&#039;s Library; and two<br /> novels.<br /> Messrs. Bliss, Sands, and Foster announce mine<br /> books. There are two novels by Mrs. Caird and<br /> Miss Clementina Black; the continuation of the<br /> “History of the United States Navy,” and a book<br /> on Strikes.<br /> Messrs. Nelson and Sons have eleven new<br /> books, besides new prize books and atlases. The<br /> most important are Dr. Wright&#039;s book on<br /> Palmyra ; a new Concordance to the Bible, by<br /> the Rev. J. B. R. Walker; the “Voyages and<br /> Travels of Capt. Basil Hall,” and five stories.<br /> Messrs. Luzac have four learned works.<br /> Messrs. W. Andrews have seven works, mostly<br /> antiquarian.<br /> Messrs. Warne and Co. announce twenty-six<br /> new editions or new works, without counting<br /> many children’s books. Among the new editions<br /> are the Waverley Novels, “Cameos of Litera-<br /> ture,” which will be a reprint of Knight&#039;s famous<br /> “Half Hours with the best Authors; ”a new library<br /> edition of Wood’s “Dictionary of Quotations; ”<br /> a revised edition of Lears “Nonsense Songs<br /> and Stories; ” and four or five reprints of<br /> novels.<br /> Messrs. Jarrold and Sons announce eleven new<br /> books; additions to certain series; the “Green-<br /> back; ” “Elashes of Romance; ” and “Unknown<br /> Authors; ” uniform editions of the novels of<br /> Helen Mathers and Fergus Hume ; and their<br /> novels outside the series.<br /> Messrs. Skeffington and Co. announce fourteen<br /> books, of which twelve are religious. There are<br /> two novels.<br /> Messrs. Browne and Browne, of Newcastle,<br /> announce a “History of the Chartist Move-<br /> ment.”<br /> In the “Autumn Announcements” of our last<br /> number we attributed to Messrs. Chapman and<br /> Hall the production of fifteen new books. The<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 158 (#172) ############################################<br /> <br /> I58<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> chairman of the company points out that they<br /> are producing thirty-one instead of fifteen new<br /> books. The mistake was caused by the<br /> “announcements” of that firm being entered in<br /> three different columns of the Athenaeum, of<br /> which only one was seen by our compiler.<br /> The complete list of thirty-one is exclusive of<br /> new editions, nor does it include reprints of<br /> “stock” books, such as Dickens, Carlyle, and<br /> Meredith, of which an unusual number are this<br /> year published.<br /> In the October number of the Author it was<br /> stated as remarkable that out of fifty-one books<br /> announced by the Cambridge University Press<br /> there should be not one mathematical or scientific<br /> book among them all. The mathematical and<br /> scientific books were in another list. There are<br /> twenty-four of them. Among them are the<br /> seventh volume of the collected Mathematical<br /> Papers of Arthur Cayley ; the Scientific Papers<br /> of John Couch Adams; a Treatise on Spherical<br /> Astronomy, by Sir Robert Ball; on Electricity<br /> and Magnetism, by Prof. Thomson ; on Hydro-<br /> dynamics, by Prof. Lamb; the tenth volume of<br /> a Catalogue of Scientific Papers, compiled by the<br /> Royal Society of London; the Practical Phy-<br /> siology of Plants, by F. Darwin and E. H. Acton;<br /> on a Practical Morbid Anatomy, by H. O.<br /> Rolleston and A. A. Kanthack ; on the Dis-<br /> tribution of Animals, by F. E. Beddard; on<br /> Physical Anthropology, by Alexander Mac-<br /> alister; and the Elements of Botany, by F.<br /> Darwin.<br /> In this and in the last number of the<br /> Author we have classified the announcements<br /> made in the Athenæum by various publishers of<br /> their autumn books. The list seems somewhat<br /> smaller than that of last year, which was to be<br /> expected from the general depression everywhere<br /> reported. At the same time not so much<br /> shrinkage in production as shrinkage in sales<br /> would be the first result of such a depression.<br /> Almost all the better known names are repre-<br /> sented in the list. For instance, of historians,<br /> Critics, travellers, philosophers, and antiquaries,<br /> we find the names of Canon Atkinson, Rev. Robert<br /> Burn, Justin McCarthy, T. F. Thiselton Dyer,<br /> W. Cunningham, Archdeacon Farrar, J. T.<br /> Jusserand, Dean Hole, Frederick Harrison, Pro-<br /> fessor Freeman, Professor Froude, Professor<br /> Gardiner, Canon Liddon, Max Müller, Professor<br /> Maspero, Henry Norman, Sir Frederick Pollock,<br /> Professor Flinders Petree, Bishop of Peter-<br /> borough, J. Addington Symonds, Sir J. R.<br /> Seeley, Leslie Stephen, Colonel Malleson, John<br /> Westlake, Robertson Smith, Professor Skeat,<br /> Canon Taylor, H. Traill. Among the novelists<br /> and poets there are, among others, Sir Edwin.<br /> Arnold, Mrs. Alexander, F. Barrett, Amelie Barr,<br /> Robert Barr, Walter Besant, William Black,<br /> Clementima Black, R. D. Blackmore, Marion<br /> Crawford, S. R. Crockett, Mrs. Caird, R.<br /> Bridges, Mrs. Charles, Sir H. Cunningham,<br /> Egerton Castle, Sarah Doudney, George du<br /> Maurier, Conan Doyle, G. M. Fenn, Baring<br /> Gould, Edmund Gosse, Dorothea Gerard, R.<br /> Lehmann, G. Meredith, G. MacDonald, Christie.<br /> Murray, John Oliver Hobbes, Anthony Hope,<br /> Mrs. Lynn Linton, Helen Mather, L. Pendered,<br /> W. E. Norris, Gilbert Parker, Standish O&#039;Grady,<br /> “Rita,” Adeline Serjeant, G. A. Sala, Hesba.<br /> Stretton, Sarah Tytler, Stanley Weyman, Douglas<br /> Sladen, William Watson. -<br /> BOOK TALK,<br /> R. R. B. MARSTON&#039;S new work on.<br /> “Walton and the Earlier Fishing<br /> Writers ” (Elliot Stock, The Book<br /> Lover&#039;s Library) will certainly add to his repu-<br /> tation as an authority on the literature of the<br /> angler, and will form an instructive companion<br /> to the magnificent edition of “The Compleat.<br /> Angler,” published by him some years ago.<br /> From A.D. 1420, when Piers, of Fulham, wrote a<br /> curious tract on the subject, through the works<br /> of Dame Juliana Berners, Leonard Mascall<br /> (pioneer of fish culture in England), Blakey,<br /> John Denny, Gervase Markham, William Lawson,<br /> and Cotton, down to the ever-famous work of<br /> “Old Izaak,” Mr. Marston takes his readers<br /> in the pleasantest manner possible. He tells us<br /> that the “Compleat Angler” was published<br /> originally in 1653 at the price of Is. 6d.<br /> What is a first edition worth nowadays P. It<br /> would appear that 3235 is about a fair figure,<br /> though as much as 33 IO has been paid. In 1816.<br /> a “first&quot; could be bought for four guineas As<br /> Mr. Marston pointedly asks, “What will such a<br /> one be worth, say, in 1993 P” Not the least<br /> interesting feature of an extremely interesting<br /> work is the modest preface in which our author<br /> tells us something of his own early days as an<br /> angler, and of his youthful acquaintance with<br /> fishing writers. He also takes the opportunity of<br /> warning would-be collectors against spurious first.<br /> editions, of which he declares that there are many<br /> in the market, mostly “made in Germany.”<br /> Truly a charming work, and one deserving a place<br /> in every fisherman’s library. It is got up with<br /> great care on wide margined paper, and is a<br /> credit to the publisher by whom it is issued.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 159 (#173) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I 59<br /> In another column will be found certain lines<br /> taken from a new volume of verse by a new poet—<br /> Mr. Albany F. Major. The whole volume is full<br /> of strong and spirited verse. We have had<br /> plenty of verse in the minor key, let us welcome<br /> one who can sing of life in action and in battle,<br /> and in enjoyment of both action and battle.<br /> The little book is published by “David Nutt<br /> in the Strand.”<br /> A bard of a lighter kind is Mr. Anthony C.<br /> Deane, who has just republished, under the title of<br /> “Holiday Rhymes,” a collection of very sprightly<br /> verses, which have already appeared in Punch<br /> and many other papers and magazines. It is<br /> as pleasant a collection as one could wish. Mr.<br /> Deane can command laughter, which is a truly<br /> admirable gift; he is always cheerful and always<br /> genial; he can be sarcastic without the least<br /> discoverable touch of bitterness. Greatly to be<br /> envied is the man who can stand outside, look on,<br /> and laugh, and make even the combatants laugh.<br /> Even when Anthony Deane laughs at that sacred<br /> institution, the Author, he can laugh with a<br /> sympathetic light in his eye.<br /> Mrs. Spender&#039;s new novel, “A Modern<br /> Quixote,” has been published by Messrs. Hutch-<br /> inson in three volumes. The same publishers<br /> have issued a cheap edition, at 2s., of her last<br /> novel, “A Strange Temptation.”<br /> Mrs. Edith E. Cuthell’s one volume story—a<br /> yachting story—called “The Wee Widow’s<br /> Cruise,” will be issued by Messrs. Ward and<br /> Downey. Mrs. Cuthell has also written a chil-<br /> dren&#039;s story called “Only a Guardroom Dog.”<br /> which is to be illustrated by Mr. W. Parkinson,<br /> and published by Methuen and Co.<br /> Miss Clara Lemore&#039;s new novel—in three<br /> volumes—called “Penhala, a Wayside Wizard,”<br /> is now ready at all the libraries. It is published<br /> by Hurst and Blackett.<br /> Mr. Standish O&#039;Grady’s Irish romance of the<br /> Elizabethan period, entitled “Red Hugh&#039;s<br /> Captivity,” will begin to run in the weekly Irish<br /> Times in January, 1895.<br /> “What is Education ?” Mr. Walter Wren<br /> asks (Simpkin and Marshall) the question, and<br /> answers it, giving his own ideas on the subject.<br /> Education is, to begin with, a thing personal. No<br /> man can be educated; he can be shown the way<br /> to educate himself, it depends upon himself<br /> whether he ever does become an educated man<br /> For instance, the first law of education is to<br /> notice things; things that you read, things that<br /> you hear, things that you see ; not to pass over<br /> things without understanding them. This then<br /> is education of the body, the mind, and the spirit.<br /> As regards the second. Education of the mind<br /> must do two things—(1) bring out, develop, and<br /> strengthen the powers of the mind, just as a<br /> proper course of training in games and athletics<br /> brings out and strengthens the powers of the<br /> body; and (2) it should teach useful know-<br /> ledge. These notes are worthy of expansion into<br /> a book.<br /> Before closing up his work on the old A.B.C.<br /> Hornbook which is to contain something like two<br /> hundred illustrations, Mr. Andrew Tuer, of the<br /> Leadenhall Press, E.C., asks to be favoured with<br /> notes from those who may remember the horn-<br /> book in use, or who may have in their possession<br /> examples which he has not yet seen Information<br /> about spurious hornbooks, from the sale of which<br /> certain persons are at present said to be reaping<br /> a golden harvest, is also sought. -<br /> John Gladwyn Jebb—Jack Jebb—was not born<br /> in the days of Queen Elizabeth, and he did not<br /> seek the Spanish Main with Drake. He was born<br /> fifty years ago, and he died last year. During<br /> his fifty years of life he had more adventures<br /> than any novelist would dare to invent—not even<br /> Rider Haggard, who writes an introduction to<br /> the Life of Jack Jebb. Indeed, one is astonished<br /> that the novelist did not lay hands on the MS.,<br /> and bring it out with a few additions as a novel.<br /> The hero is wasted and thrown away in a mere<br /> biography. It is, indeed, an astonishing book,<br /> astonishing that in these days so much adventure<br /> and danger should be possible. There is still<br /> hope for the boy who desires the life of danger.<br /> Mexico lies open; and there is Central Africa.<br /> In the former the boy can follow the footsteps<br /> of Jebb ; in the latter, of Selous.<br /> Coulson Kernahan’s “Sorrow and Song” is a<br /> collection of essays originally written for the<br /> Fortnightly Review and other papers, and recast<br /> or re-written for this volume. They are papers<br /> on Heine, Rosetti, Robertson of Brighton, Louise<br /> Chandler Moultrie, and Philip Marston. Mr.<br /> Kernahan is the first writer, so far as I know, to<br /> draw attention to the beauty and purity of Mrs.<br /> Moultrie&#039;s verse. She has the rare poetic touch ;<br /> the thing that can never be imitated, or bor-<br /> rowed, or learned, or stolen. Of living American<br /> poets, Mrs. Moultrie stands in the first rank.<br /> There are not many, indeed, who are worthy to<br /> stand beside her. We neglect the American<br /> poets. Will Mr. Coulson Kinnahan undertake the<br /> pleasing task of presenting to English readers<br /> some who desire to be known in this country as<br /> well as their own P. Among these, for instance,<br /> are R. W. Gilder and Professor Woodberry, both<br /> of whom ought to be better known by us.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 160 (#174) ############################################<br /> <br /> I6O<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I recommend “Baron Verdigris” as a topsy-<br /> turvy book. The author describes it as a romance<br /> of the reversed direction. He shows, in fact, a<br /> new and hitherto undiscovered danger in applied<br /> mathematics. The book is calculated to confirm<br /> in their prejudice all that large class which does<br /> not like “sums.” Speaking as one who does like<br /> sums, especially when they are in “X” and “y,”<br /> I found the book diverting and ingenious, but<br /> was saddened by the reflection that I might my-<br /> self have made similar discoveries.<br /> It is said that the sale of “The Manxman” has<br /> reached the number of 45,000 copies. This is<br /> probably the highest number ever attained in<br /> this country in so short a time by a six shilling<br /> volume. It is, however, surpassed by the sale of<br /> “Trilby’’ in the United States. The number<br /> reached by “Trilby’’ is said to be 100,000. In<br /> the three-volume form, in which it has been<br /> judged expedient to produce it here, it is in great<br /> demand.<br /> The St. James&#039;s Gazette has discovered that<br /> “Adam Bede,” which enjoyed a similar measure of<br /> success, ran through 16,OOO copies in nine months.<br /> The terms offered by Messrs. Blackwood to its<br /> successor were: £2OOO for 4000 copies of three<br /> volumes, 3150 for IOOO at 12s., and £60 for IOOO<br /> at 6s. These terms, the St. James’s Gazette<br /> points out, amount to royalties of 20 to 25 per<br /> cent. To be exact, the royalties are 31%, 25, and<br /> 20 per cent. respectively.<br /> From the same paper we learn that Miss Wills,<br /> daughter of Dr. C. J. Wills, the author of<br /> “Persia as it is,” has written, from personal<br /> experience, a book on Eastern life called “Behind<br /> an Eastern Weil.”<br /> Mr. William Watson’s new volume will be<br /> called “Odes, and other Poems” (John Lane).<br /> William Westall, who is spending the winter<br /> at St. Moritz, in Upper Engadine, and may<br /> remain abroad for a year or two, has placed his<br /> literary interests in the hands of Messrs. A. P.<br /> Watt and Son, to whom all communications<br /> should be addressed.<br /> A short time ago a certain Swiss paper “ran’”<br /> “Josef im Schnei,” an old story by Auerbach,<br /> without making any preliminary arrangement<br /> with the publishers, or intending to pay for<br /> the serial use. But the publishers, getting wind<br /> of the piracy, demanded an honorarium of 200<br /> marks, to which the proprietors of the Swiss<br /> paper demurred ; whereupon the publishers<br /> brought an action against them and obtained<br /> a verdict for 200 francs. The incident is note-<br /> worthy, as showing the advantages to authors<br /> and publishers of international copyright treaties.<br /> Only a few years ago foreign authors had no<br /> protection whatever in Switzerland, their works<br /> could be reproduced without let or licence, and<br /> Swiss newspaper proprietors were not slow to<br /> take advantage of the fact. Some of them still<br /> obtain their feuilleton matter surreptitiously from<br /> foreign sources, and are not always, as in the<br /> present instance, brought to book and made to<br /> pay.<br /> “In Furthest Ind,” by Sydney Grier (Black-<br /> wood and Sons), is a remarkable tour de force by<br /> a young writer, whose work has hitherto been<br /> confined to short stories for the magazines. It is<br /> a finely-conceived romance of travel and adventure<br /> in the latter half of the seventeenth century, as<br /> told by the hero himself in the very language, as<br /> it were, of his own day. Edward Carlyon, whose<br /> father fought and bled for Charles I., goes out to<br /> Surat as a “writer’’ in the East India Company’s<br /> service, and spends twenty years in India, during<br /> which he meets with many strange adventures,<br /> and has more than one hair&#039;s-breadth escape<br /> from a cruel death. Every detail of the story<br /> and its local surroundings seems to have been<br /> studied with infinite care, and worked in with<br /> due regard to the general effect. The interest<br /> is well sustained on the whole, and some,<br /> at least, of the characters—especially Dorothy<br /> —are really alive. And, as one reads on, one<br /> seems to discover in the author&#039;s style a certain<br /> grace and harmony of its own which, as in<br /> “Esmond,” count for much more than a clever<br /> masquerade.<br /> A story which ran as a serial through The<br /> King&#039;s Own is now to be issued in book form<br /> by Parlane and Co., Paisley, under the title of<br /> “Covenanters of Annandale.” The book will be<br /> beautifully illustrated with views of the haunts<br /> of the Covenanters in the hills and glens of<br /> Upper Annandale. A short story, by the same<br /> author, will shortly be published by Hunter and<br /> Co., Edinburgh, as a Christmas booklet. It is<br /> entitled “A Swatch o&#039; Hamespun.” The author,<br /> Agnes Marchbank, has, at present, serials in the<br /> Ladies’ Journal, Scottish Reformer, and the<br /> Plough. A new serial from her pen will<br /> shortly appear in Word and Work (Shaw<br /> and Co., London).<br /> Brig.<br /> One of the most important of the illustrated<br /> books which Mr. George Allen contemplates<br /> issuing this autumn is the limited edition de<br /> luate of Spenser&#039;s “Faerie Queene’’ in large<br /> post quarto form, with illustrations by Mr.<br /> Walter Crane. It is to be published in monthly<br /> parts.<br /> It is a tale of Bothwell<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 161 (#175) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOIR.<br /> I6 I<br /> CORRESPONDENCE.<br /> I. – Nov ELS AT PopULAR PRICEs. – WILKIE<br /> CoLLINs’ OPINION.<br /> N the interesting compilation of novels issued<br /> from the year 1750 to 1860—which appeared<br /> in September&#039;s Author — during the first<br /> forty-two years of this period the ruling price<br /> was 3s. a volume. In those days, them—when, if I<br /> mistake not, there was a heavy duty on paper,<br /> now taken off—this price must actually have<br /> compensated author and publisher. And as the<br /> cost of production must have been more then<br /> than now, with no monster circulating libraries<br /> existing, it must be presumed that the novels in<br /> those days had a large circulation, and were pur-<br /> chased by their readers. At present novels are<br /> borrowed and not bought, on account of their<br /> high price. As readers now must be greatly<br /> in excess of those in the eighteenth century,<br /> it surely must follow, as “the night the<br /> day,” that good fiction at 28., 2s. 6d., and 3s, a<br /> volume would reach the masses, who are forced<br /> to amuse themselves with penny dreadfuls. In<br /> the year 1883 I had a long correspondence with<br /> the late Wilkie Collins on the subject, and I<br /> transcribe one of his letters, which will prove<br /> interesting just now, when one-volume novels<br /> threaten to supersede those in three volumes.<br /> Your views on the question of publication have been my<br /> views for years past. I have tried thus far in vain to<br /> induce publishers to see the advantages (to themselves as<br /> well as to literature) of effecting a reform already esta-<br /> blished in all other civilised countries. I can do nothing by<br /> myself. I should be powerless for this plain<br /> reason, that my time and energies are wholly absorbed in<br /> writing my books. I can only wait and hope for the coming<br /> man who will give me my opportunity. The vicious<br /> circulating library system is unquestionably beginning to<br /> fail, and the recent issue of sixpenny magazines shows an<br /> advance in the right direction. &#039; &#039; &#039; f<br /> It is superogatory for me to comment on<br /> the opinion of this great authority. To my mind<br /> a popular book must always be a cheap book, in<br /> spite of a prevailing prejudice that what is cheap<br /> cannot be good. The circulation of a favourite<br /> work of fiction would increase a hundredfold if it<br /> could be bought at 2s. or 2s. 6d. Everyone does<br /> not belong to Mudie&#039;s, and the purchasers<br /> amongst the inhabitants of Greater Britain<br /> number legion, and our novels would gain in<br /> excellence and interest by being shorter and<br /> crisper. In fact, one might actually look forward<br /> to a time when the novelist will actually write a<br /> story without having any need to garnish it with<br /> interminable descriptions, dull moralisings, or<br /> tedious conversations, when, instead of writing a<br /> novel with a purpose, his only purpose will be to<br /> write a novel. ISIDORE G. ASCHER.<br /> II.--—“NEw.”<br /> One of a coterie of “new” authors has lately<br /> advanced the idea that the “incident’’ novel is<br /> a product of to-day; that to our medical author<br /> more than anyone else we owe the modern<br /> “incident” novel. It seems, too, to be received<br /> in the new school of critics that a certain quality<br /> of dry wit now in vogue is “new” humour. Are<br /> not both these crude ideas fallacies?<br /> We might easily speak of a still living giant to<br /> prove the error of these “new * ideas, but we<br /> will be content with the dead. Between thirty<br /> and forty years ago—about the time our “new”<br /> author alludes to as that when “incident &quot; was<br /> bad art—a book burst on the public : a book<br /> which is still read, and which is and will be con-<br /> sidered one of the masterpieces of the century—<br /> “The Cloister and the Hearth.” Will any<br /> “new” writer be bold enough to advance the<br /> statement that this is not a novel of “incident P”<br /> It brims over with it; with that strong dramatic<br /> incident which thrills the reader. Here also may<br /> be found the “new” humour. You say “no P’<br /> “Look else.” “He dearly loved maids of honour,<br /> and indeed paintings generally.” “Est ce toi<br /> qui l’a tu,” and what follows.<br /> But why particularise, the book teems with<br /> instances, of which the two mentioned happen to<br /> cross my memory first. Then incident . The fight<br /> upon the stairs with the Abbot and his gang, to<br /> pick out one amongst many; who can read this<br /> and his nerves not crawl?<br /> Was “Hard Cash,” with its pirate encounter,<br /> no book of incident P Or “It is Never too Late<br /> to Mend?” and do we not find the “new”<br /> humour flashing upon us from any one of these<br /> books? Ay! humour and incident too, yet so<br /> biended with scenes of touching pathos, and all<br /> else that goes to the making up of a novel, that<br /> each is a masterpiece.<br /> Is it necessary to mention Charles Kingsley<br /> and “Westward Ho; ” is “incident’’ wanting<br /> here * Would not any living writer be proud to<br /> have written that great chapter “How Amyas<br /> threw his sword into the sea P’’ Need we go<br /> further And yet we are to be told that because<br /> Thackeray and Trollope followed other methods,<br /> the “incident’’ novel is some new thing; the<br /> “incidentalist”, a new genius. We might go<br /> still further back towards the beginning of the<br /> century, and instance “Ivanhoe.” But enough.<br /> There is nothing, now, new under the sun any<br /> more than there was in Solomon&#039;s day. As in<br /> fiction so in music. Writers, even against their<br /> volition, plagiarise.<br /> So it is with the “incident’’ novel, and with<br /> the “new” humour. ALAN OsCAR.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 162 (#176) ############################################<br /> <br /> I62<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> III.-ARE THEY LosTP<br /> An acquaintance of mine sent some fifteen<br /> papers to a learned society now nearly four years<br /> ago, and from that day to this she has tried in<br /> vain to learn their fate. They were translations,<br /> and of their scientific value she was ignorant more<br /> or less ; but they had involved considerable<br /> labour, besides the writing of at least 20,000<br /> words. It was not a question of money, as she<br /> knew that the society was too poor to pay, even if<br /> they thought the papers worth using.<br /> It was something like two years before she<br /> discovered the member in whose hands they had<br /> been placed. He informed her that a selection<br /> was to be made by himself and the editor of the<br /> quarterly in which the selected papers were to<br /> appear.<br /> Another interval, and towards the close of the<br /> third year two of the papers actually made their<br /> appearance, prefaced by a long introduction,<br /> from which it appeared that they were of some<br /> value. --<br /> More months, more inquiries. Then five or<br /> six papers were returned without a word, and the<br /> remainder are—where P Nobody deigns to say.<br /> The publisher of the quarterly, who is in no way<br /> responsible, has kindly inquired for them more<br /> than once, but to no purpose.<br /> And yet one little post-card would relieve an<br /> anxious soul and settle the question of their fate.<br /> Are they lost, or burnt by accident, or committed<br /> to the waste-paper basket P Or—are they going<br /> to be used at the rate of two every four years P<br /> One would like to know, if only for curiosity’s<br /> sake; and the worst, however heartrending,<br /> would be better than prolonged uncertainty.<br /> Meanwhile, it is melancholy to reflect that some<br /> poor publisher might have been quite pleased to<br /> loring them out. &amp;<br /> - IV.-SLIPSHOD ENGLISH.<br /> A correspondent (F. H. P.) writes to point out<br /> the following specimens of slipshod English in<br /> one number of an English magazine:<br /> “M. had succeeded to re-establish,” &amp;c.<br /> “He eagerly pursues the aim to abolish.”<br /> “We advise to consult,” onitting the names<br /> or persons advised.<br /> “Have left definitely the country’ for “have<br /> definitely left.” -<br /> W.—ON CRITICAL AND EDITORIAL AMENITIES.<br /> I commit to paper, without fear or prejudice,<br /> my experience of the amenities of certain literary<br /> men in our boasted Nineteenth Century !<br /> Aw premier, a well-known critic, after praising<br /> my poems, and including me in a list of the<br /> poets of the day, suddenly showed his teeth and<br /> refused to read my last volume of poems, or to<br /> answer my letters. And this without the<br /> shadow of a reason for his change of front; on the<br /> contrary, I always wrote most warmly and giate-<br /> fully to him for his kindness, as he must admit.<br /> Again, I sent, not long ago, a poem to a<br /> monthly magazine, and, not hearing of its fate,<br /> about a month later I sent the editor a post card<br /> inquiring about it. This post card was returned<br /> to me with “Refused,” written across it. Why?<br /> Once more, a ballad of mine was recently<br /> inserted in a certain journal, which had appeared<br /> in another periodical six years ago, and also in<br /> one of my books, but was never paid for. As this<br /> book had been recently reviewed in this journal, I<br /> naturally thought they would have seen it there.<br /> The acting editor, on finding that it had appeared<br /> before, asked me to explain. On my doing so, he<br /> not only refused my apology, but wrote very<br /> rudely to me, as I considered. So much for the<br /> gentlemanly feeling and courtesy of this acting<br /> editor |<br /> Yet, again, there is a certain gentleman quite<br /> free from “prejudice ’’—we have his word for it<br /> —who cut up a fairy tale of mine in a journal<br /> now extinct. On my writing a line to him to say<br /> that I had heard that certain persons were<br /> enchanted with the same tale, and that I felt<br /> sure he would be pleased to hear it, he simply<br /> returned the printed extract I sent him without a<br /> single word of any sort or kind. How manly and<br /> generous, and how like a gentleman this was<br /> Without prejudice, forsooth !<br /> Again, the editor of a Radical evening country<br /> paper, for whom I have written many articles<br /> and poems gratuitously in days gone by, and<br /> others which were paid for, and who professed to<br /> value me as a contributor very highly, not only<br /> gave me no review of my last book of poems, but<br /> (though I wrote most courteously to him more<br /> than once) never sent me a line in reply<br /> These are only a few instances of the many<br /> discourtesies I have received. What must the<br /> shade of Thackeray (a true and courteous gentle-<br /> man) think of some of our modern editors P<br /> On the other hand, I would instance the<br /> Westminster Gazette, the Minstrel, Public<br /> Opinion, Fun, Vanity Fair, the Weekly Sun,<br /> and others as being most fortunate in having<br /> editors who are courteous and kind in the<br /> extreme.<br /> I may mention that the critic first referred to<br /> does notice books in the columns of a weekly<br /> journal, so he could have mentioned mine had he<br /> chosen to AN AUTHOR.<br /> [Our correspondent’s complaints, it seems to<br /> us, unless the facts are not all stated, may be<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 163 (#177) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I63<br /> answered offhand without reference to the<br /> editors referred to. For instance, (I) a critic<br /> may change his opinions and may not see the<br /> necessity of explaining at length why he has<br /> done so. (2) An editor must decline hundreds<br /> of papers every year, but it would be absolutely<br /> impossible for him to write his reasons to every<br /> contributor. (3) No journal likes to publish<br /> verses which have already appeared elsewhere.<br /> The writer should have stated the fact in sending<br /> the poem. (4) Next, a reviewer who has expressed<br /> an opinion on a book would certainly not change<br /> it because somebody else was said to hold an<br /> opposite opinion. (5) An editor might resent<br /> being asked for a review of a book. It is a pity<br /> that politeness is not everywhere observed towards<br /> contributors. But in the cases quoted our corre-<br /> spondent apparently complains without good<br /> reason. It is a common belief that an editor<br /> will consider unfinished, or half finished, work;<br /> that he will sit down and point out where a paper<br /> is deficient; that he will act as a judicious coach;<br /> that he will give his reviewer&#039;s written justifica-<br /> tion for his review. Let it be remembered that<br /> an editor can do none of these things. If our<br /> correspondent would consider the position of the<br /> editor, he would withdraw at once half the above<br /> complaints.—ED.<br /> *-- * ~ *<br /> r- - -<br /> NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS,<br /> History and Biography.<br /> ATKINSON, REv. J. C. Memorials of Old Whitby, or<br /> Historical Gleanings from Ancient Whitby Records.<br /> Macmillan. 6s. met.<br /> BAKER, JAMEs. A Forgotten Great Englishman, or the<br /> Life and Work of Peter Payne, the Wycliffite. Illus-<br /> trated. The Religious Tract Society. 5s.<br /> BEAULIEU, A. LOREY. 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Seven Love Songs and other Lyrics.<br /> Elliot Stock.<br /> Science and Art.<br /> BEDDARD, FRANK E. Animal Coloration : An Account of<br /> the Principal Facts and Theories Relating to the Colours<br /> and Markings of Animals. Second edition. S. Sonnen-<br /> schein. 6s.<br /> BRODIE, C. GoRDON. Dissections Illustrated. In four parts.<br /> Part III., The Head, Neck, and Thorax. Whittaker and<br /> Co. IOS.<br /> BROwn, JAMEs. The Forester. A practical treatise on the<br /> planting and tending of forest trees and the general<br /> management of woodlandestates. Sixth edition, enlarged.<br /> Edited by John Nisbet. Two vols. W. Blackwood and<br /> Sons.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 168 (#182) ############################################<br /> <br /> 168<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> CLARKE, DR. J. H. Homoeopathy, all about it; or the<br /> Principle of Cure. The Homoeopathic Publishing Com-<br /> pany. IS.<br /> CHOPE, R. R. Carols for Use in Church. The music edited<br /> by Herbert Stephen Irons and Arthur Henry Brown;<br /> with an introduction by S. Baring-Gould. Complete<br /> edition. William Clowes.<br /> EUROPEAN PICTUREs of THE YEAR. Being the foreign<br /> art supplement to the “Magazine of Art,” 1894. Cassell.<br /> Cloth, gilt, 4s. ; paper covers, 28. 6d.<br /> FLAMMARION, CAMILLE. Popular Astronomy: A General<br /> Description of the Heavens. Translated from the<br /> French, with the author&#039;s sanction, by J. Ellard Gore.<br /> With three plates and 288 illustrations. Chatto and<br /> Windus. I6s.<br /> GUY, A. F. Electric Light and Power. Biggs and Co.<br /> 58<br /> HARRIson, JoHN. The Decoration of Metals : Chasing,<br /> Repoussé, and Saw-piercing. Chapman and Hall.<br /> 3s. 6d.<br /> HART, ERNEST. The Nurseries of Cholera : its Diffusion<br /> and its Extinction. Smith, Elder. 2s.<br /> HARTIG, PROFEsso R. R. Text-book of the Diseases of<br /> Trees, translated by Professor Somerville, revised and<br /> edited, with a preface, by Professor Marshall Ward.<br /> Macmillan. IOS. net.<br /> HovKNDEN, FREDERICK. What is Heat P A Peep into<br /> Nature’s most Hidden Secrets. Whittingham. I 5s.<br /> KAPP, GISBERT. Electric Transmission of Energy, and its<br /> Transformation, Subdivision, and Distribution. A<br /> practical handbook. Fourth edition, revised. Whittaker<br /> and Co. IOs. 6d.<br /> KAROLY, KARL. Raphael’s Madonnas and other Great<br /> Pictures, reproduced from the original paintings, with<br /> a Life of Raphael, and an account of his chief works. In<br /> I vol., with 53 illustrations, including nine photo-<br /> gravures. G. Bell and Sons. 21s. net.<br /> MARKS, HENRY. STACY Pen and Pencil Sketches. With<br /> four photogravure plates and 124 facsimile illustra-<br /> tions. 2 vols. Chatto and Windus. 32s.<br /> SARGENT, CHARLEs S. The Silva of North America; a<br /> description of the trees which grow naturally in North<br /> America, exclusive of Mexico. Illustrated with figures<br /> and analyses drawn from nature by Charles Edward<br /> Faxon. Vol. VI. Ebenaceae-Polygonaceae. Boston<br /> and New York: Houghton, Mifflin, and Co.<br /> SAwF.R., J. CH. Rhodologia : A Discourse on Roses and<br /> the Odour of Rose. Brighton : W. J. Smith. 2s. 6d.<br /> SoLLY, R. H. An Elementary Introduction to Mineralogy.<br /> Clay and Sons. I58.<br /> WAN HEURCK, DR. HENRI. Photo-Micrography. English<br /> edition. Re-edited and augmented by the author from<br /> the fourth French edition, and translated by Wynne E.<br /> Baxter. Illustrations. Crosby Lockwood.<br /> WALMSLEY, R. MULLINEUx. The Electric Current : How<br /> Produced and How Used. With 379 illustrations.<br /> Cassell. IOS. 6d.<br /> WUNDT, WM. Lectures on Human and Animal Psychology.<br /> Translated from the second German edition by J. E.<br /> Creighton and E. B. Titchener. S. Sonnenschein. I58.<br /> YoFKE-DAVIES, N. E. Health and Condition in the Active<br /> and the Sedentary. Sampson Low.<br /> Law,<br /> BEwBs, W. A. The Law of Waste. Sweet and Maxwell.<br /> Bow EN, Ivor, and WARLEY, W. J. The Building Societies<br /> Act, 1894; with Notes and an Introduction. Also the<br /> Building Societies Acts, 1874, 1875, 1877, 1884.<br /> Butterworths. 4s.<br /> CHAND, HUK.M. A Treatise on the Law of Res Judicata;<br /> including the doctrines of Jurisdiction, Bar by Suit,<br /> and Lis pendens. Clowes, London; Green, Edinburgh.<br /> £2.<br /> CRAwFORD MUNRO, J. E. The Finance Act, 1894, so far<br /> as it relates to estate duty and the succession<br /> duty, with an introduction and notes. Eyre and<br /> Spottiswoode.<br /> DoDD, J. THEODORE. The Parish Councils Act Explained.<br /> Third edition. Horace Cox. Is.<br /> FREETH, EvKLYN. A Guide to the New Death Duty<br /> Chargeable under Part I. of the Finance Act, 1894.<br /> Stevens and Sons Limited. 7s. 6d.<br /> GRIFFITH, G. C. Stamp Duties Digest.<br /> Vacher.<br /> HARMAN, J. E. The Finance Act, 1894 (so far as it relates<br /> to the death duties). Stevens and Sons. 5s.<br /> HARRIs, R. A. Synopsis of the New Estate Duty. Clowes<br /> and Sons. 5s.<br /> LEGGATT, EUGENE. A Treatise on the Law of Charter-<br /> parties. Stevens. 25s.<br /> LELY, J. M. Statutes relating to Church and Clergy. Re-<br /> printed from the fifth edition of Chitty’s Statutes of<br /> Practical Utility. Sweet and Maxwell.<br /> LIGHTwoOD, J. M. A Treatise on Possession of Land.<br /> With a Chapter on the Real Property Limitation Acts,<br /> 1833 and 1874. Stevens and Sons. I 5s.<br /> MATHER, PHILIP E. A Compendium of Sheriff Law,<br /> especially in relation to Writs of Execution. Stevens<br /> and Sons. 25s.<br /> MOTHERSoLE, H. B. N. The Parish Councils’ Guide: Being<br /> the Local Government Act, 1894, together with an<br /> Introduction and Explanatory Notes. Third edition.<br /> revised to date. Jarrold.<br /> PARKER, F. Row LEY. The Election of Parish Councils<br /> under the Local Government Act, 1894. Knight and<br /> Co. 6s.<br /> WEST LAKE, JOHN, Q.C.<br /> International Law.<br /> IOS.<br /> WOOD, FRED. A Digest (Alphabetically Arranged) of the<br /> (a) Laws or Principles and (b) Practice of and in (1)<br /> Administrations, (2) Executorships, and (3) Trustee-<br /> ships. Horace Cox. I5s. net.<br /> Eleventh edition.<br /> Chapters on the Principles of<br /> Cambridge, University Press.<br /> Educational.<br /> LAWLESS, DR. E. J. First Aid to the Injured and Manage-<br /> .ment of the Sick ; an ambulance handbook and elemen-<br /> tary manual of nursing for volunteer bearers and others.<br /> Young J. Pentland. 3s. 6d.<br /> MEIssn&#039;ER, MATHIAs. A New Practical and Easy Method<br /> of Learning the German Language. Twenty-third<br /> edition; entirely revised. Th. Wohlleben.<br /> NICHOLL, G. F. Manual of the Bengāli Language, com-<br /> prising a Bengāli Grammar and Lessons, with various<br /> appendices, including an Assamese Grammar. W. H.<br /> Allen and Co. 7s. 6d.<br /> POLAR, REv. J. E. A. Grammar and a Vocabulary of the<br /> Ipurinä Language. Vocabulary Publication Fund.<br /> No. 1. Kegan Paul.<br /> RoBERTSON, J. LogLE. A. History of English Literature,<br /> for secondary schools. Blackwood. 3s.<br /> SAYCE, PROF. A. H. A. Primer of Assyriology. R.T.S.<br /> SMITH, R. HoRTON. The Theory of Conditional Sentences in<br /> Greek and Latin for the use of Students. Macmillan<br /> and Co. 21s.<br /> STEDMAN, A. M. M. A. Vocabulary of Latin Idioms and<br /> Phrases. Methuen and Co. Is.https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/270/1894-11-01-The-Author-5-6.pdfpublication, The Author
271https://historysoa.com/items/show/271The Author, Vol. 05 Issue 07 (December 1894)<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=%3Cem%3EThe+Author%3C%2Fem%3E%2C+Vol.+05+Issue+07+%28December+1894%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 05 Issue 07 (December 1894)</a><a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Publication">Publication</a>1894-12-01-The-Author-5-7169–200<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=89&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=5">5</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=76&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1894-12-01">1894-12-01</a>718941201C be El u t b or,<br /> (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)<br /> CON DUCTED BY WALTER BES.A.N.T.<br /> VoI. W.-No. 7.]<br /> DECEMBER 1, 1894.<br /> [PRICE SIXPENCE.<br /> For the Opinions eaſpressed in papers that are<br /> signed or initialled the Authors alone are<br /> responsible. None of the papers or para-<br /> graphs must be taken as earpressing the<br /> collective opinions of the committee unless<br /> they are officially signed by G. Herbert<br /> Thring, Sec.<br /> HE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all<br /> remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and<br /> requests that all members not receiving an answer to<br /> important communications within two days will write to him<br /> without delay. All remittances showld be crossed Union<br /> Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered<br /> letter only.<br /> Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on<br /> all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub-<br /> jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are<br /> returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS.<br /> *-* —”<br /> ,-- - -,<br /> WARNINGS AND ADVICE.<br /> I. RAWING THE AGREEMENT. It is not generally<br /> understood that the author, as the vendor, has the<br /> absolute right of drafting the agreement upon<br /> whatever terms the transaction is to be carried out.<br /> Authors are strongly advised to exercise that right. In<br /> every form of business, this among others, the right of<br /> drawing the agreement rests with him who sells, leases, or<br /> has the control of the property.<br /> 2. SERIAL RIGHTS.–In selling Serial Rights remember<br /> that you may be selling the Serial Right for all time; that<br /> is, the Right to continue the production in papers. If you<br /> object to this, insert a clause to that effect.<br /> 3. STAMP YOUR AGREEMENTs. – Readers are most<br /> URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements<br /> immediately after signature. If this precaution is neglected<br /> for two weeks, a fine of £Io must be paid before the agree-<br /> ment can be used as a legal document. In almost every<br /> case brought to the secretary the agreement, or the letter<br /> which serves for one, is forwarded without the stamp. The<br /> author may be assured that the other party to the agree-<br /> ment seldom neglects this simple precaution. The Society,<br /> to save trouble, undertakes to get all the agreements of<br /> members stamped for them at no ea pense to themselves<br /> eaccept the cost of the stamp.<br /> 4. AsCERTAIN WHAT A PROPOSED AGREEMENT GIVES TO<br /> BOTH SIDES BEFORE SIGNING IT.-Remember that an<br /> &quot;VOL. W.<br /> arrangement as to a joint venture in any other kind of busi-<br /> ness whatever would be instantly refused should either party<br /> refuse to show the books or to let it be known what share he<br /> reserved for himself.<br /> 5. LITERARY AGENTS.–Be very careful. You cannot be<br /> too careful as to the person whom yow appoint as your<br /> agent. Remember that you place your property almost un-<br /> reservedly in his hands. Your only safety is in consulting<br /> the Society, or some friend who has had personal experience<br /> of the agent. Do not trust advertisements alone.<br /> 6. CosT OF PRODUCTION.——Never sign any agreement of<br /> which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part,<br /> until you have proved the figures.<br /> 7. CHOICE OF PUBLISHERS.—Never enter into any cor-<br /> respondence with publishers, especially with those who ad-<br /> vertise for MSS., who are not recommended by experienced<br /> friends or by this Society.<br /> 8. FUTURE WORK.—Never, on any account whatever,<br /> bind yourself down for future work to anyone.<br /> 9. PERSONAL RISK.—Never accept any pecuniary risk or<br /> responsibility whatever without advice.<br /> Io. REJECTED MSS.—Never, when a MS. has been re-<br /> fused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises<br /> they may put forward, for the production of the work.<br /> II. AMERICAN RIGHTS.—Never sign away American<br /> rights. Keep them by special clause. Refuse to sign any<br /> agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the<br /> publisher, unless for a substantial consideration.<br /> 12. CESSION OF COPYRIGHT.-Never sign any paper,<br /> either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright,<br /> without advice.<br /> 13. ADVERTISEMENTs. – Keep some control over the<br /> advertisements, if they affect your returns, by a clause in<br /> the agreement.<br /> 14, NEVER forget that publishing is a business, like any<br /> other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy,<br /> charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with<br /> business men. Be yourself a business man.<br /> Society&#039;s Offices :-<br /> 4, PORTUGAL STREET, LINCOLN&#039;s INN FIELDs.<br /> *-- - -*<br /> r- - --w<br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY,<br /> I , VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive<br /> advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-<br /> lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his<br /> business or the administration of his property. If the advice<br /> sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member<br /> Q 2<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 170 (#184) ############################################<br /> <br /> 170<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> has a right to an opinion from the Society&#039;s solicitors. If the<br /> case is such that Counsel&#039;s opinion is desirable, the Com-<br /> mittee will obtain for him Counsel’s opinion. All this<br /> without any cost to the member.<br /> 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright<br /> and publisher&#039;s agreements do not generally fall within the<br /> experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple<br /> to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually<br /> engaged upon such questions for us.<br /> 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past<br /> accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in<br /> order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree-<br /> ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively<br /> so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any<br /> agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor-<br /> mation thus obtained may prove invaluable.<br /> 4. If the examination of your previous business trans-<br /> actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should<br /> take advice as to a change of publishers.<br /> 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro-<br /> posed document to the Society for examination.<br /> 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in<br /> the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish-<br /> ing firm in the country.<br /> 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you<br /> are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are<br /> reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing<br /> the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen-<br /> dence of the writer. -<br /> 8. Send to the Editor of the Author notes of everything<br /> important to literature that you may hear or meet with.<br /> *- --&quot;<br /> r- ºr ~,<br /> THE AUTHORS’ SYNDICATE,<br /> EMBERS are informed :<br /> I. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate takes charge of<br /> the business of members of the Society. With, when<br /> necessary, the assistance of the legal advisers of the Syndi-<br /> cate, it concludes agreements, collects royalties, examines<br /> and passes accounts, and generally relieves members of the<br /> trouble of managing business details.<br /> 2. That the expenses of the Authors&#039; Syndicate are<br /> defrayed solely out of the commission charged on rights<br /> placed through its intervention. Notice is, however,<br /> hereby given that in all cases where there is no current<br /> account, a booking fee is charged to cover postage and<br /> porterage.<br /> 3. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate works for none but those<br /> members of the Society whose work possesses a market<br /> value.<br /> 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiation<br /> whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia-<br /> tions are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all<br /> communications relating thereto are referred to it.<br /> 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by<br /> appointment, and that, when possible, at least four days&#039;<br /> notice should be given.<br /> 6. That every attempt is made to deal with the corre -<br /> spondence promptly, but that owing to the enormous number<br /> of letters received, some delay is inevitable. That stamps<br /> should, in all cases, be sent to defray postage.<br /> 7. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate does not invite MSS.<br /> without previous correspondence, and does not hold itself<br /> responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice.<br /> 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for<br /> lectures by some of the leading members of the Society;<br /> that it has a “Transfer Department&quot; for the sale and<br /> purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a “Register<br /> of Wants and Wanted ” has been opened. Members anxious<br /> to obtain literary or artistic work are invited to com-<br /> municate with the Manager.<br /> There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services<br /> will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It<br /> is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the<br /> Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in<br /> the Syndicate.<br /> *- - -e<br /> a- - -º<br /> NOTICES.<br /> HE Editor of the Awthor begs to remind members of the<br /> Society that, although the paper is sent to them free<br /> of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very<br /> heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great<br /> many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest<br /> 6s. 6d. subscription for the year.<br /> The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and<br /> communications on all subjects connected with literature<br /> from members and others. Nothing can do more good to<br /> the Society than to make the Awthor complete, attractive,<br /> and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this<br /> work send their names and the special subjects on which<br /> they are willing to write P<br /> Communications for the Author should reach the Editor<br /> not later than the 21st of each month.<br /> All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether<br /> members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate<br /> to the Editor any points connected with their work which<br /> it would be advisable in the general interest to publish.<br /> Members and others who wish their MSS. read are<br /> requested not to send them to the Office without previously<br /> communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable<br /> despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in<br /> which they are received. It must also be distinctly under-<br /> stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances,<br /> undertake the publication of MSS.<br /> The Authors’ Club is now open in its new premises, at<br /> 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary<br /> for information, rules of admission, &amp;c. - -<br /> Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they<br /> have paid their subscriptions for the year P If they will do<br /> this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker&#039;s<br /> order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the<br /> trouble of sending out a reminder.<br /> Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the<br /> warning numbered (8). It is a most foolish and may be a<br /> most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding<br /> for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they<br /> would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five<br /> years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest<br /> or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then<br /> hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them-<br /> selves into literary bondage for three or five years P<br /> Those who possess the “Cost of Production ” are<br /> requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15<br /> per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble<br /> of “doing sums,” the addition of three shillings in the<br /> pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding<br /> is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be<br /> added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at<br /> £948. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 171 (#185) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 171<br /> as can be procured; but a printer&#039;s, or a binder&#039;s, bill is so<br /> elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at. .<br /> Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged<br /> in the “Cost of Production” for advertising. Of course, we<br /> have not included any sums which may be charged for<br /> inserting advertisements in the publisher’s own magazines,<br /> or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too<br /> often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from<br /> sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket,<br /> by inserting any number of advertisements in his own<br /> magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are<br /> who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those<br /> who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it.<br /> *-i- * ~ *<br /> g- &gt; -s;<br /> LITERARY PROPERTY.<br /> I.—CANADIAN CoPYRIGHT.<br /> N Thursday, Oct. 18, a meeting of the sub-<br /> committee on Canadian copyright was<br /> held at 4.15 p.m. at the offices of the<br /> Incorporated Society of Authors, 4, Portugal-<br /> street, W.C. Mr. F. R. Daldy took the chair,<br /> and the other members were all present. The<br /> secretary read over the minutes of the former<br /> meeting, and they were signed by the chairman.<br /> Mr. Daldy then proceeded to give a statement of<br /> what took place during his visit to America and<br /> Canada. He informed the committee that un-<br /> fortunately he had arrived too late for the Ontario<br /> Conference, but that he had taken the opinions<br /> of a good many people in Canada, and, with the<br /> exception of a small ring of printers, he found<br /> that the people were ignorant of the steps that<br /> were being taken with regard to Canadian copy-<br /> right. In America, the opinion was very strongly<br /> opposed to the change in the law, and Mr. Daldy<br /> stated that he was informed on good authority<br /> that any such change as was suggested by the<br /> Canadians would be likely to prejudice American<br /> copyright in the British Dominions. Mr. Thring,<br /> the Secretary of the Society of Authors, confirmed<br /> this statement through a letter he had received<br /> privately from America. Mr. Daldy then stated<br /> that he had made a few observations on Sir John<br /> Thompson&#039;s report at the end of each paragraph,<br /> and he handed the members of the committee a<br /> copy of these observations, and requested that<br /> they would look carefully into the matter and<br /> make their own additions, so that at the next<br /> meeting the whole question could be finally gone<br /> into and settled. The meeting was then<br /> adjourned until the following Thursday to<br /> enable the sub-committee to study the report<br /> and formulate their reply.<br /> At two subsequent meetings of the sub-com-<br /> mittee an exhaustive answer to the report, taken<br /> paragraph by paragraph, was prepared, and also<br /> a covering letter, both of which documents were<br /> to be approved by the general committee and for-<br /> warded to the Government Department com-<br /> mittee.<br /> At a full meeting of the general committee,<br /> held at Mr. Murray&#039;s house in Albemarle-street,<br /> on Oct. 30, when Mr. Murray was voted into the<br /> chair, the report and covering letter were dis-<br /> cussed and finally approved, and it was resolved<br /> that they should at once be forwarded to the<br /> Colonial Office.<br /> It is hoped that at a later date the Marquis<br /> of Ripon will receive a deputation representing<br /> all the copyright interests.<br /> The committee of the Society will be careful<br /> that authors’ interests are adequately cared for<br /> on this deputation.<br /> II.-DEPUTATION ON CANADIAN CoPYRIGHT.<br /> Lord Ripon received at the Colonial Office, on<br /> Monday, Nov. 26, an influential deputation from<br /> the London Chamber of Commerce, and its four<br /> publishing trade sections, the Society of Authors,<br /> the Copyright Association, and the Printsellers&#039;<br /> Association, which were represented by the<br /> following gentlemen: Mr. H. O. Arnold-Forster,<br /> M.P., Mr. E. M. Underdown, Q.C., Mr. Walter<br /> Besant, Mr. W. H. Lecky, Mr. G. Herbert Thring,<br /> Mr. F. R. Daldy, Mr. John Murray, Mr. T.<br /> Norton Longman, Mr. E. Marston, Mr. Edwin<br /> Ashdown, Mr. H. R. Clayton (Novello, Ewer,<br /> and Co.), Mr. Arthur Lucas, and Mr. A. Tooth.<br /> Sir ALBERT K. Ro1.1.1T, M.P., president of the<br /> London Chamber of Commerce, in introducing<br /> the deputation, expressed their thanks to Lord<br /> Ripon for the opportunity which had been<br /> afforded them of considering the despatch from<br /> Sir John Thompson, the Canadian Premier,<br /> demanding Imperial legislation which would<br /> explicitly confer upon the Parliament of Canada<br /> the power to legislate on all matters relating to<br /> copyright and to repeal the Imperial statutes in<br /> force on the subject. There was no feeling of<br /> hostility towards the Canadians on the part of<br /> the deputation; but while Canada had the right<br /> to legislate on those points which concerned her<br /> own printers and publishers, it was strongly felt<br /> that the proposed legislation was of a much wider<br /> character, and violated established principles upon<br /> which the whole copyright law of the empire had<br /> hitherto been determined. Prior to the Berne<br /> Convention the colonies were consulted, and each<br /> gave its consent to joining it. They therefore<br /> felt that this was an Imperial matter, and could<br /> not be satisfactorily dealt with on the lines<br /> suggested by Canada. They wished to protect<br /> literary property, in which the rights of authors<br /> and publishers, though not, perhaps, so tangible<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 172 (#186) ############################################<br /> <br /> I 72<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> as in the case of trade marks, were nevertheless<br /> quite as real, and the violation of which would<br /> involve injustice to them. Besides these con-<br /> siderations, the feeling with regard to the<br /> Canadian Act of 1889, which Sir John Thompson<br /> desired her Majesty’s Government to assent to,<br /> was that if it were passed it might create a<br /> precedent the effect of which would be almost<br /> unlimited.<br /> Mr. E. M. UNDERDown, Q.C., said the<br /> Canadians appeared to take the view that<br /> Imperial copyright infringed the rights of<br /> certain publishers in their country. There was<br /> no question as to copyright being property, and<br /> a most valuable one, and it seemed impossible to<br /> realise at this time of day that any nation should<br /> desire to disregard the rights of that property.<br /> It was to be regretted that the United States<br /> should have attached a manufacturing profit as<br /> a condition of copyright, an example which was<br /> sought to be followed by one of our own colonies.<br /> He was afraid they must characterise Sir John<br /> Thompson&#039;s demands as a pure attempt to<br /> further a particular trade—the Canadian re-<br /> printers—and he saw no reason which would<br /> justify her Majesty&#039;s Government in breaking<br /> away from a convention affecting the whole of<br /> the Empire. France, as a member of the Berne<br /> Convention, might also have cause of complaint<br /> because two millions of the Canadians were<br /> French and spoke that language. They should<br /> jealously guard the principle of copyright as<br /> property.<br /> Mr. WALTER BESANT pointed to the present<br /> condition of literary property in the English-<br /> speaking countries, and the effect which would be<br /> produced by such changes as were contemplated<br /> by the Canadians. They had at last succeeded,<br /> after fifty years of struggle, in obtaining from<br /> the United States an Act granting international<br /> copyright. By that Act they had obtained the<br /> protection of their works from piracy; they could<br /> bring them out in America, just as they did here;<br /> they could make arrangements and agreements<br /> with American publishers just as they did here<br /> with English publishers, and American authors<br /> had equal rights in this country. So what was<br /> ours became theirs by legal contract, and in the<br /> same way what was theirs became ours. We<br /> must remember that the new condition of things<br /> made the literature of the whole English-speaking<br /> world a common possession. It was an enormous<br /> possession. It was the possession of I2O million<br /> people, and as education spread and more readers<br /> came in every year—more by hundreds of<br /> thousands—it would become far more important<br /> for all concerned. Therefore it was above ail<br /> things necessary to watch over and guard with<br /> the utmost jealousy those newly-acquired rights.<br /> From the author&#039;s point of view the question was<br /> most serious, Where the foreign author had no<br /> rights he became a most deadly rival to the<br /> native author, because he could be produced for<br /> nothing. The American authors had only ceased<br /> to suffer from this cause during the three years<br /> since the Act was passed. They were already<br /> showing the increase of vitality and strength<br /> which was to be expected when they could com-<br /> pete with English authors on fair terms. Again,<br /> great as was the audience of our own Empire, the<br /> American audience was greater still. In a very<br /> short time, when the American publishers had<br /> settled down to the new conditions, a popular<br /> English author would find his best audience in<br /> the States. If, however, Canada had a separate<br /> Copyright Act of her own, what would happen?<br /> The separation of Canada from the States was by<br /> a long and imaginary frontier. It was impossible<br /> to keep Canadian books out of the States, or books<br /> printed in the States out of Canada. Then would<br /> begin again the old miserable game of cheap<br /> reprints vying with other cheap reprints. The<br /> American proclamation which gave English<br /> authors copyright would be torn to pieces. The<br /> piracies would go on again. Once more the<br /> Americans would publish our books for nothing.<br /> American authors who were now enjoying the<br /> new system which allowed them open competi-<br /> tion with each other and with British authors on<br /> fair terms would fall back upon the old state of<br /> things in which they used to compete against the<br /> book got for nothing. Worse still, all the old<br /> bitterness and recriminations would be revived.<br /> The question was, in short, should a country of<br /> five millions be allowed to wreak all this mischief<br /> and wrong upon a world of 122 millions in order<br /> to enrich two or three publishers by underselling<br /> the Americans?<br /> Mr. H. R. CLAYTON said that musical com-<br /> posers and publishers were specially affected by<br /> copyright questions. While the fact of there<br /> being 2,OOO,OOO French-speaking Canadians was<br /> important, the language of music was universal.<br /> The music publishers had availed themselves to<br /> a large extent of the Canadian Copyright Act of<br /> I875, which authorised the exclusion of American<br /> editions, but in spite of that they could not keep<br /> them out. He specially addressed himself to Sir<br /> John Thompson’s arguments in regard to the<br /> collection of authors’ royalties, and pointed out<br /> the great difficulty of collecting them. Sir John<br /> had suggested that English publishers preferred<br /> the American to the Canadian market; but the<br /> fact was that it was impossible to divide the two.<br /> Mr. F. R. DALDY said he had had an oppor-<br /> tunity while in America this year of consulting the<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 173 (#187) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I 73<br /> American Authors’ Association and the leading<br /> publishers, and he found that the feeling against<br /> the Canadian view was such that the American<br /> Minister in this country had been requested to<br /> ascertain officially what course Great Britain<br /> intended to adopt. It was declared that to<br /> accede to Canada’s request would more than<br /> jeopardise the President’s proclamation. What<br /> they said was, “We have given you a great boon;<br /> we gave it to you on the faith of the statements<br /> of the British Government that the copyright<br /> privileges which you gave us would run through-<br /> out the British dominions.” The difficulty of<br /> collecting the authors’ royalty under the proposed<br /> Act would be almost insuperable, especially in<br /> connection with stories passing through periodi-<br /> cals and newspapers, or even given away gratis.<br /> Mr. H. O. ARNOLD-TORSTER, M.P., concurred<br /> with previous speakers, and pointed out what<br /> would be the consequences if other parts of the<br /> Empire were allowed the privileges sought by<br /> Canada.<br /> The MARQUIs OF RIPON, in reply, said they<br /> would not expect him to give any opinion on the<br /> question at the present time. He was very glad<br /> to receive the deputation, because it was his duty<br /> to hear both sides. Sir John Thompson was now<br /> in England, and he proposed to have a full dis-<br /> cussion with him at the earliest opportunity; but<br /> he was anxious, before he entered into that dis-<br /> cussion, to hear the views of such important<br /> bodies as those which were represented by the<br /> deputation. Of course they would understand<br /> that the desires expressed by one of the great<br /> colonies were entitled to the most serious con-<br /> sideration of the Imperial Government, while, on<br /> the other hand, that the Government was bound<br /> not to overlook the interests of persons to whom<br /> the world was so much indebted as the repre-<br /> sentative authors and publishers who formed<br /> that deputation. He had no hesitation in pro-<br /> mising them that the views that had been<br /> expressed, and which might be expressed on the<br /> other side, would receive the serious consideration<br /> of her Majesty&#039;s Government.—Times, Nov. 27.<br /> III.-CAPE TOWN COPYRIGHT.<br /> T.<br /> Some change in the Cape copyright law, as it<br /> affects the sale of books, is an imperative neces-<br /> sity, and we trust that steps will be taken to<br /> make the desirable amendment without the loss<br /> of another session. Under the present law the<br /> sale of pirated editions of books is not prohibited,<br /> and, consequently, unscrupulous booksellers are<br /> able to do a lucrative business in this unholy<br /> traffic of men&#039;s brains, The existing law is a<br /> farce, and it would be interesting to ascertain<br /> what purpose the Legislature sought to serve by<br /> it. The Customs levy a special duty of 20 per<br /> cent. On foreign reprints of British copyrighted<br /> works, half of the proceeds to go to the owner of<br /> the copyright. We have never known of any<br /> account of this curious impost being rendered to<br /> the public, or of any list of remittances to authors<br /> being published. But supposing the system to<br /> be fully carried out, see what an inane system<br /> it is. A copyright work of Ruskin&#039;s is worth<br /> let us say, Ios. It is kept out of the colony<br /> by the substitution of a pirated edition at Is. 6d.<br /> We levy one shilling, and send sixpence out<br /> of it to Mr. Ruskin to compensate him for<br /> the loss of sale of a Ios. book on which the<br /> author&#039;s profit—Mr. Ruskin is generally his own<br /> publisher--would be no small part of the price.<br /> Nothing could be simpler than to prohibit alto-<br /> gether, as in the United Kingdom, the importa-<br /> tion of pirated books, photographs, or pictures.<br /> Nothing less will prevent what may be seen in<br /> Cape Town windows to-day — the unblushing<br /> vending of pirated matter. If nothing else will<br /> avail, let us invoke the great name of Imperial<br /> Federation in aid of reform. — Cape Argus,<br /> Wednesday, Oct. 17.<br /> II.<br /> Since our remarks appeared in Wednesday’s<br /> issue on the above matter, we have ascertained<br /> that the 20 per cent. ad valorem duty levied by the<br /> Customs on foreign reprints of British copyright<br /> books and music amounted in the years 1892 and<br /> 1893 (according to the Statistical Register) to the<br /> magnificent total of £17 and £27 respectively,<br /> and that not half but the whole thereof is gene-<br /> rously distributed among the owners of the<br /> copyright—in number some dozen or score of<br /> persons or firms. We also learn that this 20 per<br /> cent, duty is levied on the value of the pirated<br /> editions themselves, costing in America often no<br /> more than a few cents. per volume, so that<br /> instead of Ruskin receiving, as his share, 20 per<br /> cent. on the value, Ios., of one of his books, that<br /> is—2s., he would actually receive no more than<br /> 2O per cent. on the American cost of, say, 20<br /> cents. Of the pirated volume, or 5 cents.-a truly<br /> tuppenny ha&#039;penny kind of compensation. It is a<br /> marvel that such a state of things has been tole-<br /> rated so long. It may also well be questioned<br /> whether the Customs really secure the payment of<br /> the 20 per cent. duty on all copyright works that<br /> enter the Colony. In fact we do not see how<br /> they can, unless they search through every case<br /> imported from Europe and America, which in prac-<br /> tice is impossible; nor would importers stand it<br /> and at the same time they would be required to<br /> have the titles of everyone of the thousands of<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 174 (#188) ############################################<br /> <br /> I 74<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> copyright works at their finger ends.-Cape<br /> Argus, Friday, Oct. 19.<br /> IV.-PHOTOGRAPHIC CoPYRIGHT.<br /> (Before Mr. Justice CoILINs, without a jury.)<br /> ELLIS v. OGDEN.<br /> Mr. Alfred Ellis, the plaintiff in this action, is<br /> a well-known photographer in Baker-street. The<br /> defendants, Messrs. Ogden, Smale, and Co., are<br /> the publishers of the Ludgate Monthly. The<br /> action was brought for an injunction to restrain<br /> the defendants from publishing certain photo-<br /> graphs, taken by the plaintiff, in their magazine,<br /> and for damages. There appeared for the plain-<br /> tiff Mr. Scrutton ; and for the defendants Mr.<br /> Ruegg.<br /> Mr. Scrutton, in opening the case, said that the<br /> persons the publication of whose photographs<br /> was complained of were Mr. Harry Nicholls and<br /> Mr. Charles Kenningham. Both of these gentle-<br /> men were well-known actors, and, at the request<br /> of the plaintiff, they (at different times) went to<br /> his studio to be photographed in character. There<br /> was no suggestion of payment. At the end of<br /> each sitting Mr. Ellis asked them to sit in plain<br /> clothes. This they did. They received copies of<br /> all the photographs taken, as a present, and each<br /> of them had subsequently bought copies of the<br /> plain clothes photographs, for which they had<br /> paid “reprint” prices. Mr. Nicholls had sent<br /> one of these to the Ludgate Monthly, and it had<br /> been published in a number containing an article<br /> upon him. Mr. Scrutton referred to section I of<br /> the Copyright (Works of Art) Act of 1862<br /> (25 &amp; 26 Vict. c. 68), and maintained that on<br /> those facts the copyright in these photographs<br /> was the property of the photographer.<br /> Mr. Ellis gave evidence in support of the above<br /> facts, but Mr. Nicholls and Mr. Kenningham<br /> were both called by Mr. Ruegg, and they stated<br /> that it was they who asked for the plain clothes<br /> sitting. They went with the intention of being<br /> photographed on their own account when the<br /> character photographs were finished. The plain<br /> clothes photographs sent them previous to those<br /> paid for they regarded merely as proofs.<br /> Mr. Ruegg argued that these photographs<br /> were not, as were the character photographs,<br /> taken by the photographer for himself, but they<br /> were “made or executed for or on behalf of<br /> another person, for good or valuable considera-<br /> tion ” within the words of the above-mentioned<br /> statute.<br /> The learned judge said that he had before him<br /> a pure question of fact. Looking at the evidence,<br /> he had no doubt that the account given by Mr.<br /> Nicholls and Mr. Kenningham was correct. It<br /> was really not material who first suggested the<br /> plain clothes sitting. These gentlemen went to<br /> the studio intending to take the opportunity of<br /> being photographed in plain clothes. They were<br /> so photographed, they received proofs, and they<br /> paid for copies. Nothing was said or done to<br /> give the copyright to the plaintiff, Judgment<br /> must be for the defendants, with costs.—Times,<br /> Nov. 16, 1894.<br /> W.—ELLIS v. OGDEN—OPINION OF Counse:L.<br /> I write on the assumption that the Author<br /> will contain a report of the case of Ellis v.<br /> Ogden, recently tried before Mr. Justice Henn<br /> Collins.<br /> In that case a theatrical celebrity, having gone<br /> to a photographer to be taken in costume, was<br /> also photographed in plain clothes, either at<br /> his request or at that of the photographer, was<br /> subsequently presented with copies of his portrait,<br /> and later on bought others; and the question at<br /> issue on the trial of the action was whether the<br /> copyright in the portrait so produced belonged<br /> to the photographer, or whether it became the<br /> property of the sitter, the photograph having<br /> been “made or executed” on his behalf “for<br /> good or valuable consideration.”<br /> In the case before him, and from the facts<br /> given in evidence, Mr. Justice Collins drew the<br /> conclusion that the photograph was so executed<br /> as to give the celebrity in question the copyright<br /> in it. No doubt the learned judge was right;<br /> he had, according to the Times, conflicting testi-<br /> mony before him, and he believed one side and<br /> not the other. What I venture to question is<br /> the justice of the dictum attributed to him in the<br /> Times report that “It was really not material<br /> who first suggested the plain clothes sitting.”<br /> I venture to submit to you, and to your<br /> readers, that it is absolutely material who<br /> makes the first proposal in such a case. To put<br /> it broadly, I say that one of two things happens.<br /> Either the celebrity says (in substance) to the<br /> photographer, “Take me and give me copies of<br /> my portrait, and you may sell other copies as<br /> your reward,” in which case the former employs<br /> the latter and acquires the copyright; or the<br /> photographer says to the celebrity, “Let me take<br /> you and sell copies of your portrait, and I will<br /> give you copies of it as your reward ;” in which<br /> latter instance I submit that the photographer<br /> employs the celebrity as a sitter; or purchases<br /> permission to photograph him, and so should<br /> acquire the copyright in the production. If I am<br /> wrong, does not the following anomaly result P. A<br /> photographer takes a “snap shot ” at a celebrity<br /> without “by your leave or with your leave,” and<br /> thereby gets a picture of which he will own the<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 175 (#189) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I 75<br /> copyright. Another photographer who takes the<br /> same celebrity, but courteously asks permission<br /> first, and in acknowledgment of it presents some<br /> copies to the sitter, loses thereby the copyright<br /> in the picture he takes; that is, he loses it, if the<br /> inference of fact in his case follows the lines of<br /> Ellis v. Ogden, and that will be the case if the<br /> question “Who first suggested the sitting P” is<br /> disregarded.<br /> In any case photographers will do well to get<br /> agreements drawn and submit them for signature<br /> to celebrities who visit their studios before they<br /> proceed to take their pictures. E. A. A.<br /> VI.--THE Cost of PRODUCTION.<br /> A paper appeared on Nov. 3rd in a penny<br /> weekly on the production of novels. It took the<br /> form of an interview with a publisher, and it<br /> presented all the appearance of a genuine inter-<br /> view with an honourable man ; that is to say,<br /> not one who falsifies his accounts or charges for<br /> advertisements for which he has not paid. In<br /> the course of this interview the question of cost<br /> arose. The following is the publisher&#039;s estimate:—<br /> The book contains 482 pp., crown 8vo., pica<br /> type. The cost for composition, printing, and<br /> paper would be £68 IOS., author&#039;s corrections<br /> extra; binding, 319 15s. per IOOO copies; blocks<br /> for binding, 383 Ios.<br /> On referring to our own “Cost of Production,”<br /> we find the figures come out as follows:–<br /> £ s. d.<br /> Composition—3 I sheets, at<br /> 19s. 6d. a sheet ... ... 29 I4 9<br /> Printing, at Ios. 5d. a sheet 16 2 II<br /> IPaper &amp; © º 24 16 O<br /> Binding . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 I I O<br /> £IOI 14 8<br /> We shall have to revise our “Cost of Pro-<br /> duction.” Our estimate for such a book is<br /> £IOI 14s. 8d. Compared with £9 I I 5s., the pub-<br /> lisher&#039;s estimate. The secretary also reports that<br /> he has had in his hands estimates the items of<br /> which were much below those in our volume.<br /> WII.-A LETTER FROM I)R. JoHNSON.<br /> The New York Critic (Nov. Io, 1894) pub-<br /> lishes, under the heading of the “Boston Letter,”<br /> by Mr. Charles Wingate, a hitherto unpublished<br /> letter by Dr. Johnson. It was sold by Messrs.<br /> Puttock and Simpson in the year 1886 and was<br /> bought by an American. The following is<br /> tendered by Mr. Wingate as a correct copy:—<br /> “SIR,--I will tell you in a few words, what is,<br /> in my opinion, the most desirable state of copy-<br /> WOL. W.<br /> right or literary property. The Authour has a<br /> natural and peculiar right to the profits of his<br /> own work. But as every man who claims the<br /> protection of Society must purchase it by resign-<br /> ing some part of his natural right, the Authour<br /> must recede from so much of his claim, as shall .<br /> be deemed injurious or inconvenient to Society.<br /> It is inconvenient to Society that a useful book<br /> should become perpetual and exclusive property.<br /> The judgment of the Lords was therefore legally<br /> and politically right. But the Authour&#039;s term of<br /> his natural right might without any inconvenience<br /> be protracted beyond the term settled by the<br /> statute, and it is, I think, to be desired :<br /> “I. That an Authour should retain during his<br /> life the sole right of printing and selling his<br /> work. This is agreeable to moral right and not<br /> inconvenient to the publick. For who will be so<br /> diligent as the Authour to improve the book, or<br /> who can know so well how to improve it P<br /> “2. That the Authour be allowed by the present<br /> Act to alienate his right only for fourteen years.<br /> A shorter time would not procure a sufficient<br /> price, and a longer would cut off all hope of<br /> future profit, and consequently all solicitude for<br /> correction or addition.<br /> “3. That when after fourteen years the copy-<br /> right shall revert to the Authour, he be allowed to<br /> alienate it again only for seven years at a time.<br /> After fourteen years the value of the work will be<br /> known and it will be no longer bought at hazard.<br /> Seven years after possession will therefore have<br /> an assignable price. It is proper that the<br /> Authour be always invited to polish and improve<br /> his work, by that prospect of recovering it<br /> which the shorter periods of alienation will<br /> afford him.<br /> “4. That after the Authour&#039;s death his work<br /> should continue an exclusive property, capable of<br /> bequest and inheritance, and of conveyance by<br /> gift or sale for thirty years. By these regula-<br /> tions a work may continue the property of the<br /> Authour, or of those who claim for him, a term<br /> sufficient to reward the writer without any<br /> loss to the publick. In fifty years far the<br /> greater number of books are forgotten and<br /> annihilated, and it is for the advantage of learn-<br /> ing that those which fifty years have not destroyed<br /> should become bona communia, so to be used by<br /> every scholar as he shall think best.<br /> “In fifty years almost every book begins to<br /> require notes, either to explain forgotten allusions<br /> and obsolete words; or to suggest those dis-<br /> coveries which have been made by the gradual<br /> advancement of knowledge, or to correct those<br /> mistakes which time may have discovered.<br /> “Such notes cannot be written to any useful<br /> purpose without the text, and the text will fre-<br /> I&amp;<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 176 (#190) ############################################<br /> <br /> 176<br /> THE AUTHOIR.<br /> Quently (?) be inspected while it is any man’s<br /> property.<br /> “I am, Sir, your humble servant,<br /> “SAM JOHNSON.”<br /> *– ~ *-*.<br /> - - -<br /> THE “NET’” SYSTEM.<br /> T has been decided by the Committee to ask<br /> the opinion of every member of the Society<br /> upon the great and important change pro-<br /> posed by certain publishers in their dealings with<br /> booksellers. It is to be hoped that every member<br /> will take the trouble to consider the question, and<br /> will forward his opinion to the Secretary. Mem-<br /> bers will, of course, understand that it is a question<br /> very materially affecting their interests. It has<br /> been, so far, suggestive that the approval, or the<br /> opinion, of authors on the subject has not even<br /> been mentioned. Certain publishers are writing<br /> about it, the rest prudently abstain ; certain book-<br /> sellers hold one opinion, others hold the contrary.<br /> No one seems to consider that the opinion of<br /> the persons who should be principally concerned<br /> is worth the trouble of asking or inquiring. The<br /> following letters are submitted as containing the<br /> views of three out of the four parties concerned<br /> in the proposed change.<br /> The first two are written by authors of repute ;<br /> the “Publisher ” belongs to a very important<br /> house; the booksellers are what they represent<br /> themselves to be, dependent upon the business<br /> which they carry on.<br /> T.—FROM AN AUTHOR.<br /> I am very glad to hear that the committee<br /> propose to ascertain the consensus of opinion<br /> among members of the Authors’ Society on the<br /> question of “met” prices. I presume that a<br /> general meeting will be held for the purpose.<br /> The very decided opinion which I myself enter-<br /> tain on the matter has two grounds. In the first<br /> place I hold that all such restrictive interferences<br /> with freedom of contract are inevitably mis-<br /> chievous in the end; and, in the second place, I<br /> hold that the particular restriction now sought for<br /> will be detrimental alike to authors and to the<br /> public.<br /> Those authors who have not carefully con-<br /> sidered the question might, I think, not unfitly<br /> be guided by the decision which authors arrived<br /> at in 1852. If at that time, after inquiry and<br /> consultation, it was decided by a number of<br /> leading authors, literary and scientific, that the<br /> system of fixed prices from which no discounts<br /> were allowed was detrimental to them, the con-<br /> clusion that such a system, if now re-established,<br /> would be detrimental, is at any rate a highly<br /> probable one; for there have, so far as I know,<br /> taken place no changes which may be supposed<br /> to make the conclusion held valid in the one case<br /> invalid in the other.<br /> But it need not take long to form an inde-<br /> pendent judgment. There is often an irrational<br /> cry against middlemen, though middlemen are, in<br /> the majority of cases, very useful persons.<br /> But in all cases middlemen must be kept in<br /> order. They, of course, pursue their own<br /> interests, and, if allowed, will satisfy those<br /> interests at the expense of those they serve. This<br /> is obviously the case with the middlemen who<br /> constitute the various classes of the book trade as<br /> with all others. On the face of it, therefore, any<br /> proposal of change made by them must be looked<br /> upon with great suspicion.<br /> That a disadvantage is threatened in the<br /> present case will at once be seen when the essen-<br /> tials are divested of all details. It is contended<br /> that retail booksellers must have greater profits<br /> assured to them. These greater profits must be<br /> at the cost of some among the several parties<br /> concerned. At whose cost then P Those con-<br /> cerned are the writers, the readers, and the<br /> several classes of traders who come between<br /> them. Of these classes of traders one is to have<br /> greater gains. Will these greater gains come<br /> from the other classes of traders ? Will the<br /> publishers, for instance, sacrifice part of their<br /> profits for the benefit of retailers ? Certainly<br /> not. They can practically make their own terms,<br /> and will sacrifice nothing, if they do not even<br /> take a share of the extra gains. Will the sacri-<br /> fice be made by the wholesale bookseller? It is<br /> unlikely; for he, too, has power in his hands to<br /> make his own bargains, and can take care he<br /> does not lose by the change. There remain then<br /> the public and the authors, one or both of whom<br /> must suffer a loss that the retailers may gain.<br /> That the public will suffer a loss is clear, if the<br /> discounts now made from advertised prices are<br /> denied to them; for it is absurd to suppose that<br /> advertised prices will be lowered to balance the<br /> absence of discounts. If that were done publishers<br /> would gain nothing. Clearly, then, the loss<br /> would be borne directly by the public. But<br /> eventually a loss would also be borne by the<br /> authors. It is impossible that the prices of books<br /> can be raised to buyers without to some extent<br /> restricting the sales. “This book is advertised<br /> at 12s.,” says the buyer to the retailer. “That is<br /> too much ; I must go without it.” “But,” says<br /> the retailer, “you can have it for 9s.” “For 9s.,<br /> you say. I can afford 9s. You may let me have<br /> it.” Conversations of this kind, or thoughts<br /> corresponding to such conversations, must be of<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 177 (#191) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 177<br /> continual occurrence. Obviously, therefore, if<br /> discounts are given many more copies of a book<br /> are sold than would be sold in the absence of dis-<br /> counts, and of course diminution in the number<br /> of copies sold is diminution of the author&#039;s profit,<br /> though the rate of profit remains the same.<br /> Alike, then, on our own behalf and on behalf<br /> of the public, we are, I think, bound to oppose<br /> the attempt to establish “met ’’ prices.<br /> --&gt;e--&gt; --<br /> II.-FROM ANOTHER AUTHOR.<br /> The question must be considered from four<br /> points of view.<br /> 1. That of the book-buying public:—<br /> At present the buyer obtains all books for cash<br /> at a reduction of 25 per cent. For a book<br /> advertised at 6s. he pays 4s. 6d. In fact, it is<br /> with books as with everything else, a large<br /> discount has to be made in selling them. It is<br /> now proposed that no discount at all shall be<br /> allowed. It is not proposed, however, that a<br /> book now published at 68, shall be published<br /> hereafter at 4s. 6d. It is only stated that a book<br /> which would have been published at 7s. 6d. will<br /> in future be published—say, at 6s. It has also<br /> been suggested that the 6s, book shall henceforth<br /> appear at 5s., without any discount at all. In<br /> other words, the immediate effect upon the public<br /> will be to raise the price of books.<br /> It is a time of trade depression, likely to become<br /> worse. Is it probable that the public will continue<br /> to buy what they can do without, when the price<br /> is raised ?. It does not seem probable.<br /> Again, there are only a certain limited number<br /> of people who can afford to buy books or anything<br /> else outside the mere necessaries of life. Between<br /> them they can only afford to spend a certain<br /> amount of money every year on books. The<br /> amount varies somewhat from year to year with<br /> good years and bad years, but there it is. If the<br /> price of books is raised the amount spent every<br /> year will perhaps be the same, but the number of<br /> books bought will be less. Who is benefited,<br /> therefore ?<br /> Another way to comsider the subject is this:<br /> For many years we have been gradually diminish-<br /> ing the price of books; this diminution has been<br /> helped by the discount bookseller; people have<br /> become accustomed to the cheapness of books;<br /> they are attracted by their cheapness; they are<br /> becoming, as their means allow, a people of book<br /> buyers. But if the books which are cheap<br /> become dear, the growing spirit of book buying<br /> will receive a check that may throw us back for<br /> years. And there is no doubt that the desire of<br /> the promoters of this movement is to make books<br /> dearer than they are,<br /> &quot;WOL. W.<br /> 2. From the author&#039;s point of view :—<br /> Since the first effect of the change will be to<br /> increase not only the price to the public, but also<br /> the price to the bookseller, the author will have<br /> to revise his system of royalties, or his method of<br /> sale should he sell his book outright. This may<br /> be a gain to him. But if fewer books are sold on<br /> account of these high prices, the change may be<br /> a loss to him. It will be for him personally to<br /> decide whether he will consent to an application of<br /> the “net ’’ system to his own work.<br /> 3. From the publisher&#039;s point of view:—<br /> He will undoubtedly gain on every book. But<br /> will he dispose of so many P This doubt will<br /> probably make many publishers hesitate before<br /> they adopt the hard and fast “net” system.<br /> One may also ask why, seeing that of all trades<br /> publishing is the most lucrative, its followers<br /> should not be satisfied with what they have, and<br /> forbear the risk of losing it in the hope of getting<br /> Ill Ol’62.<br /> 4. From the bookseller&#039;s point of view:—<br /> We may leave the booksellers to regulate their<br /> own business. But there are one or two points, apart<br /> from those urged above, which should make them<br /> hesitate. They will undoubtedly, like the pub-<br /> lisher, gain something on each book sold. But<br /> will they sell so many ? And if their customers<br /> are going to get no discount for cash, will they<br /> not decline to buy at all P A shrinkage of the<br /> trade will most certainly follow the adoption<br /> of the “met ’’ system, whether it will be perma-<br /> ment shrinkage or not remains to be seen. And<br /> who is to prevent a bookseller from giving dis-<br /> count P No one. It will be impossible to prevent<br /> him. He may not advertise the fact, but he will<br /> have to do, and then the bookseller will be in<br /> the pleasing position of paying more and getting<br /> less. At present he pays, probably, 38, 7#d. apiece<br /> on taking a dozen copies of a 6s. book. He<br /> sells them at 4s. 6d. each. There is a profit of<br /> Io; d. on each. If the 6s. book were reduced to<br /> 5s. net, he would give the publisher, say, 3s. I Id.<br /> for it, and would sell it at 5s. Increased profit,<br /> 2#d. But the discount would inevitably come in.<br /> The customer who has always before had 25 per<br /> cent. will not be contented with less than 15 per<br /> cent., or 9d, on each book, which he carries off<br /> for 4s. 3d. Decreased profit, 3d.<br /> Another consideration is the fact that by this<br /> change, if it is effected, the bookseller becomes<br /> the slave of the publisher. Books are put into<br /> his hand which he is to sell if he can at a certain<br /> stipulated price. There is no longer left any<br /> elasticity of trade, any freedom, any enterprise.<br /> Every bookseller will become a mere clerk, distri-<br /> buting and collecting. |<br /> R 2<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 178 (#192) ############################################<br /> <br /> 178<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> In whatever way the change may work, there<br /> can be no doubt that trade restrictions are<br /> injurious, oppressive, and must in the long run be<br /> broken through. Meantime great mischief may<br /> be done to author, bookseller, and the book-<br /> buying public.<br /> III.-FROM A PUBLISHER.<br /> The question of net prices is far more important<br /> to the bookseller and to the author than to the<br /> publisher. To the majority of the booksellers<br /> the matter is one of life and death, of existence<br /> or extinction; but the publisher can accommodate<br /> himself, more or less, to this or any system.<br /> The matter has been sufficiently threshed out in<br /> the newspapers for every business man, at least,<br /> who has read the articles and correspondence, to<br /> understand the financial and trade bearings of<br /> the question; I need not, therefore, trouble your<br /> readers with a repetition of these details. It is,<br /> perhaps, well to state that the free-trade principle<br /> is hardly involved on either side of the question. It<br /> would be if the price of a book under the discount<br /> system were not a purely fancy and artificial<br /> price, fixed by the author through his agent, the<br /> publisher. In other words, the price of a book is<br /> not necessarily settled by the cost of production,<br /> as the price of tea, coffee, wheat, or other natural<br /> productions is fixed. It is fixed arbitrarily, at<br /> present, at a higher figure than the mere cost of<br /> production and the expectation of a fair profit<br /> would justify, in order to meet the tremendous<br /> reduction which the existing artificial discount<br /> system and the ordinary and concurrent trade<br /> allowances make compulsory.<br /> The buyer, therefore, who thinks that he gets<br /> his book cheaper because he gets an enormous<br /> discount reduction is under a delusion. He gets<br /> it neither dearer nor cheaper. He does not buy<br /> a commodity under cost price—which, of course,<br /> is economically impossible—he only gets an<br /> artificial reduction on a commodity whose price<br /> has already been artificially raised. The argu-<br /> ment, therefore, of a writer in a leading news-<br /> paper, who signs himself “Free Trader,” that<br /> the discount system helps the reader to cheap<br /> books, is fallacious. It is founded on an entire<br /> economical misconception of the facts.<br /> The present system of selling books was no<br /> doubt an excellent system when conditions were<br /> quite different to what they are now. The net<br /> system, which it is sought to substitute for it,<br /> is an attempt to replace a system which has<br /> become antiquated by one which is in every<br /> respect consonant to the doctrines of economical<br /> science. The selling price will, if the net system<br /> be introduced, be nearer the figure representing<br /> the cost of production than it now can be, and,<br /> what is of infinite importance to author, publisher,<br /> and reader, it is a system by which the average<br /> bookseller can make a fair living.<br /> In this lies the crua of the question. The<br /> present discount system is killing out the small<br /> bookseller. Some of the very large firms in the<br /> trade thrive by it, for reasons that are obvious<br /> enough to commercial men, and, of course, one<br /> great firm that holds the railway monopoly<br /> thrives by the system, but it is extinguishing the<br /> country bookseller. Mr. Collier, of the very im-<br /> portant firm of Stanford, of Cockspur-street, in<br /> the course of a recent interview in the Daily<br /> Chronicle, stated that, approximately, some 200<br /> country booksellers survive out of I2OO that did<br /> business in books some twelve or fifteen years<br /> ago. This is a most pregnant fact. It means<br /> simply this: that twelve or fifteen years ago an<br /> author, without spending a penny in advertise-<br /> ments, could, through a strong publisher, bring<br /> his wares into the hands of the reading public<br /> through 1200 channels. This for a good book<br /> might easily mean the sale of a handsome<br /> edition. Now all books—good, bad, and in-<br /> different—mustincura preliminary expense of from<br /> £15 to £60 in advertisements, simply in order<br /> that they may be known. It is a direct loss of<br /> so much in money to the author, and it is, of<br /> course, an indirect loss, to be counted in hundreds<br /> and thousands of pounds, to the publisher; but<br /> to the booksellers—to the majority of booksellers—<br /> it is worse than loss—it is ruin. That is why<br /> publishers wish for the ending of a system which<br /> is interfering with their best and cheapest channel<br /> of distribution.<br /> All other objections to the discount system are<br /> feeble in comparison to this one : that it is<br /> pushing out of existence the tradesman who is<br /> acting as distributing agent to the author.<br /> -<br /> IV.-FROM A DISCOUNT BOOKSELLER.<br /> I think it is Mr. Andrew Lang who has a “pet<br /> growl&quot; that no bookseller knows his business.<br /> I have the misfortune to have a shop in a main<br /> thoroughfare in London, and had I ten times the<br /> amount of brain even of Mr. Andrew Lang I should<br /> not be able to know, to remember anything like,<br /> the names of a part only of the books that exist.<br /> I wish Mr. Andrew Lang would take my place for<br /> one week, to listen to the hundreds of books that<br /> are asked for daily, and to which at least 60 per<br /> cent I have to give the negative answer, that I<br /> have not got the book in stock. After the week&#039;s<br /> experience I think Mr. Andrew Lang would have<br /> a better opinion of booksellers. There can be no<br /> question but that all the grievances of both the<br /> bookseller and the publisher lie in the fact that<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 179 (#193) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I 79<br /> there are a very great deal too many books pro-<br /> duced. If we booksellers could turn over our<br /> stocks once a week, like the butchers and the<br /> bakers, or once a month, or even once a year, we<br /> should have no cause to complain that, after giving<br /> 25 per cent. discount to the public off the published<br /> price of the book, it does not leave us a living<br /> profit. I buy my books so that I am quite con-<br /> tent with the profit I make even after selling them<br /> at 3d. in the Is. discount. “A London Book-<br /> seller,” writing in the Athenæum on Nov. 17th,<br /> says, “That it gives no pleasure to the bookseller<br /> to sell his books at a discount of 25 per cent., or<br /> any other per cent. ; his gorge rises at it.” Rather,<br /> my gorge rises when I sell a book at its net price,<br /> because I know I am not selling in the cheapest<br /> market, and that my customer, when I tell him<br /> the book is issued at a net price, and no discount<br /> is allowed, is incredulous, and doubts by his<br /> manner that I am making a larger profit. No<br /> Englishman likes to be “dome.” If you go into a<br /> chemists, or grocers, or anywhere, and buy an<br /> article marked at Is. for Is., and passing along<br /> the street see in another window the exact article<br /> marked at Io;d., you feel you have been “had &quot;<br /> or “dome,” and your gorge rises at it, and you<br /> mentally determine not to patronise that first<br /> shop again. It will be the same with this net<br /> system in the publishing of books, which, I regret<br /> to see, so many booksellers are inclined to hail as<br /> a salvation of their business. They will find, as<br /> “An Author’’ writes in the Athenæum of Nov. 24<br /> “that the unforeseen always occurs,” so that their<br /> last state will be worse than their first. To be<br /> despotically told by the publisher that such and<br /> such a book is published at Is. net, and if you sell<br /> it below that price you shall not have any other<br /> of his books, is a system of tyranny that cannot<br /> be quietly submitted to.<br /> W.—FROM A RETAIL Books ELLER.<br /> That the present movement for the introduction<br /> of books published at net prices and the abolition<br /> of all discount is decidedly retrogade, and instead<br /> of having the effect of placing the new book trade<br /> on a firmer basis will prove the indirect means of<br /> making it worse than ever, as everyone who thinks<br /> of the matter seriously will own, as the public,<br /> finding they cannot get their books from the<br /> bookseller (who is the middleman) at a less price<br /> than the publisher will supply them, will<br /> naturally write direct to the publisher to have<br /> the book they require promptly sent to their<br /> homes post paid, quicker and much more ex-<br /> peditiously than their bookseller would deliver it.<br /> Publishers who are most in favour of the net<br /> system state that a book now published, say, at<br /> 7s. 6d. net would, under the old system, have<br /> been issued at IOS. This, I fear, is not the case.<br /> It is merely said to delude the public. Take the<br /> following instance, and see whom this extra<br /> profit benefits. Recently a book was issued by<br /> Professor Drummond called “The Ascent of<br /> Man,” and which is published at 7s. 6d. net. The<br /> bookseller has to pay 6s. 3d, net for every copy;<br /> thus he makes a profit of Is. 3d. Under the old<br /> system the book would have been 7s. 6d., subject<br /> to 25 per cent, discount=5s. 8d., and would have<br /> been bought by the bookseller at 5s. 4d., thirteen<br /> copies as twelve, and a discount of 5 per cent. On<br /> settlement of his quarterly account. This would<br /> make its net cost 4s. 8d., giving a profit to the<br /> bookseller of Is., which is quite as much as he<br /> can expect. Now, under the old system the<br /> bookseller gets Is. profit, sells his book more<br /> readily, and satisfies his customer, who knows<br /> he is buying in the cheapest market (which is<br /> itself an indispensable consideration). Under the<br /> met system the bookseller gets Is. 3d. profit (3d.<br /> more) and does not satisfy his customer, who<br /> imagines he is not buying at the cheapest<br /> market, and goes away doubting and dissatisfied.<br /> On the other hand, the difference to the<br /> publisher is very considerable, under the old<br /> system he gets 4s. 8d. net from the bookseller,<br /> under the net system he gets 6s. 3d. net, which<br /> is Is. 7d. more in his pocket. Undoubtedly the<br /> publisher would like such a system established,<br /> which all goes to enrich him, unless the author<br /> demands a share of the plunder in the shape of<br /> increased royalties, which are rightfully his.<br /> Again, in these days of excessive competition,<br /> will the public tamely submit to this increased<br /> price on their books P Certainly not. Already<br /> many publishers are sending their printing, &amp;c.,<br /> to the continent. Messrs. Nester, of Nuremburg,<br /> have so successfully competed with all English<br /> producers of children&#039;s colour printed and other<br /> books, that they have practically ousted all others<br /> from the field, and have this especial market<br /> entirely in their own hands. What then is to<br /> prevent (if all books are to be published at net<br /> prices) some energetic continental firms printing<br /> and flooding the English market with cheap<br /> editions of non-copyright books, &amp;c., and by their<br /> success, which will be indisputable, they will be<br /> able to approach our English authors and pro-<br /> duce copyright books in such a way as to upset<br /> the whole system of publishing. Our publishers<br /> may find their headquarters for the production of<br /> English books will be in Berlin rather than<br /> London.<br /> Under these circumstances would it be wise for<br /> us booksellers to sell our books at published<br /> prices P Decidedly not; the more discount given,<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 180 (#194) ############################################<br /> <br /> I8O<br /> TIIB, AUTHOR.<br /> the cheaper the books are offered to the public,<br /> the brisker will be the trade, and the better for<br /> everyone.<br /> VI.—FROM A LoNDON Books ELLER.<br /> That certain books may with advantage be<br /> issued at net prices, such as professional and<br /> technical books and books of a special character,<br /> for which there can be no large demand, every<br /> bookseller will I think agree, but it is much to be<br /> regretted that any bookseller should be in favour<br /> of the abolition of all discount for cash purchases.<br /> Until very recently there was a great outcry<br /> against the Civil Service, and Army and Navy,<br /> and kindred stores marking not only books, but<br /> goods of every kind, down so that by very serious<br /> competition to all small traders it was said that<br /> their “occupation was gone,” and they would<br /> have to shut up shop; time has shown that these<br /> stores have built up enormous businesses by<br /> simply supplying their goods at the lowest<br /> remunerative prices for cash payments. Their<br /> motto has been the very true one of “small profits<br /> and quick returns,” and now the booksellers of<br /> both London and the country at large are<br /> clamouring for higher prices, the abolition of<br /> discount, and that all books be published at net<br /> prices, and such prices strictly adhered to,<br /> whether their customer come into their shop cash<br /> in hand, and pays for and carries away his purchase,<br /> or has the purchase booked to his account, which<br /> he pays quarterly or half yearly, &amp;c. Why,<br /> it is in direct opposition to all the principles of<br /> business: the cheaper you can sell your books, the<br /> more discount you offer to the public, the greater<br /> will be your turnover, and the better it will be<br /> for publisher, author, and bookseller, because<br /> for both publisher and bookseller the more copies<br /> of a book sold, even at a low profit, will pay<br /> better than few copies at a higher profit, and will<br /> cause the public to buy with more confidence and<br /> with brisker demand; and the better for the<br /> author, because the greater the number of copies<br /> sold the more royalties he will receive. The<br /> present state of the trade is not to be much in-<br /> proved, a bookseller can give 25 per cent. discount<br /> and then have quite as much profit (in fact much<br /> more than many trades) as he can reasonably<br /> expect; but it is not this question of discount<br /> that cripples the bookseller and makes him find<br /> his trade so unprofitable, it is the great multi-<br /> plicity of books that are published, and conse-<br /> quently the tremendous stock he has to keep ; in<br /> no other trade has so much capital to be invested<br /> in stock, and much, alas ! dead stock. The book is<br /> subscribed to him by the publisher, he has to<br /> use his own judgment if it will take, he may<br /> order seven copies to get the half copy, or thirteen<br /> to get the odd copy. If the book takes, and goes<br /> off readily, he has to buy many other dozens, but<br /> for one success there are how many failures; the<br /> bookseller sells six or nine of his dozen copies,<br /> and the rest remain on his shelves, taking up<br /> much room and increasing stock in a decidedly<br /> undesirable manner, thus he finds year after year<br /> his stock growing, and every day, especially at<br /> this season of the year, scores of new books<br /> coming out, and of which he must take a certain<br /> proportion of the known authors into stock, so<br /> that he finds all his capital and profit has to be<br /> put into his stock, and he cannot make any head-<br /> way in improving his position in the world. This,<br /> I cannot help thinking, is the real cause of the<br /> dissatisfaction of my brother booksellers, not the<br /> question of discount; sell your books as cheaply<br /> as you can, and sell as many copies as you can, is<br /> my advice to all booksellers. Neither publisher<br /> Inor author can do without us, the very best adver-<br /> tisement a book and its author can have is to be<br /> “on view º&#039; on the shelves of every book shop in<br /> the kingdom, where the public can take it down<br /> and look at it ; it is half the sale. Sell cheaply<br /> and avoid met books is my advice.<br /> &gt; * r3<br /> NOTES AND NEWS.<br /> R HALL CAINE has very kindly sent<br /> me his recent address delivered before<br /> the Philosophical Institution, Edin-<br /> burgh, on Nov. 17, with permission to use any<br /> part of it for this paper. The pressure on our<br /> limited space prevents any use of it in this<br /> number, but I hope to avail myself of Mr. Hall<br /> Caine&#039;s permission next month.<br /> It is impossible to know or to ascertain the<br /> reasons which guide a Prime Minister in his<br /> award of pensions in the Civil List. We will<br /> suppose that, unlike most of his predecessors,<br /> he is anxious to administer the grant in the<br /> interests of literature, science, and art, and not<br /> to foist upon the list widows and daughters of<br /> the Naval, Military, and Civil Services, for whom<br /> provision should be made elsewhere. It is true<br /> that an unfortunate clause—“ and other persons<br /> who may be worthy of Her Majesty&#039;s bounty’—<br /> or words to that effect, seems to justify the<br /> placing of all the world on this list; but the fact<br /> remains that the grant was intended for<br /> literature, science, and art, and that the claims<br /> of persons belonging to these three branches<br /> of intellectual effort must precede all others.<br /> Now here is a case which has recently<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 181 (#195) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOIR.<br /> I81<br /> been laid before Lord Rosebery. A petition<br /> was sent in to him signed not numerously, but by<br /> a dozen names commanding, one would think,<br /> respect and consideration. The petition was in<br /> favour of an old man, a very old man. He is eighty-<br /> five years of age : he has been working all his long<br /> life on literature. Fifty years ago a book was pub-<br /> lished by Charles Knight on some of the many<br /> aspects of Tondon. It was a huge book in six<br /> royal quarto volumes ; the book is a classic ; it<br /> has survived to the present day; no one who<br /> reads about London at all can afford to do with-<br /> out this book. Exactly half of it was written by<br /> this man. How many of us expect to be read in<br /> fifty years time? Again, he has written novels.<br /> Of his novels three or four survive, and are still<br /> in demand after thirty or forty years. How<br /> many novels iive for thirty or forty years? Can<br /> you, dear reader, conceive a case more loudly<br /> calling for a place upon the Civil List P Again,<br /> I say, that we know not what other cases there<br /> were under the consideration of Lord Rosebery.<br /> Whatever they were, it is clear that they were<br /> even more worthy of assistance than this case,<br /> because he has written through his secretaries<br /> to say that he will give this man nothing.<br /> It is worth noting that the letter signed by<br /> the twelve men and women of letters received no<br /> acknowledgment, and that the secretaries did not<br /> think it necessary to inform these people of the<br /> result of their unfortunate letter. These are the<br /> courtesies which the literary class are accustomed<br /> to receive from officials. Who are they P Literary<br /> chaps. Take no notice of them<br /> Modern Poets.—It seems quite a long time<br /> since we heard of a certain poetical journal, or<br /> treasure house of poetry, brought out monthly.<br /> It was formerly The Poets&#039; Magazine, then it<br /> became Lloyd’s Magazine, after the name of the<br /> proprietor, Mr. Leonard Lloyd. It has now<br /> become Modern Poets, but the proprietor does<br /> not inform us whether the life of his magazine<br /> has been continuous, or interrupted by intervals<br /> of sleep, or, as it is a poetic magazine, of trance.<br /> However that may be, Modern Poets now appears<br /> quarterly; and if “sufficient good poetry and<br /> prose are received to fill its pages” the magazine<br /> is to appear monthly. The really attractive<br /> feature—that which separates the paper, and<br /> distinguishes it from commoner journals—is that<br /> while such mean spirited magazines as the Con-<br /> temporary, or Longman&#039;s, actually pay con-<br /> tributors—hire the poor degraded wretches—this<br /> magazine expects its contributors to pay the<br /> editor. Noble creature He will be hired by<br /> his contributors; in the interests of literature he<br /> will dare all and endure all. Every contributor,<br /> therefore, sends up a form signed. It is thus<br /> conceived:<br /> Sir, Wishing to contribute to your magazine, I send you<br /> M.S. entitled and in the event of its acceptance<br /> for an appearance in your next number I agree to purchase<br /> — dozen copies of the magazine (Signed)<br /> An appearance in this magazine will, doubtless,<br /> be highly prized by the contributor. Fifty<br /> dozen at least, at sixpence, which is £15, is not<br /> pay too high for a magazine article. One has<br /> heard of £50. Let the contributor value his<br /> article himself, and order as many dozen at<br /> sixpence each as will amount to that sum.<br /> In another place will be found a few observa-<br /> tions on the proposed “Net” system. It is<br /> very much to be hoped that all members will<br /> forward to the secretary their opinion and<br /> their reasons. The two points which seem to<br /> concern authors most are (I) whether the<br /> adoption of the “Net” system would materially<br /> raise the price of books; and (2) whether the<br /> rise in prices would not so far check the sale of<br /> books as to counterbalance any advantage gained<br /> by an increase in price. There are other<br /> questions, such as the danger of interfering<br /> with the great advance made during the last few<br /> years by the public as buyers of books; the<br /> danger of interference with the course of trade;<br /> the danger of making the bookseller a mere<br /> mechanical distributor—in other words, of con-<br /> verting what used to be a centre of literary<br /> information into a railway stall; and the doubt<br /> whether a “Net’ system can ever be enforced—<br /> in other words, whether the bookseller would not<br /> go on as before giving discount for cash.<br /> Mr. Sherard sends word that in his reference<br /> to the Goldsmith tomb he was mistaken. As<br /> for me, I was under the impression that some-<br /> thing was wrong with the tomb. So there is,<br /> but not what we supposed ; the name is clearly cut,<br /> but unfortunately it is not certain that the tomb<br /> is Oliver&#039;s. Under these circumstances one has<br /> only to express thanks to those who kindly offered<br /> their assistance.<br /> A new monthly magazine is to be started. It<br /> offers the unprecedented attraction of an astro-<br /> logical horoscope free for all subscribers, with the<br /> privilege of asking three astrological questions.<br /> After this we may expect another, which will tell<br /> the fortunes of every subscriber by the oracle of<br /> coffee grounds with the right of asking three<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 182 (#196) ############################################<br /> <br /> I 82<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> questions on the domestic omens, such as crossed<br /> knives, spilled salt, and the influence on fate of<br /> black cats, piebald horses, and the man with a<br /> squint.<br /> Mr. Gosse has arrived at a time of life which<br /> prompts to serious reflections on the flight of time.<br /> Everybody at forty gets these reflections. “Wait<br /> till you come to forty year.” They pass, these<br /> reflections; in the fifties one feels younger<br /> than in the forties. Perhaps, in the sixties, one<br /> may feel younger still. We ought to, considering<br /> how short a time remains for cheerfulness. How-<br /> ever, the motto to the new volume of verse, “In<br /> Russet and Silver,” is quite in the vein of the<br /> forties: -<br /> Life, that, when youth was hot and bold,<br /> Leaped up in scarlet and in gold,<br /> Now walks by graver hopes possessed<br /> In russet and in silver dressed.<br /> Whether in russet and silver or in scarlet and<br /> gold, it is the same music and the same musician;<br /> the certain touch and the unexpected phrase;<br /> the true word to fit the thought ; the perfect<br /> dexterity and mastery of the metre ; these are<br /> qualities which we have long since recognised;<br /> and as yet there is no sign of any younger poet—<br /> “in scarlet and in gold *-disputing the supe-<br /> riority of Mr. Gosse in these essentials.<br /> The Authors’ Club distinguished itself on the<br /> 19th Nov. by holding its monthly dinner in<br /> honour of Anthony Hope. The room, which is<br /> too small for such festivities, was quite full, and<br /> there were but two speeches, that of the chair-<br /> man, Mr. Oswald Crawfurd, and that of the guest<br /> of the evening. Among the men of distinction<br /> who have thus been entertained are Zola and<br /> Rudyard Kipling. And now comes Anthony Hope.<br /> It is a pleasing feature of the club to pay this<br /> tribute to men who have risen or are certainly<br /> rising. Authors are too often accused of jealousy<br /> and spite. There was no show either of jealousy<br /> or of spite in the dinner of the 19th, but only the<br /> general desire to recognise and to honour good<br /> work wherever it is found.<br /> The club, which is now two years old, may be<br /> lcoked upon as established. The rooms are<br /> extremely pleasant, and have a position as central<br /> as can be desired. The members are all connected<br /> with literature. Up to the present it has been<br /> more of a lunching than a dining club. Every-<br /> body is supposed to know everybody else, and the<br /> club is essentially cheerful. As stated above, the<br /> rooms are too small, they will only accommodate<br /> fifty at a dinner. But if another hundred<br /> members were to come in additional rooms could<br /> be had, and there would be more elbow room.<br /> Clad in a garb of golden-green, with a charac-<br /> teristic portrait of the subject for frontispiece, is<br /> Mr. Robert Sherard’s book on Alphonse Daudet.<br /> It may be thought that Daudet exhausted the<br /> subject himself in his “Trente Ans de Paris; ”<br /> that, however, is not the case ; there is a great deal<br /> in this volume that is not in the “Trente Ans.”<br /> The author has received contributions from<br /> Madame Daudet, from Léon Daudet, from<br /> Edmond de Goncourt, from Ernest Daudet, and<br /> from Alphonse Daudet himself. The result is a<br /> full biography and a most interesting account of<br /> a most remarkable man. The best excuse for<br /> writing the book is found in the concluding words<br /> of the preface: “Since Alphonse Daudet has<br /> honoured me with his friendship, I may say, with-<br /> out exaggeration, that my life of exile has been<br /> transformed. It is, perhaps, also on account of<br /> my admiration and my affection for this great-<br /> hearted man of letters that I have worked to<br /> make others know him as I do.”<br /> WALTER BESANT.<br /> &gt;e c3<br /> NOTES FROM PARIS,<br /> HE following letter, which I have just<br /> T received from my friend Alphonse Daudet,<br /> is the best answer that I can give to many<br /> questions which have been asked of me as to his<br /> intention of visiting London next year:<br /> Oui ; mon bon. Sherard, j’ai l&#039;espoir au printermps prochain,<br /> si je ne suis pas trop invalide de venir voir londres, mais<br /> non pas de me montrer ä Londres, ce qui est bien différent.<br /> Je serais heureux de vous avoir pour compagnon et cicerone<br /> tº mais je vous demanderai de me mettre à l&#039;abri des<br /> curiosités du reportage, ce sont des vacances que je compte<br /> prendre et je suis bien décidé à me pas donner de repré-<br /> sentation dans ce beau pays que je suis si désireux de<br /> connaitre.<br /> These things being so, we may hope to see<br /> M. Daudet in London in a few months.<br /> In my great admiration for Emile Zola, I feel<br /> sorry in saying that the opinion in Paris is one<br /> of doubt as to the possible value of a book on<br /> Rome, written on information collected during a<br /> fortnight&#039;s visit. It is generally thought that<br /> Rome, from all points of view, and as a whole,<br /> is a large subject, and that its comprehension<br /> can hardly be effected in a fortnight. It must<br /> be added, however, that Zola intends to spend a<br /> long time over this book, and that “Rome,” the<br /> second volume of “Les Trois Willes” series of<br /> novels, will not appear till 1896.<br /> We were all much shocked to hear of the death<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 183 (#197) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 183<br /> of Francis Magnard, the editor of Le Figaro, for<br /> he seemed in full strength, with years of life and<br /> activity before him. Yet certainly he looked very<br /> grey and worn when I last saw him. The Figaro<br /> was a fighting paper, and all fighting exacts nerve<br /> and muscle and uses and wears. He was a con-<br /> scientious and a most hard-working man, who<br /> gave himself up entirely to his paper. Most of<br /> his time was spent at the office in the Rue<br /> Drouot. I am afraid I cannot agree with those<br /> who have written in praise of his daily leaderette<br /> in the Figaro. It was writing after the style and<br /> in the manner of thought of Joseph Prudhomme.<br /> But good editors of large papers are rarely good<br /> writers. Willemessant, the founder of the Figaro,<br /> could not string six lines of tolerable prose<br /> together, yet he was certainly one of the best<br /> editors who ever lived. Magnard wrote very<br /> quickly, though his work seemed laboriously<br /> evolved. He told me once that he always asked<br /> himself, on sending the paper to the press, what<br /> Willemessant would have thought about the<br /> number, both as a whole and in detail, and felt<br /> quite nervous on the subject, so completely had<br /> he been disciplined by his former chief. I may<br /> add that Magnard used to deny being a Belgian<br /> by extraction, and used to get very angry when<br /> he was attacked as such in the rival papers.<br /> I may also add that M. de Rodays, the present<br /> editor, had been designated by de Villemessant in<br /> his will to succeed Magnard, in the case of the<br /> latter&#039;s retirement or death. M. de Rodays’<br /> successor was also named in the same clause.<br /> The biggest succés de librairie of the year in<br /> Paris has been Marcel Prevost’s novel “Les<br /> Demi-Vierges.” It is, I see, in its 15oth edition.<br /> Exceptionally these are editions of only 500<br /> copies, whereas the French edition usually con-<br /> sists of IOOO copies. The book is exceedingly<br /> well written, but the subject is a nauseating one,<br /> and this success is not one on which his friends<br /> can congratulate M. Marcel Prevost.<br /> J. H. Rosny, who is translating George Moore&#039;s<br /> novel “Esther Waters ” for publication in feuil-<br /> leton form in Le Gaulois, is by many, including<br /> Daudet, Zola, and de Goncourt, considered one of<br /> the first writers of French fiction living in France<br /> to-day. His “Le Bilateral” is undoubtedly a<br /> masterpiece, complicated as its style and bitter as<br /> is the author&#039;s philosophy. Rosny has had a<br /> very troubled and miserable life, and lives none<br /> knows where. He hides his address, and is under-<br /> stood to be in unfortunate circumstances. His<br /> books do not sell well, and he is indifferent to<br /> popularity, in which respect he may be compared<br /> to J. K. Huysman.<br /> I heard a story in Paris the other day of how a<br /> literary “ghost &quot; revenged himself on a too<br /> WOL. W.<br /> unscrupulous employer. He had been engaged<br /> to write a feuilleton, for which his employer, a<br /> very well-known Parisian novelist, had received<br /> an order. The original arrangement was that<br /> the ghost should receive a penny a line—the well-<br /> known Parisian novelist, it may be mentioned,<br /> was to receive fivepence a line, and, of course, he<br /> signed the story with his own illustrious name;<br /> but after some instalments had been printed, the<br /> ghost was informed by his employer, who, in the<br /> meanwhile, had found out that his hack was in<br /> desperate circumstances, that in the future he<br /> would only be paid one halfpenny a line. He was<br /> forced to submit, but at once introduced into his<br /> story two fresh characters, whose names were<br /> simple transpositions of his employer&#039;s name and<br /> his own, of which one was a well-known novelist<br /> and the other a starving literary hack, and showed<br /> how the novelist engaged the hack to write a<br /> serial story at the rate of a penny a line, and<br /> afterwards reduced this to a halfpenny a line, and<br /> how the hack to revenge himself introduced,<br /> under transposed names, into this serial two fresh<br /> characters, one of which was a novelist and so on.<br /> The novelist sweater was away enjoying himself<br /> whilst these instalments were appearing, and<br /> one can imagine his feelings on his return to<br /> Paris. It is needless to add that the story was<br /> considerably revised before being republished in<br /> volume form.<br /> Why are almost all the books supplied to the<br /> public in England bound P Is not the French<br /> system of publishing all works merely in paper<br /> covers preferable? To begin with, an unbound<br /> book can be supplied cheaper than a bound book.<br /> Then, many book buyers like to bind their books<br /> according to their own taste in the matter of<br /> binding. Some like the bindings of their books to<br /> be in some degree symbolical of their contents,<br /> who would bind Haggard in red, George Ohnet<br /> in pale blue, Poe in black, and so on. Others<br /> like uniformity, and, indeed, so varied are the<br /> colours of book backs as sold to-day, that a library<br /> shelf often presents a ghastly combination of<br /> colours. There is, of course, a great deal to be<br /> said on both sides of the question. At the same<br /> time, I do not think that the bookbinders would<br /> lose by the change. . They would have less cheap<br /> binding to do, but far more reliures d&#039;amateur,<br /> which are really profitable. --<br /> f have been told that my note on Oliver Gold<br /> Smith&#039;s grave in last month&#039;s Author is un-<br /> founded and uncalled for, that the grave is in<br /> good condition, and well kept. I am not of this<br /> opinion, nor am I alone in this respect. “What<br /> would you more?” I have been asked. Well, to<br /> begin with, a railing round the tomb. I saw a<br /> butcher&#039;s boy sitting on it the other day. * *<br /> S<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 184 (#198) ############################################<br /> <br /> 184<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I have heard the strange story since I came to<br /> London of a high judicial functionary who many<br /> years ago published, with one of the most<br /> reputable firms in London on the half-profit<br /> system, an important work on an important<br /> political question. It is several years since any<br /> account was rendered, and though the book had<br /> then passed through eight editions, all that the<br /> high judicial functionary received as his share<br /> was Is. 7#d. The book has been selling since,<br /> but the author has never received another penny.<br /> And he is not very satisfied, and says things about<br /> publishers which are not judicial nor quite justi-<br /> fiable.<br /> Weyman has made up his mind to take a year&#039;s<br /> complete rest as soon as “The Red Cockade&quot; is<br /> finished. I am told that this is the very best<br /> thing this genius has ever written, by people who<br /> have read the opening chapters, now in Jerome&#039;s<br /> hands.<br /> Apropos of the title of this book, are we about<br /> to pass from the “yellow * to the “red.” Every-<br /> thing was yellow a short while ago in matter of<br /> literature. And now, in matter of literature,<br /> things are mostly red. There are Weyman’s titles<br /> in red, there is Morley Roberts&#039;s “Red Earth,”<br /> there is Francis Gribble’s “The Red Spell,” there<br /> is a novel called “The Crimson Sign,” and, of<br /> course, there is Conan Doyle’s “Round the Red<br /> Lamp.” In the future all things may be green,<br /> as most bindings are, by the way, at the present<br /> hour, and so it shall go on.<br /> I am very glad to hear that John Davidson&#039;s<br /> last book of poems is selling exceedingly well;<br /> 500 copies were taken before the book was pub-<br /> lished. Many people, as a mere commercial<br /> speculation, are buying up copies of the “Ballads<br /> and Songs.” All this is well, for John Davidson,<br /> a poet and a most genial man, has fought a hard<br /> fight, and merits success and ease. His life has<br /> been a life of heroism. R. H. SHERARD.<br /> *~ * ~ *<br /> r- - --&gt;<br /> NOTES FROM NEW YORK.<br /> New York, Nov. Io.<br /> HE death of Dr. Holmes not only caused<br /> the usual feelings of personal loss aroused<br /> when any honoured author leaves us,&quot; but<br /> additional sorrow was felt since with his decease<br /> the great New England group of authors ended.<br /> In the early part of this century, when Irving,<br /> Cooper, Bryant, and Fitz-Greene Halleck lived in<br /> New York, the literary centre was here, but<br /> before the middle of the century Emerson,<br /> Tongfellow, Whittier, Lowell, Hawthorne, and<br /> FIolmes revealed themselves, and the glory of the<br /> school as well as of a life that we deplore.<br /> New England group was greater than that of the<br /> Rnickerbocker school, as the New Yorkers had<br /> been called.<br /> Professor Norton, of Harvard College, recently<br /> remarked that, “they all wrote with a moral.<br /> They had, too, a touch of Puritanism. They<br /> were stirred to write often not so much from the<br /> impulse of the imagination as because they were<br /> impelled to teach some lessons and do some good<br /> that way. It was just at the war period, and all<br /> continued on the same side. They were all<br /> warriors in a sense.” Thus it is the closing of a<br /> Since<br /> Dr. Holmes wrote “Old Ironsides &quot; the popula-<br /> tion of the United States has quadrupled, and the<br /> country can no longer be said to have one<br /> literary centre. In all directions have sprung up<br /> authors who write what has been called “ local<br /> fiction,” that is to say, they chiefly devote their<br /> efforts to depicting the life around them. This<br /> is a recent development, and, although there is<br /> now no one great group, there are many more<br /> accomplished authors than there were formerly,<br /> and the average of merit is undoubtedly higher.<br /> It is a sign that good times are coming when<br /> the fall publishing trade opens well, as it has this<br /> year. Whether or not publishers suffer much<br /> during a business depression is a question often<br /> debated. Some contend, that books being a<br /> luxury, people either go without in hard times or<br /> else use the free libraries. Others think that<br /> during financial depression books are sent as<br /> presents where expensive jewellery would have<br /> been purchased in prosperous years. This year,<br /> illustrated gift books, held back by hard times,<br /> make the list of announcements very large.<br /> Leading houses report that trade is at least<br /> normal. It seems to have recovered from the<br /> stagnation of the last two years, and bids fair to<br /> be better month by month as business revives.<br /> There is no boom yet, and probably will not be<br /> for a year or two longer, but the conditions are<br /> healthy. -<br /> Among the more important announcements are<br /> “The Warfare of Science,” by Mr. Andrew D.<br /> White, which has attracted much attention as<br /> the successive chapters appeared in the Popular<br /> Science Monthly; “Edwin Booth,” recollections<br /> of his daughter, with his letters to her and his<br /> friends, a part of the correspondence of which we<br /> have had a foretaste in the Century, and which<br /> revealed the great actor in a singularly noble and<br /> spiritual aspect ; “The Life and Art of Joseph<br /> Jefferson, together with some account of his<br /> ancestry and of the Jefferson Family of Actors,”<br /> by Mr. William Winter, a revision on the briefer<br /> biography published ten years ago; “Portraits<br /> in Plaster,” by Mr. Laurence Hutton, with<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 185 (#199) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 185<br /> seventy-two reproductions of death-masks of<br /> famous men and women from the author&#039;s own<br /> collection of these gruesome objects, which is<br /> the largest private collection in the world; “Ilife<br /> and Letters of John Greenleaf Whittier,” the<br /> authorised biography, by his literary executor, Mr.<br /> Samuel T. Pickard ; “The Sherman Letters,” a<br /> most interesting correspondence between General<br /> Sherman and his brother, Senator Sherman,<br /> covering the entire war period; “Familiar Letters<br /> of Henry David Thoreau,” edited by Mr. Frank<br /> B. Sanborn, who wrote the volume on Thoreau<br /> in the series of “American Men of Letters;”<br /> “Riverby,” another volume of delightful out-<br /> door papers, by John Burroughs, the gifted<br /> disciple of Thoreau; “In the Dozy Hours and<br /> other Papers,” by Miss Agnes Repplier, whose<br /> terse little essays have gained her wide fame;<br /> “Four American Universities,” Harvard, Yale,<br /> Princeton, and Columbia, by Professors Norton,<br /> Hadley, Sloane, and Brander Matthews;<br /> “Character and Development of the Universities<br /> of Germany,” a most illuminative account by<br /> Professor Paulsen, translated by Professor E. D.<br /> Perry.<br /> Roberts Brothers have just brought out the<br /> first two volumes of a new translation of<br /> “Molière&#039;s Dramatic Works,” by Miss Katharine<br /> Prescott Wormeley, whose admirable translation<br /> of Balzac, now nearly completed, has won for her<br /> wide commendation.<br /> Longmans, Green, and Co. announce a series of<br /> “College Histories of Art,” edited by Professor<br /> John C. Van Dyke, of which the first volume to<br /> appear is the editor&#039;s own on the “History of<br /> Painting;” and the Scribner&#039;s are going to bring<br /> out the “Art of the American Wood Engraver,”<br /> by the late Philip Gilbert Hamerton, who<br /> brought to this subject a most unusual breadth<br /> of knowledge.<br /> Stone and Kimball, of Chicago, are about to<br /> issue the first complete edition of the “Works of<br /> Edgar Allan Poe,” newly collected and edited,<br /> with memoir, notes, &amp;c., by Mr. Edmund Clarence<br /> Stedman and Professor George Edward Wood-<br /> berry; of the ten volumes to which this edition is<br /> going to extend, three are ready, and to these<br /> very probably will be added a single supple-<br /> mentary volume containing the correspondence<br /> between Poe and his friends, which will be edited<br /> by Professor Woodberry. Mr. Edmund Clarence<br /> Stedman after two years&#039; work has finished his<br /> “Victorian Anthology,” which contains represen-<br /> tative poems by the authors discussed in his<br /> “Victorian Poets.”<br /> Americans have always made a specialty of<br /> works of reference. Three important books of<br /> this class have been lately published here. One<br /> is a supplement to the “Century Dictionary&quot;—a<br /> seventh volume—called the “Century Cyclopædia<br /> of Names,” a pronouncing and etymological dic-<br /> tionary of names in geography, biography, mytho-<br /> logy, history, art, fiction, &amp;c., edited by Mr.<br /> Benjamin E. Smith, who was managing editor of<br /> the “Century Dictionary,” under the late Pro-<br /> fessor Whitney. In this great work, upon which<br /> the entire editorial force of the Century has<br /> long been engaged, for the first time all the<br /> varieties of information usually obtained in bio-<br /> graphical dictionaries, geographical gazetteers,<br /> lists of characters in fiction, &amp;c., have been<br /> arranged in alphabetical order and gathered into<br /> One volume. The selections have been made with<br /> especial regard to the wants of the general public,<br /> thus the central facts are given in large type, and<br /> in Smaller type such information as will help to a<br /> more complete understanding of the subject.<br /> Another is “A New and Complete Concordance<br /> in the Dramatic Works of Shakespeare,” by Mr.<br /> John Bartlett, to whom we are already indebted<br /> for his admirable “Dictionary of Familiar Quota-<br /> tions.” The third is Mr. S. L. Whitcomb&#039;s<br /> “Chronological Outlines of American Literature,”<br /> the first attempt to set down the chronological<br /> sequence of American books. It is on the plan of<br /> Ryland’s “Chronological Outlines of English<br /> Literature,” but on a much more liberal scale.<br /> A fourth elaborate book of reference could not be<br /> got ready in time for the fall trade. This is the<br /> great “Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiqui-<br /> ties,” which Professor Peck, of Columbia College,<br /> is editing for Harper and Brothers. It is to be<br /> fully illustrated, and will probably appear in the<br /> Spring.<br /> The British novelist is to have better showing<br /> than usual next year in American magazines,<br /> although a large percentage of the serials will be<br /> by American authors. Mr. Thomas Hardy’s “Sim-<br /> pletons’’ is the chief serial of Harper&#039;s Monthly.<br /> In Harper&#039;s Weekly Mr. Stanley J. Weyman&#039;s<br /> romance, “The Red Cockade,” begins in the first<br /> January number, and will be followed in July by<br /> Mr. Brander Matthews&#039;s novel of New York,<br /> “His Father&#039;s Son.” In Harper&#039;s Bazar the<br /> first serial is Maarten Maartens’ “My Lady<br /> Nobody,” and the second is a southern story,<br /> “Doctor Warwick&#039;s Daughters,” by Mrs. Richard<br /> Harding Davis. In Scribner&#039;s will appear Mr.<br /> George Meredith’s “Amazing Marriage,” and<br /> Mr. Barrie&#039;s “Sentimental Tommy,” besides Mr.<br /> Howell&#039;s shorter serial, “The Story of a Play.”<br /> The Century&#039;s two serials are both by American<br /> authors—“Casa Braccia,” by Mr. Marion Craw-<br /> ford, and “An Errant Wooing,” by Mrs. Burton<br /> Harrison; and so are the two stories announced<br /> by the Atlantic, Mrs. Mary Halleck Foote&#039;s “The<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 186 (#200) ############################################<br /> <br /> 186<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> Thumpeter,” and Mrs. Elizabeth Stuart Phelps<br /> Ward’s “A Singular Life.” -<br /> It has never been the custom of our magazines<br /> to limit their serials to fiction alone; indeed,<br /> some of their greatest successes have been with<br /> works such as no British magazine ever ventures<br /> upon. The War series of the Century doubled<br /> its circulation in twelve months; and forty years<br /> ago a Life of Napoleon gave Harper&#039;s its first<br /> impetus. Now the Century begins a Biography<br /> of Napoleon, by Professor W. M. Sloane, which<br /> has been in preparation for five years, and during<br /> two of that period special agents have been ran-<br /> sacking Europe for illustrative material. The<br /> Century will also contain Mrs. Van Rensel-<br /> laer&#039;s series of papers on the French Cathedrals,<br /> for which Mr. Joseph Parnell has made many<br /> striking illustrations. Scribner&#039;s will contain,<br /> beginning in the January number, “The History<br /> of the Last Quarter-Century in the United<br /> States,” by President E. Benjamin Andrews, in<br /> which he has endeavoured to cover that period of<br /> history about which we are apt to know least—<br /> from the time school histories end (usually with<br /> the War of the Republic) up to the present year.<br /> The Atlantic will shortly publish a series of<br /> papers by Mr. John Fiske on Virginia, “The<br /> Old Dominion and her Sister Colonies.”<br /> An interesting copyright trial has just ended.<br /> A New York daily paper, the World, printed,<br /> before its official use, the ode written by Miss<br /> Harriet Monroe, of Chicago, for the dedication of<br /> the World’s Fair buildings, two years ago. The<br /> purloined version contained typographical errors,<br /> which the author claimed had injured her in<br /> purse and reputation. In his charge the judge<br /> told the jury that little pecuniary damage had<br /> been proved, but added that punitive damages<br /> might be awarded if the defendant had been<br /> guilty of disregard of property rights. The<br /> verdict of the jury fixed the damages at £IOOO.<br /> As Miss Monroe received £200 from the World’s<br /> Fair Commissioners for her ode, she will have<br /> gained £1200 by one brief occasional poem.<br /> We are often said to be a book-buying nation,<br /> and it is evidence in favour of this assertion that<br /> nearly 100,000 copies of “Trilby’’ have been sold<br /> in less than ten weeks. So enormous has been<br /> the demand for Mr. Du Maurier&#039;s book that the<br /> Harper&#039;s Christmas publishing has been greatly<br /> retarded by the fact that they have been obliged<br /> to keep thirteen presses on “Trilby’’ alone. A<br /> sale like that indicates that “Trilby’’ has con-<br /> quered not only the regular reading class and<br /> the broad general public, but also the absolutely<br /> unliterary public. A gentleman on the train the<br /> other day overheard a girl talking to three young<br /> men. “Oh I have you read “Trilby ?’” she<br /> asked one of the men. He admitted that he had<br /> not, whereupon the young woman declared that.<br /> it was “just too lovely.” Who wrote it?” in-<br /> quired the second man. “Well,” the girl replied,<br /> “it’s translated from the French of a man named<br /> Moriar, and it&#039;s illustrated by a man named<br /> * 5 y<br /> Whistler. HALLETT ROBINSON.<br /> *- ~&quot;<br /> -* w wºrs<br /> PHILIP GILBERT HAMERTON.<br /> A PERSONAL REMINISCENCE.<br /> By Mr. Justice ConDí, WILLIAMs (of Mauritius).<br /> N spite of the blinds and the persiennes, the<br /> I afternoon September sun streamed into<br /> that little café at Autun, where we sat<br /> drinking bocks, and playing dominoes, and<br /> jabbering as only Frenchmen mostly jabber. g<br /> The ever watchful patron bustled up to me,<br /> and said, mysteriously—“See that gentleman<br /> who has just entered? He is a compatriot of<br /> yours.” There, at a table by himself, sat a<br /> brown-bearded, middle-aged man, looking cer-<br /> tainly, except for the flowing ends of his necktie,<br /> not one bit like a Frenchman.<br /> As the witty dean said, “One doesn’t go abroad<br /> to meet one’s compatriots.” As a rule, to tell the<br /> honest truth without affectation, I generally, for<br /> divers reasons, give mine a wide berth, But<br /> there was a wise and kindly look about this<br /> man&#039;s bronze and honest face, and withal a<br /> humorous twinkle in his eye as he calmly<br /> surveyed his noisy surroundings, which urged me<br /> to take the other place opposite to him at his<br /> small round table. So, when our game was over,<br /> I consoled my little Louise with a Monde Illustré<br /> and a groseille, and went and sat there.<br /> Of course, I knew the “Portfolio,” and Mr.<br /> Hamerton, by name, but I had forgotten that he<br /> lived in France, and near Autun; if, indeed,<br /> anybody had ever told me so. .<br /> However, the ice once broken, and it was very<br /> easily broken, we proved to have many friends<br /> and many sympathies in common ; and, although<br /> ten years my senior, he seemed to take quite a<br /> paternal interest in me when he heard that, at<br /> five-and-twenty years of age, I had become the<br /> editor of a daily newspaper in England.<br /> Next day I walked three miles out of Autun, to<br /> his pretty country place to breakfast, and made<br /> the acquaintance of his charming family—his<br /> wife, a French lady, two bi-lingual sons, and a<br /> little daughter. Afterwards we talked for a long<br /> time in his small study, or studio—literature and<br /> art equally well represented upon its bookshelves<br /> and in their surroundings. Had I understood<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 187 (#201) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 187<br /> more about etching and lithography, I should have<br /> been more deeply interested. But never was a<br /> more modest and less egotistical man than Philip<br /> Gilbert Hamerton, And seeing that newspapers<br /> and books mainly interested me, he talked little<br /> save of newspapers and books. But before we<br /> parted he placed in my hands, as a souvenir, an<br /> early copy (in the Tauchnitz edition) of “Mar-<br /> morne,” just then on the point of publication.<br /> As I grasped his hand I looked up to the wooded<br /> hills of Le Morvan, which formed a sombre back-<br /> ground to his cheerful country villa.<br /> “It must be lonely, here, in the winter P”<br /> “Yes,” he said “but what does that signify P<br /> I am always occupied.”<br /> “Any wolves or wild boars about P’’<br /> “There are some,” he replied, and laughed at<br /> a reminiscence. “One frosty moonlight night<br /> last January, I went out to lock the stable, and<br /> met a lean, grisly wolf, face to face, just upon the<br /> threshold of this door. We seemed both very<br /> vastly astonished, and we both drew back a pace<br /> or two involuntarily. Then I said to the wolf, on<br /> the impulse of the moment: What on earth are<br /> you doing here? Perhaps it was being addressed<br /> in English that frightened him, I don&#039;t know ;<br /> but without taking further notice of my query, he<br /> turned round and walked slowly away.”<br /> #: $: :}; $: $: $:<br /> Note that at same café at Autun, some fourteen<br /> years later, an Englishman entered just as two<br /> or three tradesmen, habitués of the place, were<br /> taking their post-prandial gloria,<br /> “Monsieur has doubtless come to inspect the<br /> antiquities?” volunteered one of them, after the<br /> pause which, in a small community, often follows<br /> the sudden entrance of a strange newcomer.<br /> “No ;” I said to the patron —not the same<br /> patron as of yore—“but, before I venture as far<br /> as the Maison du pré, I would ask you for news of<br /> Monsieur Hamerton.” 4.<br /> There was quite an excitement in the place.<br /> Hamerton, with his quiet sympathetic ways, a<br /> long resident, a distinguished Anglais, yet the<br /> husband of a Frenchwoman, was a popular man<br /> in Autun and all round it. Who else could have<br /> survived, scathless and untouched, as he did<br /> survive, all the jealous suspicion, and even overt<br /> antagonism, which were visited upon nearly every<br /> other Englishman living in provincial France<br /> during the closing months of the Franco-German<br /> struggle P<br /> “Ah ! it was most unfortunate. Monsieur had<br /> no luck. He had sustained a malheur epou-<br /> vantable, Monsieur &#039;Amerton (they never could<br /> manage that H), so respected as he was, and<br /> after so long a residence in the partage, had left<br /> that very day finally for Paris.” And it was a<br /> rather remarkable thing that, after so long an<br /> absence, having corresponded with my friend at<br /> very rare intervals, I should have dropped down<br /> upon Autun on the very eve of his final depar-<br /> ture. He had not actually gone—but his family<br /> and his furniture had, as I learned from good<br /> Monsieur Thomasset, of the Hotel des Negociants<br /> —and he himself was staying with a friend. I<br /> would not disturb him—I left a card for him, and<br /> on I sped to Santenoy to “assist” still older<br /> friends at their Burgundy autumn vintage. A<br /> telegram from Hamerton brought me back to<br /> Autun next day. Would I come and spend his<br /> last Autun night with him at Thomasset&#039;s<br /> interesting hotel, where you are escorted up to<br /> your bedroom walking over the gravestones of<br /> monks and abbots P Of course I went, and am<br /> thankful that I went. And a long, long talk we<br /> had over that extra bottle of Chambertin, de<br /> omnibus rebus et quibusdam aliis. He had had<br /> his share of misfortune, and sad misfor-<br /> tune. One of the two bright boys I had met<br /> at his table years before, a youth of high<br /> intelligence and promise, and Professor of<br /> English at a Lycée, had put an end to his life at<br /> his rooms in Paris, leaving behind him no sort of<br /> clue as to the why and the wherefore. So we were<br /> led to talk of the great mysteries of Life and<br /> Death—about matters concerning which men of<br /> middle age do not often open their hearts one to<br /> another. Later, when sauntering forth to the<br /> café, we drifted to more material subjects, and I<br /> spoke of his long career as poet, painter, and<br /> author. I remember that he said, not bitterly,<br /> but with a touch of mournfulness, after some<br /> remark of mine about the knighthood that certain<br /> distinguished English writers surely ought to<br /> have been offered, that he himself was weak<br /> enough to feel some touch of regret that he, whose<br /> work was the English work of an Englishman,<br /> could only, when the occasion demanded his<br /> wearing it, stand before the world the possessor<br /> of a French decoration for his services to art and<br /> to literature.<br /> He removed from Autun (the Augustodonum<br /> of the Romans) to Boulogne et Seine in Paris,<br /> and a friend of his in England was the recipient<br /> of his appreciative acknowledgment of these lines<br /> addressed to Hamerton in his new Parisian home :<br /> The Seine to Saone gives greeting ! O&#039;er the sea<br /> I pen Lwtetia&#039;s welcome home to thee;<br /> And, with the wish, would fain the hand extend,<br /> Word-painter, picture-painter, poet, friend<br /> What though her vine leaves seared by autumn&#039;s blast,<br /> Awgwstodomºwm weeps her glories past—<br /> Though, “round the house ’’ thy graceful pen portrays,<br /> Fond mem&#039;ries linger of departed days P<br /> The city’s joy outweighs the country’s pain–<br /> Awgustodomwm&#039;s loss is fair Lwtetia&#039;s gain!<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 188 (#202) ############################################<br /> <br /> I88<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> And the other day—not thirty days ago—the<br /> same friend received from him a warm letter of<br /> welcome on returning to England after many<br /> years of judicial work abroad. He wrote cheer-<br /> fully, yet spoke of illness, of diagnosis by a Paris<br /> doctor of “hypertrophy of the heart,” and of the<br /> necessity of “following a regimen for the rest of<br /> my days.” Not for long. In a fortnight he was<br /> dead,<br /> A_*— * -<br /> _*. s—º<br /> a------5 -<br /> BOOK TALK.<br /> HE REW. CANON CHARLES D. BELL,<br /> D.D., rector of Cheltenham, has produced<br /> a new volume of verses, called “Diana&#039;s<br /> Looking Glass, and other Poems.” Canon Bell’s<br /> verses are always, to use the words of one of his<br /> critics, “sweet and wholesome.” After the low level<br /> in which we are plunged by some of our younger<br /> poets, it is pleasant to stand once more upon the<br /> heights and to feel that there are higher levels,<br /> and still higher, to be reached.<br /> times the natural note of sadness, there is never<br /> despair. Let the poet speak for himself.<br /> Come let us wake sweet Echo with a song.<br /> Here she lies sleeping, waiting for our voice,<br /> So call her loudly with a courteous tongue,<br /> That coming forth she may with us rejoice.<br /> For Morning walks in beauty o&#039;er the dale,<br /> And Night&#039;s bright glories &#039;fore her splendours pale.<br /> Nymph of the hills, awake, awake<br /> Melodious answer to us make.<br /> What shall we sing to please the maiden shy,<br /> And lure her from the secret solitude,<br /> In which she dwells, withdrawn from every eye,<br /> Amid the deep recesses of the wood<br /> In whose green boughs is heard the joyous lay<br /> Of merry birds that greet the dawn of day P<br /> Echo, sweet Echo, hear no strain,<br /> Thy voice is bliss ; thy silence pain.<br /> Or shall we sing of love P. How Corydon,<br /> The shepherd boy, the fair Althea woo&#039;d,<br /> How beauteous Thyrsis fair Nerissa won,<br /> Or fleet Alpheus Arethusa pursued,<br /> Or Cynthia stooped from heaven with look of love,<br /> While slept Endymion in the Latmian grove.<br /> Hark, comrades, hark with such a theme<br /> Steal softly on the dreamer&#039;s dream.<br /> “A Swatch o&#039; Homespun,” by Agnes Marchbank<br /> (Edinburgh, R. W. Hunter), is a little story of a<br /> weaver in a Scotch village. The writer should be<br /> able to do better than this with study and work.<br /> Meantime she is working with good materials,<br /> and in the true spirit.<br /> “Tales of Famous Men” is the title of a series<br /> of papers which Mr. Joseph Hatton is writing for<br /> the Idler. They will be of a reminiscent cha-<br /> racter, with plenty of anecdote to justify the<br /> general title; and Mr. W. H. Margetson will<br /> If there is some-<br /> illustrate them. Mr. Hatton’s new novel, which<br /> is running in the weekly press of the old world<br /> and the new, will be published in March by<br /> Messrs. Hutchinson, who have already sold four<br /> editions of this author&#039;s latest book, “Under the<br /> Great Seal.” Mr. Hutchinson told a St. James’s<br /> Budget interviewer recently that his first great<br /> success as a publisher was with Mr. Hatton&#039;s<br /> “By Order of the Czar,” which is now in its<br /> fifteenth edition.<br /> Mr. Walter Wren has had to inform the<br /> secretary that a person is going about pretending<br /> that he is a relative of Mr. Wren, and that he is<br /> a member of the Incorporated Society of Authors.<br /> There is no member of the society named Wren.<br /> “Maud Marian, Artist” (Religious Tract<br /> Society), is a very pleasing and delicately written<br /> story by Eglanton Thorne, author of the “Old<br /> Worcester Jug,” &amp;c., &amp;c. The scene is laid at<br /> Rome. It is a book written and chiefly intended<br /> for girls.<br /> “Cavaliers and Roundheads in Barbados,” by<br /> N. Darnell Davis (Argosy Press, Georgetown,<br /> British Guiana), is a chapter in colonial history<br /> that was well worth the trouble of writing. The<br /> early history of Barbados is practically unknown<br /> to us. For instance, had it been known, a<br /> hundred years ago, that the right to be taxed<br /> only by their own representatives was recognised<br /> in the case of Barbados in 1652, it would not have<br /> refused to the Americans in the year 1770. There<br /> would have been no Declaration of Independence<br /> and no war.<br /> Frank Stockton&#039;s new book, called “Pomona, ’’<br /> (Cassell), went through the first edition in<br /> advance of publication.<br /> Boys, and those who make Christmas presents<br /> to boys, are here with invited to make a note of<br /> Max Pemberton&#039;s book of adventure, “The Sea.<br /> Wolves.”<br /> “The Highway of Sorrow,” by Hesba Stretton,<br /> and * * * is a work to be noted either for buy-<br /> ing or borrowing, and certainly for reading.<br /> A second edition of Mrs. Oliphant’s new novel<br /> “Who was Lost and is Found” (Blackwood<br /> and Sons) is announced.<br /> In Mr. Fairman Ordish’s “Early London<br /> Theatres &#039;&#039; (Elliot Stock) we have a work of<br /> original and patient research. It is worthy of a<br /> long article in the Quarterly Review. The<br /> author has made himself the sole authority for<br /> the future on the subject of the earliest theatres<br /> of London.<br /> The Navy Records Society have in preparation<br /> a second volume of State Papers relating to the<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 189 (#203) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 189<br /> Spanish Armada; they will next publish a volume<br /> of Naval Accounts of the Fifteenth Century.<br /> Mr. W. M. Conway has in preparation an<br /> account of the walk which he made last year from<br /> end to end of the Alps.<br /> Miss Frances Wood sends some extremely<br /> pretty Christmas cards. They are reproductions<br /> from Raphael, with verses under each. They are<br /> published by Messrs. Carr and Mason, Brunswick<br /> Works, Leamington.<br /> Mr. W. H. Besant, F.R.S., D.Sc., has in the<br /> press the ninth edition of his “Geometrical<br /> Conics,” and, as a supplement, his “Solutions of<br /> the Examples in the Geometrical Conics.”<br /> Certainly one of the most beautiful books of<br /> the season is Archdeacon Farrar’s “Life of<br /> Christ as Represented in Art.” It is illustrated<br /> by a long catena of early Christian symbols,<br /> mediaeval figures, pictures of the great masters,<br /> and by the painters of our own day, some of<br /> whom will perhaps be called great masters five<br /> hundred years hence. It is a book which should<br /> command a wide and immediate success. The<br /> publishers are Messrs. A. and C. Black.<br /> Readers are requested to make a note of<br /> “Robert Southey,” by John Dennis (Messrs.<br /> Bell.)<br /> Four biographies from one publisher (Edward<br /> Arnold). The first is “Alphonse Daudet,” by<br /> Robert Sherard; the others are Augustus Hare&#039;s<br /> “Maria Edgeworth,” Dean Hole’s “Memories,”<br /> and the Memoirs of Sir John Macdonald, by his<br /> Private Secretary.<br /> “The Memorials of St. James&#039;s Palace,” by<br /> Edgar Sheppard (Longmans), in two volumes, is<br /> really a splendid work. It is rather dear, but<br /> what is 36s. to one who loves his London P<br /> Another book for a student of the Great City<br /> is “London and the Kingdom,” by Reginald R.<br /> Sharpe, D.C.L. Dr. Sharpe is Records Clerk in<br /> the office of the Town Clerk of the City. The<br /> book is written from personal investigation of<br /> the City archives. It is a book for historians<br /> rather than itself a history.<br /> The second volume of Dr. Traill’s “Social<br /> England’’ is now ready. One is pleased to read<br /> that the book has already gone into a second<br /> edition.<br /> In translating Professor Errera’s “Russian<br /> Jews,” Miss Bella Löwy has executed a task<br /> of love. The book is an appeal for civilised<br /> treatment, fervid in its facts, which are startling,<br /> and convincing in its arguments, which are self-<br /> restrained in temper. One does not realise<br /> until the map is laid open how very small a<br /> space of the vast Russian Empire is open to the<br /> Jew for residence. He may live in Little Russia,<br /> West Russia, and South Russia; altogether over<br /> an area, very thinly populated, of one thousand<br /> miles in length by three hundred in breadth. In<br /> these pages one may read a story of persecution<br /> and oppression without parallel even in the<br /> Middle Ages. But there are charges brought<br /> against the Jews. They are moneylenders.<br /> “Yes,” replies Professor Errera in effect, “ some<br /> of them, no doubt. But four-fifths of them have<br /> no money to lend; and, besides, they are more<br /> honest than the Christian moneylender.” They<br /> sell spirits. They were made to do so. The<br /> nobles manufactured the spirit; the Jew was<br /> told to sell it. They are tricky in business.<br /> Their persecutions have made them so. And so<br /> on. The book is published by David Nutt,<br /> Strand.<br /> Professor Brander Matthews sends his new<br /> book, “Wignettes of Manhattan.” If for the<br /> pictures of New York alone, it would be a<br /> desirable volume. As a study for a stranger<br /> in New York manners, with their little differences<br /> compared with our own, the book is equally<br /> desirable. Perhaps, however, most desirable for<br /> the short stories and sketches which it contains.<br /> There is a most exciting story of a fire. There is<br /> the sketch of the broken-down man and his last<br /> dinner at Delmonico&#039;s ; and there is a visit to the<br /> slums, which is admirably done. There are more,<br /> but these will do.<br /> Here is a dainty little volume (Roxburghe<br /> Press, 3, Victoria-street, Westminster), dainty<br /> binding, dainty print, dainty paper—all to set off<br /> the translation by Julia Preston, of “The Moun-<br /> tain Lake, by the late Fredrich von Bodinstedt,”<br /> whose portrait is presented as a frontispiece.<br /> Von Bodinstedt is not widely known in this<br /> country. Indeed, of late years a strange indiffe-<br /> rence to German belles and lettres and poetry<br /> seems to have fallen upon us. The attempt of<br /> Miss Julia Preston to make a poet of meditation<br /> rather than action, and of emotion rather than<br /> passion better known, deserves encouragement.<br /> Her versification is simple and generally graceful.<br /> Here, for instance, is a little thing :<br /> When the Gates of Paradise wide open stand,<br /> Some pious souls for their reward drew near ;<br /> And a mingled multitude from every land<br /> IBow humbly down in hope, in doubt, or fear.<br /> I only of all the waiting sinners there,<br /> Shall at those portals without fear abide ;<br /> Long since on earth by thee, my Angel Fair,<br /> The Gates of Paradise were opened wide.<br /> “A Bread and Butter Miss,” by George<br /> Paston, author of “A Modern Amazon&#039;&#039; (Osgood,<br /> M“Ilvaine, and Co.), is a one-volume story, a<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 190 (#204) ############################################<br /> <br /> I 90<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> simple, pretty little story of a girl going to stay<br /> at a country house for the first time in her life,<br /> and her adventures there.<br /> “Three Generations of English Women,” by<br /> Janet Ross, tells the story of Susannah Taylor,<br /> Sarah Austin, and Tady Duff Gordon. This is a<br /> new and revised edition. Susannah Taylor was<br /> the wife of John Taylor, one of that remarkable<br /> family which has produced so many men<br /> and women distinguished for literary and<br /> scientific ability. Mrs. Austin, her daughter, was<br /> married to a man who began life in the army and<br /> became a lawyer. His health, however, decayed.<br /> and he retired from active life. Lucie, his only<br /> child, married Sir Alexander Duff Gordon. All<br /> three ladies were as lovely as they were accom-<br /> plished. The book principally consists of letters,<br /> as delightful as letters can be.<br /> Another little book of verses and translations<br /> —this time by William E. A. Axon. (The<br /> Ancoats Skylark. John Heywood, London and<br /> Manchester.) Here is a specimen. The French<br /> words are a folk-song current in Franche Comte.<br /> Ma pauvre enfant,<br /> Qui es dessous la terre ;<br /> Ma pauvre enfant,<br /> Soulève done ta pierre.<br /> Chère maman,<br /> Donnez m&#039;y ma chemise;<br /> Chère maman<br /> IBien fort Souffle la bise.<br /> Ma pauvre enfant,<br /> Je n&#039;ai pas la puissance,<br /> Ma pauvre enfant<br /> A toi toujours je pense.<br /> Chère maman,<br /> J&#039;ai les deux mains gelées;<br /> Chère maman,<br /> Fit la langue sechée.<br /> Ma pauvre enfant,<br /> J&#039;irai dessous la terre,<br /> Tout pres de toi<br /> Pour rechauffer la pierre.<br /> A string of sonnets on the death of a child.<br /> They are sonnets which are worth attention. The<br /> book is called “A Little Child’s Wreath.” If<br /> the treatment is suggested by “In Memoriam,”<br /> the form is different. The sonnets are of some-<br /> what unequal merit. The following, it will be<br /> seen, has the true ring:<br /> A quiet southern day; a quiet sea<br /> That scarcely breaks along the level sands.<br /> An ecstasy of little children&#039;s glee :<br /> A weight of grief that no one understands.<br /> My poor child,<br /> In thy grave alone;<br /> My poor child,<br /> Iłaise up thy stone.<br /> Oh! mother dear,<br /> I want my coat of green.<br /> Oh! mother dear,<br /> The wind whistles keen.<br /> My poor child,<br /> I have not the power ;<br /> My poor child,<br /> I think of thee each hour.<br /> Oh! mother dear,<br /> My hands are icy cold ;<br /> Oh! mother dear,<br /> So stiff they will not fold.<br /> My poor child,<br /> We will not live apart ;<br /> I&#039;ll creep into thy grave<br /> And warm thee on my heart.<br /> Slow moving sails with curves of grace complete<br /> As ever beauty-loving pencil drew ;<br /> A ceaseless play of pretty hands and feet;<br /> A want for ever deep, for ever new.<br /> Peace on the teeming earth, goodwill and peace<br /> In the clear blue and floating cloudlets white;<br /> Crownéd the land with joy of her increase,<br /> Crushed my desire and vanished my delight.<br /> A seabird said, “I know, I know the pain,<br /> He will not see the summer tide again.”<br /> Mr. John B. Mackie, Fellow of the Institute of<br /> Journalists, who writes from the North-Eastern<br /> Daily Gazette, Middlesbrough, has written a<br /> book called “Modern Journalism : a Handbook<br /> for the Young Journalist.” There is plenty of<br /> room for such a book at the present moment, when<br /> the rush into journalism is opening it to the most<br /> desperate competition. The first result, one fears,<br /> will be a lowering of salaries and pay; the next<br /> step, however, will be the establishment of new<br /> papers in every direction; thirdly, the competi-<br /> tion of proprietors will run up salaries again for<br /> the best men. Mr. Mackie&#039;s book takes a man<br /> into every branch of a newspaper—shorthand<br /> writing, reporting, sub-editing, leader writing, and<br /> editing. It seems a most complete book; it is<br /> certainly one which every young journalist should<br /> study till he has it by heart. Above all, let him<br /> read, mark, and learn what is said as to silence<br /> concerning the internal machinery of the paper,<br /> and what is said, and very well said, as to the<br /> power and the responsibilities of the Press.<br /> Mr. John A. Steuart&#039;s new novel, “In the Day<br /> of Battle &#039;&#039; (three vols., Sampson Iow, Marston,<br /> and Co.), belongs to the school of the older<br /> romance. But the tale of battle has an interest<br /> that never palls, and there are few whose pulse<br /> will not beat quicker as they read of the doughty<br /> deeds of the long lost Donald Gordon, who is<br /> discovered in the disguise of a Bedouin freelance.<br /> Mr. Steuart has succeeded in giving his tale an<br /> almost breathless realism ; and if it is success to<br /> drive his reader on from page to page until one<br /> reaches the last he has certainly succeeded. From<br /> beginning to end the interest never flags, and that<br /> is saying much. His plot, perhaps, is not very<br /> strong nor very novel, but it serves merely as the<br /> hinge on which to hang a succession of curdling<br /> adventures dear to the heart of all boys and<br /> ImOst men.<br /> Mr. F. B. Doveton&#039;s new volume of verse is<br /> now ready.<br /> e- * *-*.<br /> CORRESPONDENCE.<br /> I.—THE LAUREATESHIP.<br /> AM very glad to see that you have taken up<br /> the question of the failure of the Government<br /> to appoint a Poet Laureate. It is now nearly<br /> two years since the vacancy occurred, and surely<br /> it behoves all authors, whether poets or not, to<br /> prevent this single recognition of literature by<br /> the State being abandoned if they can prevent it.<br /> If chaplains or physicians to the Queen were to<br /> cease to be appointed, would not the discontent<br /> of the clergy and the doctors make itself felt P<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 191 (#205) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I9 I<br /> The salary is only £75 a year. It does not<br /> matter a penny postage to any of us except the<br /> person appointed, upon whom the choice of the<br /> Queen may fall; but I say that it is a slight to<br /> all of us that no appointment should be made.<br /> Nov. 19. A PROSE WRITER.<br /> II.-SPLITTING INFINITIVES.<br /> There is a point in connection with composition<br /> on which your advice might be of essential<br /> service to young writers. I wrote a book—<br /> the name of which I give for your private<br /> information—that was favourably reviewed by<br /> various papers, and very properly slated by a cer-<br /> tain critic; the unforgivable error I had com-<br /> mitted being the splitting of infinitives. But,<br /> discussing this matter with a literary friend, I<br /> inquired whether it was allowable ever to split a<br /> verb at all; the reply being promptly in the<br /> negative. I accepted this dictum, and proposed<br /> to myself an earnest study of the writings of our<br /> great masters, so that I might improve my own<br /> defective style. For it occurred to me, and it<br /> may have occurred to others, that it is often very<br /> difficult to give the proper sense to a sentence, by<br /> a too rigid and pedantic adherence to what, for<br /> all I know to the contrary, may be a very sound<br /> rule. I have, however, given up my proposed<br /> search, for by the merest chance I came across, in<br /> the Standard of the 7th inst., a letter from Mr.<br /> Froude to Dr. Fischer, of Armagh, dated the 5th<br /> May, 1882.<br /> Certainly Mr. Froude nowhere splits his infini-<br /> tives; but the accompanying extracts from that<br /> letter show that Mr. Froude was in the habit of<br /> repeatedly splitting his other tenses. The italics<br /> are my own, and are inserted merely to mark<br /> where it would seem to me that the infractions of<br /> an accepted rule have occurred:—“Your book<br /> which you have so kindly sent me,” &amp;c.—“I have<br /> only to tell you,” &amp;c.—“ and will, by and bye, be<br /> universally accepted,” &amp;c.—“ which he was all<br /> his life insisting on,” &amp;c.—“that he alone in the<br /> British empire saw,” &amp;c.<br /> Thus in a letter of thirty-four printed lines,<br /> the great historian five times splits his verbs.<br /> The question then is, whether this practice is or<br /> is not permissible?—Your obedient servant,<br /> 1588.<br /> III.-CRITICAL AND EDITORIAL AMENITIES.<br /> The editor has, I fancy, rather misunderstood<br /> my drift in my letter on “Editorial Amenities,”<br /> in last Author. (1) I complained of the lack of<br /> common courtesy in no eaglanation being given of<br /> the change of front. (2) I did not want reasons.<br /> I only wished to know the fate of MSS. (4) I<br /> did not expect the critic to change his opinion,<br /> but I reckoned on his having generosity enough<br /> to be glad his verdict was falsified in re the<br /> Fairy Tale, and to tell me so. (5) An editor<br /> who professed to value highly his contributor—<br /> as was the case here—would have been compli-<br /> mented by being asked for a review by him.<br /> Resentment seems absurd. Toes it not P<br /> AN AUTHOR.<br /> *— - ~&quot;<br /> ,-- - -<br /> NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS,<br /> Theology.<br /> ANGLICAN PULPIT LIBRARY. Sermons, Outlines, and<br /> Illustrations for the Sundays and Holy Days of the<br /> Year ; Original and selected. In 6 vols. Vol. I.,<br /> Advent to Christmastide. Hodder and Stoughton.<br /> I 58.<br /> AsHLEY, JoBN M. Cogitationes Concionales, being 216<br /> short Sermon Reflections, founded upon the “Summa<br /> Theologica, ’’ of S. Thomas Aquinas. 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Sweet and Max-<br /> well. 6s. net.<br /> SKENE, W. B. Acts Relating to the Universities of Oxford<br /> and Cambridge, and the Colleges therein. 7s.6d.<br /> SMITH, J. W. The Law of Banker and Customer. Twenty-<br /> second thousand. Flffingham Wilson. 5s.<br /> STATHAM, H. H. The Changes in London Building Law :<br /> a Critical Analysis of the London Building Act, 1894.<br /> With illustrative diagrams. F. and H. Spon,<br /> STEPHEN, SIR HERBERT, and STEPHEN, H. LUSHINGTON.<br /> A Digest of the Criminal Law (Crimes and Punish-<br /> ments), by the late Sir James Fitzjames Stephen. Fifth<br /> edition. Macmillan. I6s.<br /> THE TIMEs LAw REPORTs. Edited by Arthur Russell.<br /> Vol. X. (1893-94). The Times Parliamentary Debates:<br /> House of Lords, Vol. IX. (March 12 to Aug. 25, 1894);<br /> House of Commons, Vol. XXIX. (July 30 to Aug. 25,<br /> 1894). The Times Office.<br /> WILLs, WILLIAM. The Theory and Practice of the Law<br /> of Evidence. Stevens. Ios. 6d.<br /> With Intro-<br /> Sweet and Maxwell,<br /> Stevens.https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/271/1894-12-01-The-Author-5-7.pdfpublications, The Author
272https://historysoa.com/items/show/272The Author, Vol. 05 Issue 08 (January 1895)<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=%3Cem%3EThe+Author%3C%2Fem%3E%2C+Vol.+05+Issue+08+%28January+1895%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 05 Issue 08 (January 1895)</a><a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Publication">Publication</a>1895-01-01-The-Author-5-8201–224<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=89&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=5">5</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=76&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1895-01-01">1895-01-01</a>818950101C be El u t b or,<br /> (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors.<br /> Monthly.)<br /> CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESAN. T.<br /> VoI. W.-No. 8.]<br /> JANUARY 1, 1895.<br /> [PRICE SIXPENCE.<br /> For the Opinions earpressed in papers that are<br /> signed or initialled the Authors alone are<br /> responsible. None of the papers or para-<br /> graphs must be taken as eaſoressing the<br /> collective opinions of the committee unless<br /> they are officially signed by G. Herbert<br /> Thring, Sec. t<br /> *- 2a, 2===<br /> EDITORIAL ANNOUNCEMENT,<br /> N the recommendation of many members of the Society<br /> it has been decided to discontinue the monthly list of<br /> new books and new editions. Those, it is urged, who<br /> wish for this list may find it day by day in the daily papers,<br /> week by week in the Spectator, the Athenæum, and the<br /> Publishers’ Circular. Our space, which is limited, will be<br /> thus relieved to the extent of three, or four, and even six pages.<br /> Two or three other small changes will it is hoped add to the<br /> value and the attractiveness of the Author. At the same time,<br /> we shall not lose sight of the fact that the chief raison d&#039;être of<br /> the paper is the maintenance and defence of literary property<br /> from the author&#039;s point of view, and that, with this object,<br /> the paper will continue to publish cases, law suits, and<br /> legal opinions bearing on literary property. The editor<br /> begs his readers to communicate any experiences of their<br /> own, the publication of which will promote the welfare of<br /> literary men and women. It must be remembered that the<br /> readiest and surest way to abolish the ills of which we most<br /> complain is publicity. EDITOR.<br /> HE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all<br /> remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and<br /> requests that all members not receiving an answer to<br /> important communications within two days will write to him<br /> without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union<br /> Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered<br /> letter only.<br /> Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on<br /> all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub-<br /> jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are<br /> returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS.<br /> WOL. W.<br /> WARNINGS AND ADWICE,<br /> I. RAWING THE AGREEMENT.—It is not generally<br /> understood that the author, as the vendor, has the<br /> absolute right of drafting the agreement upon<br /> whatever terms the transaction is to be carried out.<br /> Authors are strongly advised to exercise that right. In<br /> every form of business, this among others, the right of<br /> drawing the agreement rests with him who sells, leases, or<br /> has the control of the property.<br /> 2. SERIAL RIGHTS.–In selling Serial Rights remember<br /> that you may be selling the Serial Right for all time; that<br /> is, the Right to continue the production in papers. If you<br /> object to this, insert a clause to that effect.<br /> 3. STAMP You R AGREEMENTs. – Readers are most<br /> URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements<br /> immediately after signature. If this precaution is neglected<br /> for two weeks, a fine of £1 O must be paid before the agree-<br /> ment can be used as a legal document. In almost every<br /> case brought to the &#039;secretary the agreement, or the letter<br /> which serves for one, is forwarded without the stamp. The<br /> author may be assured that the other party to the agree-<br /> ment seldom neglects this simple precaution. The Society,<br /> to save trouble, undertakes to get all the agreements of<br /> members stamped for them at mo ea pense to themselves<br /> ea:cept the cost of the stamp.<br /> 4. AscERTAIN WEAT A PROPOSED AGREEMENT GIVES To<br /> BOTH sides BEFORE SIGNING IT.-Remember that an<br /> arrangement as to a joint venture in any other kind of busi-<br /> mess whatever would be instantly refused should either party<br /> refuse to show the books or to let it be known what share he<br /> reserved for himself.<br /> 5. LITERARY AGENTs.-Be very careful. You cannot be<br /> too careful as to the person whom yow appoint as your<br /> agent. Remember that you place your property almost un-<br /> reservedly in his hands. Your only safety is in consulting<br /> the Society, or some friend who has had personal experience<br /> of the agent. Do not trust advertisements alone.<br /> 6. CoST OF PRODUCTION.——Never sign any agreement of<br /> which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part,<br /> until you have proved the figures.<br /> 7. CHOICE OF PUBLISHERS.–Never enter into any cor-<br /> respondence with publishers, especially with those who ad-<br /> vertise for MSS., who are not recommended by experienced<br /> friends or by this Society.<br /> 8. FUTURE WORK.—Never, on any account whatever,<br /> bind yourself down for future work to anyone.<br /> 9. PERSONAL RISK.—Never accept any pecuniary risk or<br /> responsibility whatever without advice.<br /> T 2<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 202 (#216) ############################################<br /> <br /> 2O2<br /> THE AUTHOR,<br /> Io. REJECTED MSS.—Never, when a MS. has been re-<br /> fused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises<br /> they may put forward, for the production of the work.<br /> II. AMERICAN RIGHTS.—Never sign away American<br /> rights. Keep them by special clause. Refuse to sign any<br /> agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the<br /> publisher, unless for a substantial consideration.<br /> 12. CESSION OF COPYRIGHT.—Never sign any paper,<br /> either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright,<br /> without advice.<br /> 13. ADVERTISEMENTS. —-Keep some control over the<br /> advertisements, if they affect your returns, by a clause in<br /> the agreement.<br /> I4. NEVER forget that publishing is a business, like any<br /> other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy,<br /> charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with<br /> business men. Be yourself a business man.<br /> Society’s Offices :-<br /> 4, PORTUGAL STREET, LINCOLN&#039;s INN FIELDs.<br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY,<br /> I. VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive<br /> advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-<br /> lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his<br /> business or the administration of his property. If the advice<br /> sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member<br /> has a right to an opinion from the Society’s solicitors. If the<br /> case is such that Counsel&#039;s opinion is desirable, the Com-<br /> mittee will obtain for him Counsel’s opinion. All this<br /> without any cost to the member.<br /> 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright<br /> and publisher&#039;s agreements do not generally fall within the<br /> experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple<br /> to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually<br /> engaged upon such questions for us.<br /> 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past<br /> accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in<br /> order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree-<br /> ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively<br /> so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any<br /> agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor-<br /> mation thus obtained may prove invaluable.<br /> 4. If the examination of your previous business trans-<br /> actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should<br /> take advice as to a change of publishers.<br /> 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro-<br /> posed document to the Society for examination.<br /> 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in<br /> the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish-<br /> ing firm in the country.<br /> 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you<br /> are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are<br /> reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing<br /> the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen-<br /> dence of the writer.<br /> 8. Senºl to the Editor of the Awthor notes of everything<br /> important to literature that you may hear or meet with.<br /> *- = 2=º<br /> THE AUTHORS’ SYNDICATE,<br /> EMBERS are informed :<br /> I. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate takes charge of<br /> the business of members of the Society. With, when<br /> necessary, the assistance of the legal advisers of the Syndi-<br /> cate, it concludes agreements, collects royalties, examines<br /> and passes accounts, and generally relieves members of the<br /> trouble of managing business details.<br /> 2. That the expenses of the Authors&#039; Syndicate are<br /> defrayed solely out of the commission charged on rights<br /> placed through its intervention. Notice is, however,<br /> hereby given that in all cases where there is no current<br /> account, a booking fee is charged to cover postage and<br /> porterage.<br /> 3. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate works for none but those<br /> members of the Society whose work possesses a market<br /> value.<br /> 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiation<br /> whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia-<br /> tions are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all<br /> communications relating thereto are referred to it.<br /> 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by<br /> appointment, and that, when possible, at least four days’<br /> notice should be given.<br /> 6. That every attempt is made to deal with the corre-<br /> spondence promptly, but that owing to the enormous number<br /> of letters received, some delay is inevitable. That stamps<br /> should, in all cases, be sent to defray postage.<br /> 7. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate does not invite MSS.<br /> without previous correspondence, and does not hold itself<br /> responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice.<br /> 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for<br /> lectures by some of the leading members of the Society;<br /> that it has a “Transfer Department&quot; for the sale and<br /> purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a “Register<br /> of Wants and Wanted ” has been opened. Members anxious<br /> to obtain literary or artistic work are invited to com-<br /> municate with the Manager.<br /> There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services<br /> will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It<br /> is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the<br /> Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in<br /> the Syndicate.<br /> NOTICES.<br /> HE Editor of the Awthor begs to remind members of the<br /> Society that, although the paper is sent to them free<br /> of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very<br /> heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great<br /> many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest<br /> 6s. 6d. subscription for the year.<br /> The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and<br /> communications on all subjects connected with literature<br /> from members and others. Nothing can do more good to<br /> the Society than to make the Awthor complete, attractive,<br /> and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this<br /> work send their names and the special subjects on which<br /> they are willing to write P<br /> Communications for the Author should reach the Editor<br /> not later than the 21st of each month.<br /> All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether<br /> members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 203 (#217) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 2O3<br /> to the Editor any points connected with their work which<br /> it would be advisable in the general interest to publish.<br /> Members and others who wish their MSS. read are<br /> requested not to send them to the Office without previously<br /> communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable<br /> despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in<br /> which they are received. It must also be distinctly under-<br /> stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances,<br /> undertake the publication of MSS.<br /> The Authors’ Club is now open in its new premises, at<br /> 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary<br /> for information, rules of admission, &amp;c.<br /> Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they<br /> have paid their subscriptions for the year P If they will do<br /> this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker’s<br /> order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the<br /> trouble of sending out a reminder.<br /> Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the<br /> warning numbered (8). It is a most foolish and may be a<br /> most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding<br /> for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they<br /> would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five<br /> years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest<br /> or dishonest P Of course they would not. Why then<br /> hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them-<br /> selves into literary bondage for three or five years P<br /> Those who possess the “Cost of Production &quot; are<br /> requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15<br /> per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble<br /> of “doing sums,” the addition of three shillings in the<br /> pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding<br /> is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be<br /> added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at<br /> £9 4s. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth<br /> as can be procured; but a printer&#039;s, or a binder&#039;s, bill is so<br /> elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at.<br /> Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged<br /> in the “Cost of Production” for advertising. Of course, we<br /> have not included any sums which may be charged for<br /> inserting advertisements in the publisher’s own magazines,<br /> or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too<br /> often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from<br /> sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket,<br /> by inserting any number of advertisements in his own<br /> magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are<br /> who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those<br /> who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it.<br /> *-* -º<br /> LITERARY PROPERTY,<br /> I.—CANADIAN COPYRIGHT.<br /> HE sudden death of Sir John Thompson has<br /> probably put off the consideration of the<br /> Canadian claims for a time. A memorial<br /> on the subject will be drawn up by the committee<br /> after the Christmas and New Year Vacation.<br /> Meantime, the following is a resumé of the whole<br /> Case. It appeared in the Times of Dec. I I, and<br /> is here reproduced in full, by special permission,<br /> for which we record our best thanks:—<br /> “The history of the discussion extends over no<br /> less a period than fifty years, beginning with<br /> the Imperial Copyright Act of 1842, and the<br /> details have been made the subject of so<br /> much argument on either side that there is,<br /> unfortunately, little room to hope for much<br /> modification of opposite opinion. Half a century<br /> of contention, carried on chiefly by means of<br /> official correspondence that tends to grow more<br /> voluminous year by year as the means of com-<br /> munication become more rapid, has remained<br /> practically barren of result. The Canadian copy-<br /> right question, with certain modifications deemed<br /> wholly insufficient by the Canadian Government,<br /> has remained almost where it was placed in 1842.<br /> The incidents which have marked its progress are<br /> so few that they can be catalogued in a para-<br /> graph ; the arguments to which they have given<br /> rise demand some courage for their mastery on<br /> the part of the student of colonial history.<br /> “Briefly, the principal facts which need to be<br /> taken note of in relation to Canadian copyright<br /> are as follows: The Imperial Copyright Act of<br /> 1842 gives copyright throughout the whole of<br /> Her Majesty dominions to any book published in<br /> the United Kingdom, whether it be printed or not<br /> in the United Kingdom, or whether it be written<br /> by a British subject or not. The intention was<br /> manifestly to provide that British literature<br /> should have free circulation through British<br /> territory. As a matter of fact, the conditions of<br /> trade in the United Kingdom were such that the<br /> editions published under the protection of the<br /> Copyright Act were too expensive for the colonial<br /> market, and colonial readers, instead of being<br /> freely supplied with British books, were almost<br /> entirely deprived of them. To remedy this evil<br /> an Imperial Act of 1847, known as the Foreign<br /> Reprints Act, provided that, so long as the<br /> Imperial Government were satisfied that sufficient<br /> protection was given to the author&#039;s rights in any<br /> given colony, the prohibition to permit the entry<br /> of cheap foreign reprints enforced by the Act of<br /> 1842 might by Order in Council be suspended.<br /> Under this Act the Canadian Government<br /> imposed a nominal author&#039;s royalty of 12% per<br /> cent., to be collected at the custom-houses by the<br /> Canadian Government and paid to the British<br /> Government for the benefit of the author.<br /> Foreign reprints were consequently admitted to<br /> the advantage of the Canadian reading public<br /> and to the manifest disadvantage of the Canadian<br /> book trade.<br /> “In the meantime the colonies were developing<br /> powers of self-government under the system of<br /> Parliamentary responsibility which had been con-<br /> ceded to Canada in 1841, only one year before the<br /> passing of the Imperial Copyright Act. The<br /> confederation of the provinces of the Dominion of<br /> Canada took place in 1867, and in the British<br /> North America Act of that year, by which the<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 204 (#218) ############################################<br /> <br /> 2O4.<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> conditions of confederation are determined, copy-<br /> right ranks among the subjects over which power<br /> was given to the Parliament of Canada to legis-<br /> late. But under a previous Act of 1865, known<br /> as the Colonial Laws Walidity Act, any colonial<br /> law which is any respects repugnant to the provi-<br /> sions of any Act of Parliament extending to the<br /> colony is read subject to the Act, and remains<br /> void “to the extent of such repugnancy.” In so<br /> far, therefore, as any Canadian legislation upon<br /> copyright conflicts with Imperial legislation<br /> extending to the colony it remains void, notwith-<br /> standing the provisions of the British North<br /> America Act<br /> “The results of these two-handed provisions<br /> have been those that might have been anticipated.<br /> A Canadian Copyright Act of 1875 laid down the<br /> conditions of local copyright for Canadian<br /> authors, who, as their works are not necessarily<br /> published in the United Kingdom, were not pro-<br /> tected by the Imperial Act, The Canadian Act<br /> was subjected to some wrangle, but was made law<br /> by an Insperial Confirming Act. Then followed,<br /> in consequence of the discussion upon the Act,<br /> the Copyright Commission of 1876. A consolida-<br /> tion Bill intended to give effect to the recommen-<br /> dations of the Commission did not become law.<br /> More negotiations followed, and led in the course<br /> of ten years to the Berne Convention and the<br /> International Copyright Act of 1886.<br /> “The Berne Convention, of which the object<br /> was to create an international union for the protec-<br /> tion of literary and artistic property, was signed<br /> on Sept. 9, 1886. By a protocol attached to the<br /> Convention the colonies and foreign possessions<br /> of Great Britain were included with the United<br /> Kingdom, with power reserved to them to<br /> denounce the treaty, in so far as it concerns them,<br /> upon giving twelve months’ notice to that effect.<br /> Under the International Copyright Act of the<br /> same year, which was passed for the purpose of<br /> giving effect to the Berne Convention, it was<br /> provided that the author of a book first published<br /> in a colony has copyright throughout the whole<br /> of the Queen&#039;s dominions. Canada, it should be<br /> observed, formally assented to the Imperial Act<br /> of 1886, and to a subsequent Order in Council of<br /> 1887, by which effect was given to it in the colo-<br /> nies. By the Berne Convention the principle of<br /> International copyright for all countries belong-<br /> ing to the Union was established. By the Impe-<br /> rial Act of 1886 the supplementary principle of<br /> copyright throughout all the British possessions<br /> was established for the Empire.<br /> “To other members of the Copyright Union,<br /> whether international or Imperial, those provi-<br /> sions have been found to be of great value. The<br /> geographical position of Canada made her case<br /> exceptional. The United States, which is the<br /> largest reproducer of English publications,<br /> borders the Canadian frontier for some thousands<br /> of miles. Under the provisions of the Berne<br /> Convention Canada was prevented from repro-<br /> ducing the works not ouly of British copyright<br /> holders, but of the copyright holders of the entire<br /> Union without due compensation to the author,<br /> while her nearest neighbour, publishing in the<br /> same language for a reading public of which the<br /> requirements were practically identical, was not a<br /> member of the Union, and was consequently free<br /> to reproduce at will and flood the markets of the<br /> continents with cheap reprints, against which the<br /> Canadian book trade could not contend. The<br /> privilege given in return to Canadian authors of<br /> copyright throughout the Union remained prac-<br /> tically void by reason of the small number of<br /> authors who could profit by it. The Berne Con-<br /> vention, therefore, rendered the position of Canada.<br /> so much the worse by increasing the number of<br /> copyright holders to whom Canadian publishers<br /> were bound to give compensation by as many<br /> countries, colonies, and British possessions as<br /> joined the Union. As a matter of fact, the read-<br /> ing public of the Dominion of Canada has been,<br /> and is, principally supplied with British literature<br /> by American reprints. It is worth while in this<br /> connection to point out that the interests which<br /> are opposed to each other in this controversy are<br /> not those of British authors and Canadian authors,<br /> or of British authors and the Canadian public,<br /> but of British authors and Canadian publishers.<br /> “These facts being very generally recognised<br /> in Canada, where discontent with the Imperial<br /> restrictions upon copyright has been persistent<br /> ever since the effect of the Act of 1842 was<br /> realised, a Canadian Act was passed by the<br /> Dominion Parliament in 1889, by which it was<br /> proposed that, instead of the universal copyright<br /> conveyed by the Copyright Union under the Con-<br /> vention of Berne, copyright in Canada should be<br /> given to any person domiciled in Canada or the<br /> British possessions and to the citizen of any<br /> country having an international copyright treaty<br /> with the United Kingdom on certain conditions<br /> of publishing and registration, including the pro-<br /> vision that the book shall be printed and pub-<br /> lished in Canada within one month after first<br /> publication elsewhere. The Act contains a<br /> further licensing clause, to the effect that, when<br /> copyright has not been obtained, the book may<br /> be published under licence in Canada, but the<br /> author&#039;s rights shall be safeguarded by a IO per<br /> cent. royalty, which shall be the price paid for<br /> the licence. Such an Act would, of course,<br /> render it necessary for Canada to withdraw from<br /> the Copyright Union, and the Canadian Govern-<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 205 (#219) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 205<br /> ment accordingly gave notice that it wished, in so<br /> far as it were concerned, to denounce the Berne<br /> Convention.<br /> “The Act could not, however, become law with-<br /> out receiving the sanction of Her Majesty&#039;s<br /> Government, and this sanction has been with-<br /> held. In the opinion of the law officers of the<br /> Crown, formally reported on Dec. 31, 1889, the<br /> powers of legislation conferred on the Dominion<br /> Parliament by the British North America Act do<br /> not authorise that Parliament to amend or repeal,<br /> so far as relates to Canada, an Imperial Act con-<br /> ferring privileges within Canada. It will readily<br /> be conceived that this decision has not been<br /> received with acquiescence in Canada..&#039; The ques-<br /> tion has been raised by it from a discussion of the<br /> relative interests of authors and publishers to the<br /> higher level of a question of self-government.<br /> Feeling in Canada runs very strongly upon the<br /> point. Sir John Thompson, both as Minister of<br /> Justice in 1889 and later as Prime Minister of<br /> the Dominion, has stoutly defended the self-<br /> governing rights of the colony he represents and<br /> the competency of the Dominion Parliament to<br /> pass an amending Act. Powers which include the<br /> right to impose customs duties upon British<br /> goods must, it is held, give power to defend the<br /> local interest of any trade. Colonial opinion will<br /> not easily accept a limitation, the justice of which<br /> can be disputed, of constitutional rights, and it<br /> is not improbable that the whole question may<br /> have to be decided upon this wider issue.<br /> “The latest modification of the technical aspect<br /> of the question has been produced by the<br /> American Copyright Act of 1891, under which<br /> any British subject may obtain copyright in the<br /> United States on condition that at least two<br /> copies of the book are printed from type set<br /> within the United States on or before publication<br /> elsewhere. In return for this, American subjects<br /> may obtain copyright throughout British posses-<br /> sions on the same terms as British subjects. On<br /> the ground that the American Act and the<br /> President’s proclamation do not constitute an<br /> international copyright treaty Canada refused to<br /> admit citizens of the United States to the enjoy-<br /> ment of copyright privileges within the limits of<br /> the Dominion. This Canada is held to have the<br /> right to do under the Act of 1875, which was<br /> confirmed by the Imperial Act of the same year.<br /> “What is now desired by the Government of<br /> Canada is that an Imperial confirming Act shall<br /> be passed to give the force of law to the still<br /> inoperative Canadian Act of 1889. The objections<br /> of the Imperial Government to such a course<br /> are—that to do as Canada desires involves an<br /> abandonment of the policy of international and<br /> Imperial copyright which was, after difficulty,<br /> asserted six years ago; that it is inconsistent<br /> with the policy of making copyright independent<br /> of the place of printing, which has always been<br /> upheld by Great Britain; that it would have the<br /> effect of introducing a modification into the con-<br /> ditions under which the United States consented<br /> to the agreement of 1891 ; and that it would be<br /> injurious to the interests of British authors, by<br /> whom the Canadian market is principally sup-<br /> plied. It is urged on behalf of British authors<br /> that the whole Canadian case is based on the<br /> fallacy that Canadian publishers and printers<br /> have a right to the profits of publishing and<br /> printing the works of British authors, whereas in<br /> reality the profit of their work belongs to the<br /> authors themselves. When the arguments of the<br /> right of self-government are brought forward, it is<br /> replied that no conceivable British right of self-<br /> government can include the right to confiscate<br /> the property of unoffending members of society.<br /> Unquestionably the adjustment of the case on<br /> mutually satisfactory grounds is rendered difficult<br /> by the absence of any body of Canadian authors<br /> to whom reciprocal privileges under the Copyright<br /> Acts can offer substantial advantages. As it<br /> stands, the advantage of authors is all on one<br /> side, and the advantage of publishers is on the<br /> other. That the authors should be British and<br /> the publishers Canadian accentuates the sharp-<br /> ness of a contest which, even without the inter-<br /> vention of a governing body on each side, we are<br /> accustomed to hear a good deal of in this country.<br /> It also, however, helps to indicate clearly the<br /> direction in which compromise may most hope-<br /> fully be looked for, and a practical provision on<br /> the part of the Canadian Government by which<br /> the rights of authors may be fully safeguarded<br /> may, perhaps, help to bring the long controversy<br /> to a close.”<br /> II.-INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT.<br /> At a meeting of the American “Authors’<br /> Guild,” held in New York, Nov. 2 I, a resolution<br /> was proposed to reopen the International Copy-<br /> right Law by a petition to Congress for its<br /> amendment. The discussion of the resolution<br /> was adjourned to the regular meeting in<br /> December, when the project of publishing a<br /> literary quarterly will also be considered by the<br /> Guild.—Athenaeum, Dec. 8.<br /> III.-PUBLISHED ON COMMISSION.<br /> The following is (I) a publisher&#039;s estimate for<br /> the cost of production of a book forming 540 pp.<br /> at 340 words to a page in long primer type;<br /> and (2) the estimate according to the Society&#039;s<br /> book called “The Cost of Production.”<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 206 (#220) ############################################<br /> <br /> 2O6<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I. Publisher&#039;s estimate without advertising and<br /> |binding of 300 only :<br /> For an edition of 500 copies, 3148.<br /> 2 3 5 3 93 750 copies, 3.165.<br /> 55 ,, IOOO copies, 317O.<br /> 33<br /> II. Here is the Society’s estimate of exactly<br /> the same work in the same type—remember that<br /> we can get the work done for so much, and well<br /> done :<br /> For an edition of 500 copies, 38 IOO.<br /> 750 copies, 31 I5.<br /> 55 55 , IOOO copies, 3145.<br /> One would like the general opinion on the<br /> character of the publisher who is capable of<br /> sending out such an estimate. And, one would<br /> ask, do not figures such as these show the absolute<br /> necessity of supporting the only machinery which<br /> exposes these things P<br /> 33 33 35<br /> IV.-A HoPELEss CASE.<br /> The following is a case which has happened<br /> more than once, and should be noted:<br /> A. B. writes an article or several articles for a<br /> journal which is, though the contributor does not<br /> know it, on its last legs, financially. He asks<br /> the editor for a cheque, and gets no reply. He<br /> writes again, and still gets no reply. He calls,<br /> and cannot see the editor. Then he seeks the<br /> aid of the Society. Now this, one would think,<br /> is eminently a case in which the Society should<br /> be useful. In fact, there are dozens of similar<br /> cases in which the proprietor of a journal has<br /> been made to pay by the action of the secre-<br /> tary. But in this case the secretary discovers<br /> the unpleasant fact that the paper has been<br /> taken over and is being run by and for the<br /> debenture holders. This means that, though the<br /> secretary might take the case into the County<br /> Court and obtain a judgment, there would be no<br /> means whatever of enforcing that judgment,<br /> because the debenture holders have the first claim<br /> upon the proceeds of the paper. The only course,<br /> then, is to throw the paper into bankruptcy —<br /> a difficult and expensive task. A course, too, by<br /> which the creditor will gain only a paltry dividend,<br /> if anything. There is no publicity to County<br /> Court judgments, otherwise the mere facts of the<br /> case might cause the manager to pay rather than<br /> incur the discredit of the judgment. So that in<br /> such a case there seems no help at all.<br /> NOTES FROM PARIS,<br /> WER all the things that I had to say in this<br /> month&#039;s letter there hangs a very gloomy<br /> shadow, and turn and twist as I may I am<br /> always brought back to this most unhappy fact,<br /> that your Stevenson and mine no longer breathes<br /> our common air, and that thirst we as we may<br /> for the clear water of his lucid prose, there will<br /> be nothing from him any more nor ever again,<br /> for our gentle gentleman of letters lies for ever<br /> asleep on a mountain-top in an island in the<br /> southern Sea.<br /> I fancy that amongst those who deplore his loss<br /> few perhaps will be more distressed than Crockett<br /> and Weyman. Both spoke to me of him with<br /> high admiration and great pride in his apprecia-<br /> tion of their work, for to both of them he had<br /> written in high praise and encouragement. His<br /> portrait hangs in Crockett&#039;s work-room in his<br /> house on the moors by the Esk, and it is on the<br /> mantelpiece of Weyman&#039;s study in the Welsh<br /> frontier town. And now there is crape round<br /> it ; there and everywhere it is felt that our<br /> English peoples are poorer by a great-hearted<br /> gentleman, our English tongue is robbed of a<br /> clear and sweet exponent.<br /> The French press paid due tribute to the dead<br /> master, and in most of the leading papers there<br /> appeared admiring obituary notices. There is<br /> much in this, as as a general rule the French<br /> journalists know nothing of, and care less, for<br /> English writers. So that, if Stevenson’s death<br /> was recorded in columns of appreciative articles<br /> in the Parisian papers, it shows that his mastery<br /> was recognised here also. Some of the writers<br /> displayed a certain ignorance, and gave amongst<br /> the list of his works the names of books which he<br /> never wrote, but the intention was everywhere a<br /> good one, and there was comfort in this manifes-<br /> tion in a foreign land.<br /> I have seen Alphonse Daudet since my return to<br /> Paris, and he spoke to me with much anticipation<br /> of pleasure about his forthcoming visit to London.<br /> He, however, seems determined to preserve the<br /> strictest incognito whilst in England, and has<br /> begged me to state that, greatly touched as he is<br /> by the kindness of those who proposed to do him<br /> honour, his state of health will prevent him from<br /> appearing in public in any way.<br /> Emile Zola is being greatly attacked in the<br /> French papers for his Italian proceedings. In<br /> one caricature he is represented kneeling before<br /> Ring Humbert licking the royal boots. In<br /> another large coloured cartoon he is shown in the<br /> garb of a mountebank, grovelling before the King<br /> and Crispi, and the former is saying “Enough,<br /> enough, it really is enough.” All this is very<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 207 (#221) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 2O7<br /> unjust. I attribute these attacks partly to the<br /> hatred of Italy which has been felt in France<br /> ever since the Italians joined the Triple Alliance,<br /> but mainly to the jealousy with which Zola&#039;s<br /> unprecedented success and European popularity<br /> have filled the obscure scribes who are so<br /> attacking him. Zola answers them one and all<br /> with an immense shrug of his burly shoulders,<br /> and says, “Let them talk, as for me, I am setting<br /> to work.”<br /> S. R. Crockett has an adorable little daughter<br /> called “Maisie.” The other day a visitor called<br /> at Bank House in the absence of her parents, and<br /> was received by the young lady. Happening to<br /> notice a photograph of Mr. A. P. Watt in a place<br /> of honour in Mr. Crockett&#039;s study, he asked his<br /> little hostess who that gentleman might be.<br /> “Oh,” said Maisie, “that is the gentleman who<br /> gets papa his American copyrights.”<br /> The gentlemen who write reviews of books for<br /> the newspapers are, I presume, journalists,<br /> and their writings, by the same token, are<br /> journalism. Why then do these gentlemen use<br /> the expression “journalism ‘’ as a reproach in<br /> their critical appreciations. One often reads<br /> “this is not literature, it is journalism,” a<br /> strange remark coming from a professed<br /> journalist. It reminds one of the bird who<br /> befouls his own nest, for it implies that the<br /> writer has a fine contempt for his own writings,<br /> and it fills the reader with pity at the want of<br /> the writer&#039;s self-respect as a journalist.<br /> There is one critic in London—I am sorry that<br /> I do not know his name—who has a curious<br /> notion of the responsibilities of his craft. A<br /> book—it was rather an expensive book—was<br /> published in London last month, and copies of<br /> this book were issued for review two days before<br /> the actual date of publication. On the same<br /> evening a copy of this book was seen in the<br /> window of a well-known second-hand bookstall<br /> in Shaftesbury Avenue. It was marked at a<br /> reduced price, though it was uncut, and just as<br /> it had left the publisher&#039;s hands, and though it<br /> was the only copy of the book then for sale in<br /> London. It was evidently one of the copies<br /> which had issued that morning for review, and<br /> had fallen into the hands of a gentleman with<br /> peculiar views on the functions and duties of<br /> criticism. In France all press copies of books are<br /> stamped with a sign which marks them as such.<br /> The English publishers might adopt a similar<br /> blan.<br /> p Amongst the many books which I find on my<br /> table on my return to Paris is a very clever<br /> collection of prose poems in French, by “P. L.”<br /> This collection is entitled “Les Chansons de<br /> Bilitis,” and the poems are supposed to be a<br /> WOL. W.<br /> translation from a Greek poetess. They are<br /> preceded by a detailed biography of the imaginary<br /> songstress, and in a most skilful manner is the<br /> illusion maintained throughout a most charming<br /> and savoury book. “P. L.” stands for Pierre<br /> Louys, a young French poet of whom I have<br /> often spoken in these pages as a young littérateur<br /> of considerable performance and still greater<br /> promise. Pierre Louys is a true artist, with no<br /> other preoccupation in life beyond the cultus of<br /> beauty, a poet in every fibre. His translation of<br /> Meleager will be remembered, to mention only one<br /> of his little masterpieces.<br /> I met Maurice Barrés a night or two ago, and<br /> found him looking rather tired. I suppose the<br /> strain of editing a fighting paper, like La<br /> Cocarde, is a very heavy one. Yet he was<br /> enthusiastic and energetic as ever, and told me<br /> that, apart from his literary work (besides editing<br /> La Cocarde and contributing to it a daily leader,<br /> he is engaged on a new novel), he is actively pre-<br /> paring his parliamentary candidature in two con-<br /> stituencies, Neuilly and Nancy. We had a long<br /> conversation on journalistic blackmailing in Paris,<br /> and amongst other things he told me that just<br /> before his play, “La Journée Parlementaire,” was<br /> produced an offer was made to him by an indi-<br /> vidual representing a syndicate of Parisian news-<br /> papers, by which, on payment of a considerable<br /> sum, he could secure enthusiastic reports of his<br /> play, with the alternative of well, you can guess<br /> the alternative.<br /> Apropos of journalistic blackmailing in Paris, I<br /> imagine that nobody is more surprised at the<br /> turn which things have taken than the able<br /> editors who, arrested for the practice, are now<br /> languishing in Mazas gaol. For years they have<br /> been allowed undisturbed to practise their little<br /> industry, till they had been lulled into the<br /> illusion that what they were doing was recognised<br /> and admitted. Suddenly, after nearly a quarter<br /> of a century of toleration, they are swooped down<br /> upon and laid by the heels. I can imagine that<br /> they feel a real grievance against the authorities.<br /> I could write a volume on the practices of<br /> blackmailing in France, were I only to draw on<br /> my reminiscences of conversations I had on the<br /> subject with poor Ferdinand de Lesseps. The<br /> subject is, however, a nauseating one. I will only<br /> mention that I was once delegated to gag a<br /> provincial blackmailing journalist, and that each<br /> time that I paid him his monthly hush-money, I<br /> used to talk to him about his business. He<br /> seemed to think that he was acting in a perfectly<br /> straightforward manner. “I run my paper,”<br /> he used to say, “not from philanthropy, but<br /> as a commercial speculation, and I work what<br /> influence it gives me for all that it is worth.<br /> U<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 208 (#222) ############################################<br /> <br /> 2O8<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> People must pay to get things put into my paper,<br /> and equally must they pay to keep things out,”<br /> We used to smoke cigarettes together, and got<br /> quite friendly in the end, for the man&#039;s turpitude<br /> was thorough, and one likes thoroughness of<br /> every kind, I was almost sorry when I heard<br /> that he had died in gaol, He was such an<br /> interesting study.<br /> It seems as if shortly there will be quite a<br /> colony of English men of letters residing in Paris.<br /> I have heard several, and not the least distin-<br /> guished amongst our contemporary writers,<br /> expressing the intention to go and live in the<br /> French capital. I think it is a mistake on their<br /> part, and I, for one, have never ceased regretting<br /> having settled down on what an old Yorkshire<br /> farmer de mes amis spoke to me of as “the<br /> wrong side of the watter, my lad.” Paris is<br /> uncomfortable, it is expensive, and the eternal<br /> foolishness which envelopes one here, ends by<br /> influencing disastrously one&#039;s views on men and<br /> on life. Besides, one forgets one&#039;s English. The<br /> tool blunts from disuse.<br /> I see that at a type-writing office in the City<br /> Mr. Hill’s idea of a roll of paper, as a substitute<br /> for sheets, has been taken up and put into prac-<br /> tice. Quite a crowd of people stand outside that<br /> office and watch the long coil as it unfolds<br /> itself.<br /> The “Quotidien Illustré,” a French imitation<br /> of the Daily Graphic, is the latest addition to the<br /> press of Paris. R. H. SHERA.R.D.<br /> 123, Boulevard Magenta, Paris.<br /> *— a 2-º<br /> --<br /> NOTES AND NEWS,<br /> Y this time all the papers, daily and weekly,<br /> have paid their tribute of praise and regret<br /> to the memory of Louis Stevenson. Yet<br /> this paper, though late, must also lay its wreath<br /> upon that far-off island grave. For, indeed, while<br /> he lived, to talk of decadence was to betray<br /> incapacity. I do not think there is in our whole<br /> literature a finer piece of work than “Treasure<br /> Island.” I do not think there are anywhere more<br /> delightful essays than some of Stevenson&#039;s. We<br /> need not attempt to compare him with anybody<br /> —comparisons of genius are futile things; Scott is<br /> Scott ; Fielding ; Thackeray; every man of genius<br /> stands alone. Ilike all men of genius Stevenson<br /> was unequal; there were limitations in his powers;<br /> certain fields were closed to him ; he could not<br /> discourse of love, for instance. But for what he<br /> gave the world we must be thankful, for some of<br /> it will last, I believe, as long as the English<br /> language. -<br /> The immortality of a writer involves selection.<br /> As time goes on one piece after another drops out<br /> of notice and is forgotten, except for the student.<br /> Why? It is impossible to tell. Goldsmith has<br /> been practically reduced, except for the student, to<br /> the “Deserted Village,” “She Stoops to Conquer,”<br /> and the “Vicar of Wakefield;” Gray to the Elegy;<br /> of Southey’s voluminous poems one little poem only<br /> remains; Coleridge keeps his “Ancient Mariner.”<br /> Of more modern writers it would be invidious<br /> to speak; it is too early to guess what part of<br /> Tennyson will drop out of the general memory;<br /> what part of Browning will be preserved; but it<br /> would be interesting to learn what novels, if any,<br /> of Thackeray and Dickens are already beginning<br /> to show signs of approaching oblivion.<br /> The committee have received a large number of<br /> replies to their questions as to Net Prices. At<br /> their first meeting of the New Year the replies<br /> will be submitted to them and considered. Perhaps<br /> we shall be in a position to publish some resolu-<br /> tion on the subject next month.<br /> In an advertisement of a new periodical, “The<br /> Minster,” one observes with some surprise the<br /> name of Mr. George Gissing as the contributor of<br /> a story. With surprise, not because he ought not<br /> to be there, but because this powerful writer has<br /> never before, so far as I know, appeared in a<br /> serial. I hear now of other magazines which<br /> have at last found him out. I have never been<br /> able to understand the comparative silence with<br /> which the very fine work of this writer has been<br /> received. It is, perhaps, because his themes have<br /> been gloomy. The other writers in the new<br /> magazine are the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sir<br /> Edwin Arnold, Sir Benjamin Baker, the Head<br /> Master of Harrow, Corney Grain, Mr. George<br /> Spottiswoode, George Saintsbury, and James<br /> Payn. It is quite the Orthodox plan to begin<br /> with great names. At the same time, great names<br /> very often belong to those who are not great in<br /> literature. And, since we wish well to the new<br /> magazine, we would venture to suggest that<br /> literary popularity is most easily attained by<br /> names that are great in literature.<br /> The book trade may be in a very depressed<br /> condition, but there are six long columns of pub-<br /> lishers&#039; advertisements in the Times of Dec. 18.<br /> This looks like a certain amount of confidence in<br /> the present as well as in the future. Whether the<br /> market is depressed or not, there is certainly no<br /> falling off in the output, the regulation of which<br /> is especially the business of the publishers. The<br /> author has not, and cannot have, any voice at all<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 209 (#223) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR,<br /> 2O9<br /> in the output. I suppose that depression means,<br /> not a restricted output, but smaller editions; e.g.,<br /> for books of a certain class—say Autobiographies<br /> and Recollections—where there were formerly a<br /> thousand buyers there are now only five hundred.<br /> But, so long as the purchases by readers exceed<br /> the cost of production, so long will fresh books<br /> of the kind be produced. And so with every<br /> other kind of book.<br /> Mr. W. Pollard (Athenæum, Dec. 8) records<br /> the death of surely the very last of all the persons<br /> named in Charles Lamb&#039;s letters. Elizabeth,<br /> widow of Charles Tween, died at Hertford on<br /> Nov. 27, aged ninety-two. She was buried, Dec. 3,<br /> in Widford Churchyard, Hertfordshire, where<br /> Charles&#039;s grandmother, Mrs. Field, lies buried.<br /> Mrs. Tween was a Miss Norris, mentioned by<br /> Lamb in a letter to Henry Crabb Robinson of<br /> January, 1826. She, with her sister, opened a<br /> girls’ school, but married two brothers.<br /> The funeral was on Monday, Dec. 3, in Widford Church-<br /> yard, Hertfordshire; and the place has many things that<br /> recall recollections of Lamb and his writings. On entering<br /> the churchyard, we see on the left the gravestone of his<br /> grandmother, Mrs. Field, and the lettering requires renovat-<br /> ing. In front is the church.<br /> “On the green hill top,<br /> Hard by the house of prayer, a modest roof,<br /> And not distinguished from its neighbour-barn<br /> Save by a slender tapering length of spire,<br /> The grandame sleeps.”<br /> And on the right we are reminded of the opening of the<br /> first story in Mrs. Lamb’s “Mrs. Lester&#039;s School.” At<br /> Widford are the gravestones of Mrs. Elizabeth Norris<br /> (widow of Mr. Randal Norris), died July, 1843, and her<br /> son Richard. On the west side the church tower<br /> are a stile and footpath leading to the beautiful valley<br /> of the Ash close by, and just on the other side is the<br /> wilderness Charles Lamb describes in his “ Blakes moor in<br /> H–shire &#039;&#039; (fir, t essay, second series), and also names in<br /> “Rosamund Gray.” Just below the wilderness, and still<br /> nearer the church, stood the old Blakesware mansion where<br /> his grandmother was housekeeper, and which he describes<br /> in this essay. And on the rising ground to the east stood<br /> the cottage where Rosamund Gray lived with her grand-<br /> mother. On the hillside, just north of the church and<br /> valley, is Little Blakesware Farm, where Charles Lamb<br /> used to visit Mr. Tween, the then tenant.<br /> —-e--&gt; --—-<br /> Does the free library injure the sale of books?<br /> At present there are comparatively few free<br /> libraries, and their chief effect, so far, has been to<br /> place books within the reach of those who could not<br /> afford to buy them; and this, I think, will be their<br /> effect when they are multiplied by fifty. Thus there<br /> are now in this country only about three hundred.<br /> It is not too much to expect that avery few years will<br /> see the free iibraries, great and small, enumerated<br /> at 15,000. Almost every good book will certainly<br /> be taken by all these libraries. That is to say, good<br /> histories and biographies, good books on popular<br /> science, favourite poets, favourite novelists, will<br /> all be taken; and, really, if no other purchaser<br /> appeared, the author would not do so badly. But<br /> I believe that the present purchasers will remain.<br /> The free libraries will lend books to that enormous<br /> class whose incomes are below £300 a year, and<br /> who cannot afford to buy books, and those who<br /> can afford to buy books will continue to do so.<br /> A man is on the prowl seeking to deceive. He<br /> calls himself Charles E. Winter. This is the<br /> story of a late attempt : “He called to see me in<br /> order, he said, to obtain leave to translate a story<br /> of mine. I could not give leave as I had sold the<br /> copyright, and he then asked if I could give him<br /> any type-writing, saying he had done some work<br /> for you’’—the editor of this Journal—“ and men-<br /> tioning other names of reputation in the literary<br /> world as a sort of guarantee. The end of it was<br /> that, influenced by a sad history he told of desti-<br /> tution, and also, perhaps, by his being evidentl<br /> a man of education—he spoke French really like<br /> a Frenchman—I gave him some money, and was<br /> foolish enough to trust him with the MS. of<br /> another story. Since then I have found out that<br /> the man is a fraud, and I have now seen a detec-<br /> tive who tells me that the man is already<br /> ‘wanted by the police for having got money<br /> from somebody else in the same way.”<br /> A correspondent wrote some time ago—but his<br /> letter was mislaid—asking whether £12 was a<br /> fair price to pay for a volume of which an edition<br /> of 2000 was sold. The volume was a little book<br /> which sold for half-a-crown. An edition of two<br /> thousand would probably cost—there were special<br /> reasons why the advertising would cost little or<br /> nothing—about £70, or about 8%d. a copy.<br /> The enterprising publishers therefore, who sold<br /> this book at about Is. 6d. a copy, cleared 9}d, a<br /> copy, out of which they paid the author £12,<br /> and realised for themselves £65 odd. Was the<br /> transaction a fair one P One thinks that it was<br /> not.<br /> Here is a case which perhaps admits of argument.<br /> A half profit agreement ; a book which is sold at a<br /> high price; a return at the end of a year, showing<br /> the sale of some hundreds, with a loss of some-<br /> thing like 330—the exact amount does not matter,<br /> as the account is not disputed. That was<br /> twenty years ago. The author during all this<br /> time asked for no further return, having long since<br /> made up his mind that the book would not prove a<br /> pecuniary success. However, in some spare moment<br /> he did sit down and asked for a second return. It<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 210 (#224) ############################################<br /> <br /> 2 I O<br /> THE<br /> AUTHOR.<br /> came in. It showed a yearly sale of about £30<br /> worth of the book, with an increased loss, after<br /> twenty years, of £55 or thereabouts. In other<br /> words, what has happened is this. The publisher<br /> wished to keep the author&#039;s name on his books, and<br /> on his lists. He has therefore gone on advertising<br /> the book in his list of standard works, every year<br /> spending in advertising a little more than he<br /> received. He has made the book an advertise-<br /> ment of himself. Nor, it seems, can the author<br /> complain. He passed without question the first<br /> account. In that furnished twenty years later he<br /> asked for a return of the advertisements for the<br /> last five years. A small sum was charged for<br /> advertising in the publisher&#039;s own magazine—it<br /> should not have been charged—but to dispute it<br /> would not remove the deficit. Therefore it was<br /> allowed to stand. Perhaps it may be said that<br /> the author was advertised as well as the publisher.<br /> The author says that he did not ask for the<br /> advertisement, that it did him no good, and that<br /> he did not want it. If all the remaining copies<br /> are sold the deficit cannot now be made good, and<br /> so he will not interfere.<br /> On p. 215 will be found a few contemporary notes<br /> on a very remarkable and unprecedented depres-<br /> sion in the book market. It is amazing to think<br /> that only sixty years ago the leading publishers<br /> had no announcements at all to make in the<br /> autumn. Six hundred printers out of work at a<br /> time when all the London books were printed in<br /> London; nothing risked except reprints of<br /> favourite authors; not until the end of the year<br /> are there any books, and then only a hundred.<br /> The whole history of this depression, the length<br /> of its duration, and the revival of the demand<br /> for books would form a chapter of interest in<br /> the history of English literature.<br /> WALTER BESANT.<br /> *-- - --&quot;<br /> *-*.<br /> F EU IL LET ON,<br /> IN THE PORCH.<br /> By SHAN F. BULLOCK, Author of “The Awkward Squad.”<br /> &amp; 4 ELL | * said Greenback, as the outer<br /> door of the Judgment Hall closed<br /> swiftly behind White and Cold,<br /> “Well! What luck P’’<br /> White and Cold ruffled her leaves, gave a little<br /> shiver of disgust, then suddenly flung back her<br /> front cover.<br /> “Look there !” cried she. “I look there ! Is<br /> it not shameful ? Bedaubed like that by such a<br /> Crew—Oh! such a crew Look –“ Damned,’<br /> * Damned,’ ‘Damned,’ stamped all over my<br /> pretty whiteness— Damnation and finger-marks,<br /> there&#039;s my portion.”<br /> Greenback looked with pity at his little friend.<br /> What a change | But an hour ago they had<br /> parted there in the porch, and she had gone in<br /> for judgment so youthfully happy and fresh and<br /> hopeful; now the bolt was shot behind her, and<br /> she was back—an outcast, battered, disfigured,<br /> surely condemned. What a change P<br /> “Poor dear,” he murmured. “Poor dear ! So<br /> complete—so complete.” -<br /> “Complete?” cried White and Cold, “I should<br /> think it was. I tell you I was damned before one<br /> of their vile eyes ever saw me. They sat hunger-<br /> ing for me with their daggers drawn. Look!<br /> not twenty of my pages cut, not fifty of m<br /> verses read, not one verdict even initialled—Oh!<br /> such a crew. One looked at my title-page,<br /> ‘Phew!’ quoth he, ‘New man,’ and scribbled<br /> * Damned ;’ another read two lines, muttered<br /> “Minor, very minor,’ and wrote his verdict;<br /> another read five lines, ‘ Rot,” said he, and wrote<br /> worse—and so on from deep to deep. Poetry !<br /> What know they of poetry P Critics! Just<br /> heaven—Critics l—Oh the travail and fond<br /> hopes 52<br /> “Poor dear,” murmured Greenback. “Poor<br /> dear! I’m so sorry–Not even one kind word.”<br /> “Oh yes, there&#039;s one—you&#039;ll find it there near<br /> the bottom—a woman wrote it, a little ugly body<br /> who turned paler at sight of Long-hair&#039;s name on<br /> the title-page, and smiled as she read here and<br /> there. Can’t you find it P”<br /> “Ah !” said Greenback. “Yes, I see—damned<br /> with faint praise. Poor child.”<br /> “Oh I don’t want your pity,” cried White and<br /> Cold. “No | It&#039;s all a conspiracy. I know it is.<br /> I go this way doomed to daggers and destruction,<br /> you go that to wreaths and glory. Why? Why,<br /> I say? Why because I’m a first child, a girl, the<br /> daughter of a long-haired nobody; because my<br /> race has fallen among the Philistines; because I<br /> trace my descent from Homer through the<br /> generations. You smile P Yes, you can afford to<br /> smile. You&#039;re a seventh child; the world was<br /> waiting for you ; the-the person who owns you<br /> is somebody. What of you both P. He was long<br /> enough under a cloud at first; and you—why<br /> you were born piecemeal, scattered here and there<br /> about the world, and then collected into your<br /> shabby green covers. Bah! Collected / Essays /<br /> Old Sober.sides, what of you? Why, you’re a<br /> plebeian—a modern—Addison is your—”<br /> “Easy, easy,” said Greenback in his urbanest<br /> manner. “Why all this folly, child? I’m beyond<br /> all that you know, and really—”<br /> “Oh, yes; you’re most superior, I know. All<br /> gentlemen are. Why did you not keep to your<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 211 (#225) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 2 H I<br /> word, though P Any gentleman can do that. You<br /> promised before we left the Row to stand by me<br /> and take your fate with me at the same hands.<br /> But no ; you must leave me at the door, and<br /> sneak off to the the professionals—the big pots—<br /> the men who always write sweet things and sign<br /> them—”<br /> “Really, madam,” returned Greenback, “I<br /> must beg of you to keep your vulgar sneers for<br /> your equals. As a gentleman I offered you my<br /> protection to the extent of my ability; more I<br /> could not do. Like yourself I had to take the<br /> chances of war—”<br /> “Chances of fiddle-sticks | Chances of nincom-<br /> poops ? What chance had I?”<br /> “Madam,” said Greenback severely, “enough of<br /> this. You had your chance like another, and let<br /> me say that I cannot bring myself at all to look<br /> at the art of criticism from your standpoint—”<br /> “Of course you can’t. You get the sugar-<br /> plums, I get the physic.”<br /> “Madam, enough. Let us call a truce to these<br /> trivialities. The trial is over; the door is closed<br /> on us both ; our fates assigned us. Madam, our<br /> ways now must part. Thither, out into the<br /> world and the sunshine, lies my path. Yours—<br /> You—Ah, my poor child! My poor child !”<br /> “Well, what of me? I suppose you think I<br /> can’t take care—”<br /> “No, no! Not that. Have you not heard?<br /> Do you not know? That place of doom and<br /> buried hopes; do you not know of it?”<br /> “What P Where P What 2 ”<br /> “Ah, child, thank Heaven for youth and inno-<br /> cence. Knowledge is such a sad burden. . . .<br /> Yes! perhaps you had better know. My child,<br /> out there, beyond the sun and the light, is a place<br /> of dread and despair. Dank fogs envelop it,<br /> despairing voices haunt it, a gaunt precipice over-<br /> hangs and cuts it off from this world of chance.<br /> Oh verily a region of fog and forgetfulness.<br /> And thither, day by day, men come, and now with<br /> scorn, now with ringing laughter, sometimes,<br /> perhaps, with regret, cry, “Over, over !’ and send<br /> fluttering down into the darkness the unfortunate<br /> children of folly and conceit—&quot;<br /> “Oh, oh! Children? What children? Not— ?”<br /> “Yes, child—the books that were born only,<br /> sooner or later, to die.”<br /> “Books All of them P Every one?<br /> not every one! Surely not—not me, too !”<br /> “Yes, sweetheart—you, too.”<br /> “Oh no, no l Not so soon.<br /> soon 2 ”<br /> “It is cruel—but kind. Child, I fear me your<br /> shrift will be short.”<br /> Oh I<br /> Did you say<br /> “Oh, no ! Why a day ago, an hour ago, I was<br /> but born. Did you say soon P Why, I haven&#039;t<br /> VOL. V. - -<br /> yet seen the sun&#039; What! all this pretty finery<br /> —all of it, you, say? All, is all to go down—<br /> down P. Ah! mercy, mercy l’’<br /> “Sweetheart,” said Greenback very tenderly,<br /> “be brave. It is soon over—few in the end<br /> escape. Better over at once, maybe, than after<br /> a cheerless struggle in the storms and the<br /> twilight.<br /> “Oh ! but so soon—so soon—only an hour of<br /> life. It is shameful! I’ve had no chance. I<br /> tell you it will be murder—-yes, murder. For,<br /> look you, I am alive, every page of me is<br /> throbbing alive. Ah and the brutes would<br /> murder me. Ah comrade—keep them back—<br /> only for one day, one gleam of the sunshine.”<br /> “Impossible,” muttered Greenback. “It is<br /> impossible.”<br /> “Oh the injustice, the cruelty, the folly of it<br /> all. You say that voices haunt that—that place.<br /> What voices? Can the dead cry? What voices?<br /> Why those of maidens such as I am, ay! and of<br /> men, too, and women who have been buried<br /> alive. Hark! you can hear them wailing—<br /> wailing hopelessly. Oh! the injustice—the bitter<br /> Cup,”<br /> Greenback let his little friend run on, and him-<br /> self fell a thinking. Was it true, any of this that<br /> White and Cold in her frenzy was saying? Did<br /> anything alive ever go fluttering down P. Whose<br /> were those voices P Surely sometimes mistakes<br /> were made — mistakes born of hurry and<br /> prejudice, perhaps of ignorance P Surely some-<br /> times a book—maybe just born, maybe having<br /> run its course—with just a spark of life between<br /> its covers went over, some jewel that were worth .<br /> the snatching. TXown in that melancholy region<br /> were there not live things—golden pages,<br /> sentences, lines, phrases—buried eternally beneath<br /> mountains of stupidity and vanity ? The perfect<br /> line in a maze of doggerel, a noble sentence<br /> standing out from a dreary flatness, a page here<br /> and there torn from experience, and telling the<br /> story of a heart—surely often and often these<br /> had come unheralded, gone unnoticed, and left<br /> the world the poorer. Write, write, men were<br /> ever writing—could the most hopeless dullaro<br /> among them sit always and never chance on the<br /> happy phrase, the haunting cadence; never hear<br /> once from heaven a whisper of the gods P. This<br /> little butterfly, now lying all crushed and hopeless,<br /> could it be that all her glitter was mere dross<br /> and vanity ? -<br /> “Come, sweetheart,” he said at last, “ Cheer<br /> up, now ; all is not over yet. Come! stand for<br /> judgment and let me be your critic.”<br /> So White and Cold fluttered and twirled and<br /> aired her little graces, and Greenback looked<br /> gravely on. Those inside the door had not been<br /> X<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 212 (#226) ############################################<br /> <br /> 212<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> far wrong, he thought; she had virtues, but she<br /> was no divinity; there was glitter, but no gold;<br /> the best she could show was now and then a<br /> happy pose, a graceful turn, and once, he thought,<br /> a flash of passion. No | Salvation was not for her<br /> nor for her kind; still, she was not quite unworthy,<br /> the gold might have flashed somewhere. And—<br /> and surely among all the others, her unfortunate<br /> companions in adversity, the gold if sought for,<br /> must have flashed somewhere P Surely not to<br /> have sought, sought eagerly, thought Greenback,<br /> can only be reckoned as foolishness in the ways<br /> of man. Why, he himself, only for his parentage,<br /> might easily have gone over.<br /> “You are right, my dear,” he said presently,<br /> “quite right. It is an inhuman thing thus to<br /> destroy ruthlessly what might well contain hidden<br /> treasure most precious.”<br /> “Ah, liknew it,” cried White and Cold, “I knew<br /> it ! I wanted only a chance.”<br /> “I was speaking generally, child,” said Green-<br /> back hurriedly.<br /> “Then—then—What are you, too, among<br /> my enemies? You, too, blind?”<br /> “Ah, child, what matters it P Did I see genius<br /> written on your every leaf what could I avail?<br /> Nothing.”<br /> “Nothing ! Do nothing P<br /> ou say there is no hope P’’<br /> ... “It would be cruel to say you false,” murmured<br /> Greenback. “Child, there is no hope.”<br /> “No hope P Oh ! the living tomb—oh ! the<br /> voices wailing—oh Sir, Sir, do something, save<br /> me for one hour ! ”<br /> “My child,” answered Greenback very gravely,<br /> “what you ask is impossible. Sorely do I regret<br /> your fate, fervently do I wish it were otherwise;<br /> but in this matter, as in all, we are helpless. It<br /> is hard—Ah! would that long ago, when the<br /> Master was bending over me, I had had the<br /> thoughts which now I have I should have<br /> whispered: “Write, Master, write and warn the<br /> world of its folly. It knows not what it does—<br /> daily it is casting away treasure. The workers in<br /> the Hall of Judgment are weary and grown<br /> callous; they have no leisure in which to perform<br /> what to be effective must be a labour of love.<br /> But have not you, my Master, called (Ay! spoken<br /> it to myself) this an age of Amateur well-doing,<br /> of societies founded everywhere for the protection<br /> of the weak, and the prevention of wrong-doing?<br /> And have I not shown you wrong; are not these<br /> weak for whom I plead? What work more noble,<br /> more glorious and beneficent could learned men,<br /> of taste also and leisure (of you, revered Master,<br /> and your peers I speak), hope to lay hand to than<br /> the duties which should appertain to a Society<br /> solidly founded, honestly supported, and having<br /> Do you mean—do<br /> for its object the Rescue of Jewels from the<br /> Wastes of Literature P Go out, my Master, go<br /> out and raise your voice; it is powerful; the<br /> world will hear you; countless generations shall<br /> call you blessed.’ So should I have spoken, child;<br /> and—”<br /> “But now—even now it is not too late. The<br /> Master | tell him, tell him—ask him to save<br /> me!” .<br /> “My child, take heart and be brave—to struggle<br /> and cry is folly. You know not the world; it is<br /> slow to hear, and slower to move. And the<br /> Master—alas ! I am not the Master&#039;s keeper,<br /> and his ear just now is turned from me. But I<br /> promise you that some day his voice shall be<br /> raised, and this Society of which—”<br /> “Yes, yes—but I shall have gone!”<br /> “Gome—gone—we all go—go and are forgotten.<br /> Ah, child ! is there no consolation in the thought<br /> that your sacrifice may to future generations<br /> bring great good P”<br /> “Consolation | Consolation in that pit of hell!<br /> Lost, lost What do I care about future genera-<br /> tions P. Oh my pretty finery What<br /> going? Leaving me P Is it good bye?”<br /> “It is good-bye, sweetheart. The world calls<br /> me, and I must go. Keep heart, and die<br /> bravely.”<br /> “Die | Die &#039; And is this the end ?<br /> face—that alone P”<br /> “Be brave my child—and good bye.”<br /> “—All alone—Never see you again—Oh! not<br /> good bye.”<br /> “Ah well—who knows—sooner or later we all,<br /> or nearly all, come there. Who knows? Well,<br /> Sweetheart, not good bye then, but au revoir.”<br /> Must I<br /> *— — —”-- :<br /> A LITERARY CORNER.<br /> | WONDER how many of the men and<br /> - women, who monthly turn to the pages of<br /> the Author, have ever explored the pleasant<br /> precincts of Camilla Lacey, which lie within easy<br /> reach of many of their number. It was recently<br /> the good fortune of the present writer to see all<br /> that is now left of this literary haunt, and to<br /> follow for a brief while the footsteps of an almost<br /> forgotten literary coterie. For to this little corner<br /> of the Surrey Hills the French emigrés were irre-<br /> sistibly attracted in the days when the names of<br /> Talleyrand, Narbonne, and Madame de Stäel were<br /> on everybody’s lips.<br /> The little village was even in those days<br /> remarkable for shady groves and towering trees,<br /> and for its pretty gardens and small cottages, in<br /> one of which Madame d’Arblay lived.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 213 (#227) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 2 I 3<br /> To-day, indeed, the little homestead is gone,<br /> with its rustic wooden porch and low white walls,<br /> with their charming old-fashioned pointed gables,<br /> and in its stead rises a modern mansion, wherein<br /> little is left of the old world building. The only<br /> authentic remains of the cottage, which was so<br /> beloved of the celebrated authors, are now said,<br /> indeed, to be the narrow back stairway, and, per-<br /> haps, two adjoining small rooms.<br /> Nevertheless, to many folks the house as it is<br /> fills the mind with a thousand touching memories,<br /> and its owners have sought to preserve intact<br /> everything associated with the fame of Fanny<br /> Burney.<br /> The prettiest, and, perhaps, the sunniest,<br /> brightest room of the whole mansion is the little<br /> literary museum wherein are preserved the relics<br /> of a fame which once made the gladness of the<br /> country side.<br /> In a quaintly furnished room, with hangings of<br /> olden times, dainty flowered curtains shade the<br /> fading manuscripts which lie in glazed cases<br /> available to the curious, the wonderful manu-<br /> script of Camilla and Evelina. Old-fashioned<br /> furniture fills up the small room, a corner table<br /> supports the large crucifix, which, if report says<br /> true, was once the possession of no less a<br /> personage than the old Chevalier d’Arblay.<br /> All the pieces of furniture, though gathered in<br /> recent years, seems to be part and parcel of the<br /> original inhabitants, and around the walls hang<br /> portraits, engravings for the most part of all the<br /> prominent friends of the gifted authoress.<br /> Below each one is suspended by loving hands an<br /> autograph letter from the portrait represented,<br /> addressed for the most part in warm hearted lan-<br /> guage to the “charming kind friend” Madame<br /> d’Arllay. Here, for instance, is a full-faced<br /> portrait of Mrs. Delany in her black lace fichu<br /> and mantilla; close beside her Mrs. Montague<br /> (after Reynolds), with her good tempered some-<br /> what oval face; Mrs. Thrale, Mrs. Trimmer,<br /> many of the Burney family, in pen and ink and<br /> in crayon ; Baretti (after Reynolds), in queue<br /> and powder; David Garrick, in slashed and<br /> braided coat. Here, by the bye, hangs another<br /> charming portrait, with a characteristic face and<br /> expression; below it a delightful old world<br /> epistle from Madame Piazzi to the charming<br /> Madame d’Arllay. “Come o&#039; Tuesday,” runs<br /> the faded manuscript, “as well as Sunday.<br /> Dine with me o&#039; Sunday, sweet soul, do ” and<br /> here is Mrs. Delany’s letter full of inquiry after<br /> the health of her “Dearest Miss Burney: We<br /> sent but yesterday to know how you did ; we<br /> have been quite alarmed, for they brought us<br /> word that though you was better to Burney was<br /> only as well as could be expected ; ” and so on, I<br /> might quote infinite in number, the tender,<br /> heartfelt greetings of this charming throng. All<br /> of them, indeed, ring the same changes of devoted<br /> friendship and admiration—Talleyrand, Madame<br /> de Stäel, Reynolds, “St. Cecilia,” Brinley<br /> Sheridan, and many, many another.<br /> As the “gallery” ends, the eye rests a moment<br /> on the well filled little corner bookshelves, where<br /> are gathered in the old first editions—Evelina,<br /> Cecilia, Camilla. The minor works and volumes<br /> of great contemporary writers are there to com-<br /> plete the small library, and the celebrated<br /> journals, round which has since centred a<br /> veritable literature in itself. There, too, are the<br /> earlier diaries of 1768-78, to which some men<br /> give the most praise; and last, not least, the<br /> curious official form, said to be an authentic copy<br /> of the marriage register. I almost hesitate to<br /> Copy it in my short paper, fearing it may raise<br /> doubts as to veracity. But I give it, for the<br /> curious I feel sure would be allowed to see and<br /> judge it for their own satisfaction. The form<br /> gives the scene of Fanny Burney’s marriage<br /> with the Chevalier d’Arblay as St. Luke&#039;s parish<br /> church, Chelsea, by licence, on July 28, 1793.<br /> Biographers, I am aware, mention already two<br /> places as the scene of the celebrated ceremony.<br /> I can add nothing to their testimony, but I think<br /> these few notes may prove of interest.<br /> Of the surrounding country side little can have<br /> changed since the old days I here record; the<br /> well-wooded heights of Denbies, Box Hill,<br /> Juniper Hill still stand much as they did then.<br /> But the charming gardens and undulating lawns<br /> which surround the beautiful modern house of<br /> Camilla Lacey; these things mark the transfor-<br /> mation undergone since the days of Madame<br /> d’Arblay&#039;s occupation. There yet may exist, per-<br /> chance among them, the shrubs that Chevalier<br /> planted with toilsome endeavour; but few people<br /> now traverse the country lane with thoughts of<br /> its literary recollections.<br /> The railway rushing across the country side<br /> bears Londonward its crowd of busy people; to<br /> thoughtful literary men and women it will ever<br /> be the home of delightful old world memories.<br /> * -- ~ 2-4<br /> * * *<br /> THE PAPER TAX.<br /> HE writer of the following article begs to<br /> acknowledge his indebtedness to Mr. Lang,<br /> who called attention to the subject in the<br /> Illustrated London News two or three months<br /> ago. The subject is treated in the Edinburgh<br /> Review for June, 1831, in an article called “Taxes<br /> upon Literature.”<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 214 (#228) ############################################<br /> <br /> 2I4<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> . At that time there was a tax upon paper, a tax<br /> upon binding, and a tax upon advertisements.<br /> All these taxes had to be paid in the production<br /> of the book, and before a single copy was sold—<br /> they had to be paid, in fact, whether a single<br /> copy sold or not.<br /> The meaning and the burden of these taxes<br /> are shown by the Edinburgh Reviewer. He<br /> takes the case of an 8vo. book of 500 pages.<br /> He selects an ordinary book of that size, and<br /> he gives the figures showing the cost of pro-<br /> duction with that part of it due to the taxes.<br /> These figures, he says, were furnished by a<br /> person of the “highest authority.” They appear<br /> as follows:<br /> I. In an edition of 500 copies :—<br /> Due to taxes.<br /> Printing and cor-<br /> rection ............ 388 18 O<br /> Paper ............... 38 IO O ... &amp; 8 I 2 IO<br /> Boarding ............ Io O O 3 3 8<br /> Advertising ........ 4O O O 2O O O<br /> 177 8 o 31 16 6<br /> If the whole edition is sold out, i.e., allowing<br /> for eleven copies sent to the public libraries and<br /> fourteen to the author, if 475 are sold at 8s. 5d.<br /> a copy, the amount realised is £1.99. 17s. I Id.,<br /> leaving a profit of £22 9s. 11d.<br /> 2. Taking an edition of 750 copies :—<br /> Due to taxes.<br /> Printing and cor-<br /> rections............ £95 6 O<br /> Paper .............. 57 I5 O 312 I9 4<br /> Binding............... I5 O O 4 I5 7<br /> Advertising ......... 5O O O 25 O O<br /> 218 I o 42 I4 II<br /> If the whole edition (725 copies) be sold at<br /> 8s. 5d., the amount realised would be £305 2s. 5d.,<br /> showing a profit of £87 1s. 5d.<br /> 3. An edition of IOOO copies:—<br /> Due to taxes.<br /> Printing and cor-<br /> rections ......... 3IO2 I4 O<br /> Paper ............... 77 o o £1.7 5 9<br /> Boarding ......... 2O O O 6 7 5<br /> Advertising ...... 6o o o 3O O O<br /> 259 I4 O 53 I 2 2<br /> If the whole edition, 975 copies, are sold at<br /> 8s. 5d. the amount realised would be £410 6s. 3d.<br /> leaving a profit of £150 12s. 3d.<br /> But, the writer goes on to say, this supposes<br /> the sale of the whole edition; now by the evidence<br /> of a publisher in the first rank, out of 130 works<br /> issued by him, fifty had not paid expenses;<br /> thirteen only arrived at a second edition, not<br /> always profitable. One fourth of the whole<br /> number of books produced do not pay expenses;<br /> only one in eight can be reprinted. Suppose<br /> that, instead of 720 copies being sold, only 425<br /> went off leaving 300 on hand. This is, in fact,<br /> the common case with books. How does the<br /> account stand? .<br /> The cost of the edition is £218 Is. By the sale<br /> of 425 copies the sum of £178 17s. Id. is realised<br /> This leaves an actual loss of £40. But the taxes<br /> had to be paid in advance.<br /> In other words the cost of production had to be<br /> increased by about 22% per cent. Moreover the<br /> printing, binding, &amp;c., could be paid after the<br /> first returns of the book, but the taxes had to be<br /> paid in advance. There would seem in these days<br /> to have been some ground for the cry about risk<br /> and uncertainty. Certainly a tax of 22% per cent<br /> on the cost of production must have made the<br /> business much less lucrative than at present. The<br /> writer points out, however, that publishers of<br /> standing were careful to avoid risk as much as<br /> possible by taking only books written by well<br /> known names, and on subjects likely to command<br /> attention.<br /> We observe that no “press’ copies were issued.<br /> The book was advertised; if it was reviewed<br /> the reviewer bought or borrowed a copy. The<br /> practice of sending out review copies must<br /> have come into existence soon after this, because<br /> in the Forties it was certain that there were press<br /> Coples.<br /> It is interesting to compare the cost of pro-<br /> duction of 1831 with that of 1894. We take the<br /> example given in the Society’s “Cost of Pro-<br /> duction,” p. 31, i.e., a page of 34 lines, of 339<br /> words, a Long Primer type, and of 500 pages.<br /> We have the following comparison, deducting the<br /> amount due to taxes.<br /> Edition of 500 copies:—<br /> 1831<br /> Printing and Correction 3888 18 o<br /> Paper ........................ 29 I7 2<br /> Boarding 6 I6 4<br /> Advertising ............... 2O O O<br /> £145 II 6<br /> 1894<br /> Composing 31; sheets at<br /> £I 7s. I Id. per sheet... 353 6 3<br /> Printing, 5s. 9d. a sheet 8 19 8<br /> Corrections, say............ 5 o O<br /> Paper, at 9s. a sheet...... I4 I3 6<br /> Binding, at 5a, a vol. ... Io 8 4<br /> Advertising e tº e 2O O O<br /> — 31 12 7 9<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 215 (#229) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 2 I 5<br /> Or taking the edition of IOOO copies:–<br /> 1831<br /> Printing and correction 2102 14 O<br /> Paper .................. • * * * &gt; * 59 I4 3<br /> Boarding ........ ......... I 3 I 2 7<br /> Advertising ......... . . . . . . 3O O O<br /> se- £2O6 o IO<br /> 1894<br /> Composition ............... 353 6 3<br /> Printing, at Ios. 6d. a.<br /> sheet ..................... I6 IO 9<br /> Paper, at 18s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 7 O<br /> Corrections ... . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 O O<br /> Binding, at 5al. ... . . . . . . ... 20 16 8<br /> Advertising . . . . . . . ...... 3O O O<br /> 38154 O 8<br /> So that composition and printing have gone<br /> down 32 per cent. since the year 1831 ; paper is<br /> half what it was ; binding is a little dearer.<br /> As regards the great risks in publishing at<br /> this period, it will be seen from another part<br /> of this paper, that there was a depression<br /> in the book trade at that time (1831) deeper<br /> and more marked than had ever before been<br /> known. The political excitement of the time<br /> was supposed to be the cause ; but national<br /> excitement, whether over politics or war, gene-<br /> rally stimulates the book trade. It is more<br /> reasonable to attribute the stagnation first to the<br /> general commercial depression of the time which<br /> had ruined or crippled the manufacturers, so<br /> that they could no longer afford to buy books at<br /> the high price then asked; next, to the decay of<br /> the book clubs; and, thirdly, to a disgust at the<br /> weak and washy novels and poetry with which<br /> their book clubs were provided. The reading and<br /> book-buying public, never very large, had, from<br /> these and other causes, grown much smaller; it<br /> consisted of the professional classes and the more<br /> wealthy merchants and manufacturers. Outside<br /> the larger towns there was little book-buying.<br /> The advertisement duty, formerly of 3s. 6d. for<br /> each advertisement, and in Ireland 2s. 6d, was<br /> reduced in 1833 to 1s. 6d. in England and to Is.<br /> in Ireland. In 1853 it was abolished alto-<br /> gether.<br /> The newspaper stamp, which varied, being I d.<br /> in 171 I, I d. in 1776, 2d. in 1789, 2 #d. in 1794;<br /> 3}d. in 1797, 4d. in 1815, I d. in 1836, was finally<br /> abolished in 1855.<br /> The paper duty was repealed in 1861.<br /> THE DEPRESSION OF TRADE, 1831.<br /> HE following extracts, concerning the new<br /> books of 1831, are taken from the sources<br /> named. They refer to the threatened ruin<br /> of literature in the Thirties—a very curious<br /> chapter in the history of modern literature. The<br /> depression was attributed to the political excite-<br /> ment of the time, but, as we believe, mistakenly<br /> so attributed :<br /> I.<br /> (Athenæum, Oct. I 5, 183 I.)<br /> Man is a poetic creature, let philosophers say<br /> as they will; it is wonderful to hear of the ruin<br /> to literature and the destruction to art which one<br /> friend perceives in the Reform Bill; while<br /> another friend will see nothing but prosperity<br /> and exaltation to both. The airy fictions of<br /> these men, one of a bright and the other of a<br /> dark nature, are in a high degree poetical<br /> It must be owned that for these six months art<br /> and literature have suffered a sad eclipse. One<br /> side says, without reform there must be revolu-<br /> tion ; the other, that revolution will follow<br /> reform. No man will speculate in aught but<br /> words; labour has nearly ceased — printing<br /> presses repose by the hundred—and booksellers<br /> say that they have not sold a volume since the<br /> question was agitated. A poet in our presence<br /> lately requested a publisher to purchase a new<br /> poem in ten cantos—subject and time—“Wars<br /> of the Two Roses.” “Are you insane P” was the<br /> quick reply; “write on the rise and fall of stocks,<br /> or on the Reform Bill, and hope for purchasers.”<br /> II.<br /> (Supplement, Oct. I 5.)<br /> These are evil times: the pen and the pencil<br /> are nearly idle, save in writing political lampoons<br /> and drawing caricatures. The dread of change<br /> perplexes monarchs no more, they eat their<br /> pudding and hold their tongue; but fear has<br /> come upon men of genius; poets and painters<br /> eye, in alarm, the thickening clouds, while men<br /> whose muscles are strong, and whose hearts are<br /> griping and eager, look on the coming tempest as<br /> on the wind which will shake the ripe fruit and<br /> give them much to gather A few of the<br /> booksellers announce new books, or rather works<br /> long bespoke and written ; but, on the whole, the<br /> depression in the great market of literature con-<br /> tinues. Murray has not even an advertisement ;<br /> we hear not one word of the Quarterly IReview,<br /> though the period of its appearance has come,<br /> and all that is new are the Annuals and a few<br /> thrice-spoken speeches for or against reform.<br /> There is not one book announced which promises<br /> either genius or learning, and there is little chance<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 216 (#230) ############################################<br /> <br /> 2 I6<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> of either while this thick cloud rests on our<br /> land, and till this question, which affects the<br /> wealthy, the bustling, and the important, is<br /> settled.<br /> III.<br /> (Athenæum, Nov. 12, 1831.)<br /> The ablest of our writers are for the present<br /> next to idle, and some have left or are about to<br /> leave the land. Scott is on his way to Italy, and<br /> letters from him cheer us up with the intelligence<br /> of increasing health and spirits ; a gentle sea<br /> sickness was followed by more than usual vigour<br /> and sprightliness. We rejoice the more at this,<br /> because, before he left Portsmouth, he talked<br /> rather seriously about his voyage. He alluded to<br /> Fielding&#039;s visit to Lisbon, Smollett&#039;s to Italy,<br /> and Byron&#039;s to Greece, and returned to the sub-<br /> ject if diverted from it. It is remarkable that<br /> Byron wrote Scott a long letter inviting him to<br /> Italy, and pointing out, if we remember right,<br /> Naples as a place where he might enjoy balmy<br /> air and see abundance of human characters.<br /> Washington Irving, too, an author whom we love<br /> greatly, is said to be on the point of sailing to<br /> America, and we think he is right—extinction of<br /> literature, and depression of art, riots and blood-<br /> shed; and, finally, the cholera in Sunderland, shut<br /> up from escape by sea, with full liberty to march<br /> whither it pleases by land, are, on the whole, no<br /> cheering prospects.<br /> IV.<br /> (Athenæum, Nov. 19, 1831.)<br /> The public depression attributed by one faction<br /> to the refusal of reform, and by the other to the<br /> introduction of the measure, still continues;<br /> cheap books alone are published, and during the<br /> present political pest cheap books alone will be<br /> purchased; for no man can expect to read a large<br /> work leisurely through when the very ground<br /> under his feet seems to have a touch of the<br /> earthquake, and high houses threaten to topple<br /> down and crush ordinary people in the rubbish.<br /> Men who in former palmy times boldly launched<br /> their first-rate quarto, are now content to push<br /> their cockboat along the shore and close by the land<br /> —in truth, till the great question of reform is<br /> settled but no timid adventurer need<br /> try to come forward. Magazines may change<br /> editors, newspapers their proprietors, reviews<br /> their contributors, and booksellers may have faith<br /> in rich or official authors, but the great market of<br /> literature will not open its gates full and wide<br /> till the public mind is settled, and perhaps not<br /> then.<br /> W.<br /> (Athenæum, Nov. 26, 1831.)<br /> All in literature continues dull as a great thaw,<br /> long promised works are held back from the<br /> market, and no new ones of any mark or likeli-<br /> hood make their appearance. Six hundred<br /> printers are out of employment in London alone.<br /> Reprints of favourite authors are all that book-<br /> sellers dare venture upon ; and of these the new<br /> edition of the poetical works of Sir Walter Scott<br /> promises to be one of the most attractive gº tº<br /> This, with the “Italy ’’ of Rogers, and the Works<br /> of Byron, announced by Murray, must console<br /> our eyes for the absence of mental food. The<br /> Annuals, we fear, must go to the wall when these<br /> are published.<br /> VI.<br /> (Athenæum, Dec. 17, 183 I.)<br /> Literature has recovered a little from its long<br /> stupor; more than a hundred new works, and<br /> some of them of great interest, have been<br /> announced. Pamphlets on reform and visionary<br /> treatises on cholera will now give way, we hope, to<br /> works of learning and genius. In addition to<br /> this good news, we hear that Sir Walter Scott has<br /> arrived safe and well at Malta. Reprints of<br /> valuable books, sometime announced, are about to<br /> make their appearance; the Byron of Murray<br /> comes out on the first of the new year, and a<br /> beautiful work it is.<br /> VII.<br /> (Athenæum, Dec. 24, 1831.)<br /> Our publishers&#039; shops are now more frequented<br /> —booksellers are receiving orders—the columns<br /> of the newspapers are filling with advertisements<br /> of books; and though these festive times of<br /> Christmas interpose a little in business matters,<br /> we cannot but perceive that literature has rallied<br /> and gives token of recovering much of its original<br /> vigour. We hear that the next numbers of the<br /> magazines, both north and south, will show<br /> that the national love of elegance is reviving; we<br /> cannot, however, look for a full development of<br /> the publishers&#039; plans of the next campaign till<br /> the publication of the Quarterly, and Edinburgh,<br /> and Westminster Reviews.<br /> VIII.<br /> (Letter from Rev. Thomas Frognall Dibden,<br /> Oct. 31, 183 I.)<br /> I paid my eleventh and last visit to the<br /> renowned publisher of the Quarterly Review. I<br /> have long considered Mr. Murray as the greatest<br /> “family ’’ man in Europe, and was not surprised<br /> to find him surrounded by an extensive circle of<br /> little ones. A family man is usually a cheerful<br /> man ; but the note of despondency was to be<br /> heard even here. The Quarterly Review was,<br /> however, in full plumage, winging its way, and<br /> commanding the attention of an unabated crowd<br /> of admirers. Lord Byron was also to come forth<br /> in a new dress—shorter, and less flowing, but<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 217 (#231) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 217<br /> well fitting, brilliant, and attractive. So far, so<br /> good; yet the taste for literature was ebbing.<br /> Men wished to get for five, what they knew they<br /> could not obtain for fifteen shillings. The love of<br /> quartos was well-nigh extinct, in spite of the<br /> efforts of a neighbouring forty-eight horse power<br /> engine, to restore that form to its usual fashion<br /> and importance.—Bibliophobia, p. 31.<br /> *- a. --<br /> a- - -<br /> THE ENGLISH DIALECT DICTIONARY.<br /> HIS dictionary will be edited by Mr. Joseph<br /> Wright, M.A., Ph.D., deputy professor<br /> of comparative philology in the University<br /> of Oxford. The treasurer is Professor Skeat,<br /> Litt.D., LL.D. The following is from the circular<br /> recently issued. Some of our readers will, perhaps,<br /> be ready to help in the way herein pointed out :<br /> “The dictionary will include, so far as is<br /> possible, the complete vocabulary of all dialect<br /> words which are still in use or are known to<br /> have been in use at any time during the last 200<br /> years. All words occurring in the literary lan-<br /> guage, and the dialects, but with some local<br /> peculiarity of meaning in the latter, will also be<br /> included. On the other hand, all words which<br /> merely differ from the literary language in pro-<br /> nunciation, but not in meaning, will be rigidly<br /> excluded, as belonging entirely to the province of<br /> grammar and not to that of lexicography. It<br /> will also contain (I) the exact geographical area<br /> over which each dialect word extends, together<br /> with quotations and references to the sources<br /> from which the word has been obtained ; (2) the<br /> exact pronunciation in each case according to a<br /> simple phonetic scheme, specially formulated for<br /> the purpose; (3) the etymology so far as relates<br /> to the immediate source of each word.<br /> “During the last twenty years a great number<br /> of people in all parts of England have been co-<br /> operating to collect the material necessary for<br /> the compilation of a large and comprehensive<br /> Dictionary of English Dialects, based upon scien-<br /> tific principles. It was also with this express object<br /> in view that the English Dialect Society was<br /> started in 1873, which up to the end of 1893 has<br /> published seventy volumes, all of which, so far<br /> as is advisable, will be incorporated in the<br /> dictionary. In addition to the great amount of<br /> material sent in from unprinted sources, hundreds<br /> of dialect glossaries and works containing dialect<br /> words have been read and excerpted for the<br /> purposes of the dictionary. I have already in<br /> my possession considerably over a million slips—<br /> about a ton in weight—each containing the source<br /> with quotation, date, and county. The slips for<br /> the letter S alone weigh nearly 2 cwt. It has cost<br /> those interested in this grand and glorious work,<br /> several hundred pounds to get the material<br /> roughly arranged in alphabetical order. Pro-<br /> fessor Skeat, myself, and other specialists—both<br /> at home and abroad—are of opinion that the time<br /> has come when it is urgently necessary to begin<br /> to edit for press the vast amount of material<br /> already collected, because in a work of this nature<br /> delay is dangerous, and every year will render it<br /> more and more difficult to obtain accurate infor-<br /> mation about the exact pronounciation of dialect<br /> words; so rapidly is pure dialect speech dis-<br /> appearing from our midst, that in a few years it<br /> will be almost impossible to get accurate informa-<br /> tion upon difficult points. Hence it has been<br /> decided to begin the publication of the dictionary<br /> next year if possible.<br /> “But much as has already been accomplished<br /> in collecting material, much still remains to be<br /> done before the staff of assistants and myself can<br /> begin our long and arduous task. I therefore<br /> appeal most earnestly to my fellow-countrymen<br /> for further help, to enable us to make the material<br /> as complete as possible before we begin to pre-<br /> pare the work for press. Two or three hundred<br /> additional workers could in a very short time<br /> furnish us with all the material which still<br /> remains to be gleaned from printed and other<br /> sources. When this appeal becomes widely<br /> known, there will surely be no difficulty in obtain-<br /> ing the help we require ; for, as was pointed out<br /> in a former report of the Dialect Dictionary: “It<br /> will be nothing short of a reproach and a disgrace<br /> to us as Englishmen if we let a true and genuine<br /> part of our national speech die out in our time<br /> without an effort to preserve and hand it down<br /> to posterity. Such an effort we are making. It<br /> would argue a sad want of public spirit if<br /> Englishmen were to evince no interest in our<br /> labours, and let them languish for want of<br /> material support.’”<br /> *—- - -<br /> r- - -<br /> BOOK TALK.<br /> N the verses by the Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bell<br /> quoted in our last number there are three<br /> printer&#039;s errors. In the last line but one of<br /> the second stanza, “ hears no strain&#039;&#039; should be<br /> “hears our strain.” In the third stanza,<br /> “ Arethusa &#039;’ should have been printed<br /> “Arethuse;” and in the line following, “with<br /> look of love * should be “with looks of love.”<br /> “X. Y. Z. and other Poems” presents itself in<br /> a garb that suggests the influence of “The<br /> Yellow Book.” There is a black serpent in a<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 218 (#232) ############################################<br /> <br /> 218<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> green ground and a yellow sun, conventionally<br /> presented, on a black ground. The poems are by<br /> the Rev. John Lascelles. The publishers are the<br /> Leadenhall Press. They are religious verses, and<br /> very remarkable for their strength and originalty.<br /> They are sometimes even startling. Every poet<br /> must choose his own vehicle, and perhaps Mr.<br /> Lascelles has chosen the form which suits him<br /> best. One may ask, however, if the ruggedness<br /> is not sometimes a little forced. Here is the<br /> concluding poem :<br /> What matters it, if men remember me,<br /> When I have gone to live among the stars;<br /> In some fair home where earthly frets and jars<br /> Have ceased to vex my soul P and I can see<br /> The deepest depths of truth; my vision free<br /> From earth&#039;s distortions; and from all that mars<br /> The intercourse of souls; when God unbars<br /> The golden gates of Immortality.<br /> What matter if men read me through and through ;<br /> And talk of me when I am but a name,<br /> And all I love have gone to join the just P<br /> What matters it P But for the good I do,<br /> No more than if they reverently came,<br /> In after years—and stooped and kissed the dust.<br /> Mr. George Cotterel is another new poet. His<br /> verses are published by David Nutt. Mr.<br /> Cotterell is among other things a story-teller in<br /> verse, It will be unexpected if he, or some other<br /> poet, should succeedin reviving the lostart of story-<br /> telling in verse. There are several stories in these<br /> volumes. The story of “Natham,” of “Constance,”<br /> and that called “Violets.” Mr. Cotterell has also<br /> told dramatically the story of Arethusa and the<br /> story of Galatea. The last-named begins as<br /> follows:<br /> Sore-smitten, my shepherd, my dearest,<br /> Struck down and for me !<br /> There is none of all now that thou fearest,<br /> None like unto thee. *<br /> There is none with thy strength and thy sweetness,<br /> Though lovers remain<br /> In love with thy dear love&#039;s completeness,<br /> Nor will be again.<br /> But thy face was a mark for his madness,<br /> Thy love for his hate,<br /> The monster that envied our gladness,<br /> And compassed thy fate :<br /> And all day in all desolate places,<br /> I bemoan thee and weep,<br /> Afar from thy loving embraces<br /> Astray like thy sheep.<br /> “The Confessions of a Poet ’’ is a book which<br /> has been lying on our table for two months. It<br /> is a volume of verse by Mr. F. Harald Williams<br /> (Hutchinson and Co.). The preface, which is<br /> amusing, concerns the critics. For instance, one<br /> of them declared that he would not dare to ask<br /> in a respectable shop for a book with such an<br /> improper name as &#039;Twiat Kiss and Lip. (!) One<br /> looks at the title from every point of view, and<br /> yet one cannot possibly see what and where is<br /> the impropriety of it. Then the author com-<br /> plains of the garbled review, the dishonest<br /> review, and, above all, of the crowded review,<br /> where one or two reviewers have to discuss a<br /> dozen books in a single week—sometimes a dozen<br /> in a single column. Again, he calls attention to<br /> the directly opposite opinions on his book. Here<br /> are three :<br /> “Extraordinary skill and felicity in versifica-<br /> tion.”<br /> “Mere doggerel passing human scansion and<br /> comprehension.”<br /> “Accurate rhythm and perfect versification.”<br /> Of course these opinions contradict each other<br /> flatly. In these columns criticism of a poet is<br /> not attempted. The most that we can do is to<br /> let a poet speak for himself, and to state what he<br /> presents. The volume is large, containing 500<br /> pages of verse in small print. The poet is fluent :<br /> perhaps he would do better to remember that a<br /> busy world cannot find time to read through too<br /> bulky a volume. The following is the opening<br /> stanza of “The Land of Nod ‘’’:<br /> The stream of quiet life goes smoothly on,<br /> In sunshine and in shade,<br /> Without a check as it has ever gone,<br /> While blossoms form and fade.<br /> And scarce a ripple breaks the eventide<br /> Of labour touched with tears,<br /> And modest hopes whose sober colours hide<br /> The face of human fears.<br /> Deep down below, like an uncovered corpse<br /> That yet no burial earns<br /> Or decent rest, and with the current warps,<br /> And turns.<br /> We learn from the Athenaeum that Mrs.<br /> Thackeray Ritchie thinks of bringing out an<br /> edition of her father&#039;s works, with biographical<br /> notes. Also that a large-paper edition of Mr.<br /> George Meredith’s “Tale of Chloe&quot; will be<br /> issued by Messrs. Ward, Lock, and Bowden.<br /> Messrs. Archibald Constable and Co., of 14,<br /> Parliament-street, S.W., are issuing a new library<br /> of fiction entitled “The Acme Library,” and<br /> consisting of volumes by well-known authors of<br /> about 20,000 words in length. The first issue is<br /> a story by Dr. Conan Doyle relating to mesmeric<br /> influence.<br /> In the book list for November the initials of<br /> “A. Z.” were given as the author of “A Drama in<br /> Dutch &quot; (Heinemann and Co.). They should<br /> have been “Z. Z.”<br /> Among the new books in last month&#039;s list<br /> should have been inserted a “Manual of<br /> Addresses to Communicants,” by the Rev. W.<br /> Frank Shaw (Mowbray and Co. 3s. 6d.).<br /> Miss Gerda Grass&#039;s novel, “Phil Hawcroft’s<br /> Son,” which has been running in the Newcastle<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 219 (#233) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 2 I 9<br /> Weekly Chronicle, has now come to an end. It<br /> has attracted considerable attention, and has<br /> already been translated into Swedish. It will be<br /> probably published in the spring.<br /> Dr. K. Lentzner has delivered a course of four<br /> lectures on Danish Literature, under the patron-<br /> age of H.R.H. the Princess of Wales.<br /> Mrs. F. Percy Cotton, writing under the name<br /> of Ellis Walton, has published (Elliott Stock) a<br /> new volume of verse, called “Some Love Songs,<br /> and other Lyrics.” These verses have received<br /> highly laudatory reviews in Sunday papers.<br /> The interest recently created in book plates is<br /> quite wonderful. Apart from Mr. Egerton Castle&#039;s<br /> comprehensive work on the subject, there are half<br /> a dozen books on the subject issued by the same<br /> publishers (H. Grevel and Co.). These are:<br /> “Art in Book Plates,” illustrated by forty-two<br /> original ex Libris, designed in the style of the<br /> German ; “Little Masters of the Sixteenth<br /> Century,” from the ex Libris collection from the<br /> Ducal Palace of Wolfenbüttel; “Rare old Plates<br /> of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Century;” “Em-<br /> blemata Nobilitatis; ” “Emblemata Secularia;”<br /> “Initials;” and a “Modern Dance of Death.” In<br /> addition to this may be noted “American Book<br /> Plates” and “English Book Plates,” both pub-<br /> lished by Messrs. Bell.<br /> The “Life and Letters of John Greenleaf<br /> Whittier’ ought to be read by everybody who<br /> loves pure literature and the life of a man devoted<br /> to the best and highest forms of literature accord-<br /> ing to his lights. It will cost you 18s., and it is<br /> published by Sampson Low, Marston, and Co.<br /> But if you go to a free library you can get it<br /> for nothing.<br /> “Poste Restante,” a novel by C. Y. Har-<br /> greaves, 3 vols. (A. and C. Black). The reader<br /> may make a note of it for his next circulating<br /> library list.<br /> Mrs. Croker&#039;s new novel, “Mr. Jervis: a<br /> Romance of the Indian Hills,” is just published,<br /> in three volumes—the old three-decker not dead<br /> yet—by Chatto and Windus.<br /> Austin Dobson’s “Eighteenth Century<br /> Wignettes” (second series), is, like everything of<br /> this most delightful writer and poet, charming<br /> and interesting.<br /> The Fortnightly Review under the new editor<br /> is getting on so well that last month it was found<br /> necessary to issue a second edition.<br /> “St. Andrews and Elsewhere * is A. K. H. B.&#039;s<br /> new volume (Longmans). We all know one<br /> A. K. H. B. Some of us have known him and<br /> been pleased to read him for thirty years.<br /> We recommend Mr. Arthur Morrison’s “Tales<br /> of Mean Streets” (Methuen) to everybody.<br /> They are better than photographs; because the<br /> photograph shows everything. This author<br /> selects, arranges, and produces an artistic whole.<br /> His work is the best kind of realism.<br /> Christabel Coleridge will begin a new serial in<br /> the Sunday Magazine for January.<br /> There will be two serial stories in Good JWords<br /> for 1895, by S. R. Crockett and by W. Clark<br /> Russell.<br /> The author of “The Yellow Aster’” has pro-<br /> duced a new novel, in three volumes, called<br /> “Children of Circumstance.” It has gone into a<br /> fourth edition. (Hutchinson.) “The New Note”<br /> (same publisher) is advertised as in the fourth<br /> edition, and Rita&#039;s “Peg the Rake ’’ is advertised<br /> in the second edition. These announcements are<br /> highly satisfactory, but one would submit that<br /> they are less impressive than if the numbers of<br /> each edition were given.<br /> A good many publishers have “select ’’ and<br /> “standard” and other “ libraries&#039; of fiction.<br /> Therefore we need not be surprised to hear that<br /> Messrs. Macmillan are going to have a series of<br /> “Illustrated Standard Novels.” The books are<br /> to be well illustrated, and there will be a preface<br /> or introduction to every volume, thus forming a<br /> pleasant and perhaps remunerative job to as<br /> many literary men as there are volumes. The<br /> books are what we all know—Marryatt, Miss<br /> Edgeworth, Susan Ferrier, and so forth.<br /> Mr. Ulick Burke is about to produce his long-<br /> promised work on Spain. The publisher will be<br /> Longmans. It will be curious to see whether the<br /> old interest in things Spanish will be revived by<br /> this important book. Of late years our literature<br /> has been almost silent on Spain and the Spanish.<br /> “Menzikoff, or the Danger of Wealth,” a story<br /> founded on fact, has been translated from the<br /> German of Gustav Nieritz by Mrs. Alexander<br /> Rerr, and published by the Religious Tract<br /> Society. The book in the original made consider-<br /> able stir and has had a large circulation.<br /> Miss Julia Agnes Fraser has just issued a<br /> novel in three volumes, called “Shibrick the<br /> Drummer.” The publishers are Messrs. Remington<br /> and Co.<br /> Among the many new books of verse which<br /> have appeared of late is one by Marcus S. C.<br /> Rickards, author of “Creation&#039;s Hope,” “Songs<br /> of Universal Life,” &amp;c., called “Poems of Life<br /> and Death,” published by George Bell and Sons.<br /> They are all short poems, ranging in length<br /> from one page to three. The poet is always<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 220 (#234) ############################################<br /> <br /> 22O<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> pleasing and unaffected. His song is neither<br /> complicated nor obscure; perhaps it is sometimes<br /> too simple. The themes that inspire him are<br /> old-fashioned—The Nightingale, Roses, Violets,<br /> Sweet Peas, the New Moon, a Hedge Sparrow,<br /> a Curlew, and so on. Those who like simplicity<br /> in style, purity of thought, and rippling melody<br /> will find these qualities in Mr. Marcus Rickards.<br /> Mr. C. J. Wills has produced another book on<br /> Persia which is even more interesting than his<br /> “Land of the Lion and the Sun.” It is called<br /> “Behind an Eastern Weil,” and is an account of<br /> life as it really is for the women of that far off<br /> country — perhaps the farthest “off” at this<br /> moment of any country under the sun–centainly<br /> a long way more distant than China, Japan, or<br /> even, thanks to recent startling developments,<br /> Rorea itself. It is published by Blackwood and<br /> Sons.<br /> Messrs. Chatto and Windus have published a<br /> translation of the Memoirs of the Duchesse de<br /> Gontant. The period covered is from 1773 to<br /> 1836. The Duchess was gouvernante of the<br /> Children of France during the Restoration. The<br /> memoirs, therefore, cover the whole of the most<br /> interesting period of French history. All that<br /> can be said about the book amounts to this,<br /> that once taken up it will not be laid down or<br /> exchanged for another book until it is finished.<br /> “Norley Chester”—Madame or Monsieur—<br /> has published a little book of sonnets (Elliot<br /> Stock) called “Dante Wignettes.” There are<br /> twenty-five of them. The sonnets have the true<br /> ring of verse, and the true enthusiasm for Dante.<br /> Again, the three-volume novel is not dead yet.<br /> Mr. C. Y. Hayman brings out his new work (A.<br /> and C. Black) in this form. “Poste Restante”<br /> is its title. You who still belong to circulating<br /> libraries make a note of it.<br /> Messrs. Ward and Downey have in hand a<br /> novel by R. H. Sherard, entitled “Jacob<br /> Niemand.” It will be published in the spring.<br /> Mr. R. H. Sherard is engaged on a life of Sarah<br /> Bernhardt, which will be published next season<br /> by Edward Arnold.<br /> Mr. F. B. Doveton&#039;s new work will appear<br /> shortly. It is a book of Prose Sketches, meta-<br /> physical, descriptive, and social, with tales and<br /> lay sermons. The publisher is Elliot Stock.<br /> “Beyond the Dreams of Avarice,” by the editor<br /> of this paper, will be published before the end of<br /> January (Chatto and Windus) in one volume,<br /> price 6s.<br /> &gt;<br /> c:<br /> CORRESPONDENCE,<br /> I.—PERSONAL ExPERIENCE.<br /> T is fair to give publicity to both sides of<br /> the question, so, as an author of some years<br /> standing, I should like to state that my<br /> experience of editors is very unlike that of “An<br /> Author’’ published in your last issue. I hav<br /> met with great kindness and consideration from<br /> many editors; indeed, some have become<br /> quite friendly, and when they refuse articles—<br /> which they are often obliged to do for want of<br /> room, or because they do not require what I send<br /> them—they frequently write a kind, courteous<br /> note with their refusal. But I never eapect this<br /> from them, knowing how busy they are and how<br /> precious is their time. On the other hand, I<br /> should never trouble them with the information<br /> that anyone else was “enchanted ” with my<br /> works. Firstly, because I am not fortunate<br /> enough to have an “enchanted ” public ; and,<br /> secondly, because I am sure the editor would not<br /> care to hear it even if I had<br /> But, as a body, should we not be happier<br /> if we raised our ideal of the noble profession to<br /> which we belong P. There are very few great<br /> writers in the world, and only a very small pro-<br /> portion of these can be found in England. Even<br /> if writers are born with talent or even with genius<br /> they have much labour to go through before they<br /> can produce a classic, and most of us are far from<br /> producing classics. But once let us raise our<br /> ideal and we shall not be surprised when that<br /> which falls far short of it, is often returned with-<br /> out thanks! However, if we have satisfied our-<br /> selves that our work is good, or as good as we<br /> can make it, do not let us be cast down if the<br /> poem, or the tale, or the novel is rejected ten<br /> times over. In the end good work will find a<br /> publisher. Popularity does not always mean<br /> that the writer who has it is a great writer,<br /> indeed, for a young author to make a “hit ’’ with<br /> a first book is almost a curse. If we place our<br /> ideal high we can then be our own judges, and<br /> we need not be dependent on the good or the bad<br /> opinion of hard-worked editors.<br /> Above all things let us not tout for reviews |<br /> I have never done so, yet my work has been<br /> noticed quite as much as it deserves; indeed, I<br /> have sometimes received more praise than my work<br /> merited. I must own, however, to possessing a<br /> Jow opinion of second-rate reviewers, who often<br /> do not read the books they review, or else tell the<br /> story straight through without one word of<br /> critical comment. Still, their strange mistakes<br /> make us laugh, and their blame cannot injure an<br /> ideal, as they possess none of their own.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 221 (#235) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 22 I<br /> Further, if we accuse some publishers of certain<br /> unfair dealings, let us also look at home and<br /> strive to keep our own profession free from<br /> smallness or meanness. Let us set our faces<br /> agai st log rolling, cringing to obtain favourable<br /> reviews, or praising poor work hoping to get<br /> praise in return. If we want good money let us<br /> give good work, but especially let us give good<br /> work even if we get no money at all. Det us<br /> avoid pot boilers and accept poverty if necessary<br /> rather than lower the standard in our own eyes<br /> and in the eyes of the few who can see.<br /> If I may, let me again repeat Mr. Sherard’s<br /> quotation. It will materially help us when,<br /> after having striven hard, we find our work<br /> returned to us by editors with or without thanks.<br /> “J’en ay assez de peu,” répondit il. “J’en ay assez<br /> d’un, J&#039;em ay assez de pas wºn.”<br /> ESME STUART.<br /> II.-Nov ELISTS AND THEIR CHARACTERS.<br /> I had imagined that novelists need no longer<br /> fear being held responsible for the opinions and<br /> actions of their leading characters. But I have<br /> just had singular proof that the old-fashioned<br /> idea of “hero * dies hard in England.<br /> Unfortunately I am rather fond of taking<br /> immature characters and trying to develop them<br /> —as we are most of us developed—through mis-<br /> takes and failures. In preparing my last novel<br /> (the eighteenth I have written) for the press, I<br /> altered the original title, “Norman Colvill’s<br /> Blunders ” to “A Modern Quixote.” I thought<br /> that the touch of kindly satire which I meant to<br /> run through the story would be implied in the<br /> name “Quixote.”<br /> The A. B. C. of my art, of course, prevented<br /> me from discussing my character or writing my<br /> own opinions about him. But on the title-page<br /> I wrote Bacon’s axiom, “Goodness admits of no<br /> excess, but error.” And as it was necessary for<br /> me to write a short preface to apologise for the<br /> staleness of certain passages in a book, which<br /> was written in 1893, I took the opportunity to<br /> refer to “blundering and mistaken efforts,” made<br /> with the best intentions. Certain chapters were<br /> even headed “Nemesis,” “The Punishment<br /> Begins, ’ &amp;c., and towards the end of the third<br /> volume the Quixote, who has been compelled to<br /> carry out his theories to the bitter end, deplores<br /> his own failure, and acknowledges his own<br /> priggishness in the earlier Oxonian stage.<br /> Imagine my amazement when critic after critic<br /> speaks of “Mrs. Spender’s Hero,” “ Mrs.<br /> Spender’s Polemics.” Personally I hate polemics,<br /> but my opinions or my individuality should<br /> surely be kept as much as possible in that back-<br /> ground from which, leading a li’e of retirement,<br /> I can only express my surprise.<br /> LILY SPENDER.<br /> III.-WRITERS OF SONGs.<br /> The time having come for the rights and<br /> interests of musical composers to receive a share<br /> of consideration, which holds out fair hope of<br /> redress, may I venture, as a lyric writer of at<br /> least twenty-five years’ standing, to put in a plea,<br /> for the writers of words for music?<br /> A great many songs, with words written by<br /> me, have been sung, year after year, by noted<br /> singers, not only in London concert halls, but all<br /> over the English-speaking world. Yet, beyond<br /> the small fee paid for the words at the time<br /> of publication, I have never received one penny.<br /> |Many of the music publishers now send to the<br /> writers a form of receipt for the fee, to which a<br /> special clause is attached that “all rights in the<br /> words, whether for public performance or not, in<br /> all parts of the world, shall belong absolutely<br /> and for ever to the publisher.” By signing this<br /> receipt the writer, of course, loses all further<br /> interest in his property.<br /> Public singers receive large royalties on songs<br /> sung by them, such royalties being ostensibly<br /> paid by the publishers, but in which payment the<br /> composers must in many cases share by foregoing<br /> a part of their own very small profit.<br /> I am ignorant of these matters, and should<br /> like to ask why the singer is so much more<br /> sufficiently paid than the writer or composer ; He<br /> must manifestly sing something, and is amply<br /> paid by the public for doing so. Would it not<br /> seem a more just arrangement that writer, com-<br /> poser, and singer should each receive a share<br /> of the royalties paid by the publishers ?<br /> Might not some other form of receipt be<br /> adopted by music publishers, the terms of which<br /> would deal less hardly with the composers and<br /> writers of songs P T.YRIC.<br /> IV.-PLAGIARISM OR MEMORY.<br /> Synonymous expressions of thought are<br /> common in literature, but clear instances of<br /> unconscious plagiarism are rare. The following<br /> lines are similar word for word:<br /> And yet<br /> We lost it in this daily jar and fret,<br /> And now live idle in a vague regret.<br /> JOHN DAVIDSON.<br /> It was, and yet<br /> We lost it in this daily jar and fret,<br /> And now live idle in a vague regret.<br /> ADELAIDE A. PROCTER.<br /> A young poet in the full fire of genius and<br /> passion for his ideal cannot be too careful in<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 222 (#236) ############################################<br /> <br /> 222<br /> A UTHOR.<br /> THE<br /> passing his proofs, or he may easily appropriate<br /> unconsciously the lines of others.<br /> I may mention that, prior to publishing my<br /> first volume—“Lord Harrie and Leila, In<br /> Memory of H.R.H. the Prince Consort, and<br /> other poems ”—I carefully read through my<br /> ideals—Byron, Shelley, and Keats—ere I would<br /> allow it to pass the press. It was well I did so,<br /> as I found it necessary to expunge certain lines<br /> which had crept in through unconscious instances<br /> of memory, which would otherwise have gone<br /> forth as my own, and for which my critics would<br /> not probably have spared me.<br /> H. GEORGE HELLON.<br /> W.—STANDARD WORKs.<br /> I have often thought that there is an injustice<br /> in the copyright falling practically largely into the<br /> heretofore publisher&#039;s hands after copyright ceases.<br /> Would it be possible to have some such clause as<br /> “all stereos to become the property of the author&#039;s<br /> heirs and assigns on expiration of copyright,” and<br /> such stereos to be used for their benefit by the<br /> literary syndicate of authors or others ? As it is<br /> now, the publishers gain any advantage by cessa-<br /> tion of rights, while it is the public or the Society<br /> of Authors which ought so to gain. H. S.<br /> VI.-KIND OR JUST P<br /> The editor of an American periodical was<br /> robbed of his tin box, not full of bonds and cash,<br /> as the wicked thief imagined, but of MSS. and<br /> sketches. Bear the loss who should P I fancy<br /> many editors of English magazines would say<br /> “The authors, of course ; we are not responsible<br /> if foolish people send us their MSS.”<br /> Not so my American editor. The periodical in<br /> Question is not rich, but it will bear the loss and<br /> compensate the authors. This is not only kind,<br /> but courteous—and just. S. B.<br /> *.<br /> VII.-HospitaLS AND PROOFs.<br /> Apropos of a suggestion in one of your recent<br /> numbers that authors would do a good deed by<br /> sending their proof sheets when useless to<br /> hospitals, I should be glad of the medium of<br /> your correspondence column to make a similar<br /> suggestion.<br /> Books sent to magazines and newspapers for<br /> review should never be sold, and it is clearly the<br /> duty of everyone who values a fair field to<br /> authors to protest against such a custom.<br /> There is an excellent statement in the editorial<br /> notices of The Unknown World to this effect :<br /> “The editor of The Unknown World, as himself<br /> a writer of books, and the publishers, as per-<br /> sonally interested in sustaining the commercial<br /> value of new books, resent the prevailing custom<br /> of selling review copies immediately after publi-<br /> cation, and too often without notice at all. All<br /> books sent to this magazine for review will<br /> remain in the custody of the proprietors, and will<br /> not be parted with under any circumstances.”<br /> This has suggested to me two propositions,<br /> which are, as far as I know, original. The first<br /> is that all review copies should be bound in<br /> paper as French novels are published. The<br /> second, that the editors of magazines and news-<br /> papers could make a good use of these copies if<br /> they sent them to such libraries as the Peoples’<br /> Palace library, or the Working Men&#039;s Club<br /> libraries of the Federation of Working Men&#039;s<br /> Social Clubs, or of clubs connected with Toynbee<br /> Hall, or school and college missions. Besides<br /> these, hospitals and free libraries would greatly<br /> benefit by such a system. JOHN WYATT.<br /> VIII.-EDITORIAL AMENITIES.<br /> Case I. Recently I submitted a lengthy MS.<br /> for approval to the editor of a well-known, high-<br /> class paper. In a week it was returned with the<br /> usual note of non-acceptance ; torn, inked, and<br /> dirtied, every page of it. The result: The MS.<br /> (which was type-written) would have to be re-<br /> typed at the cost of 8s. or 9s. before it could be<br /> offered elsewhere. It was perfectly clean and new<br /> when sent to the editor in question, in an envelope.<br /> I wrote a note of remonstrance. Answer: “The<br /> editor much regrets if the MS. should have<br /> become slightly soiled (good this ; it was simply<br /> filthy), but thinks Mr. Z. must have been mis-<br /> taken as to its condition when sent to the office of<br /> the magazine. He is unable to offer Mr. Z.<br /> any compensation.”<br /> Case 2. A few weeks ago I forwarded by<br /> request a MS. for the consideration of another<br /> well-known magazine, inclosing ample stamps for<br /> its return, if unsuitable, under cover. Result:<br /> MS. returned coverless, the two last pages having<br /> been turned back and glued so as to form an<br /> impromptu wrapper, a half-penny stamp being<br /> attached in place of the two penny Ones sent by<br /> me to cover postage. A pouring wet day resulting<br /> in the MS., thus insufficiently protected, being<br /> soaked through and through, necessitating almost<br /> entire re-copying.<br /> Case 3. Two years ago an old established<br /> paper accepted a MS. of mine upon an archaeo-<br /> logical subject. At the expiry of nearly two<br /> years from date of acceptance I wrote to inquire<br /> why the contribution had not been used. Answer:<br /> The editor could not make use of it as it was<br /> “full of inaccuracies.” I naturally asked for<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 223 (#237) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 223<br /> somewhat fuller information upon the subject of<br /> my alleged inaccuracies. After some time had<br /> elapsed the MS. was returned with the detailed<br /> information for which I had asked. Upon going<br /> through the list, and consulting the best known<br /> authorities on the subject, I found that every one<br /> of the editor&#039;s statements, contravening mine in<br /> the article, was incorrect. I wrote to point this<br /> out, but have not yet received any reply, though<br /> several weeks have elapsed. I presume that I<br /> am powerless to insist on publication, and have<br /> lost the chance of the article appearing else-<br /> where. It has been paid for (a cheque was sent<br /> me three or four months after acceptance) but<br /> publication would have proved more valuable to<br /> me in more ways than one.<br /> Surely these are somewhat “hard ” cases,<br /> though by no means isolated ones. C. H.<br /> IX.—THE LAUREATESHIP.<br /> I think your correspondent “A Prose Writer’”<br /> has done a good deed in again calling attention<br /> to the prolonged vacancy of the office of Poet<br /> Laureate, though I can hardly agree with him<br /> that the whole fraternity of authors is being<br /> slighted.<br /> In some well-known books of reference, which<br /> purport to be “carefully corrected at the different<br /> offices,” the Poet Laureate is shown to occupy a<br /> position, in the Lord Chamberlain&#039;s Department,<br /> immediately above the Barge Master and the<br /> Keeper of the Swans. The Barge Master may<br /> be able to say, in the words of “The Bard,”<br /> In gallant trim the gilded vessel goes.<br /> And the Keeper of the Swans may be in the<br /> habit of hearing exquisite notes when one of his<br /> charges dies; but does close association with<br /> them confer any special honour on a poet P Has<br /> not the time come either for abolishing the office<br /> or for setting it in a more dignified position ?<br /> The duties of the post are very uncertain.<br /> The poet may have to celebrate many events in<br /> one year, or he may have no events to celebrate<br /> during many years. In either case the spectacle<br /> is not very edifying. Genius writing to order<br /> One year, and waiting for orders the next.<br /> Pegasus sometimes at grass, sometimes kicking<br /> in his unaccustomed harness. Why not dis-<br /> establish the Laureateship, and let volunteers rise<br /> to the occasion when occasion arises P<br /> Palmam qui meruit ferat.<br /> Give the laurel wreath, and the honour, and,<br /> if necessary, the cheque, to the best man after<br /> the celebration of each event. The decision<br /> should be by universal suffrage and the ballot,<br /> because no poet could be worthy unless under-<br /> standed of the people.—Your obedient servant,<br /> II.<br /> X.—NEOLOGISMs.<br /> I observe that a controversy is proceeding in<br /> the Westminster Gazette as to the double mean-<br /> ing of “ancestor.” Is not a single word wanted<br /> to explain what is meant by what is frequently<br /> but incorrectly called “collateral ancestor P’’<br /> Could not such a word be invented P<br /> Then as to “up to dateness.” I have seen<br /> this word used in the Referee, but I believe it to<br /> be considered as generally unfit for serious prose.<br /> But by what word or what number of words<br /> can its obvious meaning be expressed ? Surely<br /> the sooner the word, or a better single word, if<br /> such can be found, is admitted into serious prose<br /> the better. J. M. LELY.<br /> XI.-CONTINUATION BY ANOTHER HAND.<br /> The following correspondence sent to us by<br /> Messrs. Harper and Brothers is published with<br /> the permission of Mr. Justin McCarthy:<br /> I<br /> Harper and Brothers, Publishers,<br /> Franklin-square, New York.<br /> Nov. 27, 1894.<br /> DEAR SIR,-We have read with interest the<br /> remarks in The Author, issued the first of this<br /> month, upon the subject “Continuation by<br /> Another Hand,” elicited by the publication by a<br /> firm in this city of a new edition of Mr. Justin<br /> McCarthy’s “A History of Our Own Times,” to<br /> which supplementary chapters have been added<br /> by Mr. G. Mercer Adam, bringing the work down<br /> to 1894.<br /> Inasmuch as we are the publishers of the<br /> American authorised edition of this work, and as<br /> the sale of our edition will be injuriously affected<br /> by this unauthorised reprint, we felt it our duty<br /> to call Mr. McCarthy’s attention to the matter<br /> several weeks ago.<br /> Our edition of the work was published before<br /> the International Copyright Law was passed, and<br /> was therefore without protection against un-<br /> authorised reprints; nevertheless, the sale has<br /> been considerable. We have already paid Mr.<br /> McCarthy on account of royalties representing a<br /> sale of many thousand sets.<br /> Mr. McCarthy appreciated the interest which<br /> we took in the matter, and replied in a most<br /> cordial and characteristic letter. We inclose<br /> herewith copies of our letter to Mr. McCarthy,<br /> and his reply. Yours very truly,<br /> HARPER AND BROTHERs.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 224 (#238) ############################################<br /> <br /> 224<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> II.<br /> Oct. I I, 1894.<br /> DEAR SIR,--In the London letter to the New<br /> York Times, published on the 7th inst., the<br /> inclosed paragraph appeared:—“We fully sym-<br /> pathise with you in the sense of injury raised in<br /> your mind by the publication by the United<br /> States Book Company of Mr. G. Mercer Adam&#039;s<br /> edition of your ‘History of Our Own Times.’<br /> That edition is an injury to us as well as to you,<br /> for it will maturally affect the sale of our edition.<br /> We inclose here with the advertisement of the<br /> book from the New York Evening Post, and we<br /> shall send you a copy through our London<br /> Office.”<br /> The wording of the paragraph in the Times<br /> was very unfortunate. The statement that it was<br /> “sad enough to get next to nothing for the<br /> original work when it appeared” is misleading,<br /> for it might be understood as reflecting upon us,<br /> who were the original and authorised publishers<br /> of the work in this country. We assume, of<br /> course, that the unfortunate paragraph was not<br /> the result of any statement of yours, but was<br /> simply the reflection of the correspondent him-<br /> self, who was ignorant of the fact that we had<br /> paid you royalty upon the sale of our edition of<br /> your book from the time of publication. The<br /> total payments of royalty represent, we find, the<br /> sale of many thousand sets. To this should be added<br /> the sum paid for the authorisation of the Franklin-<br /> square Library edition of the work. Under the<br /> circumstances this is a very substantial “next to<br /> nothing,” as the Times correspondent would<br /> promptly concede. We have no doubt that he<br /> would be only too glad to correct any false<br /> impression which his letter may have created—or<br /> you may prefer to do this yourself.<br /> By the way, the enterprising Mr. Adam is a<br /> Canadian, and was formerly a publisher in<br /> Toronto.<br /> Would it be advisable, in view of Mr. Adam’s<br /> action, for you to prepare a third volume, bringing<br /> the book down to the present date P<br /> While writing it occurs to us to inquire when<br /> you intend to complete your “History of the<br /> Four Georges,” two volumes of which we have<br /> published. It is now several years since the<br /> second volume was issued, and inquiries are<br /> constantly made for the final two volumes. If<br /> this is delayed too long it is possible that some<br /> “literary philanthropist” may undertake to com-<br /> plete the work for you, or enter upon the same<br /> field.<br /> We are, dear sir, yours very truly,<br /> HARPER AND BROTHER8.<br /> Justin McCarthy, Esq., M.P.<br /> III.<br /> 73, Eaton-terrace, S.W., London,<br /> Oct. 26, 1894.<br /> DEAR SIRs, I have to acknowledge, with<br /> many thanks, the receipt of your letter of the<br /> I Ith of this month. You are quite right in<br /> assuming that I knew nothing of the paragraph in<br /> the Tondon letter to the New York Times. I never<br /> saw it or heard of it until Ireceived your letter. 1<br /> should think that what the writer meant was that,<br /> owing to the state of the law as regards copyright<br /> then, I did not receive from the United States<br /> anything like the amount which I might have<br /> received under other conditions. But, so far as<br /> your firm is concerned, I can only say that you<br /> have always dealt with me in the fairest, most<br /> honourable, and even most generous manner. I<br /> was surprised at the time, and am still surprised,<br /> that you were able to pay me so much for the<br /> history, seeing that numbers of publishers of a<br /> different order were issuing all manner of cheaper<br /> editions. When first you and I began to have<br /> dealings together, there was an honourable under-<br /> standing among American publishers that if a<br /> foreign author selected or succeeded in obtaining<br /> some particular American firm as his publishers,<br /> the other publishers would accept the arrange-<br /> ment and not interfere. This was really a copy-<br /> right by good feeling and common understand-<br /> ing. But before my history came to be published<br /> there were new firms in the field, and copyright<br /> of that sort was brought to an end. It was<br /> therefore, as I have said, a wonder to me that<br /> you were able to pay me as much for a “History<br /> of Our Own Times” as you actually did. Our<br /> business relations extend back over a quarter of<br /> a century. I have nothing to speak but<br /> praise in regard to the firm of Harper and<br /> Brothers.<br /> I certainly mean to bring the “History of Our<br /> Own Times” up to date—whenever I get a chance<br /> —and to finish the “Four Georges” too. I hope<br /> that Messrs. Harper and Brothers may be the<br /> publishers of both. Lately I have been absorbed<br /> in politics and unable to do much literary work,<br /> but I hope for quieter times.<br /> Of course, you are free to make any use of this<br /> letter that seems to you desirable.<br /> With kindest regards, very truly yours,<br /> JustTN McCARTHY.<br /> Messrs. Harper and Brothers.https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/272/1895-01-01-The-Author-5-8.pdfpublications, The Author
273https://historysoa.com/items/show/273The Author, Vol. 05 Issue 09 (February 1895)<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=%3Cem%3EThe+Author%3C%2Fem%3E%2C+Vol.+05+Issue+09+%28February+1895%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 05 Issue 09 (February 1895)</a><a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Publication">Publication</a>1895-02-01-The-Author-5-9225–252<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=89&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=5">5</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=76&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1895-02-01">1895-02-01</a>918950201C be El u t b or,<br /> (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors.<br /> Monthly.)<br /> CON DU CTED BY WALTER BESAN. T.<br /> VoI. W.-No. 9.]<br /> FEBRUARY 1, 1895.<br /> [PRICE SIXPENCE.<br /> For the Opinions eaſpressed in papers that are<br /> signed or initialled the Authors alone are<br /> responsible. None of the papers or para-<br /> graphs must be taken as ea pressing the<br /> collective opinions of the committee unless<br /> they are officially signed by G. Herbert<br /> Thring, Sec.<br /> HE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all<br /> remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and<br /> requests that all members not receiving an answer to<br /> important communications within two days will write to him<br /> without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union<br /> Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered<br /> letter only.<br /> Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on<br /> all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub-<br /> jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are<br /> returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS.<br /> *- A -º<br /> r- - -<br /> WARNINGS AND ADWICE,<br /> I. RAWING THE AGREEMENT.-It is not generally<br /> understood that the author, as the vendor, has the<br /> absolute right of drafting the agreement upon<br /> whatever terms the transaction is to be carried out.<br /> Authors are strongly advised to exercise that right. In<br /> every form of business, this among others, the right of<br /> drawing the agreement rests with him who sells, leases, or<br /> has the control of the property.<br /> 2. SERIAL RIGHTS.—In selling Serial Rights remember<br /> that you may be selling the Serial Right for all time; that<br /> is, the Right to continue the production in papers. If you<br /> object to this, insert a clause to that effect.<br /> 3. STAMP You R AGREEMENTS. – Readers are most<br /> URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements<br /> immediately after signature. If this precaution is neglected<br /> for two weeks, a fine of £10 must be paid before the agree-<br /> ment can be used as a legal document. In almost every<br /> case brought to the secretary the agreement, or the letter<br /> which serves for one, is forwarded without the stamp. The<br /> author may be assured that the other party to the agree-<br /> ment seldom neglects this simple precaution. The Society,<br /> to save trouble, undertakes to get all the agreements of<br /> members stamped for them at no ea&#039;pense to themselves<br /> eacept the cost of the stamp.<br /> WOL. W.<br /> 4. ASCERTAIN WHAT A PROPOSED AGREEMENT GIVES To<br /> BOTH SIDES BEFORE SIGNING IT.-Remember that an<br /> arrangement as to a joint venture in any other kind of busi-<br /> ness whatever would be instantly refused should either party<br /> refuse to show the books or to let it be known what share he<br /> reserved for himself.<br /> 5. LITERARY AGENTS.–Be very careful. You cannot be<br /> too careful as to the person whom you appoint as your<br /> agent. Remember that you place your property almost un-<br /> reservedly in his hands. Your only safety is in consulting<br /> the Society, or some friend who has had personal experience<br /> of the agent. Do not trust advertisements alone.<br /> 6. CoST OF PRODUCTION.——Never sign any agreement of<br /> which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part,<br /> until you have proved the figures.<br /> 7. CHOICE OF PUBLISHERS.—Never enter into any cor-<br /> respondence with publishers, especially with those who ad-<br /> vertise for MSS., who are not recommended by experienced<br /> friends or by this Society.<br /> 8. FUTURE WORK.—Never, on any account whatever,<br /> bind yourself down for future work to anyone.<br /> 9. PERSONAL RISK.—Never accept any pecuniary risk or<br /> responsibility whatever without advice.<br /> Io. REJECTED MSS.—Never, when a M.S. has been re-<br /> fused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises<br /> they may put forward, for the production of the work.<br /> II. AMERICAN RIGHTS.—Never sign away American<br /> rights. Keep them by special clause. Refuse to sign any<br /> agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the<br /> publisher, unless for a substantial consideration.<br /> 12. CESSION OF COPYRIGHT.-Never sign any paper,<br /> either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright,<br /> without advice.<br /> 13. ADVERTISEMENTS. –- Keep some control over the<br /> advertisements, if they affect your returns, by a clause in<br /> the agreement.<br /> 14. NEVER forget that publishing is a business, like any<br /> other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy,<br /> charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with<br /> business men. Be yourself a business man.<br /> Society’s Offices :-<br /> 4, PORTUGAL STREET, LINCOLN&#039;s INN FIELDs.<br /> *—- - --&quot;<br /> - - -<br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.<br /> I. VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive<br /> advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-<br /> lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his<br /> business or the administration of his property. If the advice<br /> Y 2<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 226 (#240) ############################################<br /> <br /> 226<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member<br /> has a right to an opinion from the Society’s solicitors. If the<br /> case is such that Counsel’s opinion is desirable, the Com-<br /> mittee will obtain for him Counsel’s opinion. All this<br /> without any cost to the member.<br /> 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright<br /> and publisher&#039;s agreements do not generally fall within the<br /> experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple<br /> to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually<br /> engaged upon such questions for us.<br /> 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past<br /> accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in<br /> order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree-<br /> ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively<br /> so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any<br /> agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor-<br /> mation thus obtained may prove invaluable.<br /> 4. If the examination of your previous business trans-<br /> actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should<br /> take advice as to a change of publishers.<br /> 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro-<br /> posed document to the Society for examination.<br /> 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in<br /> the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish-<br /> ing firm in the country.<br /> 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you<br /> are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are<br /> reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing<br /> the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen-<br /> dence of the writer.<br /> 8. Send to the Editor of the Awthor notes of everything<br /> important to literature that you may hear or meet with.<br /> THE AUTHORS&#039; SYNDICATE,<br /> EMBERS are informed :<br /> I. That the Authors’ Syndicate takes charge of<br /> the business of members of the Society. That it<br /> submits MSS. to publishers and editors, concludes agree-<br /> ments, examines, passes, and collects accounts, and, generally,<br /> relieves members of the trouble of managing business details.<br /> 2. That the terms upon which its services can be secured<br /> will be forwarded upon detailed application.<br /> 3. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate works only for those<br /> members of the Society whose work possesses a market<br /> value.<br /> 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiations<br /> whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia-<br /> tions are placed ea clusively in its hands, and that all<br /> communications relating thereto are referred to it.<br /> 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by<br /> appointment, and that, when possible, at least two days&#039;<br /> notice should be given.<br /> 6. That every attempt is made to deal with all communi-<br /> cations promptly. That stamps should, in all cases, be sent<br /> to defray postage.<br /> 7. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate does not invite MSS.<br /> without previous correspondence; does not hold itself<br /> responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice; and that<br /> in all cases MSS. must be accompanied by stamps to defray<br /> postage.<br /> 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for<br /> lectures by some of the leading members of the Society;<br /> that it has a “Transfer Department” for the sale and<br /> purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a “Register<br /> of Wants and Wanted&quot; is open. Members are invited to<br /> communicate their requirements to the Manager.<br /> There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services<br /> will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It<br /> is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the<br /> Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in<br /> the Syndicate.<br /> _*<br /> ,-- - -<br /> NOTICES,<br /> HE Editor of the Author begs to remind members of the<br /> Society that, although the paper is sent to them free<br /> of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very<br /> heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great<br /> many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest<br /> 6s. 6d. subscription for the year.<br /> The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and<br /> communications on all subjects connected with literature<br /> from members and others. Nothing can do more good to<br /> the Society than to make the Author complete, attractive,<br /> and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this<br /> work send their names and the special subjects on which<br /> they are willing to write P<br /> Communications for the Author should reach the Editor<br /> not later than the 21st of each month.<br /> All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether<br /> members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate<br /> to the Editor any points connected with their work which<br /> it would be advisable in the general interest to publish.<br /> Members and others who wish their MSS. read are<br /> requested not to send them to the Office without previously<br /> communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable<br /> despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in<br /> which they are received. It must also be distinctly under-<br /> stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances,<br /> undertake the publication of MSS.<br /> The Authors’ Club is now open in its new premises, at<br /> 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary<br /> for information, rules of admission, &amp;c.<br /> Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they<br /> have paid their subscriptions for the year P If they will do<br /> this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker’s<br /> order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the<br /> trouble of sending out a reminder.<br /> Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the<br /> warning numbered (8). It is a most foolish and may be a<br /> most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding<br /> for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they<br /> would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five<br /> years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest<br /> or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then<br /> hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them-<br /> selves into literary bondage for three or five years P<br /> Those who possess the “Cost of Production ” are<br /> requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15<br /> per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble<br /> of “doing sums,” the addition of three shillings in the<br /> pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding<br /> is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be<br /> added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at<br /> £948. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth<br /> as can be procured; but a printer&#039;s, or a binder&#039;s, bill is so<br /> elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 227 (#241) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 227<br /> Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged<br /> in the “Cost of Production” for advertising. Of course, we<br /> have not included any sums which may be charged for<br /> inserting advertisements in the publisher’s own magazines,<br /> or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too<br /> often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from<br /> sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket,<br /> by inserting any number of advertisements in his own<br /> magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are<br /> who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those<br /> who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it.<br /> *- ~ *-*<br /> s= * *<br /> LITERARY PROPERTY.<br /> I.—THE HICKs CoPYRIGHT BILL.<br /> &quot;TYPHE Hicks Copyright Bill, against which Mr.<br /> William Agnew has written to the Times,<br /> has no chance of passing through the<br /> House. Protests have been filed against it by<br /> the American Copyright League of Authors and<br /> Publishers, the American Artists&#039; Society, the<br /> Fine Arts Society, the New York Etching Club,<br /> and others. The chairman of the House Com-<br /> mittee on Patents, which has charge of the Bill,<br /> considers that it will be abandoned.—Times,<br /> Jan. 2 I.<br /> II.-NET PRICEs.<br /> In response to the circular about met prices,<br /> the secretary has received a great many replies,<br /> but not so many as might have been expected<br /> on a subject which touches our members in a<br /> twofold manner. That is to say it affects them<br /> as buyers of books as well as makers of<br /> books. In the former capacity they should ask<br /> whether they will lose or gain by the pro-<br /> posed change. Of course the answer is obvious.<br /> They will no longer get the discount and they<br /> will not be able to buy so many books. A rise<br /> in price from 4s. 6d. to 6s. is a rise of 33; per<br /> cent. “Oh but we are not going to charge so<br /> much. Trade competition will come in.” Perhaps.<br /> But trade competition has done very little so far<br /> to cheapen books. The book-buying public is<br /> small: 1t must remain small, because people<br /> cannot think of buying books whose incomes are<br /> under £2OO a-year. The interest of trade com-<br /> petition is to keep up the price of books. Book<br /> buyers will infallibly lose by the change. “But<br /> the author will have more.” Will he P Suppose<br /> 3OOO copies of a 6s. book to be sold at 4s. 6d.<br /> That means an expenditure of £675 by the<br /> public. If that book is sold net at 6s., the same<br /> expenditure would only buy 2.250. “But the<br /> royalties would be adjusted to meet the difference.”<br /> Would they P. The preponderance of opinion<br /> was in favour of the net price, and generally on<br /> the ground that one would know how much had<br /> to be paid.<br /> Another objection is that the buyer would still<br /> demand and still obtain his discount; not openly,<br /> as at present, but secretly, which would be worse,<br /> and so the later position of the bookseller would<br /> be worse than the former.<br /> What it comes to is that something must be<br /> done for the booksellers if they are to continue.<br /> They have more than one association. They are<br /> surely united enough to agree upon what they<br /> want, and strong enough to demand it. Publishers<br /> cannot do without booksellers. Authors could<br /> do without publishers, but they cannot do without<br /> booksellers. The question rests entirely with the<br /> booksellers. Let them agree, and find an answer.<br /> The net system, it is believed, will not be dis-<br /> cussed much longer. There are already a good<br /> many net books, and there will be more, especially<br /> of the class whose circulation is bound to be<br /> limited, and whose price is too high for the book-<br /> seller to take thirteen as twelve. A good man<br /> of the leading publishers have refused to take the<br /> proposed action submitted to them, and it is not<br /> likely that those who advocate the change will be<br /> able to set up a six-shilling book at net, against a<br /> six-shilling book at 4s. 6d.<br /> III.--ARTISTIC CoPYRIGHT.-MR. WILLIAM<br /> AGNEw.<br /> In the issue of the Times of Jan. I6 there is a<br /> long letter from Mr. William Agnew with regard<br /> to the artistic copyright in engravings and<br /> etchings. He states that a Bill has been intro-<br /> duced by a certain member of the Congress in<br /> the United States to bring etchings and engrav-<br /> ings under the manufacturing clause, and com-<br /> plains, and rightly so, that this is seriously detri-<br /> mental to artistic copyright,<br /> It is no doubt of the utmost importance to keep<br /> artistic copyright apart from the manufacturing<br /> clause, and the same remark applies in a lesser<br /> degree to literary works. For all the civilised<br /> nations of Europe at the Berne Convention<br /> recognised that copyright property should not be<br /> trammelled with trade burdens. The retrogres-<br /> sive policy of the Americans in having established<br /> a manufacturing clause to the literary copyright<br /> is the real cause of the present disturbance now<br /> being made in Canada with regard to Canadian<br /> copyright; and this disturbance may perhaps<br /> prejudice the whole system of copyright as it at<br /> present exists in England. It may be worth<br /> while, therefore, if steps are going to be taken to<br /> oppose the manufacturing clause with regard to<br /> artistic copyright, that authors should raise their<br /> voices in opposition to the present manufacturing<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 228 (#242) ############################################<br /> <br /> 228<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> clause bearing on the reproduction of books.<br /> This clause is no doubt opposed to the whole idea<br /> of copyright property as at present existing.<br /> TV.-A CANADIAN PAPER ON CANADIAN<br /> CoPYRIGHT.<br /> I.<br /> As every intelligent person knows, copyright is<br /> the method by which law guards the right of<br /> property which authors, artists, musicians, and<br /> designers have in their intellectual productions.<br /> It is for the defence of authors and for their<br /> defence alone. It is to secure their right to the<br /> profit of the reproduction and multiplication of<br /> their own works. A copyright law pure and<br /> simple would secure to the author the right to<br /> say who and who alone should publish his work<br /> and on what terms, leaving him free to make the<br /> best terms possible for himself. This, in effect,<br /> is what free trade Great Britain does, and what<br /> even protectionist France, Germany, Austria, and<br /> most of the great countries do where intellectual<br /> production is respected. But this is not what<br /> protectionist countries like the United States do.<br /> There the manufacturers, who are ever clamour-<br /> ing for the privilege of enriching themselves at<br /> the expense of the rest of the people, compelled<br /> Congress to turn the copyright law intended for<br /> the defence of authors against pirates into a<br /> protective law for themselves, requiring the book<br /> copyrighted to be printed or reprinted in the<br /> United States. There must be, in the words of<br /> the Tammany corruptionists, “something in it<br /> for them” to be got at the expense of the author<br /> and of his American readers. The United States<br /> Government gave British authors this privilege<br /> on the pledge obtained from Great Britain that<br /> United States copyright should be good all over<br /> the British empire as well as in Great Britain,<br /> and as British copyright holds everywhere<br /> throughout the empire that was granted, and as<br /> a result authors, British or American, can dispose<br /> of their right to United States publishers for the<br /> United States and Canada, and the books cannot<br /> be reprinted here.<br /> Canada, which follows the United States in<br /> most of its international legislation, good and<br /> bad, reciprocated by following the United States<br /> in its course in turning a copyright Act for the<br /> defence of authors into a protection Act for the<br /> protection of manufacturers in Canada. The<br /> effect of this Act would be to compel authors to<br /> have their works reprinted in Canada, to the<br /> probable loss and injury of themselves and of<br /> their Canadian readers; the only people who<br /> would profit by it would be a few Canadian<br /> publishing and printing firms. The present inter-<br /> national arrangement between Great Britain and<br /> the United States, which serves all the purposes<br /> of copyright in securing the rights of English,<br /> Canadian, and other foreign authors to the con-<br /> trol of their works published in America, and<br /> which has made English authors, to their great<br /> profit, more popular and more widely read in the<br /> United States than even United States authors,<br /> would be imperilled if Canada should assert the<br /> right of reprinting which the United States has<br /> done, seeing that Great Britain has coolly<br /> thrown her colonies into the bargain as part of<br /> her copyright domain. Nothing could be more<br /> contemptible than the denunciations of Canada<br /> by the Americans for doing what they themselves<br /> selfishly did. Nothing could be more unfair than<br /> for the English to reproach Canada for wanting<br /> to do what she has consented to the United States<br /> doing. Nothing could be more ill-informed than<br /> the rude expressions of intelligent men of both<br /> countries with regard to Canada&#039;s course. All<br /> this is very galling, but no reason why Canada<br /> should, under pretence of securing the rights of<br /> authors, pass a law to embarras them.<br /> It must be remembered that the authors are<br /> agreed that their interests are served by the<br /> present arrangement, and it is authors’ interests<br /> that copyright laws are made to protect. These<br /> should not be sacrificed to the interests of the<br /> mere manufacturer. The immense market of the .<br /> United States affords them large profits as<br /> authors now that pirating is stopped. It is<br /> because that market is so big and the Canadian<br /> market is so comparatively small that English<br /> authors sell the right to publish in both countries<br /> to United States publishers, thus saving the extra<br /> cost involved in printing and publishing two<br /> editions. There authors’ interests are served by<br /> the present British copyright law, and it is<br /> authors’ interests that copyright laws are made to<br /> protect. These should not be sacričced to the<br /> interests of the mere manufacturer. There has<br /> not been a whisper of complaint from either<br /> Canadian authors or readers. Only Canadian<br /> manufacturers, and but a few of them are inte-<br /> rested. It is the knowledge of this that makes<br /> the British Government slow to interfere with a<br /> copyright arrangement which suits those whom<br /> copyright is made to defend, and which would be<br /> endangered in order to turn a copyright law into<br /> an engine of protection. Here, again, the false<br /> pretence and injustice of protectionism creates<br /> bitterness and poisons the relations of the peoples.<br /> We are home rulers, and believe that Canadians<br /> should legislate for themselves in the matter of<br /> copyright as well as of everything else which<br /> affects themselves. But when a few persons<br /> desire, in the name of home rule and of<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 229 (#243) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 229<br /> patriotism, to tax both authors and readers for<br /> their own benefit, we are not anxious to play into<br /> their hands. The United States has undoubtedly<br /> got an unrighteous advantage, but she has been<br /> given it because her market is of the first import-<br /> ance to the authors, who have the first claim to<br /> consideration, and her advantage works no injury<br /> either to Canadian authors or Canadian readers,<br /> who probably get better made and cheaper books<br /> under it than they would under the protective<br /> conditions demanded by the manufacturers.-<br /> Montreal Weekly Witness, Dec. I I, 1894.<br /> II.<br /> The following manifesto on this subject was<br /> issued from the London Chamber of Com-<br /> merce, after combined action with the Society of<br /> Authors and the Copyright Association :-<br /> Copyright is now uniform throughout the<br /> whole of the British Dominions, including, of<br /> course, Canada.<br /> It is based on the following principles:—<br /> I. That a work shall be first or simultaneously<br /> published therein.<br /> 2. That copyright shall be independent of the<br /> place of printing, and of every other condition as<br /> to place and manner of manufacture.<br /> 3. That the use of it as property shall,<br /> whilst it is copyright, be within the author&#039;s<br /> control.<br /> Canada, now seeks to alter these principles, and<br /> has asked the British Government to sanction<br /> arrangements to take away copyright in Canada<br /> from all British authors but Canadians.<br /> If such an imperial sanction be obtained,<br /> Canada offers to legislate so as to give British<br /> authors copyright in the Dominion there for<br /> twenty-eight years, if they reprint and republish<br /> the work in Canada within one month of its<br /> original publication.<br /> But if an author does not reprint and repub-<br /> lish his work there within a month, the Canadian<br /> Government may grant to any applicant a licence<br /> to print an edition without the author&#039;s consent,<br /> on his agreeing to pay to the Canadian Govern-<br /> ment, for the author, ten per cent. of the retail<br /> price of such edition. The retail price of every<br /> such edition is to be fixed by the publisher without<br /> consulting the author.<br /> The proposed Bill is silent as to whether the<br /> royalty is to be paid on copies sold or copies<br /> printed. The Canadian Government is not to be<br /> responsible for the collection or payment of any<br /> royalties.<br /> ... The following reasons show some of the in-<br /> juries the proposed legislation would inflict on<br /> British authors:—<br /> It undermines the general recognition of the<br /> rights of copyright property, which has now be-<br /> come almost universal.<br /> It interferes with the law of vendor and pur-<br /> chaser which prevails throughout the British<br /> Empire in respect to copyright, equally with all<br /> other personal property.<br /> It requires registration in Canada, a condition<br /> of copyright abandoned by the leading nations of<br /> Europe at the Berne Convention.<br /> It takes from the author the control of his own<br /> property, and hence hinders his improving or<br /> correcting or enlarging his own writings.<br /> It injures his reputation by allowing the con-<br /> tinued circulation of unimproved editions, even<br /> after the author has enlarged his work.<br /> It would enable Canada to reprint, without<br /> permission, articles and stories from reviews,<br /> magazines, and encyclopædias, and thus seriously<br /> to injure the sale of the publications in which<br /> they appeared.<br /> It injures the value of his British edition,<br /> because the Canadian edition could be imported<br /> into the United Kingdom and the other colonies,<br /> and compete with it.<br /> It forcibly deprives him of the benefit now<br /> belonging to him in Canada under the Imperial<br /> Copyright Acts.<br /> It sanctions the appropriation of his property<br /> by others without his, the legal owner&#039;s, consent.<br /> It weakens his title to his own property.<br /> It substitutes for trade contracts, on agreed<br /> terms, an inadequate royalty not guaranteed.<br /> It clogs his property with the condition of<br /> local manufacture.<br /> It was not recommended by the Royal Com-<br /> mission for cases where readers were adequately<br /> supplied.<br /> It is at variance with the free trade principles<br /> of the United Kingdom.<br /> Any such dealing with copyright property in<br /> Canada will affect future arrangements with the<br /> Australian and all other English-speaking colonies<br /> and possessions.<br /> It would almost certainly destroy our present<br /> means of securing copyright in the United States<br /> of America.<br /> It diminishes the copyright interests of all who<br /> have given their adherence to the terms of the<br /> Berne Convention. Two million Canadians are<br /> IFrench. -<br /> To this manifesto it may be added that the<br /> Society will immediately issue an Appeal to the<br /> people of Canada upon the whole subject.<br /> *~ a 2–º<br /> g- * =<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 230 (#244) ############################################<br /> <br /> 23O<br /> TIII. A UTHOR.<br /> NOTES FROM NEW YORK.<br /> [The first part of these notes should have appeared in<br /> the last number, but we had to go to press early on account<br /> of the Christmas holidays.]<br /> New York, Dec. 15, 1894.<br /> N the December number of the Bookman<br /> appear two paragraphs declaring that Mr.<br /> Meredith’s “Lord Ormont and his Aminta.”<br /> had met with “extraordinary success in America,”<br /> and that “among the other markedly successful<br /> recent books in America” were Mr. Hall Caine&#039;s<br /> “Manxman.” and Mr. Stanley Weyman’s “My<br /> Lady Rotha.” And to these statements was<br /> appended this comment: “In fact it seems as if<br /> English fiction were almost entirely supplant-<br /> ing American. Nearly all the great American<br /> successes in the last year or two have been<br /> English books.” Any one who really knew the<br /> facts of the case could not but smile at these<br /> statements and at this comment. The great<br /> success of the winter has been a British book,<br /> Mr. du Maurier’s “Trilby”; but the great success<br /> of last winter was an American book, Mr. Lew<br /> Wallace’s “Prince of India,” which, although<br /> published when times were harder than now and<br /> sold at a higher price, reached a larger sale than<br /> “Trilby’’ and in a shorter time.<br /> Mr. Meredith’s “Lord Ormont ?’ has been well<br /> received in America, but the Bookman grossly<br /> exaggerates the number of copies sold; and the<br /> Bookman cºnveys an entirely erroneous impression<br /> of the condition of the book-marketin America. Mr.<br /> Weyman’s “My Lady Rotha&quot; has done well in<br /> the United States, but not so well as his “Gentle-<br /> man of France.” In fact, the really successful<br /> works of fiction in the year 1894 in the United<br /> States have been Mr. Crawford’s “ Katherine<br /> Lauderdale’’ and Miss Wilkins’s “Pembroke,” —<br /> both of American authorship, and Mr. Weyman&#039;s<br /> “Gentleman of France,” Mr. Caine’s “Manxman,”<br /> Mr. Hope’s “Prisoner of Zenda,” Mrs. Ward&#039;s<br /> “Marcella,” and Mr. du Maurier&#039;s “Trilby.”<br /> Probably every one of them had a sale varying<br /> between twenty and fifty thousand copies (except-<br /> ing “Trilby” of course, the sale of which already<br /> exceeds one hundred and ten thousand). Three<br /> books of American authorship were published too<br /> late in the winter to enter fairly into the com-<br /> parison, but both Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett&#039;s<br /> “Piccino,” and Mr. Charles Dudley Warner&#039;s<br /> “Golden House” began with editions of ten<br /> thousand each, while Mrs. Deland’s “Philip and<br /> his Wife” got into a fourth edition before the<br /> end of its first month.<br /> I have spoken here of copyrighted books only,<br /> because each one of these is in the hands of a<br /> single publisher; and it is possible, therefore, to<br /> ascertain precisely the number of copies sold.<br /> But during the past year or so three British<br /> works of fiction were not copyrighted —Miss<br /> Harraden’s “Ships that Pass in the Night,” Mr.<br /> Benson’s “Dodo,” and Mrs. Caffyn’s “Yellow<br /> Aster.” All three of these were seized by the<br /> pirates immediately, and reprinted right and left<br /> in cut-throat competition until they are now to<br /> be had for fourpence each. And, no doubt, the<br /> sale of these three British books has been<br /> enormous, owing partly to their own merits and<br /> partly to the furious energy of competing pirates.<br /> But the sale of these non-copyrighted stories of<br /> British authorship has been greatly surpassed, I<br /> think (of course, exact figures for comparison are<br /> not available) by the sale of certain stories of<br /> American authorship which have just come out<br /> of copyright. Our term of copyright here is<br /> twenty-eight years with one renewal of fourteen,<br /> making forty-two years in all; it is the shortest<br /> term of any of the leading countries of the world.<br /> Hawthorne’s “Scarlet Letter” was published in<br /> 1850, his “House of Seven Gables” in 1851, and<br /> his “ Blithedale Romance ’’ in 1852 ; and also in<br /> 1852 was published Mrs. Stowe’s “Uncle Tom&#039;s<br /> Cabin.” On these four stories the re-printers<br /> rushed as usual, and with unusual success. I<br /> have been told that one house alone has sold<br /> more than a hundred thousand copies of “Uncle<br /> Tom’s Cabin.” And this is in the lifetime of the<br /> author, for Mrs. Stowe is still alive, although she<br /> is no longer interested in the life about her;<br /> probably she will never know that her story has<br /> had a second youth on its attaining its majority<br /> twice over. Perhaps it is well to recall here that<br /> she received little or nothing from any of the<br /> British publishers who have sold countless<br /> thousands of “Uncle Tom&#039;s Cabin’’ during the<br /> last two score years. American pirates have<br /> more sins to answer for than the British pirates<br /> but the British pirate was never slow in helping<br /> himself to every American book he thought worth<br /> stealing.<br /> At the very time when the editor of the Author<br /> has been holding the American magazine editor<br /> up as an example to his British brother, an<br /> American humorist was preparing to make fun<br /> of the American magazine, and of its editors and<br /> of its principles. Mr. James L. Ford, who may be<br /> known to some English readers as the author of<br /> a volume of broadly comic sketches, called<br /> “Hypnotic Tales,” and who was one of the<br /> earliest contributors to Puck, the oldest and<br /> strongest of our comic papers, has now just put<br /> forth a volume called “The Literary Shop,” in<br /> which he considers the successful periodicals of<br /> the United States from the point of view of a<br /> young writer who has “copy &quot; for sale. The<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 231 (#245) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 23 I<br /> attack he makes on the magazines has been made<br /> before both in Great Britain and in the United<br /> States. The sum and substance of it is that the<br /> American magazines being intended for family<br /> reading, the editors very wisely reject anything<br /> which could “offend the taste of the most<br /> fastidious.” Mr. Ford praises the “business<br /> sense” of the editors who have applied this<br /> theory so adroitly as to give the Century and<br /> Harper&#039;s a circulation of 200,000 copies a month;<br /> but he declares that American literature is being<br /> strangled by this restriction of it to themes suit-<br /> able for the contemplation of the Young Person.<br /> He affirms that only an emasculated literature is<br /> possible under these conditions; and he directs<br /> special attention to the fact that the great city of<br /> New York is teeming with subjects for fiction,<br /> and that these subjects are not getting the treat-<br /> ment they deserve because the magazine editors<br /> are “down on low life.” Mr. Ford makes his<br /> points very sharply and with a sub-acid humour<br /> which is pleasing, except, no doubt, to those who<br /> are pierced by his shafts; but he has wilfully<br /> taken a false view. At the very time he was<br /> saying that no American magazine would publish<br /> stories of low life in New York, Harper&#039;s had just<br /> concluded a series of sketches of New York scenes,<br /> up town and down town, high life and low life;<br /> and it has since begun another series of sketches<br /> of New York characters, frankly low-life, all of<br /> them.<br /> Nevertheless, there is a great deal of truth in<br /> Mr. Ford’s little book, and an abundance of<br /> humour, shown most abundantly, perhaps, in the<br /> satiric sketches which fill the final pages of the<br /> volume. Of these “The Poet&#039;s Strike,” depicting<br /> a sad occurrence at Harper and Bros, and “The<br /> Society Reporter&#039;s Christmas,” are the most<br /> comical.<br /> Of the three British authors we have had here<br /> this winter lecturing and reading from their own<br /> works, one, Dr. Conan Doyle, returned to Eng-<br /> land last week laden with dollars. Dean Hole<br /> continues in the field and so does Mr. Christie<br /> Murray. At the meeting of the “Uncut Leaves”<br /> to-night Mr. Murray is to be one of the readers.<br /> I understand that the practice of the “Uncut<br /> Deaves” of reading from their own unpublished<br /> words has been introduced into your Authors’<br /> Club in London. It is not a custom in the<br /> Authors’ Club here. The “Uncut Leaves &#039;&#039; is a<br /> private enterprise of Mr. L. J. B. Lincoln, who<br /> engages various authors to appear before his sub-<br /> scribers. Those who attend the meetings Mr.<br /> Lincoln conducts pay for the privilege ; and<br /> there are sometimes eight and nine hundred pre-<br /> sent. Those who read Mr. Lincoln pays, and<br /> pays liberally. So successful has this scheme<br /> WOL. W.<br /> been, that Mr. Lincoln conducts series of “Uncut<br /> Leaves,” every winter, not only in New York, but<br /> also in Brooklyn, in Philadelphia, in Baltimore,<br /> and in Washington.<br /> The Authors’ Club here, which has been home-<br /> less for nearly a year, is to be housed at last in<br /> quarters specially prepared for it in the recent<br /> addition to the sumptuous Carnegie Music Hall.<br /> It expects to get into these new rooms early next<br /> month. In the meantime its fortnightly meetings<br /> have been held this fall in the ample halls of the<br /> Architectural League in the noble building of the<br /> Fine Arts Society.<br /> By a purchase of plates and stock from<br /> Messrs. Harper and Brothers, the New York<br /> branch of Longmans, Green, and Co., has become<br /> the American publishers of all of Mr. Rider<br /> Haggard’s novels. They have recently published<br /> here his “People of the Mist,” and they will have<br /> another tale ready in January. They are also<br /> steadily enlarging their list of American authors,<br /> as, of course, any British house must do if it<br /> wishes to have close relations with American<br /> bookbuyers. In one week, as it happened,<br /> Longmans, Green, and Co. issued in New<br /> York four different books of American origin.<br /> By a purchase of plates and stock, they have<br /> also become the publishers of Col. Thomas<br /> Wentworth Higginson, whose “Young Folks&#039;<br /> History of the United States” has now nearly<br /> attained a circulation of two hundred thousand<br /> copies.<br /> To St. Nicholas during the coming year Mr.<br /> Theodore Roosevelt will contribute a series of<br /> “Hero Tales of American History.” He is en-<br /> gaged on what may be called a continuation of<br /> Parkman&#039;s great history; it is an account of the<br /> “Winning of the West,” the slow expansion of<br /> the English-speaking people from the Atlantic<br /> coast, over the Alleghanies and across the plains.<br /> The third volume has just appeared, and a fourth<br /> will follow in about eighteen months.<br /> Mr. H. C. Bunner, the poet who wrote “Airs<br /> from Arcady,” is also the editor of Puck, and he<br /> has just reprinted from that popular weekly a<br /> second series of the ingenious and delightful<br /> comic tales he calls “Short Sixes.” Later in the<br /> winter he will have ready a volume of “Urban<br /> and Suburban Sketches,” reprinted from<br /> Scribner&#039;s Monthly.<br /> In February, Messrs. Dodd, Mead, and Co.<br /> begin to publish an American edition of the<br /> Bookman, to be conducted by Professor H. T.<br /> Peck, of Columbia College. The American<br /> edition will be wholly independent of the British,<br /> which it will not even resemble in shape.<br /> Another Columbia man, Professor Cattell, is to<br /> be the editor-in-chief of a new series of Science<br /> Z<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 232 (#246) ############################################<br /> <br /> 232<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> (which may be described as an American emu-<br /> lator of the British Nature). Professor Cattell<br /> is already one of the editors of the Psychological<br /> Review ; he has called about him a staff of extra-<br /> ordinary strength, representing nearly every<br /> department of science and almost every institu-<br /> tion of learning in America.<br /> New York, Jan. 12, 1895.<br /> The death of Robert Louis Stevenson has<br /> occasioned real grief in America, and to express<br /> this in a slight degree a memorial meeting<br /> was held in this city on Jan. 4, under the<br /> auspices of the Uncut Leaves Club. It was<br /> a most notable crowd that gathered together to<br /> listen to the homage paid the great romancer by<br /> the speakers; and it was thoroughly representa-<br /> tive of the literary and artistie circles of the<br /> city. (See p. 248.)<br /> Perhaps a short account of the organisation of<br /> one of our greatest magazines may prove of<br /> interest to the readers of the Author. In 1865 a.<br /> primitive “family magazine,” called Hours at<br /> Home, was started, and this soon led Charles<br /> Scribner, founder of the publishing house of that<br /> name, to consider the possibilities which lay in<br /> issuing a periodical that would appeal to a wider<br /> audience and be on a much larger scale. With<br /> this idea in view Dr. Holland, author of the<br /> famous “Timothy Titcomb&#039;s Letters,” was con-<br /> sulted as to taking the editorship of the new<br /> venture. Thus in 1870 the firm of Charles<br /> Scribner announced from the office of Hours at<br /> Home that they had organised the Magazine<br /> Department into a separate company, with Dr.<br /> J. G. Holland and Roswell C. Smith as part<br /> owners, under the name of Scribner and Co., and<br /> that the periodical should be known as Scribner&#039;s<br /> Monthly. From the start it set a new standard<br /> for the popular magazine. It introduced many<br /> fresh writers, who had great influence in American<br /> literature, and on the artistic side it gave impetus<br /> to wood engraving.<br /> When the death of Mr. Scribner occurred the<br /> magazine continued to increase in prosperity, but<br /> in 1881 a disagreement arose between the<br /> partners, which finally resulted in the sale of the<br /> monthly to a new corporation, headed by Dr.<br /> Holland and Mr. Smith. This transfer was<br /> effected under the stipulation that the Scribners<br /> should abstain from publishing a magazine which<br /> could be a rival in the same field, while on their<br /> side the new company agreed to withdraw the<br /> name Scribner; and the periodical was henceforth<br /> known as the Century Magazine. The old<br /> magazine under its new name continued its<br /> prosperous career, and after the appearance of<br /> the war series in its pages the circulation was<br /> actually doubled within a twelvemonth.<br /> From the start, the Century Company agreed<br /> to allow its editorial staff to acquire shares of<br /> the stock, thus consolidating the interest of the<br /> magazine with those in whose charge it is.<br /> Another custom is the giving at Christmas time<br /> to all employées, not holding shares, a percentage<br /> of the year&#039;s profits in proportion to their<br /> salaries. On the death of Dr. Holland, in 1881,<br /> Mr. Richard Watson Gilder, who had long been<br /> his assistant, became editor-in-chief. He has<br /> filled his post most ably, and has gathered about<br /> him men of unusual capability. The associate<br /> editor is Mr. Robert Underwood Johnson, who<br /> was secretary of the Copyright League, and was<br /> rewarded for his work by the French Government<br /> with the Legion of Honour. The assistant editor<br /> is Mr. Clarence Clough Buel, who was formerly<br /> a journalist, and who suggested the famous war<br /> series. Among others in the editorial office are<br /> Mr. Frank H. Tooker and Mr. William Carey, to<br /> whose care is due the make up of the tasteful<br /> pages and the arrangement of the illustrations.<br /> Besides these, three women clerks are employed;<br /> and there is also a special staff to whom is com-<br /> mitted the preliminary reading of all the manu-<br /> scripts, some 20,000 of which are passed on every<br /> year.<br /> The art department has a special staff of its<br /> own, at the head of which is Mr. Alexander W.<br /> Drake, with Mr. W. Lewis Fraser as his chief<br /> assistant. It is owing to the efforts of Mr. Drake<br /> that the art of wood engraving has received so<br /> much encouragement from this magazine, and it<br /> is through him also that the development of that<br /> art has been speeded. The Century was among<br /> the first to try photographic engraving processes,<br /> and with a success certainly not yet surpassed by<br /> any other publishing house, even in France. The<br /> half-tone process, although mechanical, and thus<br /> supposedly true to the original, is but what its<br /> name represents it to be—a half tone, and hence<br /> lacking the darkest and lightest shades. In the<br /> January number of the Century is a block, which<br /> originally was a half-tone plate, and which has<br /> been worked over by a wood engraver until about<br /> one-half of its surface has felt the tool. Thus<br /> this new reproduction frankly substitutes<br /> engraving where the mechanical process fails.<br /> The Century aims solely at getting as near the<br /> Original as possible, and the question of cost is<br /> not allowed to interfere with what is the best<br /> method for obtaining the desired results. There<br /> have been cases where etchings were made simply<br /> that they might be processed ; and wood-<br /> engravings found to be too large have been<br /> processed down to half size. Also it is well to<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 233 (#247) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 233<br /> note that the superiority of the American<br /> magazine is due to a great extent to the care<br /> taken with its printing. Infinite thought is<br /> taken by De Winne, the artist printer, to keep the<br /> presswork of the Century up to the level of its<br /> text and illustrations.<br /> The Century Company also issue a juvenile<br /> monthly called St. Nicholas. This, again, has<br /> its own staff. Mrs. Mary Mapes Dodge is editor-<br /> in-chief, and Mr. W. F. Clarke is assistant editor.<br /> There are also two editorial assistants, Messrs.<br /> Tudor Jenks and Chapin, and besides these<br /> several clerks. With this magazine, as with the<br /> Century, every manuscript received is carefully<br /> read and examined. The printing is of the same<br /> high standard, and the illustrations proceed from<br /> the same art department.<br /> In addition to the staffs of the two magazines,<br /> there is a third entirely separate staff, having<br /> charge of the Century Dictionary. At the head<br /> of this is Mr. Benjamin E. Smith. Since the first<br /> page of that stupendous undertaking was cast the<br /> work has never stopped, for it is constantly under-<br /> going revision, and a supplement will eventually<br /> be inevitable. Mr. Smith has recently brought<br /> out a seventh volume, the Century Cyclopædia<br /> of Names.<br /> A large part of the success of the Century is<br /> due to its publishers. They have pushed the<br /> sales judiciously, and have shown such enterprise<br /> in the advertising department, that the magazine<br /> often contains a hundred pages of advertisements.<br /> The business sense which has characterised the<br /> management of the Century is a heritage from<br /> Roswell Smith, the first president of the com-<br /> pany, whose position is now adequately filled by<br /> Mr. Frank H. Scott, Mr. Charles F. Chichester<br /> having succeeded the latter as treasurer. In its<br /> early years the Century found many advantages<br /> in the fact that it was not connected with a pub-<br /> lishing house, as it was never obliged to receive<br /> any author on account of his relations with the<br /> house. But of late, as book material accumu-<br /> lated, it was found expedient not to allow it all<br /> to leave the Century office, and hence the Century<br /> company has been for several years now a pub-<br /> lisher of books also.<br /> The Century pays for all manuscripts on<br /> acceptance. Indeed, this is the custom of all<br /> reputable magazines here, and the editor of<br /> Harper&#039;s has been heard to remark “that it was<br /> immoral to accept an article without paying for<br /> it at once.” This naturally leads to the<br /> accumulation of material, and the Century has<br /> always several thousand pounds worth on hand;<br /> in fact, during the past year it has been largely<br /> drawing on that stock. Thus articles on “Book-<br /> bindings,” by Brander Matthews, which were<br /> VOL. W.<br /> accepted and paid for some four or five years ago,<br /> are only now appearing. “Folk-speech in<br /> America,” by Mr. Edward Eggleston, had been<br /> lying by eight or ten years; and Mrs. Oliphant&#039;s<br /> papers on the period of Queen Anne waited ten<br /> or twelve years for publication ; while Mr. Marion<br /> Crawford’s article on “The Gods of India,”<br /> which was printed only early last winter, had been<br /> accepted and paid for before he wrote his first<br /> novel, “Mr. Isaacs.” ---<br /> The Century occupies several floors of a fine<br /> large building overlooking Union-square. Its<br /> rooms are most luxuriously and beautifully fitted<br /> up. The walls are decorated with the original<br /> drawings of its illustrations, and to the outsider<br /> it would seem almost like a picture gallery were<br /> it not for its home-like appearance.<br /> The organisation of other American magazines<br /> is not unlike that of the Century. Besides their<br /> enormous book-publishing business, Harper and<br /> Brothers issue also four periodicals—the magazine<br /> and three weeklies. Mr. Henry M. Alden, author<br /> of “God in His World,” is editor-in-chief of<br /> Harper&#039;s Magazine. Mr. John D. Adams is his<br /> assistant ; and at the head of the art department<br /> is Mr. Horace Bradley. The other periodicals<br /> are Harper’s Young People, edited by Mr. J. H.<br /> Sears; Harper&#039;s Weekly, edited by Mr. Henry L.<br /> Nelson, with Mr. Henry Gallup Paine as managing<br /> editor; and Harper&#039;s Bazaar, a weekly, princi-<br /> pally intended to appeal to a feminine audience,<br /> but really containing so much of general interest<br /> as not to be restricted to one sex, and edited by<br /> Mrs. Margaret E. Sangster.<br /> In 1887, Charles Scribner&#039;s Sons started a<br /> magazine of their own, and placed it under the<br /> editorship of Mr. Edward L. Burlingame. It<br /> was a new publication in every sense, and in no<br /> way a revival of any tradition of the past. Mr.<br /> Robert Bridges is associate editor, and the art<br /> department is in the hands of Mr. A. F. Jaccacci.<br /> The magazine (with the rest of the publishing<br /> business of Charles Scribner and Sons) has<br /> recently been moved to a new building on Fifth-<br /> avenue, near Madison-square, which is one of the<br /> best built and best equipped edifices ever erected<br /> for exclusive use of a publishing firm.<br /> Mr. Charles Dudley Warner is spending the<br /> winter just outside of Florence in Landor&#039;s Willa,<br /> as the guest of Professor Willard Fiske.<br /> Mr. A. M. Palmer has made arrangements with<br /> Mr. Du Maurier to have Mr. Paul Potter dramatise<br /> “Trilby,” and it will shortly be produced at Mr.<br /> Palmer&#039;s own theatre. This dramatisation shows<br /> how, in one respect, American copyright is more<br /> favourable to foreign authors than the British<br /> law. In the United States the novelist has<br /> reserved to him the right to dramatise, whereas<br /> z 2<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 234 (#248) ############################################<br /> <br /> 234<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> in Great Britain he has to give an absurd regis-<br /> tering performance of his dramatisation before the<br /> novel appears. Thus a British author having a<br /> novel successful in America can reap the profit of<br /> the play taken therefrom ; but an American<br /> author having a novel successful in England<br /> would stand little chance of making anything<br /> from the dramatisation ; and, as a fact, Mrs.<br /> Stowe never received a penny from England for<br /> “Uncle Tom’s Cabin &quot; as a play.<br /> Mr. Laurence Hutton, than whom no American<br /> has more friends in Great Britain, and whose<br /> father and mother were Scotch, refused to act<br /> as treasurer of the American committee for<br /> the purchase of Carlyle&#039;s house in Chelsea,<br /> seeing no reason why any American should<br /> help to make a monument for a contemporary<br /> British author like Carlyle, who certainly never<br /> showed any goodwill towards the United States.<br /> In one of his Literary Notes in Harper&#039;s for<br /> January—notes unfortunately not included in<br /> the London edition of the magazine—Mr. Hutton<br /> gives vent to his feelings as follows: “There<br /> seems to exist in the mother country a curious<br /> notion that while we have shaken off all personal<br /> and national allegiance to the British Crown, we<br /> are still rank Tories and Royalists in our loyalty<br /> and devotion to British literature ; that while we<br /> are politically a free and independent people, we<br /> are still an intellectual province of Great Britain;<br /> and that we must still pay taxes to the great<br /> and royal British mind! They would laugh to<br /> scorn any effort on our part to raise money, in<br /> England, for the Curtis memorial in New York,<br /> or for the preservation of Poe&#039;s home at Fordham,<br /> even if we were willing to ask others to help us,<br /> in a pecuniary way, to honour our own dead;<br /> and they do mock our generosity in contributing<br /> to the building of a memorial theatre to Shakes-<br /> peare at Stratford, to the buying of a bust for<br /> Pepys in St. Olave&#039;s, or to the raising of stained<br /> glass windows to the memory of Raleigh and<br /> Izaak Walton in St. Margaret&#039;s and St. Dunstan&#039;s.<br /> Shakespeare and Pepys and Walton and Raleigh<br /> are ours, as well as theirs; and it is our right,<br /> as well as our privilege, to show our respect and<br /> affection for our own ; but we ought to throw the<br /> tea into Boston Harbour once more, before we<br /> consent to pay tribute to a class of post-revolu-<br /> tionary British heroes who paid no tribute to us;<br /> or before we offer to help the Britons to glorify their<br /> own land by erecting monuments—in their land—<br /> to poets and scholars who in their lifetime never<br /> cared to glorify anything, or anybody, but Great<br /> Britain or themselves.”<br /> It may be suspected that Mr. Hutton thus<br /> voices a feeling not ucommon among American<br /> men of letters. HALLETT ROBINSON.<br /> LETTER FROM PARIS,<br /> NEVER felt more confirmed in my pre-<br /> ference for an artistic life as contrasted<br /> to the pursuit.of politics, never did I so<br /> cordially agree with what Daudet has written<br /> about his detestation of politics, than as I sat at<br /> breakfast on Thursday last in the grand hall of<br /> the Hotel des Reservoirs at Versailles, just before<br /> the opening of the Congress for the election of<br /> a new President. The room was full of senators,<br /> deputies, political journalists, and all the vague<br /> camp followers of all great political events. And<br /> what a crowd it was, a mass of strangely dressed,<br /> noisy, red-faced individuals, with greedy twinkling<br /> eyes and fevered gestures, and the strangest<br /> manners at table. When one looked at them and<br /> thought of the man of letters, of the poet, of the<br /> painter, or the musician, and the ambitions of<br /> these as compared with the longings of those,<br /> one might well say—and be no Pharisee at that<br /> —that one thanked God not to be as these.<br /> I am asked to announce that Monsieur Léon<br /> Daudet will very shortly commence the publica-<br /> tion of a series or “cycle” of three novels, which<br /> will be as “The Battle of Dorking of the Social<br /> Revolution,” and an attempt to give, in anticipa-<br /> tion, pictures of that great event, whose comin<br /> is so eagerly expected, and so fondly hoped for<br /> by not a few. The first of these novels will be<br /> called “De Precurseur,” and will describe a kind<br /> of Tolstoi apostle, visiting the faubourgs, helping<br /> the poor, and preaching the gospel of Revolt.<br /> The second will be called “Les Porteurs du Feu,”<br /> and the action of this book will take place in<br /> Tondon, Amsterdam, and Paris. The third<br /> novel will be called “The City of Bread and of<br /> Fire.” Monsieur Léon Daudet is at present<br /> arranging for their appearance in serial form in<br /> England and America, previous to their publica-<br /> tion in book-form in France.<br /> Monsieur Jules Massenet is at present engaged<br /> on an opera to be called “Griselidis,” the libretto<br /> of which has been drawn by Armand Silvestre<br /> from the romantic play of the same name which<br /> was performed with so much success at the<br /> Comédie Française, of which Monsieur Armand<br /> Silvestre was co-author.<br /> Speaking about composers, it may be of interest<br /> to note that in France authors’ royalties in an<br /> opera are divided equally between the composer<br /> of the music and the writer of the libretto. Nor<br /> does this rule apply only in the matter of grand<br /> operas, but even in songs, a system which for the<br /> benefit of our minor poets might profitably be<br /> introduced into England. Only the very best<br /> writers of words for songs in England can hope<br /> for as much as four, or at the outside, five guineas<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 235 (#249) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 235<br /> for their words, whilst the average price paid to<br /> the poet is, I believe, 5s. In France the poet<br /> takes half the royalties, and the author of the<br /> music the other half. The royalties on musical<br /> works are, of course, not so large as on literary<br /> productions. Thus the royalties paid to the<br /> authors on a grand opera, never exceed 6 per cent.<br /> of the receipts. Of this the composer takes half,<br /> or 3 per cent., and the librettist the other half.<br /> With a successful opera both musician and<br /> librettist may count on an average receipt of<br /> £1.8 per performance.<br /> Speaking of theatrical matters, it was amusing<br /> to learn from what transpired the other day in<br /> one of the Paris Police-courts that a person who<br /> recently contributed the dramatic criticisms to<br /> La Cocarde used to pay £16 a month to the pro-<br /> prietors of this paper for doing so. It is fair to<br /> add that this was before M. Maurice Barrés took<br /> over the management and proprietorship of this<br /> paper. I have heard of similar things in<br /> England.<br /> A certain London publishing firm has inaugu-<br /> rated a system of paying for contributions to its<br /> various periodicals with cheques, on the back of<br /> which is printed a statement that the payee<br /> acknowledges receipt of amount on the other side<br /> for contributions and copyright of same. His<br /> signature forms the indorsement to the cheque,<br /> and, of course, if he will not indorse the cheque<br /> it cannot be cashed. I am not clear about the<br /> legality of such a contract, but I understand that<br /> the matter is going to be looked into by the<br /> Institute of Journalists. For my part, I never<br /> will sign away copyright.<br /> The other day I met a gentleman who holds a<br /> high official position in Turkey, and we had a<br /> long talk together about life in Constantinople.<br /> I was much interested to hear that the favourite<br /> book in the harem was—what would you say P-<br /> Ringsley’s “Westward Ho!” in translation.<br /> To-morrow, Jan. 25, is the fortieth anniversary<br /> of the suicide of poor Gerard de Nerval, in the<br /> Rue de la Vieille Lanterne, a street which, thanks<br /> to Baron Haussmann, has long since disappeared<br /> from the face of Paris. It was a horrible and a<br /> sinister street this Rue de la Vieille Lanterne, a<br /> street about which a French writer, wise in Paris<br /> street lore, has written as follows: “Ah! this<br /> street above all was most sinister amongst the<br /> most sinister, most hideous amongst the most<br /> hideous. In the thirteenth century it was called<br /> Scorching-street, later on, Washing-street, and<br /> in the nineteenth as in the thirteenth century<br /> it more resembled a sewer than a public way. As<br /> a matter of fact little traffic passed through it,<br /> its inhabitants being reputed the most dangerous<br /> malefactors. The ground, unceasingly drenched<br /> by rain and the overflow of the gutter, formed a<br /> thick black mud, which oozed up under-foot<br /> between the cobble stones that paved this leprous<br /> street. At one end, towards Rue de la Tuerie<br /> (Killing-street), it had a broken-down flight of<br /> steps, which led up from darkness into light, from<br /> filth to what is clean. Up and down this flight of<br /> steps all day long there hopped gravely and with<br /> dignity a black crow. At the foot of the steps<br /> an iron grating rather more than of man’s stature<br /> in height rose, and opposite was a stable which<br /> was the nightly refuge of nameless vagabonds,<br /> while a few paces lower down was a police sus-<br /> pected furnished hotel, or common lodging-house.<br /> Further, nothing save houses wrapped in silence,<br /> ominous and gloomy, and dead walls sweating<br /> forth misery and abjection.”<br /> It was here on the morning of Jan. 25, 1855,<br /> that there hanged himself on that iron grating<br /> the exquisite poet, whose name was Gerard<br /> de Nerval. He was not dead when he was<br /> discovered by one of the “workmen’’ who issued<br /> forth at an early hour from the common lodging-<br /> house, and might have been saved but for the<br /> fear of the mob which gathered round him, as he<br /> hung choking and wriggling, lest murder might<br /> be charged against them. So he was allowed to<br /> continue his hideous and convulsive dance of<br /> death. His feet were but two inches from the<br /> muddy soil.<br /> The onlookers recognised from the man’s head<br /> and hands and face that this was a gentleman in<br /> spite of the fact that his dress was ragged and<br /> Sordid beyond the raggedness of the extremest<br /> and most sordid poverty. Papers of manuscript<br /> peeped out from his torn pockets, and these, con-<br /> sidered together with certain stains of ink on the<br /> dirty blouse and the fingers, revealed in the<br /> victim a man of letters. It is reported that once<br /> or twice the struggling man raised his hand to<br /> his neck in feeble mute appeal, as though to<br /> point out to them, miserable dullards, what was<br /> torturing him, what was the life of him. But no<br /> response was made. It was a crowd of men wary<br /> and cautious of habit. I think that in its public<br /> shame, this death, with all its surroundings of<br /> all that is vile in man and in the works<br /> of man, was a hundred times more sad than<br /> even the arsenic convulsions of that starving<br /> boy in his paper-littered garret in the Holborn<br /> bye-way; aye, a hundred times more sad than<br /> even the final fall in the weakness of hunger and<br /> in the fever of alcohol of Edgar Allan Poe. In<br /> this case as in that there was no help possible.<br /> There was no hand near to stay or help, nor any<br /> land in sight. But from de Nerval’s hideous<br /> pillory, his so accessible gallows, what easy rescue<br /> might have been made. When at last the police<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 236 (#250) ############################################<br /> <br /> 236<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> arrived, and the man was cut down, life was<br /> extinct. In his pockets were found various<br /> manuscripts, notably part of a serial story which<br /> Gerard de Nerval was then writing. But no<br /> papers allowing of his identification. So the<br /> body was sent to the Morgue, there to lie on a<br /> dripping slab, with a vagabond, killed in a<br /> brawl, on the one side of him, and a self-drowned<br /> woman of the town on the other. Poor Gerard<br /> de Nerval. Poor poets.<br /> I hear that Mr. Rowland Strong, the able<br /> correspondent in Paris of the Morning Post, is<br /> oc, upying such leisure as journalism leaves him<br /> in writing a novel on Parisian life, with which<br /> he is very well acquainted indeed. The novel<br /> ought to be a very good one, for Mr. Strong is<br /> master of a most excellent style, as the readers of<br /> the Paris correspondence of the Morning Post<br /> have long observed, and, moreover, a man of<br /> wide reading, caustic wit, and great powers of<br /> observation. One is always glad to chronicle the<br /> endeavour on the part of the journalist to produce<br /> purely original work, in spite of the fact that<br /> many critics in London will not admit that a<br /> man who has written for the press is capable of<br /> literary production. It is a strange theory, for<br /> in France at least every successful writer began<br /> his career, with the exception, perhaps, of<br /> Alphonse Daudet, by writing for the press.<br /> I hear that the proprietor of a leading and<br /> successful American magazine has just left Paris<br /> for London to arrange for the writing of a new<br /> “Life of Christ” for publication in his magazine.<br /> Mr. Zangwill is in Paris studying life amongst<br /> the art students in the Montparnasse quarter, in<br /> preparation for a novel on this subject. He may<br /> be seen daily dining—not without heroism—in a<br /> miserable little crémèrie near the Rue de Rennes,<br /> where the rapin and his womankind take their<br /> scanty meals. His note-book is filling apace, but<br /> I fear, in my knowledge of the kind of fare pro-<br /> vided at the Parisian crémèries, that at times he<br /> must regret the fleshpots of Israel. Mark Twain<br /> is also in Paris.<br /> Madame Juliette Adam is writing her Memoirs.<br /> They will be invaluable to the student of the<br /> political and literary histories of France under the<br /> Third Republic.<br /> - RoBERT H. SHERARD.<br /> I 23, Bd. Magenta, Paris, Jan. 24, 1895.<br /> BOOKS PUBLISHED IN 1894,<br /> HE Publishers&#039; Circular gives its customary<br /> analytical table of the new books of<br /> 1894 :—<br /> <br /> 1893. I894.<br /> New New New New<br /> Books. Editions. [Books. |Editions.<br /> Divisions.<br /> Theology, sermons, Bibli-<br /> cal, &amp;c. .................. 459 74 476 8O<br /> Educational, classical,<br /> and philological ...... 518 IO4 615 I27<br /> Juvenile works and tales 659 36 269 29<br /> Novels, tales, and other<br /> fiction .................. 935 393 1315 337<br /> Law, jurisprudence, &amp;c. 27 23 I 26 23<br /> Political and social eco-<br /> nomy, trade and com-<br /> II101&quot;Ce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 I4. I4 I 2 I<br /> Arts, sciences, and illus-<br /> trated works............ 86 37 98 3O<br /> Voyages, travels, geo- -<br /> graphical research ... 247 72 282 68<br /> History, biography, &amp;c. 269 65 256 58<br /> Poetry and the drama ... 197<br /> Year-books and serials in<br /> 37 I6O 2 I<br /> volumes . ............... 37O I 328 2<br /> Medicine, surgery, &amp;c. ... 93 58 97 59<br /> Belles-lettres, essays, mo-<br /> nographs, &amp;c. ......... 96 I I 370 II 5<br /> Miscellaneous, including<br /> pamphlets, not sermons I IO2 328 767 2I 5<br /> 5 I:29 I 253 53OO | I 185<br /> 5 I:29 53OO<br /> 6382 6485<br /> —Times, Jan. 4.<br /> The number of books published in the year<br /> 1894 reaches an amazing total of 6485. If,<br /> however, we examine the list a little we shall<br /> find crumbs of comfort. For instance, 981 of<br /> them are “miscellaneous, including pamphlets.”<br /> Strike them out ; we will not read them. Tech-<br /> nical, scientific, professional, and trade books—<br /> all three which belong to the business of life—<br /> numbered 596. Strike them out. Those will<br /> read them who must. Religious books, 856. I<br /> think we may strike them out in considering<br /> literature. The medicine of the soul is as<br /> “scientific ’’ as the medicine of the body. Educa-<br /> tional books number 742. Strike them out,<br /> because they are the tools and instruments<br /> necessary for the conduct and business of life.<br /> Year-books and serials are surely not literature.<br /> Strike out 330. Boys’ and girls&#039; books, 297.<br /> Strike them out. There remain novels, voyages<br /> and travels, history and biography, poetry, and<br /> belles lettres. Of novels there were 1315 new<br /> books and 337 new editions. Now, every novel<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 237 (#251) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 237<br /> worth anything goes into a new edition. These<br /> figures mean, therefore, IOOO failures in novel<br /> writing; they also mean a great many books paid<br /> for by the foolish writers after their work has<br /> been declined. Further, they mean that in this<br /> period of depression and “tightness” there are<br /> thousands who try whether they, too, cannot join<br /> the company of the successful. They cannot,<br /> but they will always try. These figures also<br /> mean that, seeing the enormous success of<br /> certain novels and the impossibility of discover-<br /> ing why some of them have succeeded, a few<br /> publishers are “plunging ” in hope of securing a<br /> “boom.” On the whole, we need not be alarmed<br /> by the figures. Again, the ephemeral nature of<br /> many apparently solid books, as those of travel<br /> and of history, is shown by the fact that there are<br /> 538 new books of the kind and only 126 new<br /> editions. Of poetry there is a sad falling off.<br /> Only 160 new books of verse against 190 of last<br /> year. Only 2 I new editions against 37 of last<br /> year.<br /> The most remarkable increase is under the head<br /> of “belles lettres, essays, monographs, &amp;c.” In<br /> 1893 there were 96 new books under this head<br /> and II reprints. In 1894 there were 370 new<br /> books and I 15 reprints | What does this mean?<br /> First, we should like to see a list of these new<br /> books and reprints. Probably we should have to<br /> strike out a good many as irrelevant. I take two<br /> columns of book advertisements from the Times.<br /> In one I find two such books; in the other, three.<br /> What are they—these 370 books of belles lettres?<br /> Here is a theory which I advance with hesitation,<br /> but it may account for some. The production of<br /> a book of essays or of criticism is an excellent<br /> method by which a young man ambitious of<br /> literary work may introduce himself. If his book<br /> attracts notice either for style or for scholarship,<br /> he is a man to be noted and remembered by<br /> editors. And the number of such young men is<br /> increasing every day. The congestion of the pro-<br /> fessions; the apparent ease and pleasantness and<br /> freedom of the work; the large incomes made by<br /> successful journalists and critics — these, with<br /> many other reasons, attract the young men of<br /> Oxford and Cambridge. I imagine that this<br /> theory would account for some of the 370<br /> volumes. But what about the rest ? I do not<br /> know.<br /> On further consideration of these figures, it<br /> occurred to me to compare them with those<br /> obtained from the lists issued day by day in the<br /> leading journals. For instance, there is published<br /> every day in the Times a list of the day&#039;s<br /> publications. In this list we may certainly<br /> assume that every book of the least importance<br /> or pretensions is announced. The following are<br /> the numbers of publications, month by month.<br /> Since the first two columns are difficult to keep<br /> apart, let us add them together. It will be seen<br /> that the numbers are about half those given in<br /> the Circular. We have, that is to say, 770 novels<br /> and children’s story books announced in the<br /> Times against I 594 reported in the Circular :<br /> New. Children’s. Reprint.<br /> January ......... 65 ...... I 7 . . . . . . 7<br /> February ......... 34 . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . 3<br /> March ............ 37 . . . . . I . . . . . . 8<br /> April............... 3I . . . . . I . . . . . . 6<br /> May ............... 45 . . . . . . O . . . . . . 8<br /> June ............... 47 . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . 8<br /> July ............... 64 ...... 4 . . . . . . I3<br /> August ............ 34 . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . 6<br /> September ...... 25 . . . . . . O . . . . . . 5<br /> October. . . . . . . . . . . . 43 . . . . . . I . . . . . . 7<br /> November. . . . . . . . . 86 . . . . . . 4O . . . . . . I 2<br /> December . . . . . . ... I 23 . . . . . . 63 . . . . . . 35<br /> 634 I36 II 8<br /> We need not in the least attack the correctness<br /> of the figures in the Circular. We may, however,<br /> understand that a good half of the books making<br /> up that portentous total were quite unimportant<br /> and trivial works.<br /> Further examination proves that out of the 634<br /> novels there were at least 200 or even 250 also<br /> quite trivial and unimportant. This class is<br /> made up chiefly of those novels published at the<br /> author&#039;s own expense. There are paltry houses—<br /> call them rather hovels—which do nothing except<br /> produce trash at the author&#039;s expense. “Our<br /> reader reports so favourably of the work that we are<br /> prepared to offer you the following exceptionally<br /> favourable terms, &amp;c.,” according to the formula.<br /> These deductions made, we are left with a very<br /> fair number of novels—by no means too many<br /> for the reading of the English-speaking world—<br /> Written by about 250 known novelists and about<br /> I5O aspirants.<br /> * * *<br /> NOTES AND NEWS.<br /> E have lost in Sir John Seeley one of the<br /> greatest writers of our time—if by<br /> “great” we mean one who is powerful<br /> enough to mould and influence his time. The<br /> man who so far influenced the Anglican Church<br /> as to sweep away old shibboleths and to clothe<br /> the old doctrines with fresh meanings; the man<br /> who revived in his country the Imperial idea,<br /> making of Great Britain not only the Mother of<br /> Empire, but the Mistress and Empress; the man<br /> who taught the world how the New Germany was<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 238 (#252) ############################################<br /> <br /> 238<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> created and by whom ; that man, surely, deserves<br /> the name of great.<br /> My own acquaintance with Seeley took place<br /> towards the close of the fifties. He was some three<br /> years my senior, so that my earliest knowledge of<br /> him is that of a young Bachelor of Arts, Senior<br /> Classic. He was as a young man habitually grave,<br /> yet by no means without humour; no one who knew<br /> him then would speak of him as dry. Serious<br /> he certainly was ; his mind was then, as ever<br /> since, filled with the great and lofty themes of<br /> which he afterwards treated. To talk with him<br /> was, to a lad of twenty, an education ; he filled<br /> one with new thoughts; he gave one suggestions;<br /> he made one thirsty and hungry for more know-<br /> ledge; he made one careful of speech on account<br /> of a certain Socratic method by which he con-<br /> vinced the foolish speaker of his folly—yet gently<br /> and never with any joy over the humiliation of<br /> the other man. He took little interest in the<br /> things so much beloved by the average under-<br /> graduate ; he seldom asked, I am sure, where the<br /> college boat was ; he was not present at boat<br /> suppers; perhaps he never witnessed the University<br /> boat race; and he never showed up at Lord&#039;s. A<br /> modest and sober walk of four or five miles gave<br /> him all the exercise he wanted, and the rest of<br /> his time was chiefly spent in his own rooms.<br /> It is pleasing to remember that one of his<br /> closest friends and greatest admirers was a man<br /> wholly unlike him in every particular—Charles<br /> Stuart Calverley. I have heard Calverley dis-<br /> course on the virtues and qualities of Seeley most<br /> generously (for they were sometimes thought to<br /> be rivals) and eloquently.<br /> Seeley was the son of a man of deep religious<br /> feeling, which he himself inherited. The inevitable<br /> revolt of the son against the father&#039;s narrow<br /> Calvinism, which generally takes the form of<br /> aggressive agnosticism, in his place became a<br /> Christianity on broader foundations with new<br /> meanings and more Catholic enclosures. He was<br /> always religious in his thoughts and religious in<br /> his daily life.<br /> I have never heard him lecture or speak. I<br /> can readily believe that as in his books so in his<br /> lectures, the personal element was entirely re-<br /> pressed. Perhaps he was dry. Yet he taught.<br /> He was born to teach, and he was full of things<br /> to teach. He made the most of himself too.<br /> Quite early in life he realised that for such work<br /> as his, German was necessary. He went to<br /> Dresden for three months and came back a<br /> master of the German language. Later on it<br /> became necessary for him to know Italian and to<br /> study Rome. He went to Rome for the summer<br /> months, staying there three months, and return-<br /> ing a master of Italian and of Roman topography.<br /> He is a standing example that the strongest and<br /> best faculties—intellect of the rarest—-memory<br /> —scholarship—linguistic gift–power of expres-<br /> sion—are worth nothing without industry.<br /> I well remember a certain letter which came<br /> to me across the sea, one day a long time ago,<br /> when I was abroad. It was from a man who<br /> knew Seeley better than was my good fortune;<br /> who saw a great deal more of him. This man<br /> sent me a copy of “Ecce Homo,” just then<br /> published. “Read the book,” he said. “It is<br /> Seeley&#039;s, though the world does not yet know it.<br /> Read the book. He stands out already, as I<br /> always said he would—ávač divöpóv—a king of<br /> men’’—And so he did.<br /> That Seeley joined our Society at the outset;<br /> that he gave us his name as a Vice-President<br /> first, and a member of Council afterwards; that<br /> he strongly approved of our work and our aims—<br /> this has always been to me, at times when it<br /> seemed as if all our efforts for self-protection<br /> were likely to be in vain, a great encouragement<br /> and support.<br /> •-º-º-º-º-<br /> At the first meeting of the committee held in<br /> the year, on Monday, Jan. I4, it was RESOLVED,<br /> that the best thanks of the committee be con-<br /> veyed to Sir Frederick Pollock, for his services to<br /> the society as chairman of the Committee of<br /> Management during the year 1893 and 1894.<br /> I hear of complaints among members that<br /> their books are not mentiomed in “Book Talk”<br /> of the month. Will every one make a note that<br /> we very much desire to hear of every new work<br /> produced by our members; that we cannot<br /> promise to hunt among the advertisements and<br /> the announcements for these new books; that if<br /> members will inform us of their new books they<br /> may depend upon the notice being inserted;<br /> and that, as regards a short review or expression<br /> of opinion upon the book, it must be left to the<br /> writer of the columns called “Book Talk.” It is,<br /> of course, impossible for the editor to promise,<br /> or for the members to claim, even a short review<br /> in these pages.<br /> The question of Canadian Copyright is sus-<br /> pended for the time, owing to the death of Sir<br /> John Thompson. Meanwhile we have reprinted<br /> in another column (p. 228) an article on the<br /> subject, from the Montreal Weekly Witness,<br /> which shows that public opinion is not all on one<br /> side.<br /> In another place (p. 248) will be found a report<br /> of Mr. Stedman’s address on the occasion of the<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 239 (#253) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 239<br /> Stevenson memorial meeting at New York. The<br /> occasion was memorable. One of the few writers<br /> who in their lifetime are recognised as belonging<br /> to the common literature of the English-speaking<br /> races—not the local provincial literature of Great<br /> Britain, of the States, of Canada, of Australia,<br /> but the common possession of all—was dead. The<br /> meeting was held in honour of that man; he was<br /> a Scotchman by birth ; he was not a dweller in<br /> the United States, but he was acknowledged to<br /> belong to the States, to be part of the honour<br /> and glory of the States just as much as Lowell<br /> was claimed to belong to us, although a<br /> Republican and an American to the finger tips.<br /> It was not only a memorable occasion, but the<br /> chairman&#039;s eulogy, here reproduced, is fully worthy<br /> of the occasion. Had I not heard Leslie Stephen&#039;s<br /> address on the completion of the Lowell memorial<br /> in Westminster Abbey, I should have said that<br /> I did not know a single English author capable of<br /> such an address, so dignified, so beautiful, so<br /> worthy of the writer whom it illustrated. And<br /> now that it is too late, what, one asks, were we<br /> ourselves doing that we held no such meeting P<br /> Why was it left to the Americans to show us how<br /> we should honour our writers? Alas! so little<br /> accustomed are we to any recognition of letters<br /> that we do not even remember to pay the tribute<br /> of a funeral oration on the departure of our<br /> worthiest and our best<br /> Among the letters of the month will be found a<br /> proposal by Mr. Thomas Macquoid that a<br /> memorial to Louis Stevenson should be esta-<br /> blished. The letter does not propose any form of<br /> memorial. Not a statue, says the writer, but<br /> perhaps the founding of some institution con-<br /> nected with literature. I willingly give admission<br /> to Mr. Macquoid’s letter and proposal, and if the<br /> suggestion commends itself to members, I shall<br /> be very glad to receive their opinions on the<br /> subject, and to forward them to the secretary for<br /> the consideration of the committee. There are<br /> two points for consideration: (1) Whether it is<br /> desirable that such a memorial shall be instituted;<br /> (2) if so, what form it should take.<br /> Now, as to the first point. I have no doubt<br /> whatever that some of Stevenson’s work will live<br /> and form part of the glorious Corpus of English<br /> Literature. In the general chorus of praise and<br /> lamentation following on the death of this writer,<br /> it seems ungenerous to hint that any part of his<br /> work may die. At the same time, we must<br /> remember that posterity will be principally<br /> occupied with its own writers, and that it is a<br /> selection only—a very small selection—of dead<br /> men&#039;s work, that is allowed to remain and to be<br /> read. It is the next generation that pronounces<br /> the verdict upon a man, and from that verdict<br /> there is no appeal. Perhaps, therefore, it would<br /> be safer to let a dead man remain without honour<br /> for twenty-five years. In that time his greatness<br /> will be established or will be extinguished.<br /> However, if it be thought best to form some<br /> memorial to Robert Louis Stevenson, why<br /> should it not be a statue? The only statues<br /> to men of letters in London are those of<br /> Shakespeare in Leicester-square, and Dr. Johnson<br /> in St. Paul’s. There are also certain busts in<br /> Westminster Abbey and elsewhere. Yet nothing<br /> more honours a man than a statue. It is public ;<br /> it is always present ; it is enduring ; every passer<br /> by recalls the man and his works; it stands as<br /> an outward and visible sign of a nation’s recog-<br /> nition. Poets have their corner in the Abbey;<br /> only a corner; most of the space is given up to<br /> the Great Obscure or the Obscure Great. Let us<br /> make a beginning : let us teach the people that<br /> it is time to honour our great writers as we<br /> honour our statesmen; in the same open way.<br /> Only when we uncover the statue to Louis<br /> Stevenson, in Trafalgar-square, let it be done in<br /> the presence of the people, by invitation; the<br /> people on the omnibuses; the passengers engaged<br /> in their daily calling ; the great common public<br /> who read his “Treasure Island.”<br /> I have seen an advanced copy of the report of the<br /> Society for the year 1894. There is one point<br /> which I venture to anticipate. There are over 12oo<br /> members at this time of writing. Now, out of the<br /> I2OO one-half, or 600, had occasion it seems, during<br /> the year, to consult the Secretary on some point of<br /> difficulty or doubt in the conduct of their business<br /> affairs. Now, consider what would have happened<br /> with these difficulties had the Society not been<br /> in existence. The author would have gone to his<br /> lawyer, who certainly knew nothing about the<br /> subject ; and he would have incurred legal ex-<br /> penses for no good purpose; or he would have<br /> allowed his publisher to put his own interpreta-<br /> tion on the matter. Now the Secretary, who does<br /> know the subject, gives his advice or information<br /> for nothing. In cases where money has to be<br /> recovered, the author has only to put the papers<br /> into the Secretary’s hands, when action is taken<br /> immediately, and for nothing. The knowledge of<br /> this fact generally causes payment to be made<br /> immediately. And—again—remark the propor-<br /> tion of authors who do find it necessary to seek<br /> advice in the year—50 per cent. &#039;<br /> Members will please to note that the committee<br /> have now arranged for the reception of their<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 240 (#254) ############################################<br /> <br /> 24O<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> agreements and their preservation in a fireproof<br /> safe. They will, of course, be regarded as confi-<br /> dential documents to be read only by the Secre-<br /> tary, who will keep the key of the safe. The com-<br /> mittee now offer<br /> (I) To read and advise upon agreements and<br /> publishers.<br /> (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a<br /> possible action upon them. -<br /> (3) To keep agreements.<br /> (4) To enforce payments due according to agree-<br /> ments.<br /> Once there was a member—a lady—who could<br /> not get in her accounts or the money due to her.<br /> She came to the Secretary, who promptly pro-<br /> cured the account and the cheque, of course at no<br /> expense to her. There was no suspicion of a<br /> fraudulent return of books sold. Contrary, how-<br /> ever, to reasonable expectation, the lady received<br /> the cheque with considerable temper. She said<br /> that she had looked for a much larger sale; and if<br /> this was all the Society could do for her, she<br /> should withdraw. And she did. What can be<br /> done for people who look to the Society to find<br /> them a public P<br /> Another very unreasonable and selfish person<br /> is the man or woman who stands aloof from us,<br /> Or even joins in the diffusion of the usual unvera-<br /> cities which that kind of publisher who desires<br /> darkness loves to spread around, until the time of<br /> trouble, when he makes haste to bring his papers<br /> and to become a member in order to get his case<br /> settled for him. An extreme form of this kind<br /> was illustrated by a certain man who brought a<br /> case and became a member. His case cost the<br /> Society 3815, but it was successfully conducted.<br /> The grateful member thanked the Secretary for<br /> what he had done, and said that he should now<br /> resign. So we were gainers of one guinea, his<br /> year&#039;s subscription, and losers by £15 in costs<br /> in the case. We did not even get kööos, because<br /> he was rather ashamed of his own simplicity and<br /> did not talk about it.<br /> Mr. Laurence Hutton’s remarks on the<br /> American respect for English literature (see the<br /> New York Letter, p. 234) seem to me exaggerated.<br /> We have not asked the Americans to subscribe<br /> for the preservation of Carlyle&#039;s house ; the<br /> committee have only signified their willingness to<br /> accept American contributions if any are offered.<br /> We should most certainly not “laugh to scorn”<br /> any proposal that Englishmen should join in<br /> honouring Poe ; nor do we–so far as I know—<br /> “mock the generosity’ of Americans in building<br /> a theatre at Stratford. The ancient literature of<br /> this country belongs to America as much as to<br /> ourselves. As regards a modern writer, when the<br /> Americans adopt him, so to speak; when they<br /> receive him into their libraries; welcome him ;<br /> learn from him ; delight in him; he becomes an<br /> American as well as an English writer. The<br /> question about Carlyle, is simply whether he is,<br /> in this sense, an American writer. Have they<br /> adopted him P Do they learn from him P Let<br /> us remember that there is a small modern current<br /> literature belonging to and common to all English<br /> speaking countries. For instance, we place Tenny-<br /> son and Browning in this our common literature,<br /> together with Lowell and Longfellow. There is<br /> also a current local or national literature in every<br /> English speaking country consisting of minor<br /> poets, minor novelists, minor essayists, who do not<br /> cross the frontiers of their own country. The<br /> influence of Carlyle in this country has been<br /> enormous. It would appear from Mr. Laurence<br /> Button’s remarks, that it has not been great in<br /> America. Perhaps, then, Carlyle does not belong<br /> to the current common literature.<br /> The following is from the Westminster Gazette:<br /> In our last number there appeared a letter calling<br /> attention to the strange appearance of two lines<br /> by Miss Procter in Mr. John Davidson&#039;s new<br /> volume of poems. The editor of this paper ought<br /> to be severely castigated for admitting a charge<br /> of plagiarism without verifying it, especially when<br /> it could be tested so easily and so readily. His<br /> only excuse is that the case was adduced as a<br /> remarkable instance of unconscious plagiarism, a<br /> thing more common than is generally believed.<br /> It did not occur to the editor that Mr. Davidson<br /> could be accused of a thing so monstrous and at<br /> the same time so inconceivably foolish as to<br /> “lift” two whole lines from Miss Procter. May<br /> the curtain of the “Fifth Act ’’ be a curtain of<br /> oblivion :<br /> An absurd comedy of errors has been acted in the<br /> columns of the Spectator and in our own. Mr. John<br /> Davidson has been accused of a trick of “sub-conscious<br /> memory,” for including in his “Ballad of a Nun’ the lines—<br /> “And yet,<br /> We lost it in this daily jar and fret,<br /> And now live idle in a vain regret.”<br /> But neither the lines, nor any like them, are in Mr.<br /> Davidson&#039;s poem at all ! The following is the development of<br /> the comedy :— -<br /> Act. I. The Spectator, reviewing Mr. Davidson’s poem,<br /> said it was a new version of “A Legend of Provence,” and<br /> quoted Miss Procter&#039;s lines as above.<br /> Act II. A correspondent of the Spectator, misunder-<br /> standing, and thinking the quotation was made from Mr.<br /> Davidson, writes and says, “Why, but Mr. Davidson has<br /> been unconsciously reproducing Tennyson’s<br /> “Love is hurt with jar and fret,<br /> Love is made a vague regret.”<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 241 (#255) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 24. I<br /> Act III. We quote this correspondent&#039;s remarks in our<br /> columns; whereupon another correspondent writes and says,<br /> “Why, this man has not only echoed Tennyson, but actually<br /> lifted into his poem two lines solidly from Miss Procter.”<br /> Several other correspondents write to like effect.<br /> Act IV. At last it occurs to somebody to consult Mr.<br /> Davidson’s poem itself, and to look up the references<br /> generally—with the result shown in the outset of this note.<br /> Act W. Curtain, please !<br /> WALTER BESANT.<br /> *- A -º<br /> * *<br /> FEUILLETON,<br /> A LITERARY BUBBLE.<br /> N journalism all roads lead to London. A<br /> carefully worded advertisement in the Times,<br /> offering a sub-editorship to a lady or gentle-<br /> man of education in return for a premium of sixty<br /> guineas, drew me, a young and untried member<br /> of the profession, into the metropolitan whirlpool<br /> in the summer of 1893.<br /> The preliminaries duly arranged, though not<br /> without some natural misgivings on the part of<br /> more cautious relatives and friends, I left to make<br /> the acquaintance of the editor-proprietor of the<br /> “high class weekly journal” with whose fortunes<br /> (and misfortunes) 1 was shortly to become identi-<br /> fied. My first interview with this gentleman took<br /> place in the editorial sanctum one sunny after-<br /> noon in May. He was courteous and affable,<br /> and expressed surprise at my diminutive stature<br /> and virgin countenance, my handwriting having<br /> led him to expect a bearded Hercules. From his<br /> grin of satisfaction, however, I gathered that he<br /> was not altogether displeased to find his ideal<br /> upset. Then we talked about journalism. Had<br /> I thought of turning my attention to light or<br /> serious literature ? I replied, diplomatically,<br /> that one might temper gravity with wit. He<br /> was delighted. I was a born journalist he felt<br /> sure, and only required a course of his gentle<br /> tuition to shine as a planet in the literary firma-<br /> ment. His attention knew no bounds. He must<br /> find me lodgings, take me to the Derby (this fell<br /> through (), and make me thoroughly at home in<br /> my new quarters. Meanwhile, would Itake some<br /> books with me for review P. Thus we parted on<br /> excellent terms with each other, and with our<br /> own particular selves.<br /> I had arrived on a Friday, and the high class<br /> weekly was due to appear on the Saturday. It<br /> did not reach the office until late on Monday<br /> afternoon, and, tyro as I was, my heart sank as<br /> I gazed at the insignificant pile of papers which<br /> then lay carefully stacked upon the counter. If<br /> there were 500 copies, the maximum was surely<br /> reached. Just then the proprietor bustled in.<br /> My reviews were glanced at, approved, and the<br /> great man, with almost paternal solicitude, pressed<br /> upon my acceptance a cheque for a pound, a half<br /> week&#039;s salary. I ought here to explain that my<br /> contract provided for remuneration at the rate of<br /> £2 per week, and the repayment of a proportionate<br /> amount of the premium if the engagement were<br /> closed within twelve months from the signing of<br /> the agreement. The cheque was crossed, and,<br /> having no bank account in London, I attempted<br /> to cash it through a friend in the provinces. It<br /> was returned marked “refer to drawer,” and I<br /> immediately called the attention of my Gamaliel<br /> to the matter. He hemmed and hawed, consulted<br /> his cheque-book, and finally paid me in gold,<br /> being unable to account for the “mistake.”<br /> For the next two or three weeks my two<br /> sovereigns came in with commendable regularity;<br /> then thirty shillings appeared as the price of my<br /> labour, my employer coolly explaining that he<br /> had spent the odd ten shillings on a Turkish<br /> bath. The arrears were not forthcoming till the<br /> following week, when a cheque (open, at my<br /> request) for £2 accompanied the lagging half-<br /> sovereign. On inquiry at the bank, I discovered<br /> that the cheque would not be honoured. My<br /> literary tutor was not in the least abashed when<br /> I returned with this intelligence. He smiled, and<br /> said he detected some dissimilarity between the<br /> indorsement and the name in the body of the<br /> cheque. That, he felt sure, accounted for my<br /> rebuff. Still, he pocketed the erring paper, and<br /> the arrears began to accumulate in an alarming<br /> fashion, while any actual payment was very<br /> grudgingly tendered.<br /> Meanwhile, the paper had been going from bad<br /> to worse, and the struggle to make both ends<br /> meet resulted in acts of glaring dishonesty. On<br /> one occasion, the funds having run short, and the<br /> stony heart of the printer being unmoved by<br /> promises of future payment, a week passed with-<br /> out publication. To hoodwink the advertisers,<br /> the contents of the previous week&#039;s issue were<br /> inclosed in covers bearing the current date, and<br /> forwarded to advertisers only. Whether or not<br /> this fraud was exposed I never learned. Another<br /> ingenious device was the “puffing” of minor<br /> celebrities, who, in return for an eulogistic<br /> description of their virtues, and a correspondingly<br /> convenient omission of their vices, purchased a<br /> few hundred copies of the paper from the enter-<br /> prising publisher. In the case of one “eminent,”<br /> when his order of 500 copies was found to have<br /> exhausted the available supply, a hundred or<br /> more back numbers were inserted at the bottom<br /> of the pile to complete the amount.<br /> But I should fill many columns of the Author<br /> if I attempted to describe all the tricks and<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 242 (#256) ############################################<br /> <br /> 242<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> subterfuges employed by this scoundrel to stave<br /> off his creditors, and to figure in the eyes of the<br /> world as a man of unblemished and unimpeachable<br /> character. He practised as a barrister, and was<br /> extremely anxious that I should, under his<br /> auspices, embrace the legal as well as the jour-<br /> nalistic professions. Had I been so weak as to<br /> yield to his wishes, he would undoubtedly have<br /> pocketed a considerable share of the fees. But I<br /> had gauged his character by this time, and<br /> forbore.<br /> I had not been long in his office before I dis-<br /> covered that I was by no means the only “pupil.”<br /> connected with the establishment. There were<br /> two or three besides myself, and I soon heard<br /> grievous complaints of growing arrears and dis-<br /> honoured cheques. My own salary, from putting<br /> in an appearance in driblets, ceased altogether,<br /> and neither by persuasion or threats did I succeed<br /> in extracting another penny from my employer,<br /> who was, in effect, a bankrupt.<br /> The paper died in due course, and we then dis-<br /> covered that the pseudo-proprietor had long since<br /> assigned the property to others. Nor could we<br /> obtain any redress. I had unfortunately neglected<br /> to have my agreement stamped, but had this been<br /> otherwise, an action at law would only have<br /> resulted in throwing good money after bad. I<br /> returned to the provinces a sadder if a wiser man;<br /> and, having lately been elected an associate of the<br /> Society of Authors, have good reason to hope<br /> that I shall henceforth be free from the predatory<br /> attacks of such wolves in sheep&#039;s clothing as the<br /> pretended proprietor of a certain “high-class<br /> London weekly.” If the publication of my own<br /> experience should succeed in placing others upon<br /> their guard, I shall at least have derived some<br /> consolation for my own unfortunate commence-<br /> ment. G. F. O.<br /> *~ - –”<br /> ,-- - --&gt;<br /> RUSTIC READING,<br /> ESPITE all our vaunted spread of educa-<br /> tion, it cannot yet be said that Hodge has<br /> developed much literary taste, or has<br /> taken keenly to the study of fiction, except,<br /> indeed, as a personal accomplishment. In our<br /> large towns, to judge from the statistics issued<br /> by the free libraries, the working classes devour<br /> novels in enormous quantities, nor are they alto-<br /> gether bad judges of quality, for the authors most<br /> in request with them are also among the favourites<br /> of those who subscribe to Mudie’s. And the<br /> urban labourer has come to regard the Sunday<br /> paper as no less a necessary of existence than his<br /> pipe. But in the country matters are very diffe-<br /> rent. Partly from want of taste, partly from lack<br /> of opportunity, nine out of every ten farm-hands<br /> never open a book at all, and confine their reading<br /> to the single beer-stained copy of the local paper<br /> that goes from hand to hand in the bar of the<br /> public-house.<br /> This is partly due, as we have said, to lack of<br /> taste. It is almost startling to find how many<br /> there are among our village-folk who cannot read<br /> at all. A few of them have never learned to do so,<br /> the greater number acquired the art painfully and<br /> by dint of many thwacks at school, promptly to<br /> forget it when, at the age of fifteen or so, they<br /> left school for good, and began to work in the<br /> fields. Let anyone who has almost entirely for-<br /> gotten his Greek endeavour to imagine what<br /> pleasure it would give him to read Thucydides in<br /> the original, by way of beguiling his leisure<br /> hours after a hard day’s work, and he will cease to<br /> wonder at Hodge&#039;s apathetic attitude towards<br /> literature. Again, those who can read easily<br /> enough do not find much to interest them in the<br /> newspapers, while books hardly ever come into<br /> their hands. They do not—we are speaking<br /> of entirely rural districts—take the faintest<br /> interest in politics, nor do they care about trade<br /> unions, strikes, agitations, or reforms, all of<br /> which are so dear to the mind of the London<br /> artisan. You may put it down to sluggishness<br /> and stupidity if you will, and it is quite<br /> true that your rustic is not easily aroused<br /> in the direction of any reform, desirable<br /> or otherwise. But yet there is a good deal of<br /> shrewd wisdom underlying this apparent in-<br /> difference, and it proceeds not a little from the<br /> fact that in the calm, peaceful atmosphere of<br /> country life it becomes easier to see these agita-<br /> tions in just perspective, to realise more accu-<br /> rately their importance, to be less readily swept<br /> away by each fresh enthusiasm, than it is for<br /> the fevered town-dweller, overpowered by the<br /> blatant noises of rival fad-mongers, and not<br /> allowed a moment of quiet in which to think for<br /> himself. Of course there are exceptions; in<br /> every village there is the Radical workman,<br /> regarded with humorous and good-natured in-<br /> difference by the rest, who spends all his spare<br /> time in what he conceives to be the study of<br /> politics, and who is always prepared to tell you<br /> how the Prime Minister or the Home Secretary<br /> ought to act. He is great at Socialistic<br /> prophecies, and his confidence in foretelling the<br /> future is only equalled by his ignorance con-<br /> cerning the present and the past. But he is the<br /> exception, not the rule; the typical rustic is a<br /> perfect Gallio as regards politics.<br /> It is interesting to notice a use which Hodge<br /> makes of the copy of the local paper which he<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 243 (#257) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 243<br /> enjoys with his pipe and beer sitting outside the<br /> Spotted Dog on a summer&#039;s evening. First, he<br /> reads carefully the title and the date, to guard<br /> against wasting his intellect on ancient history.<br /> Then, in most cases, he will turn to the cricket<br /> news. It is astonishing how keen is the interest<br /> taken in county cricket by the agricultural<br /> classes in our southern districts; many a man<br /> who has never handled a bat in his life can tell you<br /> nearly all the first-class averages for the last five<br /> years. In the north, even more attention is<br /> doubtless given in winter to the football news,<br /> but cricket is by far the greater favourite<br /> in the south. Having read out the scores, with<br /> eloquent comments, to his companions, he glances<br /> through the rest of the paper for any attractive<br /> headlines speaking of murders, fires, or inquests.<br /> Having found one of these charming accounts,<br /> he absorbs it slowly and reverently, running a<br /> finger along the print lest he lose the thread of<br /> sanguinary narrative. After this he scorns to<br /> read of the doings of Parliament or the news<br /> from foreign countries; with a sigh of satisfied<br /> contentment he hands on the paper to his next<br /> neighbour, whose study of it is conducted on<br /> precisely similar lines. And this performance,<br /> repeated once a week, represents the whole of the<br /> attention given to literature by the majority of<br /> our agricultural labourers.<br /> Mrs. Hodge&#039;s reading is a little more extensive.<br /> The good soul studies her Bible, and wonderful<br /> indeed are her interpretations of its more difficult<br /> passages. In about half the cottages, too, by the<br /> side of the Bible you will find a well-thumbed<br /> copy of the “Pilgrim&#039;s Progress,” with alarming<br /> illustrations used to terrify the children into the<br /> paths of virtue. The pictures in Fox’s “Book of<br /> Martyrs” are also employed for this purpose, and<br /> are found even more effectual) nor does Mrs.<br /> Hodge ever realise the cruelty and gross folly of<br /> this system of intimidation. The rest of the<br /> literature of the cottage will perhaps be made up<br /> of an ancient number of the Graphic (the<br /> illustrations from which are pinned about the<br /> walls), a cookery book, and the current number<br /> of the parish magazine. If the family includes a<br /> Miss Hodge of sixteen or so, that young lady is<br /> nearly sure to possess a little work on fortune-<br /> telling and another on dreams. And such is the<br /> range of the cottage library.<br /> But this almost total neglect of literature<br /> amongst the country people is due, as we said at<br /> the outset, not only, or even chiefly, to want of<br /> taste, but also to lack of opportunity. Give a<br /> country labourer a good book of adventure by a<br /> popular author, and if you can once prevail upon<br /> him to begin reading it, he will continue it and<br /> enjoy it hugely. And Mrs. Hodge, in default of<br /> better things, reads with great eagerness the<br /> mawkish and sentimental stuff found in most of<br /> our parish magazines. So that there really are<br /> symptoms of a taste for literature, were the<br /> opportunity for cultivating it only to be supplied.<br /> But the cheap editions, so accessible to the<br /> Londoner, are never seen here, never a book of<br /> any kind is on sale in the village shop. Amongst<br /> the bacon and the cheese lie copies of a dress-<br /> making journal and the local newspaper, and that<br /> is all. Surely something could and should be<br /> done to promote the sale of good and cheap<br /> literature in the country.<br /> Of course, village lending libraries have been<br /> established in many places. Sometimes they have<br /> succeeded, more often they have failed, because<br /> the books have not been wisely selected, and are<br /> of the aggressively “improving ” order. Hodge<br /> has a healthy hatred of “goody-goody &quot;litera-<br /> ture, and it is this feeling that makes him fight<br /> shy of the lending library. But once conviuce<br /> him that you are not offering him a tract in dis-<br /> guise, and he will be willing enough to read,<br /> while to encourage and foster such a taste is a<br /> work that may safely be commended to those who<br /> are desirous of doing something towards bettering<br /> the condition and brightening the monotonous<br /> lives of our agricultural labourers.<br /> *- - --&quot;<br /> g- &gt; -s;<br /> BOOK TALK,<br /> HE month of January, 1895, will ever be<br /> memorable in bookish circles for the revival<br /> of the issue of books by metropolitan daily<br /> newspapers. Many years ago the Weekly Dispatch<br /> issued an atlas in parts to its readers; and of a<br /> series of illustrations of picturesque parts of the<br /> world, a number of newspapers of the second<br /> rank in England and on the continent have<br /> recently distributed no fewer than eight million<br /> copies. But the great London dailies have<br /> hitherto declined all such offers. The Daily<br /> Chronicle, however, has now taken the lead by<br /> announcing an encyclopaedic dictionary, in forty-<br /> two parts, at 6d. each. This is nothing else than<br /> Cassell’s “Encyclopædic Dictionary,” printed from<br /> a new set of plates; and as it was originally sold<br /> at seven guineas, the reduction in price is certainly<br /> striking. The Chronicle expects a sale of 200,000<br /> copies.<br /> The Chronicle&#039;s new departure was received<br /> with great surprise, but the surprise was more<br /> than doubled when two days later the Times<br /> announced that in April it would issue an atlas in<br /> fifteen parts, at Is. each. This, in its turn, is also<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 244 (#258) ############################################<br /> <br /> 244.<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> a publication of Messrs. Cassell&#039;s. It is the<br /> German-produced atlas, offered first at 31s. 6d.<br /> net, and afterwards at two guineas with the<br /> customary discount. We understand it is owned<br /> |by a syndicate of persons, of whom Mr. Arnold<br /> Forster is the chief. The Times, by the way, is<br /> also about to publish a serial work of fiction in<br /> its weekly edition. It remains to be seen what<br /> the publishers will say to this journalistic rivalry.<br /> When one newspaper publishes a dictionary,<br /> another an atlas, another a history of England,<br /> another a history of English literature, and so on,<br /> a series of severe blows will have been dealt at<br /> publishing firms all round.<br /> The book of the month, if it should be<br /> reached in February, will no doubt be Lord<br /> Roberts’s “Reminiscences of India.” No man<br /> living knows certain aspects of India and the<br /> Indian people so well as Lord Roberts, and the<br /> British public has good reason to feel the<br /> deepest interest in everything that he says. He<br /> fought through the entire Mutiny, and he has<br /> either shared in or directed every military move-<br /> ment or reform in India during the last thirty-<br /> five years. On some problems now pressing for<br /> solution his word should close the controversy.<br /> It goes without saying that the greatest success<br /> awaits his book if it presents any adequate<br /> picture of himself and his career.<br /> The present Tsar made a tour through the<br /> Far East in 1891, in the course of which, as will<br /> be remembered, he was only saved by the timely<br /> assistance of Prince George of Greece from assas-<br /> sination at the hands of a fanatic Japanese police-<br /> man. He had of course remarkable opportunities<br /> for seeing Eastern festivals and sights not com-<br /> monly shown, and unless the record of his travels<br /> is too severely edited, it should form an enter-<br /> taining picture. He did not, however, visit China,<br /> as the Emperor of China could not be induced to<br /> receive him with proper honours, and he would<br /> not go to Peking under other circumstances. The<br /> illustrated account of his travels will be published<br /> by Messrs. Arch. Constable and Co. within a few<br /> weeks.<br /> A book of travels and studies, to be published<br /> early in February is Mr. Henry Norman&#039;s long-<br /> promised work on the Far East. It will be called<br /> “The Peoples and Politics of the Far East,” and<br /> will contain a series of chapters on each territorial<br /> or ethnological division of that part of the world<br /> —the British Empire, France, Russia, Spain, and<br /> Portugal in the Far East; and China, Japan,<br /> FCorea, Siam, and Malaya. In all these places<br /> Mr. Norman spent a considerable time, and one<br /> part of the Far East which he explored has not<br /> been visited by any white man either before or<br /> since his journey. The book will contain sixty<br /> illustrations, chiefly from his own photographs,<br /> and four maps, and will be published in one large<br /> volume, probably at a guinea, by Mr. T. Fisher<br /> Unwin.<br /> Messrs. Bliss, Sands, and Foster, a very young<br /> firm of publishers, have hit upon a useful idea in<br /> their series to be called “Public Men of To-day.”<br /> The following are already in preparation :-Li<br /> Hung Chang, by Professor Robert K. Douglas ;<br /> the Right Hon. Cecil Rhodes, by Edward Dicey,<br /> C.B.; the Ameer, by S. E. Wheeler; the German<br /> Emperor, by Charles Lowe ; Senor Castelar,<br /> by David Hannay. Later on we shall have<br /> President Cleveland, Signor Crispi, Lord Cromer,<br /> and M. Stambuloff,<br /> The past month has been an eventful one for<br /> Theosophists, so far as the world of publishing is<br /> concerned. Not only have the Westminster Gazette<br /> and the Daily Chronicle treated the subject,<br /> but Dr. Walter Leaf has published, through<br /> Messrs. Dongmans, an abridged translation, on<br /> behalf of the Society for Psychical Research, of<br /> M. Solovyoff&#039;s book, “A Modern Priestess of<br /> Isis.” This, it need hardly be said, is an exposure<br /> of Mme. Blavatsky; while Mr. Arthur Lillie&#039;s<br /> “Mme. Blavatsky and her Theosophy,” published<br /> by Messrs. Swan Sonnenschein and Co., is<br /> another stout volume devoted to “the most suc-<br /> cessful creed-maker of the last three hundred<br /> years.”<br /> University men, both of this country and the<br /> United States, should read Dr. George Birkbeck<br /> Hill’s “Harvard College, by an Oxonian.” It is<br /> an admirable account of the great American<br /> University, and, considering that it is the work of<br /> a visitor, it is a marvel of research and insight.<br /> The American Press has praised it highly, and<br /> we are astonished to see it dismissed by the<br /> Athenæum in one line.<br /> A special word is due to the completion of<br /> Professor Skeat&#039;s Oxford edition of Chaucer. It<br /> is dangerous to prophesy finality for any work,<br /> but it hardly seems likely that any edition of<br /> Chaucer in English can supersede this ideal one.<br /> The last volume is the sixth, but there is still to<br /> be a supplementary volume containing “The<br /> Testament of Love,” and other works which have<br /> been generally attributed to Chaucer.<br /> Mr. Douglas Sladen&#039;s volume on Canada will<br /> appear during February. It is not a discussion<br /> of the political questions or economic prospects in<br /> Canada, but a picturesque description of Canada<br /> as a part of the imperial route round the world.<br /> That is, it will deal chiefly, we understand, with<br /> the Canada of the Canadian Pacific Railway.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 245 (#259) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 2.45<br /> Messrs. Ward, Lock, and Bowden are the pub-<br /> lishers, and the book will be lavishly illus-<br /> trated.<br /> Two modern novels to appear during the<br /> coming month will be looked for with interest.<br /> One of them is “The Woman Who Did,” by<br /> Mr. Grant Allen, to be published by Mr. John<br /> Lane. Mr. Allen has hitherto consulted, in<br /> writing his fiction, what he has believed to be<br /> the taste of the public ; in this book he is under-<br /> stood to have consulted his own. He has been<br /> chaffed a good deal for having said that under<br /> present conditions of book-producing, a novelist<br /> was prevented from writing a work of art. In<br /> this book he has, we believe, defied the conven-<br /> tions sufficiently at all events to show his idea of<br /> a work of art in fiction, The curious title, by the<br /> way, is suggested by a conversation which occurs<br /> in the narrative, one man remarking that no<br /> woman would do such a thing, and the other<br /> retorting that he knew a woman who did.<br /> The second novel, called “Gallia,” by Miss<br /> Ménie Muriel Dowie, is the first book she has<br /> written since “A Girl in the Karpathians.”<br /> Gallia, the heroine, is the daughter of a Secre-<br /> tary of State for the Colonies, and the novel is a<br /> study of the character of one type of modern<br /> woman under such circumstances as those in<br /> which the life of his daughter would necessarily<br /> be spent. It is a one-volume novel, and will be<br /> published by Messrs. Methuen at 6s.<br /> The Queen has been pleased to accept the<br /> iatest volume of the new Sussex magazine, called<br /> Southward Ho / with a presentation poem by<br /> Mr. Charles William Dalmon. -<br /> Our readers will be interested to hear of some<br /> results of publishing one&#039;s own book that have<br /> just come to our knowledge. We are not at<br /> liberty at present to give the name of the book or<br /> the author, but we may say that it is a large<br /> volume, printed in admirable and almost lavish<br /> style, and sold by one of the first firms of London<br /> publishers for the author, on commission. The<br /> price is 18s., and the first edition, consisting of<br /> 1500 copies, has now practically been sold. The<br /> cost of production was, roughly, 3:300, and the<br /> net profit to the author, who has given away an<br /> extravagant number of copies, will be £300 also.<br /> In fact, his balance-sheet will be better than<br /> this, for the cost of production is rather less<br /> than we have stated, while the returns will even-<br /> tually be rather more. Ten per cent. On 1500<br /> copies at 18s. would be £135. Verbum sap.<br /> A new style of literary advertisement has made<br /> its appearance this month. Mr. Fisher Unwin has<br /> issued a booklet, costing a shilling, called “Good<br /> Reading: About Many Books, mostly by their<br /> Authors.” It is, indeed, more than a booklet,<br /> for it contains 252 pages and upwards of forty<br /> portraits. The publisher has requested the<br /> authors of the principal books he has issued<br /> this season to send him an account of how, when,<br /> and why their book, &amp;c., and they have responded<br /> liberally. Their contributions and photographs<br /> form the little volume. Among the contributors<br /> are John Oliver Hobbes, S. R. Crockett, Sir<br /> Chas. Gavan Duffy, Mrs. Bradlaugh Bonner, Dr.<br /> Jessopp, Swift MacNeill, M.P., W. M. Conway,<br /> Henry Norman, Grant Allen, J. J. Jusserand,<br /> Alfred Perceval Graves, Louis Becke, Richard<br /> Watson Gilder, and George R. Sims. The book<br /> is, of course, intended to advertise the wares of<br /> the firm, but many of his authors have paid<br /> their publishers the compliment of sending him<br /> long and interesting reminiscences. It is addressed<br /> “To the Booksellers,” to remind them how<br /> important it is that merely “cheap reading”<br /> should not oust “good reading ” from the home<br /> shelves.<br /> Good Words begins in its present issue a series<br /> of papers by Mr. John Murray, called “Some<br /> Authors I have known.” It is needless to remind<br /> our readers how many of the greatest modern<br /> authors Mr. John Murray has known, either<br /> as his own friends or his father&#039;s. Some day,<br /> perhaps, an author will write on “Some Publishers<br /> I have known.”<br /> Mr. John Lane announces “The Story of Venus<br /> and Tannhäuser,” by Mr. Aubrey Beardsley,<br /> with twenty full-page illustrations. The subject<br /> obviously lends itself to both the merits and the<br /> gross defects of Mr. Beardsley’s style, and we<br /> can only hope that for this occasion at least he<br /> will have chosen to fling away the worser half of<br /> his talent. -<br /> Messrs. Longumans and Co. have in preparation<br /> a volume by Mr. Wilfred Ward on “Cardinal<br /> Wiseman’s Life and Times,” to which Mr.<br /> Gladstone, Lord Acton, and Cardinal Vaughan<br /> will contribute. Mr. Ward&#039;s volumes on cognate<br /> personalities have been among the most interest-<br /> ing volumes of their class that have been<br /> published for many years. -<br /> Messrs. Macmillan announce a new series of<br /> “Illustrated Standard Novels,” attractively<br /> printed, and priced at 3s. 6d. Every novel will<br /> have a prefatory notice by a critic of distinction,<br /> and will contain some forty illustrations. Among<br /> the first announcements are : “Castle Rackrent ‘’<br /> and “The Absentee,” by Maria Edgeworth,<br /> with introduction by Mrs. Thackeray Ritchie;<br /> “Japhet, in Search of a Father,” by Captain<br /> Marryat, introduction by David Hannay; “Tom<br /> Cringle&#039;s Dog,” by Michael Scott, introduction by<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 246 (#260) ############################################<br /> <br /> 246<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> Mowbray Morris; “Maid Marian * and “Crotchet<br /> Castle,” by Thomas Love Peacock, introduction<br /> by George Saintsbury; “Lavengro.” by George<br /> Borrow, introduction by Augustine Birrell, M.P.;<br /> “Sense and Sensibility,” by Jane Austen, intro-<br /> duction by Austin Dobson.<br /> The month of February may possibly see the<br /> illustrated “Life and Correspondence” of the<br /> late Dante G. Rossetti. Messrs. Ellis and Elvey<br /> will publish the correspondence, which extends<br /> practically over Rossetti&#039;s entire lifetime.<br /> “A Year of Sport and Natural History,”<br /> edited by Mr. Oswald Crawfurd, and published<br /> by Messrs. Chapman and Hall at a guinea, will<br /> appear in February. It is to be a sort of<br /> Badminton Library in one volume, and will treat<br /> of shooting, hunting, fishing coursing, &amp;c.,<br /> classified according to the months of the year in<br /> which these sports are pursued.<br /> Mr. Sonnenschein’s “Supplement” to his well-<br /> known and indeed invaluable work on “The Best<br /> Reading ” is now due. It is unnecessary to speak<br /> of the importance of this work. Everybody who<br /> is engaged in research of any kind has constant<br /> recourse to it.<br /> Mr. Frankfort Moore, author of “A Grey Eye<br /> or So?’ and “I forbid the Banns,” is about to<br /> change the subject of his fiction. Messrs.<br /> EIutchinson and Co, announce for immediate<br /> publication a novel by him called “The<br /> Secret of the Court,” dealing with life in the<br /> East.<br /> The daughter of the Archbishop of Canterbury,<br /> Miss Margaret Benson, has written a small<br /> volume, illustrated by herself, of sketches and<br /> studies of animals in their domestic relations. It<br /> is entitled “Subject to Vanity,” and Messrs.<br /> Methuen are the publishers. The daughter of<br /> Lord Salisbury, by the way, Lady Gwendolen<br /> Cecil, is now stated to be the author of the ghost<br /> story, “The Closed Cabinet,” in last month’s<br /> Blackwood.<br /> Everybody who writes for the press should<br /> procure a copy of the tiny pamphlet called “Rules<br /> for Compositors and Readers,” compiled by Mr.<br /> Horace Hart, printer to the University of Oxford,<br /> and giving definite and technical instructions<br /> regarding spelling, punctuation, and type-setting<br /> of disputed and doubful words and expressions,<br /> founded upon the “New English Dictionary.”<br /> Mr. Hart offers to send a copy to any printer&#039;s<br /> reader who applies for one, but no doubt other<br /> people could secure copies by a very small pay-<br /> ment. It is in the highest degree desirable that<br /> such authoritative uniformity should be intro-<br /> duced into our books and newspapers.<br /> Mr. John Lane has issued privately a very<br /> charming reprint, by Messrs. T. and A. Constable,<br /> of Edinburgh, of the “Life of Sir Thomas<br /> Bodley, written by Himself,” after whom Mr.<br /> Lane has named his publishing house. In a<br /> preface he gives an account of the founding of his<br /> business with Mr. Mathews, and its development<br /> into its present form.<br /> M. Pierre Loti has just issued in Paris another<br /> of his dreamy descriptions of the East, under the<br /> title of “Le Désert.” Although it is not yet<br /> issued to the public, it bears upon its title-page<br /> the legend, “twenty-eighth edition.”<br /> The third volume of the complete “Edinburgh<br /> Stevenson &quot; has just appeared. It is the second<br /> volume of the sub-division “Travels and Excur-<br /> sions.” -<br /> Mr. E. F. Knight, well known for his admirable<br /> book on the Pamirs, called “Where Three Empires<br /> Meet,” has published through Messrs. Longmans,<br /> at 2s. 6d., an interesting description of the condi-<br /> tion and prospects of Matabeleland and Mashona-<br /> land, under the title “Rhodesia of To-Day.”<br /> In it he promises a history of the Chartered<br /> Company.<br /> The principal books of the past month are:–<br /> “The Life and Correspondence of Sir Bartle<br /> Frere,” by Mr. John Martineau (2 vols.: Murray);<br /> the late Mr. Walter Pater’s “Greek Studies: a<br /> Series of Essays * (Macmillan); Mr. G. A. Sala&#039;s<br /> “Reminiscences” (2 vols. : Cassell); Mr. Percy<br /> Fitzgerald’s “Memoirs of an Author’’ (2 vols. :<br /> Bentley); Mr. Gosse&#039;s new edition of Smith&#039;s<br /> “Nollekens and His Times,” with an essay on<br /> Georgian Sculpture by the editor (Bentley);<br /> “Forty Years at the Post-office,” by Mr. F. E.<br /> Baines, C.B. (2 vols. : Bentley); Mr. Horatio<br /> F. Brown’s “John Addington Symonds &quot; (2 vols. :<br /> Nimmo); volume II. of the “State Papers<br /> relating to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada,”<br /> edited by Professor Laughton for the Navy<br /> Records Society; “The Hillyars and the Burtons,”<br /> the second volume in the reprint of Henr<br /> Kingsley, edited by Mr. Clement Shorter (Ward,<br /> Lock, and Co.); and Mr. George Saintsbury&#039;s<br /> “Corrected Impressions: Essays on Victorian<br /> Writers ” (Heinemann).<br /> Mr. Edward Clodd, the President of the Folk-<br /> lore Society and of the Omar Khayyam Club,<br /> whose two little books on “The Childhood of the<br /> World” and “The Childhood of Religions” have<br /> been almost classics for years, will be represented<br /> among the authors of February by two new<br /> works of a similar size and character. The first,<br /> “A Primer of Evolution,” will be published by<br /> Messrs. Longmans; and the second, “The Story<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 247 (#261) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 247<br /> of Man,” will form one of a series in preparation<br /> for George Newnes Limited. The first of these<br /> affords an illustration of the practical working<br /> of the American Copyright Act, as it is being<br /> manufactured in America for the British market.<br /> “A Blameless Woman’’ is the title of John<br /> Strange Winter&#039;s next novel, to be published, in .<br /> one volume, at 6s., by Messrs. F. W. White and<br /> Co. early in February. It is by far the longest<br /> story that the author of “Bootle&#039;s Baby&quot; has<br /> yet written, being her first novel of three-<br /> volume length. The story is mainly a study<br /> In marriage.<br /> Messrs. Ward, Lock, and Bowden, Limited, will<br /> publish innmediately a new volume by Mr. George<br /> Meredith, entitled “The Tale of Chloe ; and other<br /> Stories.” It will consist of the famous “Lost<br /> Stories” of Mr. Meredith, without which, Mr.<br /> J. M. Barrie has said, no edition of his works<br /> can pretend to be complete. The publishers<br /> will also issue an édition de luate of the same<br /> volume, beautifully printed on hand-made paper,<br /> and artistically bound, half-parchment. Price<br /> 25s. net. A unique feature of this large-paper<br /> edition is that it will contain as a frontispiece a<br /> recent privately taken portrait of Mr. Meredith,<br /> reproduced by the photogravure process by<br /> Messrs. Walker and Boutall; also a photogravure<br /> of the Châlet at Box Hill, where Mr. Meredith<br /> does the great part of his literary work. The<br /> edition, will consist of 250 numbered copies only<br /> for England and America.<br /> The author who writes under the name of<br /> “Hilarion ” has in the press a new book entitled<br /> “Greece : Her Hopes and Troubles.” A short<br /> story, entitled “Teddy,” by the same writer,<br /> appeared in the December number of “The<br /> Monthly Packet,” and his novel, “A Jersey<br /> Witch,” has been translated into Swedish, and is<br /> now running as a serial in Norra Skane one of<br /> the chief newspapers of Sweden, in which “Gräfin<br /> Kinsky,” also by “Hilarion,” appeared some<br /> time ago.<br /> The author of “A Forgotten Great English-<br /> man,” Mr. James Baker, is about to contribute a<br /> series of articles upon Egypt to some important<br /> journals, and has just left England for that<br /> country. He sailed on the 12th ult. from<br /> Plymouth by the ss. Austral.<br /> Sir William Charley, Q.C., D.C.L., has just<br /> published (Sampson Low, Marston, and Com-<br /> pany) a historical vindication of the House of<br /> Lords, which should be read by everybody<br /> interested in the subject—by those who defend<br /> the House of Lords, and by those who wish to pull<br /> it down ; the former will find arguments, the<br /> latter will learn to moderate their statements. It<br /> is, indeed, astonishing how loose and ignorant is<br /> the common kind of talk about the House of Lords.<br /> What is claimed to be the most complete<br /> history of modern art which has ever been<br /> attempted, will shortly be published by Messrs.<br /> Henry and Co. It is from the pen of Dr.<br /> Richard Muther, keeper of the Royal collection of<br /> prints and engravings at Munich, and will be a<br /> work of considerably over two thousand pages.<br /> The title will be “The History of Modern<br /> Painting.” The story opens with the English<br /> art of the eighteenth century, and treats at<br /> length of the English painters and illustrators<br /> of the present century. France, Germany,<br /> Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Italy, Norway,<br /> Sweden, and Spain occupy a share of the<br /> author&#039;s space ; America and American painters<br /> living abroad come in for due notice ; and even<br /> the influence of Japan on European art has not<br /> been overlooked. The work will be profus-ly<br /> illustrated. It will be issued both in parts and<br /> volumes.<br /> “The Old Pastures” is the pleasant and<br /> attractive title given by Mrs. Leith Adams to<br /> her new serial story, which will begin in House-<br /> hold Words On Jan. 26<br /> In the sonnet by the Rev. John Lascelles,<br /> quoted in our last number, there is an error.<br /> In the last line, “and stooped and kissed the<br /> dust” should be “and stooped and kissed my<br /> dust.”<br /> Mr. Headon Hill, the author of “The Rajah&#039;s<br /> Second Wife, &amp;c., is correcting the proofs of a<br /> new volume of short stories shortly to be issued<br /> by Messrs. Ward, Lock, and Bowden Limited.<br /> The same author has also just completed and<br /> delivered a serial novel, written to the order of<br /> Mr. C. Arthur Pearson, of Pearson&#039;s Weekly,<br /> which will commence in August, and run through<br /> twenty issues of that journal.<br /> The “Confessions of a Poet’” (Hutchinson and<br /> Co.), by Prof. Harald Williams, is a volume of<br /> verse, the third volume which this poet has pro-<br /> duced. Most modern poets appear with a little<br /> dainty volume of tiny poems. Prof. Williams<br /> comes with a volume of closely printed lines, 500<br /> pages in length. We cannot in these pages<br /> review it as it deserves, but those of our readers<br /> who buy and read new books of verse we recom-<br /> mend to make a note of this, and not to be<br /> deterred by its length.<br /> Mr. Percival H. Almy will produce imme-<br /> diately a volume of verse called “Scintilla<br /> Carminis.” The publisher is Mr. Elliot Stock.<br /> The price of the work will be 3s. 6d.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 248 (#262) ############################################<br /> <br /> 248<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> AN AMERICAN TRIBUTE TO STEVENSON.<br /> (From the New York Daily Tribune, Jan. 5.)<br /> HE Robert Louis Stevenson memorial<br /> meeting at Music Hall last night proved<br /> to be a worthily appropriate expression of .<br /> the grief that the death of the great romancer<br /> has caused among his numerous readers and<br /> friends in this city.<br /> On the stage were the president of the<br /> evening, Edmund Clarence Stedman, and most of<br /> the vice-presidents, among whom were included:<br /> William Dean Howells, Frank R. Stockton,<br /> Laurence Hutton, Professor George Woodberry,<br /> Moncure D. Conway, David Christie Murray,<br /> Joseph B. Gilder, Brander Matthews, Professor<br /> William M. Sloane, Richard Watson Gilder,<br /> FI. C. Brunner, Charles A. Dana, Professor T. R.<br /> Lounsbury, William Winter, Rudyard Kipling,<br /> Richard Henry Stoddard, George W. Cable, E. L.<br /> Godkin, Henry Marquand, Professor Francis H.<br /> Stoddard. George Parsons Lathrop, Edward<br /> Eggleston, Walter H. Page, and many others.<br /> Mr. Stedman’s address was as follows: “Such<br /> an assemblage—in the chief city in the Western<br /> World—is impressive from the fact that we<br /> have not come together for any civic, or<br /> political, or academic purpose. I have been<br /> thinking of its significance in view of con-<br /> siderations quite apart from the sorrowful cause<br /> of our gathering. But of these this is not the<br /> time to speak. On its face, this demonstration<br /> is a rare avowal of the worth of literary invention.<br /> It shows a profound regard for the career of a<br /> writer who delighted us, a sense of loss instan-<br /> taneously awakened by the news of his death.<br /> For the moment we realise how thoroughly art<br /> and song and letters have become for us an<br /> essential part of life—a common ground where-<br /> upon we join our human love and laughter and<br /> tears, and at times forego all else to strew laurel<br /> and myrtle for one who has moved us to these<br /> signs and emotions. Yes, we are brought together<br /> by tidings, almost from the Antipodes, of the<br /> death of a beloved writer in his early prime. The<br /> work of a romancer and poet, of a man of insight<br /> and feeling, which may be said to have begun<br /> but fifteen years ago, has ended, through fortune&#039;s<br /> sternest cyllicism, just as it seemed entering upon<br /> even more splendid achievement. A star surely<br /> rising, as we thought, has suddenly gone out. A<br /> radiant invention shines no more ; the voice is<br /> hushed of a creative mind, expressing its fine<br /> inaginings in this, our peerless English tongue.<br /> His expression was so original and fresh from<br /> Nature&#039;s treasure-house, so prodigal and various<br /> its too brief flow, so consummate through an<br /> inborn gift made perfect by unsparing toil, that<br /> mastery of the art by which Robert Louis<br /> Stevenson conveyed those imaginings to us so<br /> picturesque, yet wisely ordered, his own romantic<br /> life—and now, at last, so pathetic a loss which<br /> rene WS<br /> The Virgilian cry<br /> The sense of tears in mortal things<br /> that this assemblage has gathered at the first<br /> summons in tribute to a beautiful genius, and to<br /> avow that with the putting out of that bright<br /> intelligence the reading world experiences a more<br /> than wonted grief.<br /> Stevenson was not of our own people, though<br /> he sojourned with us and knew our con-<br /> tinent from east to west as few of this large<br /> audience can know it. But a British author now,<br /> by statutory edict, is of our own. Certainly his<br /> fame is often made by the American people—yes,<br /> and sometimes unmade. Theirs is the great<br /> amphitheatrum. They are the ultimate court of<br /> review. All the more we are here “for the honour<br /> of literature;” and so much the more it is mani-<br /> fest that the writer who lightens our hearts, who<br /> takes us into some new wonderland of his dis-<br /> covery, belongs, as I say, to the world. His name<br /> and fame are, indeed, a special glory of the<br /> country that bore him, and a vantage to his<br /> native tongue. But by just so much as his gift<br /> is absolute, and therefore universal, he belongs in<br /> the end to the world at large. Above all, it is<br /> the recounter—and the Greeks were clear-headed<br /> in deeming him a maker, whether his story be<br /> cast in prose or verse—who becomes the darling<br /> of mankind. This has been so whether among the<br /> Grecian isles, or around the desert camp fires, or<br /> in the gardens of Italy; and is so when he brings<br /> us his romance, as in our modern day, from Our<br /> Pacific Eldorado, or from Indian barracks and<br /> jungle, or from the land of the Stuarts, or, like<br /> Stevenson and our own Melville before him,<br /> from palm-fringed beaches of the Southern<br /> Sëa,S.<br /> Judged by the sum of his interrupted work,<br /> Stevenson had his limitations. But the work was<br /> adjusted to the scale of a possibly long career.<br /> As it was, the good fairies brought all gifts, save<br /> that of health, to his cradle, and the gift-spoiler<br /> wrapped them in a shroud. Thinking of what<br /> his art seemed leading to—for things that would<br /> be the crowning efforts of other men seemed<br /> prentice-work in his case—it was not safe to<br /> bound his limitations. And now it is as if Sir<br /> Walter, for example, had died at forty-four, with<br /> the Waverley novels just begun. In originality,<br /> in the conception of action and situation, which,<br /> however fantastic, are seemingly within reason,<br /> once we breathe the air of his Fancyland; in the<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 249 (#263) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 249<br /> union of bracing and heroic character and adven-<br /> ture; in all that belongs to tale-writing pure and<br /> simple, his gift was exhaustless. No other such<br /> charmer, in this wise, has appeared in this gene-<br /> ration. We thought the stories, the fairy tales,<br /> had all been told, but “Once upon a time” meant<br /> for him our own time, and the grave and gay<br /> magic of Prince Florizel in dingy London or<br /> Sunny France. All this is but one of his provinces,<br /> however distinctive. Besides, how he buttressed<br /> his romance with apparent truth ! Since Defoe,<br /> none had a better right to say: “There was one<br /> thing I determined to do when I began this long<br /> story, and that was to tell out everything as it<br /> befell.”<br /> One or two points are made clear as we look at<br /> the shining calendar of Stevenson&#039;s productive<br /> years. It strengthens one in the faith that work<br /> of the first order cannot remain obscure. If put<br /> forth unheralded it will be found out and will make<br /> its way. In respect of dramatic force, exuberant<br /> fancy and ceaselessly varying imagination, on the<br /> one hand, and on the other of a style wrought in<br /> the purest, most virile and most direct temper of<br /> English narrative prose, there has been no latter-<br /> day writing more effective than that of Stevenson&#039;s<br /> longer fictions—“Kidnapped,” with its sequel,<br /> “David Balfour; ” “The Master of Ballantrae,”<br /> and that most poetic of absolute romances,<br /> “Prince Otto.” But each of his shorter tales<br /> as well, and of his essays — charged with indi-<br /> viduality —has a quality, an air of distinction,<br /> which, even though the thing appeared without<br /> signature, differentiated it from other people&#039;s<br /> best, set us to discovering its authorship, and<br /> made us quick to recognise that master-hand<br /> elsewhere.<br /> Thus I remember delighting in two fascinating<br /> stories of Paris in the time of Francois Willon,<br /> anonymously reprinted by a New York paper from<br /> a London magazine. They had all the quality, all<br /> the distinction, of which I speak. Shortly after-<br /> ward I met Mr. Stevenson, then in his twenty-<br /> ninth year, at a London club, where we chanced<br /> to be the only loungers in an upper room. To<br /> my surprise he opened a conversation—you know<br /> there could be nothing more unexpected than that<br /> in London—and thereby I guessed that he was<br /> as much, if not as far, away from home as I was.<br /> He asked many questions concerning “the<br /> States; ” in fact, this was but a few months<br /> before he took his steerage passage for our shores.<br /> I was drawn to the young Scotsman at once. He<br /> seemed more like a New Englander of Holmes&#039;s<br /> Brahmin caste, who might have come from<br /> Harvard or Yale. But as he grew animated I<br /> thought, as others have thought, and as one<br /> would suspect from his name, that he must have<br /> Scandinavian blood in his veins—that he was of<br /> the heroic, restless, strong and tender Viking<br /> strain, and certainly from that day his works and<br /> wanderings have not belied the surmise. He told<br /> me that he was the author of that charming book<br /> of gipsying in the Cevennes, which just then<br /> had gained for him some attentions from<br /> the literary set. But if I had known that he<br /> had written those two stories of sixteenth<br /> century Paris—as I learned afterwards when<br /> they reappeared in the “New Arabian Nights”<br /> —I would not have bidden him goodbye as<br /> to an “unfledged comrade,” but would have<br /> wished indeed to “grapple him to my soul with<br /> hooks of steel.”<br /> Another point is made clear as crystal by his<br /> life itself. He had the instinct, and he had the<br /> courage, to make it the servant, and not the<br /> master, of the faculty within him. I say he had<br /> the courage, but so potent was his birth-spell<br /> that doubtless he could not otherwise. Nothing<br /> commonplace sufficed him. A regulation stay-at-<br /> home life would have been fatal to his art. The<br /> ancient mandate, “ Follow thy Genius,” was well<br /> obeyed. Unshackled freedom of person and<br /> habit was a pre-requisite; as an imaginary artist<br /> he felt—Nature keeps her poets and story-tellers<br /> children to the last—he felt, if he ever reasoned<br /> it out, that he must gang his own gait, whether<br /> it seemed promising, or the reverse, to kith, kin,<br /> or alien. So his wanderings were not only in the<br /> most natural but in the wisest consonance with<br /> his creative dreams. Wherever he went, he<br /> found something essential for his use, breathed<br /> upon it, and returned it fourfold in beauty and<br /> worth. The longing of the Norseman for the<br /> tropic, of the pine for the palm, took him to the<br /> South Seas. There, too, strange secrets were at<br /> Once revealed to him, and every island became an<br /> “Isle of Voices.” Yes, an additional proof of<br /> Stevenson&#039;s artistic mission lay in his careless,<br /> careful, liberty of life; in that he was an artist<br /> no less than in his work. He trusted to the<br /> impulse which possessed him—that which so many<br /> of us have conscientiously disobeyed, and too late<br /> have found themselves in reputable bondage to<br /> circumstances.<br /> But those whom you are waiting to hear will<br /> speak more fully of all this—some of them with<br /> the interest of their personal remembrance—<br /> with the strength of their affection for the man<br /> beloved by young and old. In the strange and<br /> sudden intimacy with an author&#039;s record which<br /> death makes sure, we realise how notable is the list<br /> of Stevenson&#039;s works produced since 1878; more<br /> than a score of books—not fiction alone, but also<br /> essays, criticism, biography, drama, even history,<br /> and, as I need not remind you, that spontaneous<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 250 (#264) ############################################<br /> <br /> 250<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> poetry which comes only from a true poet.<br /> None can have failed to observe that, having<br /> recreated the story of adventure, he seemed in<br /> his later fiction to interfuse a subtler purpose—<br /> the search for character, the analysis of mind<br /> and soul. Just here his summons came. Between<br /> the sunrise of one day and the sunset of the<br /> next he exchanged the forest study for the<br /> mountain grave. There, as he had sung his own<br /> wish, he lies “under the wide and starry sky.”<br /> If there was something of his own romance, so<br /> exquisitely capricious, in the life of Robert Louis<br /> Stevenson, so, also, the poetic conditions are<br /> satisfied in his death, and in the choice of his<br /> burial-place upon the top of Pala. As for the<br /> splendour of that maturity upon which we<br /> counted, now never to be fulfilled on sea or<br /> land, I say—as once before, when the great New-<br /> England romancer passed in the stillness of the<br /> night:<br /> What though his work unfinished lies P<br /> The rainbow’s arch fades out in upper air ;<br /> The shiming cataract half-way down the height<br /> Breaks into mist; the haunting strain, that fell<br /> On listeners unaware,<br /> Ends incomplete, but through the starry night<br /> The ear still waits for what it did not tell.<br /> Half bent<br /> *- As 2-se<br /> r- - -e<br /> CORRESPONDENCE<br /> I.—How LONG TO WAIT P<br /> J.<br /> OUILD not all editors agree upon a certain<br /> C set of rules, such as these ?<br /> All MSS. to be sent with stamped<br /> addressed envelopes, months allowed for<br /> reading and decision. A proof sent upon accept-<br /> ance, and the MS. paid for at the end of the month<br /> (or some other given time). Where MSS. are<br /> not returned let a certain time be stated, after<br /> which the author may conclude that his work<br /> is cremated; or, when rejected MSS. are not<br /> returned, let it be noted that acceptance will<br /> be notified to the author within a given time,<br /> otherwise he may conclude that the MS. is<br /> destroyed.<br /> It certainly is a grievance that authors have<br /> no means of ascertaining how long they must<br /> wait for news, good or bad, of their MSS., or<br /> when they are to consider that, having a copy,<br /> they may sent it elsewhere. *<br /> II.<br /> “If I send a contribution to a paper which<br /> declines to return rejected communications, how<br /> am I to know whether it is relegated to the waste<br /> paper basket or reserved for future use? And<br /> am I at liberty, after a month say, to offer my<br /> jeu d&#039;esprit elsewhere, or must it be lost for<br /> ever ??”<br /> [There is no custom by which a contributor<br /> may be guided in such a case. The best way<br /> would be (1) always to keep a copy; (2) to write,<br /> after a month or so, and inform the editor that<br /> the author of such a paper will send it to another<br /> editor unless he hears that it is accepted. A copy<br /> of this letter should be kept.]<br /> II.-A MEMORIAL TO ROBERT Louis<br /> STEVENSON.<br /> I wish to call your attention to the following<br /> letter, which appeared in the Westminster Gazette<br /> of the 17th ult., in reference to a memorial to<br /> Robert Louis Stevenson.<br /> As “a rider” to the letter, may I suggest<br /> that a committee be at once formed, say, of<br /> half a dozen or more, of the best living names in<br /> literature, to discuss and carry out the scheme,<br /> which I think must commend itself to the<br /> followers of literature and to the public.<br /> Will you, Sir, set the ball still further rolling P<br /> THOMAS R. MACQUOID.<br /> The Edge, Tooting Common.<br /> Robert Louis Stevenson’s inimitable work will keep his<br /> memory green ; but his countless readers owe him for this<br /> work a large debt of gratitude, which they are bound to pay<br /> to his memory.<br /> This tribute, I think, should be paid not in the form of a<br /> statue or of any work of art, but rather by the founding of<br /> some institution connected with literature—which has been<br /> made so much richer by this master&#039;s work. Will not some<br /> of our leading authors and others form a committee to<br /> carry out this idea, and when a sufficient sum is collected to<br /> determine on the nature of the memorial P<br /> It seems to me a large sum would soon be raised, even by<br /> small contributions, from Stevenson’s admirers.<br /> THOMAS R. MACQUOID.<br /> The Edge, Tooting Common, Jan. I5.<br /> III.-A WHOLE ARTICLE QUOTED.<br /> Some years ago, my friend, the editor of the<br /> North China Daily News at Shanghai, requested<br /> me to write for him an account of a visit paid by<br /> me to Lord Tennyson at Farringford House,<br /> Freshwater. The article was published in due<br /> course, and the editor sent me a few reprints of<br /> it in proof form, which I have kept by me ever<br /> Sll) Ce,<br /> One evening last December I happened to take<br /> up a copy of Galignani’s Messenger. Conceive<br /> my astonishment at finding in it my own article<br /> headed “Reminiscences of Tennyson,” and intro-<br /> duced by a statement that “A correspondent<br /> sends us the following interesting account of a<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 251 (#265) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 25 I<br /> visit,” &amp;c. l I immediately wrote to the editor<br /> claiming the article as my own, inclosing slips of<br /> the original reprint from the North China Daily<br /> News, signed B., together with my card, and<br /> requesting the insertion of my protest. No notice<br /> whatever was taken, After waiting more than a<br /> week I wrote again, with precisely the same<br /> result.<br /> Now, if the editor of Galignani’s Messenger<br /> had been duped by his “correspondent,” he would<br /> surely have lost no time in exposing the fact, and<br /> doing justice to the real author. As he did not<br /> do so, am I unreasonable in attributing his dis-<br /> courtesy to the very possible fact that my article<br /> was simply “conveyed ” to the columns of the<br /> Messenger in his own office, and that his obliging<br /> “Correspondent,” is a myth?<br /> FREDERIC H. BALFOUR.<br /> Willa, Carlandrea, San Remo,<br /> Jan. 1895.<br /> Since the above was written, the following<br /> paragraph has appeared in Galignani :<br /> We are requested to state that Mr. Frederic H. Balfour,<br /> formerly of Shanghai, was the author of the interesting<br /> article entitled “Reminiscences of Tennyson,” published in<br /> our columns on the 26th ult.<br /> This explanation explains nothing. It does<br /> not acknowledge the fact that the paper was taken<br /> from the North China Daily News, and it makes<br /> it appear as if Mr. Balfour had sent the article to<br /> the Messenger.<br /> IV.-AMERICAN REPRINTs.<br /> The other day a friend, who has occasion to see<br /> some of the American papers, saw in one of them<br /> the announcement of a New York publisher offer-<br /> ing several recent successful English novels at 20<br /> cents, a copy. He wrote for four—“The Yellow<br /> Aster,” “Dodo,” “Esther Waters,” and another.<br /> I told him he had thrown his money away, but,<br /> much to my astonishment, he has just received<br /> the books. They have come through the post in<br /> an ordinary wrapper. One would like to know<br /> (1) whether this sort of thing is done to any<br /> extent; (2) whether there is any way of stopping<br /> H. J. A.<br /> it.<br /> W.—EARLY EDITIONS OF By RoN.<br /> May I ask through the columns of the Author<br /> if first or early editions of Byron&#039;s works are<br /> scarce or of any value P I have what appears to<br /> be a first edition of “The Prisoner of Chillon,”<br /> in a brown paper cover, and published in 1816.<br /> It contains an advertisement “Published this<br /> day, in 8vo., 5s. 6d., a Third Canto of ‘Childe<br /> FIarold.’” With “The Prisoner of Chillon’’ are<br /> published a “Sonnet,” “Stanzas to —,”<br /> 5<br /> “Darkness,” “Churchill&#039;s Grave,” “The Dream,”<br /> “The Incantation,” and “Prometheus.” I have<br /> also editions of “The Bride of Abydos,” and<br /> “The Giaour;” the former a second edition, the<br /> latter a fifth, published in 1813.<br /> In my edition of “Mazeppa,” which appears<br /> with “The Ode to Venice,” there is appended a<br /> weird story in prose called “A Fragment,” and<br /> dated June 17, 1816. It deals with a strange<br /> and mysterious incident, which would seem to<br /> have happened to Lord Byron himself, as it is<br /> told in his own person. I should like to know<br /> if this “Fragment” is generally bound up with<br /> Lord Byron&#039;s poems ? It is not to be found in<br /> a complete edition which I have. I do not<br /> remember seeing it anywhere else than at the<br /> end of this poem of “ Mazeppa,” printed in<br /> 1810.<br /> # may be that some readers of the Author<br /> may be able and willing to give the information<br /> I seek.<br /> CHARLES D. BELL.<br /> The Rectory, Cheltenham,<br /> Jan. I I, I895.<br /> VI.-IIITERARY PENSIONs.<br /> Would it be going outside the province of the<br /> Author, or I may say the Society of Authors,<br /> if they strive to bring before Parliament the<br /> question of literary pensions, both as regards the<br /> inadequacy of the amount at present distributed<br /> and the way it is apportioned P<br /> This matter has been forcibly brought to my<br /> mind through the call at my office some time<br /> back of a technical writer asking for a donation<br /> owing to his destitute circumstances. This<br /> gentleman some years ago wrote several impor-<br /> tant engineering books, which were accepted as<br /> standard works, and I have no hesitation in<br /> saying that they have been of absolute money<br /> value, not only to this country but to the world<br /> at large. Owing to the necessarily limited circu-<br /> lation of purely technical works it is impossible<br /> for the writers thereof to make much money<br /> directly from them, and if they have no other<br /> vocation they may, if lucky, develop into a<br /> technical publisher&#039;s literary hack—if not, starve,<br /> In a wealthy country like England the amount<br /> set apart for literary pensions, and for helping<br /> such cases as I have described, appears to me to<br /> be absolutely beggarly, and a standing disgrace<br /> when we bear in mind the vast sums that are<br /> annually lavished in other ways. Is there no<br /> way of altering this, or at any rate trying to ?<br /> M. PowIS BALE.<br /> *º-º-º-º-e<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 252 (#266) ############################################<br /> <br /> 252<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> VII.-REVIEWING.<br /> I trust you will not consider it an impertinence<br /> on my part in writing to you upon a subject<br /> which, after all, has some importance with respect<br /> to the vast reading community of England. I mean<br /> the art of criticism, and more particularly that<br /> section of it which has to do with modern fiction.<br /> It is a custom in these days, in lieu of careful and<br /> legitimate criticism, to provide a mere summary<br /> of a book, to lay bare the plot and motive of the<br /> story—the very soul and nervous system. To<br /> illustrate my point I will refer only to “The<br /> Manxman,” the thorough appreciation of which<br /> has been quite spoilt for me owing to the fact that<br /> I have already gathered from certain newspaper<br /> reviews of the story, a concise précis thereof,<br /> and in this case one&#039;s chagrin and disappointment<br /> is especially keen, because “The Manxman ’’ is<br /> unquestionably one of the noblest efforts in fiction<br /> of the present generation. Now this certainly<br /> seems to me utterly unfair, both to the author and<br /> his readers, for it must, to some extent at all<br /> events, detract from the popularity and kudos<br /> that would otherwise accrue to the former, as it<br /> very certainly lessens the ardour and interest of<br /> the latter, who is forewarned of every turn of<br /> event, and consequently misses one half of the<br /> interest in the development of character and plot<br /> as the story progresses.<br /> Surely, it is not beyond the wit of man to<br /> estimate a novel, to decide upon its quality and<br /> claims for popular favour, and so forth, without<br /> undraping and laying bare its very skeleton.<br /> *- a -º<br /> a- - -<br /> THE LATE JOHN O&#039;NEILL,<br /> E have to record the death of a member<br /> of the Society who took the deepest<br /> interest in its work, and has from time<br /> to time communicated papers of great interest to<br /> these columns. Only a few days before his death<br /> he offered the editor a collection of notes on<br /> literary matters. The following notice of his life<br /> and work is from the Times of Jan. 2 I :<br /> Mr. John O&#039;Neill, who died a few days ago at<br /> Selling, in Kent, was a man of rare and recondite<br /> erudition. He began his career in the War Office,<br /> where his ability caused him to be often selected<br /> for difficult work lying outside the routine of the<br /> department. After retiring on his pension he<br /> was selected by the Foreign Office as Accountant-<br /> General to the newly appointed British Govern-<br /> ment of Cyprus. He solved to the complete<br /> satisfaction of Sir Garnet Wolseley, the first<br /> Governor, the difficult problem of evolving order<br /> out of the complicated fiscal difficulties left by the<br /> Ottoman administration of the island. Eleven<br /> different currencies had to be dealt with and<br /> reduced to a common denomination, without<br /> injury to the revenues, to commerce, or private<br /> interests, and this task Mr. O&#039;Neill most success-<br /> fully achieved. Endowed with an exceptional<br /> faculty for mastering languages, he made a<br /> special study of Japanese, and the grammar he<br /> compiled in that difficult tongue was adopted by<br /> the Government of the Mikado when the work of<br /> reconstituting the educational system of Japan<br /> was resolved upon. For many years Mr. O&#039;Neill<br /> was a constant contributor to philological and<br /> literary journals in London and Paris; he was a<br /> recognised authority on Provençal literature and<br /> the Provençal languge, as well as on the medieval<br /> literature of France. Recently he published,<br /> through Mr. Quaritch, the first volume of “The<br /> Night of the Gods,” a work in which he em-<br /> bodied the results of his lifelong study of the<br /> origins of religions, not only among the Aryan<br /> and Semitic races, but among the Chinese, Japa-<br /> nese, and Mexicans. The second and concluding<br /> volume of this work is in the press, and will<br /> shortly be published.<br /> *– 2 --&gt;<br /> -*<br /> THE REWARDS OF LITERATURE.<br /> I have just heard from Smith and Elder about<br /> the publication of my two volumes on the Catholic<br /> Revival. They offer me 3150. In respect to<br /> “Renaissance in Italy,” I have already received<br /> £950. When, then, I have brought out these two<br /> volumes, I shall have had in all 31 IOO for this<br /> long bit of work. Allowing for periods in which<br /> I was unfit to work, periods in which I sought a<br /> change of work, I find that I have spent eleven<br /> years upon this task, and pretty hard years of<br /> daily labour. The education which enabled me to<br /> attempt it was a very costly one, and the abilities<br /> which qualified me for it, though not first-rate,<br /> were at least unusual in their combination of<br /> many-sided intelligence with acquired knowledge<br /> and literary style. I have then been paid at the<br /> rate of £100 per annum; but I must deduct at<br /> least £50 per annum from my gains for books and<br /> travel, quite indispensable to the production. This<br /> I reckon as really far below the just allowance.<br /> Say, then, I have received £50 a year during the<br /> eleven best years of life for the eaecution of a<br /> laborious work, which implied an earpensive educa-<br /> tion and unusual cast of intellect. The pay is<br /> about equal to the wages of a third-class merchant&#039;s<br /> clerk or a second class butler, the latter being also<br /> found in food and lodging.—From the “Life of<br /> John Addington Symons.https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/273/1895-02-01-The-Author-5-9.pdfpublications, The Author
274https://historysoa.com/items/show/274The Author, Vol. 05 Issue 10 (March 1895)<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=%3Cem%3EThe+Author%3C%2Fem%3E%2C+Vol.+05+Issue+10+%28March+1895%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 05 Issue 10 (March 1895)</a><a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Publication">Publication</a>1895-03-01-The-Author-5-10253–280<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=89&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=5">5</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=76&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1895-03-01">1895-03-01</a>1018950301C be El u t b or,<br /> (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors.<br /> Monthly.)<br /> CON DUCTED BY WALTER BES ANT.<br /> VoI. V.-No. 10.]<br /> MARCH 1, 1895.<br /> [PRICE SIxPENCE.<br /> For the Opinions earpressed in papers that are<br /> signed or initialled the Authors alone are<br /> responsible. None of the papers or para-<br /> graphs must be taken as earpressing the<br /> collective opinions of the committee unless<br /> they are officially signed by G. Herbert<br /> Thring, Sec.<br /> 3- ~ *<br /> = * *-es<br /> HE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all<br /> remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and<br /> requests that all members not receiving an answer to<br /> important communications within two days will write to him<br /> without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union<br /> Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered<br /> letter only.<br /> Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on<br /> all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub-<br /> jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are<br /> returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS.<br /> *— 2- --&quot;<br /> * * *-*.<br /> WARNINGS AND ADVICE,<br /> I . RAWING THE AGREEMENT.-It is not generally<br /> understood that the author, as the vendor, has the<br /> absolute right of drafting the agreement upon<br /> whatever terms the transaction is to be carried out. . .<br /> Authors are strongly advised to exercise that right. In , ,<br /> every form of business, this among others, the right of<br /> drawing the agreement rests with him who sells, leases, or<br /> has the control of the property.<br /> 2. SERIAL RIGHTS.—In selling Serial Rights remember<br /> that you may be selling the Serial Right for all time; that<br /> is, the Right to continue the production in papers. If you<br /> object to this, insert a clause to that effect. .<br /> 3. STAMP YOUR AGREEMENTS. – Readers are mos<br /> URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements<br /> immediately after signature. If this precaution is neglected<br /> for two weeks, a fine of £10 must be paid before the agree-<br /> ment can be used as a legal document. In almost every<br /> case brought to the secretary the agreement, or the letter<br /> which serves for one, is forwarded without the stamp. The<br /> author may be assured that the other party to the agree-<br /> ment seldom neglects this simple precaution. The Society,<br /> to save trouble, undertakes to get all the agreements of<br /> members stamped for them at no expense to themselves .<br /> eacept the cost of the stamp.<br /> WOL. V.<br /> 4. ASCERTAIN WHAT A PROPOSED AGREEMENT GIVEs To<br /> BOTH SIDES BEFORE SIGNING IT.-Remember that an<br /> arrangement as to a joint venture in any other kind of busi-<br /> ness whatever would be instantly refused should either party<br /> refuse to show the books or to let it be known what share he<br /> reserved for himself.<br /> 5. LITERARY AGENTS.—Be very careful. You cannot be<br /> too careful as to the person whom you appoint as your<br /> agent. Remember that you place your property almost un-<br /> reservedly in his hands. Your only safety is in consulting<br /> the Society, or some friend who has had personal experience<br /> of the agent. Do not trust advertisements alone.<br /> 6. COST OF PRODUCTION.--Never sign any agreement of<br /> which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part,<br /> until you have proved the figures. -<br /> 7. CHOICE OF PUBLISHERS.–Never enter into any cor-<br /> respondence with publishers, especially with those who ad-<br /> vertise for MSS., who are not recommended by experienced<br /> friends or by this Society.<br /> 8. FUTURE WORK.—Never, on any account whatever,<br /> bind yourself down for future work to anyone.<br /> 9. PERSONAL RISK.—Never accept any pecuniary risk or<br /> responsibility whatever without advice.<br /> IO. REJECTED MSS.—Never, when a MS. has been re-<br /> fused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises<br /> they may put forward, for the production of the work.<br /> II. AMERICAN RIGHTS.—Never sign away American<br /> rights. Keep them by special clause. Refuse to sign any<br /> agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the<br /> publisher, unless for a substantial consideration.<br /> 12. CESSION OF COPYRIGHT.-Never sign any paper,<br /> either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright,<br /> without advice.<br /> 13. ADVERTISEMENTS.--Keep some control over the<br /> advertisements, if they affect your returns, by a clause in<br /> the agreement.<br /> 14. NEVER forget that publishing is a business, like any<br /> other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy,<br /> charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with<br /> business men. Be yourself a business man. *<br /> Society’s Offices — -<br /> 4, PORTUGAL STREET, LINCOLN&#039;s INN FIELDs.<br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.<br /> I. VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive<br /> advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub.<br /> lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his<br /> business or the administration of his property. If the advice<br /> -- A. A 2<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 254 (#268) ############################################<br /> <br /> 254<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member<br /> has a right to an opinion from the Society’s solicitors. If the<br /> case is such that Counsel’s opinion is desirable, the Com-<br /> mittee will obtain for him Counsel’s opinion. All this<br /> without any cost to the member.<br /> 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright<br /> and publisher&#039;s agreements do not generally fall within the<br /> experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple<br /> to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually<br /> engaged upon such questions for us.<br /> 2:3. Send-to the office copies of past agreements and past<br /> accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in<br /> order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree-<br /> ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively<br /> so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any<br /> agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor-<br /> mation thus obtained may prove invaluable.<br /> 4. If the examination of your previous business trans-<br /> actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should<br /> take advice as to a change of publishers.<br /> 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro-<br /> posed document to the Society for examination.<br /> 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in<br /> the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish-<br /> ing firm in the country.<br /> 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you<br /> are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are<br /> reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing<br /> the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen-<br /> dence of the writer.<br /> 8. Send to the Editor of the Author notes of everything<br /> important to literature that you may hear or meet with.<br /> - 9. The committee have now arranged for the reception of<br /> members’ agreements and their preservation in a fireproof<br /> safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con-<br /> fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who<br /> will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers :-(I)<br /> To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To<br /> stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon<br /> them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments<br /> due according to agreements. .<br /> *-- ~ *-*<br /> •-<br /> THE AUTHORS, SYNDICATE.<br /> i / TEMBERS are informed : -<br /> 1. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate takes charge of<br /> the business of members of the Society. That it<br /> submits MSS. to publishers and editors, concludes agree-<br /> ments, examines, passes, and collects accounts, and, gene-<br /> rally, relieves members of the trouble of managing business<br /> details. -<br /> 2. That the terms upon which its services can be secured<br /> will be forwarded upon detailed application.<br /> 3. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate works only for those<br /> members of the Society whose work possesses a market<br /> value.<br /> 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiations<br /> whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia-<br /> tions are placed ea clusively in its hands, and that all<br /> communications relating thereto are referred to it.<br /> 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by<br /> appointment, and that, when possible, at least two days&#039;<br /> notice should be given. . . . -<br /> 6. That every attempt is made to deal with all communi-<br /> cations promptly..., That stamps should, in all cases, be sent<br /> to defray postage. * * - - - - - - - - - *, *<br /> 7. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate does not invite MSS.<br /> without previous correspondence ; does not hold itself<br /> responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice; and that<br /> in all cases MSS. must be accompanied by stamps to defray<br /> postage.<br /> 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for<br /> lectures by some of the leading members of the Society;<br /> that it has a “Transfer Department ’’ for the sale and<br /> purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a “Register<br /> of Wants and Wanted ” is open. Members are invited to<br /> communicate their requirements to the Manager.<br /> There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services<br /> will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It<br /> is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the<br /> Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in<br /> the Syndicate. -<br /> NOTICES,<br /> HE Editor of the Author begs to remind members of the<br /> Society that, although the paper is sent to them free<br /> of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very<br /> heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great<br /> many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest<br /> 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. r -<br /> The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and<br /> communications on all subjects connected with literature<br /> from members and others. Nothing can do more good to<br /> the Society than to make the Awthor complete, attractive,<br /> and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this<br /> work send their names and the special subjects on which<br /> they are willing to write P<br /> Communications for the Author should reach the Editor<br /> not later than the 21st of each month.<br /> All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether<br /> members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate<br /> to the Editor any points connected with their work which<br /> it would be advisable in the general interest to publish.<br /> Members and others who wish their MSS. read are<br /> requested not to send them to the Office without previously<br /> eommunicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable<br /> despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in<br /> which they are received. It must also be distinctly under-<br /> stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances,<br /> undertake the publication of MSS. w<br /> The Authors’ Club is now open in its new premises, at<br /> 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary<br /> for information, rules of admission, &amp;c.<br /> Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they<br /> have paid their subscriptions for the year P If they will do<br /> this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker’s<br /> order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the<br /> trouble of sending out a reminder. - - -<br /> Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the<br /> warning numbered (8). It is a most foolish and may be a<br /> most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding<br /> for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they<br /> would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five<br /> years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest<br /> or dishonest P Of course they would not. Why then<br /> hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them-<br /> selves into literary bondage for three or five years P<br /> Those who possess the “Cost of Production” are<br /> requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15<br /> per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 255 (#269) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 255<br /> of “doing sums,” the addition of three shillings in the<br /> pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding<br /> is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be<br /> added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at<br /> £948. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth<br /> as can be procured; but a printer&#039;s, or a binder&#039;s, bill is so<br /> elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at.<br /> Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged<br /> in the “Cost of Production” for advertising. Of course, we<br /> have not included any sums which may be charged for<br /> inserting advertisements in the publisher&#039;s own magazines,<br /> or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too<br /> often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from<br /> sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket,<br /> by inserting any number of advertisements in his own<br /> magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are<br /> who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those<br /> who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it.<br /> *= a -ºr<br /> wº- - -<br /> THE GENERAL MEETING OF THE<br /> SOCIETY,<br /> HE General Meeting of the Society of<br /> Authors was held on Monday, Feb. 25, at<br /> 4.30 p.m., in the rooms of the Royal<br /> Medical and Chirurgical Society, at 20, Hanover-<br /> square. Mr. W. Martin Conway took the<br /> chair, and amongst those of the committee and<br /> council to support him were Mr. Hall Caine, Mr.<br /> Rider Haggard, Mr. Anthony Hope, Mr. W. E. H.<br /> Lecky, Mr. J. M. Lely, and Mr. E. Clodd.<br /> Mr. Conway stated that as the report had been<br /> circulated to all the members of the Society he<br /> would take it as read, but would be glad to hear<br /> if any of the members present had any sugges-<br /> tions to make, or anything to say on the matter.<br /> He further stated that the work done by the<br /> Society had been very satisfactory. They had<br /> settled virtually IOO cases during the past year,<br /> and had elected 233 new members.<br /> Mr. Stuart-Glennie proposed that there should<br /> be a more detailed statement of account in the<br /> next year&#039;s report, and Mr. Conway replied that<br /> he would gladly put the matter before the Com-<br /> mittee at their next meeting.<br /> The report was then unanimously approved by<br /> the meeting.<br /> Mr. Hall Caine was then called upon to propose<br /> the following resolution :-‘‘That in the opinion<br /> of this meeting of the members of the Incor-<br /> porated Society of Authors the Canadian Copy-<br /> right Act is unjust and impracticable, and<br /> calculated to affect injuriously the interests of all<br /> authors.” Mr. Hall Caine stated his diffidence in<br /> speaking on such a subject before the meeting,<br /> as authors were more at home with the pen. He,<br /> however, pointed out what had been the legisla-<br /> tion of all civilised countries with regard to the<br /> matter of copyright. That the property of<br /> authors had after many years of considerable<br /> struggle been recognised universally to be<br /> distinct and apart from any trade considerations.<br /> Then he proceeded to point out the danger of<br /> Canada obtaining the Royal Assent to the Copy-<br /> right Bill in its present condition, and finally<br /> summed up by saying that he thought all authors<br /> should bind together to oppose the passing of the<br /> Act. -<br /> Mr. Rider Haggard seconded the resolution;<br /> discussing shortly the provisions of the Canadian<br /> Act, and pointing out the impracticability of its<br /> working.<br /> Mr. W. Oliver Hodges, who acted on behalf<br /> of the society in conjunction with the Secretary<br /> on the General Committee which was summoned.<br /> last year to consider the question of Canadian<br /> copyright, pointed out the fallacy of the licensing<br /> clause in the Canadian Act, and how unsatis-<br /> factory the collection of the royalties had been in<br /> past years.<br /> Mr. W. E. H. Lecky also spoke of the necessity<br /> of energetic action, as it was understood that the<br /> Royal assent would be given, if at all, within the<br /> next four weeks.<br /> After short speeches on the subject by several<br /> other members, the motion was put and unani-<br /> mously carried. t<br /> Mr. Stuart-Glennie then rose to bring forward<br /> the following resolution: “That the executive of<br /> the Society be now instructed to take more<br /> vigorous action in ascertaining, defending, and<br /> enlarging the rights of authors; and that a<br /> special committee be appointed to report to the<br /> Society with reference to such more vigorous<br /> action.” He referred as one of his reasons to his<br /> own case which had been before the committee<br /> during the past year. He stated, however, that<br /> he did not mean to bring the motion forward as<br /> a vote of censure on the committee.<br /> Mr. Bigelow seconded the motion on Mr.<br /> Glennie&#039;s behalf.<br /> As the Chairman (Mr. Conway) considered<br /> that the action of the Committee of the Society had<br /> been called into question, he asked the solicitors<br /> of the Society to make a short statement in<br /> defence of the action of the committee. -<br /> Mr. Emery, the Society&#039;s solicitor, pointed out<br /> how it had been impossible to take up Mr.<br /> Glennie&#039;s case; that the Society had on two<br /> separate occasions taken legal advice on the sub-<br /> ject, and finally put the issues at stake from a<br /> statement of facts prepared by Mr. Glennie&#039;s and<br /> the Society solicitors before counsel; that counsel<br /> had given it as his opinion that Mr. Glennie could<br /> not succeed. Under the circumstances, therefore,<br /> the action of the committee had been thoroughly<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 256 (#270) ############################################<br /> <br /> 256<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> justified, and there was no cause for blaming the<br /> committee.<br /> Mr. Rider Haggard then moved the rejection<br /> of the motion on the grounds of the facts stated<br /> by the solicitors, and he further pointed out that<br /> Mr. Glennie&#039;s motion virtually amounted to a<br /> vote of censure on the committee.<br /> Mr. Haggard&#039;s amendment was seconded by<br /> Mr. Douglas Sladen. -<br /> There were various other speakers, who all<br /> seemed to coincide with the opinion of Mr.<br /> Haggard that Mr. Glennie&#039;s motion amounted to<br /> a vote of censure on the committee. -<br /> Mr. Bigelow rose and stated that he had no<br /> idea in seconding the motion that a vote of<br /> Censure had been intended.<br /> Mr. Haggard’s amendment rejecting the reso-<br /> lution was then put, and was carried with but<br /> One dissentient.<br /> The proceedings then terminated.<br /> -**<br /> *<br /> LITERARY PROPERTY.<br /> I.—MUSICAL PUBLISHING.<br /> \PIE musical composer, like the dramatist, but<br /> unlike the author, has two rights in his<br /> work, the copyright and the performing<br /> right. He ought, therefore, if his work were pro-<br /> perly managed, to have two sources of income, but<br /> this is not the case. -<br /> The musical composer, like the author in<br /> the past, seems to be absolutely ignorant of his<br /> rights, and is still in shackles, bound hand<br /> and foot. The perusal of many of the musical<br /> publishers&#039; agreements in all their varieties<br /> clearly shows this. And the case is more<br /> disastrous, as the performing right and the<br /> copyright might be of great value, both being<br /> good properties, whereas for the dramatic writer<br /> the performing right is virtually his only pro-<br /> perty, and for the author of literary wares his<br /> copyright.<br /> As a matter of fact, the musical composer<br /> recklessly assigns away both his rights to<br /> the publisher in absolute ignorance of their<br /> value. What does he get in return ? For<br /> the performing right nothing, and even the<br /> publisher very seldom uses what might be a<br /> good property.<br /> This abandonment of valuable property has<br /> been going on for so long that it has almost<br /> become a recognised custom. It is not, however,<br /> too late to change the procedure, but the difficulty<br /> is for the composer to bring about this alteration.<br /> If he endeavours to do so, he is met by alternative<br /> answers from the publisher:<br /> (I) A willingness to publish on certain terms,<br /> the composer retaining the performing<br /> right;<br /> (2) A refusal to publish without the assign-<br /> ment of this right.<br /> Under case (I) the terms are generally so<br /> stringent that the composer cannot possibly<br /> accept them. If, however, he should make an<br /> agreement the question is how, to utilise this<br /> right. An intending performer calls on the<br /> publisher and states what he wants. He receives<br /> the answer at once that the performing right is<br /> held by Mr. , who will probably make a<br /> charge, whereas if he purchases from them some<br /> other composer&#039;s work they will let him have the<br /> right of performing for nothing. -<br /> It is obvious that handicapped to this extent it<br /> is impossible for the composer alone to make the<br /> alteration. There ought, therefore, to be a<br /> combination between composers and publishers.<br /> For the latter, although originally mere agents,<br /> have become through the stringency of their<br /> agreements and the carelessness of composers<br /> holders of valuable property. Such a combina-<br /> tion would be easy, as the music publishers are<br /> few, and it would not be difficult to arrange so<br /> that the outside public would be forced to pay<br /> for other people&#039;s property which they now receive<br /> gratis. The publishers would at once feel the<br /> benefit, as they are the greatest holders of per-<br /> forming rights. The composers would, it is<br /> hoped, feel the benefit in the near future, when<br /> they have come to recognise the value of their<br /> own property.<br /> The argument that the publishers—who do<br /> not care about wandering from their old and<br /> well worn track—would at once bring forward is,<br /> of course, that the public would not pay for<br /> performing rights. This argument may, however,<br /> easily be repudiated, as is shown in the case of<br /> dramatic works. The English musical public is<br /> constantly on the increase, and is as eager for<br /> some new thing as the theatrical world.<br /> These remarks on the performing rights of com-<br /> posers refer chiefly to the longer compositions, such<br /> as Cantatas, oratorios, operas. They only refer<br /> in a minor degree to songs. For the difficulty<br /> in the way of enforcing a claim in the latter case<br /> is obvious, and the charge would be small. If,<br /> however, some simple method of collection<br /> could be devised, the right is still a valuable<br /> OT162,<br /> The next question to be considered is what the<br /> composer receives for his copyright. In many<br /> cases the pleasure of seeing his work produced is<br /> considered sufficient reward. If it should chance<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 257 (#271) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 257<br /> that terms are proposed, he is offered four different<br /> kinds of agreements. These agreements may be<br /> termed:<br /> (1) The commission agreement.<br /> (2) The purchase outright.<br /> (3) The royalty agreement.<br /> (4) The half-profit agreement.<br /> But they differ frºm the ordinary book pub-<br /> lisher&#039;s agreements of these names in that the<br /> music publisher appropriates all the performing<br /> rights and copyrights, and is otherwise more<br /> stringent in his terms, and in many cases threatens<br /> the composer with non-publication unless these<br /> rights are transferred.<br /> (I) is perhaps the most unsatisfactory system<br /> for the composer, for, although the publisher<br /> undertakes to publish the work, he in reality<br /> does little more than produce it. He makes<br /> no attempt to place it before singers, does not<br /> advertise it, does not send it round with his<br /> travellers (or, if he does, does so in a half-hearted<br /> way), but lets it lie in a neat brown paper parcel<br /> on One of the shelves of his warehouse. If the song<br /> is to have a success, it must come from the result of<br /> the composer&#039;s unaided efforts; but success does not<br /> attend this method of publishing except through<br /> some extraordinary chance. In addition, the com-<br /> poser pays for the cost of production, and this<br /> is generally put at £2 or £3 more than the real<br /> cost. The total result therefore is a considerable<br /> loss to the composer and a slight gain to the pub-<br /> lisher. If, however, through the untiring energy<br /> of the composer, the song is placed before the<br /> public, the publisher reaps a fair commission, a<br /> Commission for which he has mot worked. In<br /> fact, it pays the publisher to let the song lie idle.<br /> He cannot lose, he may make a fair amount; and<br /> perhaps, if the composer subsequently becomes<br /> famous, a great amount<br /> (2) When a publisher purchases a work out-<br /> right he generally does so with the idea of<br /> making it a success. He employs all the means<br /> in his power to bring it to notice. He sends out<br /> copies to singers; he advertises it in the papers;<br /> he gets up concerts for its performance; he pays<br /> singers to sing it, or parts of it; he sees that the<br /> concerts are well reported. The consequence is<br /> very often a great success, and the composer<br /> sees the publisher making hundreds of pounds<br /> where he has only made tens, and where he<br /> cannot hope to make any more. It must be<br /> remembered that the cost of production of a<br /> Cantata or a song compared with its selling price<br /> is much less than the cost of a book, so this is<br /> much sooner covered by the sales, and the profits<br /> are consequently greater. There is only one<br /> advantage to the composer in this method of<br /> publication, and this is a deferred advantage in<br /> case he desires to place another song or other<br /> musical composition before the public.<br /> (3) The royalty system is the only one in<br /> which under the present methods it appears that<br /> the author can reap any proportionate profit.<br /> The ordinary royalty is a variable quantity,<br /> varying sometimes, but not always, with the<br /> prices of the work if it chances that the price<br /> is mentioned in the agreement, an omission which<br /> frequently occurs. In any case the royalty is<br /> always smaller than with the author when the<br /> two costs of production are compared, and<br /> especially when in the payment of these royalties<br /> seven copies count as six. In the booksellers’<br /> trade thirteen copies count as twelve, or twenty-<br /> five as twenty-four, but the iniquity of seven as<br /> six is only reached in the publication of music.<br /> * There are various other arrangements in which<br /> a royalty is paid : sometimes after the sale of a<br /> certain number of copies, sometimes after the<br /> cost of production has been govered. It is, how-<br /> ever, impossible to exhaustively discuss the<br /> different forms of agreement or to show in what<br /> proportion the royalties should be raised in<br /> arrangements where the publisher is virtually<br /> protected from loss before the composer receives<br /> any remuneration. One point, however, it is<br /> necessary to mention before leaving royalty<br /> agreements, that is, on what form of production<br /> a royalty is paid. In the case of songs and small<br /> pieces of instrumental music it is paid on the<br /> vocal part with the piano score, or on the piano<br /> score; and this is fair, for this is the only form<br /> that has a sale. The sale and hire of band parts<br /> must be small, and would hardly cover the<br /> cost of production, possibly might never do so.<br /> In the case of Cantatas, oratorios, glees, and part<br /> songs, it is paid on the vocal part with the piano<br /> score, but there is this difference between the two<br /> instances: in the latter the publisher produces<br /> the vocal parts — treble, alto, tenor, bass —<br /> separately, and sells them or hires them in this<br /> form to choral societies. As on the separate<br /> parts no royalty is paid, he, to a great extent,<br /> nullifies his own agreement with the composer,<br /> and certainly puts his interest as agent and that<br /> •ot the composer as principal at variance. The<br /> curious part of this transaction is that the<br /> publisher, in a half-profit agreement, credits and<br /> debits the accounts with the moneys expended<br /> and received on this item, but in a royalty agree-<br /> ment does not recognise the sale. The composer<br /> should always take care that the publishers’<br /> interest and his own are parallel.<br /> (4) The objections to an half-profit agreement<br /> are most serious, yet can only be mentioned in<br /> this short paper and not discussed:<br /> (1) The complication of accounts.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 258 (#272) ############################################<br /> <br /> 258<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> (2) The control of all expenditure, including<br /> advertisements, lying with the publisher.<br /> (3) The ignorance of the author of the cost of<br /> production.<br /> (4) The ignorance of the author of the methods<br /> and necessities of publication.<br /> In short, it must be stated that this form of<br /> agreement which sounds so fair is in reality the<br /> worst for the composer.<br /> Finally, it should be pointed out that there are<br /> certain elements in the cost of musical production<br /> that do not enter into the production of literary<br /> wares. The actual paper, &amp;c., is no doubt much<br /> cheaper compared with the selling price, but in<br /> the first instance the writer of the words has to<br /> be paid. His claim is generally settled by a sum<br /> paid down. In case (1) it is paid by the author;<br /> in cases (2) and (3) by the publisher; and sometimes<br /> in case (3), and always in case (4), it is brought into<br /> account before royalty or profit is paid. Then<br /> the music of songs and smaller pieces is sent out<br /> gratis broadcast. Fifty or sixty copies of a book<br /> may be sent out for review. Five or six hundred<br /> copies of songs are sent out to musical people,<br /> singers, &amp;c. Lastly, the singer has to be paid to<br /> sing the song in public ; for this he is paid by a<br /> sum down or by a royalty. All these items tend<br /> to reduce the profit in songs and pieces to which<br /> they specially apply.<br /> On the other hand, it must be taken into con-<br /> sideration that some of the musical publishers<br /> also run concerts, which are very lucrative invest-<br /> ments, for the special purpose of airing their own<br /> Wą,I&#039;êS. - -<br /> From the business point of view, however, to<br /> sum up the whole situation, musical composers<br /> are in a shocking position, and the sooner they<br /> band together either to run a new publisher or to<br /> refuse to publish except on equitable terms the<br /> better it will be for them. The old stories are<br /> still cropping up of terms settled at the pub-<br /> lisher&#039;s dinner table, the unbusiness like propen-<br /> sities of composers, and the absolute impos-<br /> sibility of getting them to sign agreements.<br /> Surely it would be an easy thing for the publisher,<br /> who is a man of business, to insist on business-<br /> like arrangements. The only deduction that can<br /> be made is that it pays him better not to do so.<br /> II.-ANGLo-AUSTRIAN COPYRIGHT.<br /> Vienna, Wednesday.—The official Gazette to-<br /> day announces that the operation of the Anglo-<br /> Austrian copyright treaty has been extended to<br /> India, Newfoundland, Natal, Victoria, Queens-<br /> land, Western Australia, and New Zealand.—<br /> Reuter.<br /> III.—EDUCATIONAL AND SCIENTIFIC Books.<br /> Of all kinds of literary profits those in educa-<br /> tional and scientific works are hardest to estimate<br /> before actual publication. There is, however, the<br /> undoubted fact that the educational branch of<br /> literary property is by far the most valuable and<br /> the most profitable. If a work dealing with some<br /> educational or scientific subject gets once an estab-<br /> lished position as a standard book for school use in<br /> England or America, the returns are constant and<br /> most substantial. There would seem, however,<br /> to be no midway between a good and substantial<br /> return and virtually no return at all. Under<br /> these circumstances it is of great importance to<br /> educational and scientific writers never to sell out-<br /> right a work which may be a mine of gold, and<br /> never, under any circumstances whatever, to part.<br /> with the copyright of such a work. It has been<br /> stated by some publishers that they will refuse to<br /> deal in any educational or scientific work unless<br /> the author will assign the copyright to them, on<br /> the ground that it is necessary, should the work<br /> prove a success, that they should be able to<br /> benefit by that success as well as the author. On<br /> the other hand, it must be remembered that it is,<br /> of the most vital importance that the author<br /> should ot lose, but should retain, the command<br /> —which he can only do by retaining the copy-<br /> right—of his work. -<br /> The following are among the reasons why an<br /> author should retain his copyright: º<br /> I. An educational or a scientific book must be<br /> altered from time to time in order to be brought<br /> up to date. New scientific discoveries may make<br /> the best book antiquated. New methods may be<br /> introduced; new theories may be advanced. The<br /> only way for the author to meet these changes is.<br /> by making corresponding changes in his book.<br /> 2. But the publisher is interested in these<br /> changes. He may be. He may not be. He may<br /> have a younger man to advance, thinking that he<br /> will be more popular. -<br /> 3. He may sell his business, or go into bank-<br /> ruptcy, or buy another man&#039;s business. In<br /> either case an author&#039;s book goes with his other<br /> Copyrights, perhaps to find himself on the same<br /> shelf with his most important rival. -<br /> It is, of course, always possible to insert<br /> clauses in the agreement by which the publisher<br /> shall have the option of producing second, third,<br /> and subsequent editions on reasonable terms.<br /> Should the publisher refuse to deal except on<br /> the condition of getting the copyright, the author<br /> should go elsewhere. - -<br /> One case, however, has come before the Society.<br /> in which a publisher fully recognised the import.<br /> ance of giving the author a free hand with regard<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 259 (#273) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 259<br /> to alterations in a scientific work, and although<br /> the author had inadvertently assigned the copy-<br /> right to the publisher, the latter consented to<br /> reassign it on consideration that he should have<br /> the option of publishing subsequent editions. It<br /> is necessary that this warning should be con-<br /> stantly before educational and scientific authors,<br /> “that they should on no account whatever assign<br /> their copyright.” They may, if they so desire,<br /> give the publisher every help and assistance with<br /> regard to the right to publish future editions,<br /> but they must make no assignment. If they do<br /> not know how to draw the necessary agreement,<br /> the Society will advise them in the matter.<br /> IV.-AN IMPORTANT CASE.<br /> H. RIDER HAGGARD AND LoNGMANs, GREEN,<br /> AND Co., complainants, against THE WAVERLY<br /> CoMPANY, defendant.<br /> (Circuit Court of the United States, District of<br /> New Jersey.)<br /> Brief of Respondents on demurrer to the Bill of<br /> Complaint. -<br /> STATEMENT. — The principal ground of de-<br /> murrer urged by the defendant is the third :<br /> “That said bill fails to show that due and law-<br /> ful notice of said pretended copyright and copy-<br /> rights was inserted as required by section 4962<br /> of the Revised Statutes of the United States in<br /> the several copies of every edition published in<br /> manner and form in said section aforesaid speci-<br /> fically set forth.” The clauses of the bill thus<br /> attacked are as follows: “Fourth.—And your<br /> orators further show that the aforesaid editions<br /> of their said copyright book, entitled ‘Nada the<br /> Lily,’ were printed from plates made within and<br /> type set within the limits of the United States,<br /> as required by law. That due notice of said<br /> copyrights and entries, and that said copyrights<br /> had been completed, was given by the Secretary<br /> of the Treasury by publication in his official cata-<br /> logues of the title entries of books and other<br /> ar icles in the weekly lists of the title of all books<br /> wherein the copyright has been completed, all of<br /> which said catalogues are ready to be produced<br /> in court. That the notice required by section<br /> 4962 of the Revised Statutes of the United<br /> States has been duly and lawfully given in the<br /> several copies of said editions so published as<br /> aforesaid.” Section 4962 of the Revised Statutes<br /> is as follows: “Section 4962. No person shall<br /> maintain an action for the infringement of his<br /> copyright unless he shall give notice thereof by<br /> inserting in the several copies of every edition<br /> published, on the title page, or the page imme-<br /> diately following, if it be a book, or if a map,<br /> chart, musical composition, print, cut, engraving,<br /> WOL. W. - *<br /> photograph, painting, drawing, chromo, statue,<br /> statuary, or model or design intended to be per-<br /> fected and completed as a work of the fine arts,<br /> by inscribing upon some visible portion thereof,<br /> or of the substance on which the same shall be<br /> mounted, the following words, viz.: “Entered<br /> according to Act of Congress, in the year 5<br /> by A. B., in the office of the Librarian of Con-<br /> gress, at Washington,’ or at his option, the word<br /> ‘ copyright,’ together with the year the copyright<br /> was entered, and the name of the party by whom<br /> it was taken out, thus: “Copyright, 18 , by<br /> A. B.’” The demurrer claims that the bill is<br /> bad because it does not in its terms declare that<br /> the copyright notice has been inserted “in the<br /> several copies of every edition published; ” the<br /> actual averment being that the notice required<br /> was “duly and lawfully given in the several<br /> copies” of the editions published as set forth<br /> in the complaint, being all the editions men-<br /> tioned therein, except defendant’s alleged pira-<br /> tical edition. Subordinate grounds of demurrer<br /> are that the book in question was not composed<br /> by a citizen or resident of the United States—<br /> which attacks the constitutionality of the Inter-<br /> national Copyright Law—and that the com-<br /> plaimants by asking, in their prayer, for damages<br /> and the delivery for destruction of the unsold<br /> copies of the piratical edition demand more than<br /> a court of equity can grant. A further ground<br /> of demurrer is alleged indefiniteness in the charge<br /> of infringement. These points will be considered<br /> in the foregoing order, which is the order of im-<br /> portance as urged by demurrant.<br /> First.—I. The requirements of the statute<br /> which are conditions precedent to the perfection<br /> of copyright are—I. Deposit before publication<br /> of printed copy of the title. 2. Deposit after<br /> publication of two copies of the book. 3. Print-<br /> ing of the prescribed notice in the copies pub-<br /> lished: (Wheaton v. Peters, 8 Peters, 591 ;<br /> Merrell v. Tice, IO4 U. S. 557; Thompson v.<br /> Hubbard, 131 U. S. 123.) It has been held that<br /> as matter of fact the requirement of notice means<br /> that the prescribed words shall be inserted in the<br /> several copies of every edition which the proprietor<br /> of the copyright, as controlling the publication,<br /> publishes : (Thompson v. Hubbard, 131 U. S.<br /> 123; Supreme Court of the United States,<br /> May 13, 1889.) Since the last-named decision<br /> the International Copyright Act has been passed<br /> (March 3, 1891), which greatly widens the field<br /> of application of copyright law. Is it still true<br /> that, to maintain an action on his copyright for<br /> infringement, a person must literally and exactly<br /> give the United States copyright notice “in the<br /> several copies of every edition published” by<br /> him P. The section in question (section 4962)<br /> IB B<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 260 (#274) ############################################<br /> <br /> 26o<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> was not altered by the Act of 1891, but was in<br /> force previously. Doubtless the possible effects<br /> of not changing this section escaped the aqtention<br /> of the legislators. For, if there be no limitation<br /> in construction put upon the words “every edition<br /> published,” an English author, for example,<br /> publishing his book not only in the United States,<br /> but also in Great Britain, or in Australia, or in<br /> South Africa, or in China, loses his United States<br /> copyright unless notice of the latter be inserted<br /> in every copy published anywhere in the world.<br /> And this will be the case, notwithstanding he com-<br /> plies fully with the English copyright laws. We<br /> submit that this is not the legal intention of the<br /> Act. That such is not the intention is evidenced<br /> by the provisions of section 4956 of the Copy-<br /> right Act, to the effect that in order to complete<br /> copyright the two copies of the book required to<br /> be deposited with the Librarian of Congress<br /> must be “printed from type set within the limits<br /> of the United States or from plates printed there-<br /> from.” And during the existence of the copy-<br /> right the importation into the United States of<br /> any book so copyrighted, or any edition or edi-<br /> tions thereof, or any plates not made from type<br /> set within the United States, is prohibited. That<br /> is to say, in order to avail himself of the protec-<br /> tion of the copyright law of the United States,<br /> the author, foreign or otherwise, must print and<br /> publish within the United States, and the impor-<br /> tation of any edition printed from type not set or<br /> plates not made within the United States is for-<br /> bidden. It matters not, then, how many foreign<br /> manufactured editions are published outside.<br /> The United States law does not protect them, nor<br /> does it allow them to interfere with books manu-<br /> factured and copyrighted here. They are ex-<br /> cluded from the consideration of the Copyright<br /> Act. Hence it would be absurd to hold that the<br /> notice required by section 4962 means, literally,<br /> “every edition published ” by the person copy-<br /> righting. It means every edition published,<br /> printed from type set or plates made within the<br /> United States—that is, every edition manufactured<br /> in the United States. This must be so, because<br /> no other editions can be made the subject of<br /> copyright law at all. * *<br /> II. It is fundamental that in the construction<br /> of statutes the whole and every part must be con-<br /> sidered. “The intention of the law-maker will<br /> prevail over the literal sense of the terms; and<br /> its reason and intention will prevail over the strict<br /> letter:” (Kent&#039;s Com., 461 ; Sutherland on Sta-<br /> tutory Construction (1891), p. 32O.) “The mere<br /> literal construction ought not to prevail if it is<br /> opposed to the intention of the Legislature<br /> apparent from the statute; and if the words are<br /> sufficiently flexible to admit of some other con-<br /> complaint P<br /> struction by which that intention can be better<br /> effected, the law requires that intention to be<br /> adopted: ” (Sutherland on Stat. Construction,<br /> p. 321, and cases there cited.) These well-esta-<br /> blished doctrines have received application in<br /> regard to the international copyright law in the<br /> United States Circuit Court, District of Massa-<br /> chusetts, in the case of Werckmeister v. Pierce<br /> and Bushnell Mfg. Co., decided Aug. 7, 1894,<br /> Putnam, J. This was the case of a painting<br /> sought to be copyrighted by a German subject,<br /> on the original of which no notice of United<br /> States copyright, as required by section 4962, was<br /> ever inscribed, although the other conditions of<br /> copyright were complied with, and the copyright<br /> notice was inscribed on the published photo-<br /> graphs of the painting. In this case the court<br /> departs from the literal reading of the statute,<br /> and holds that the intent of the law must govern,<br /> and that under construction according to the<br /> intent, it is not necessary to place the copyright<br /> notice upon the original, though the statute<br /> expressly says, that if the article be a painting,<br /> the notice shall be inscribed, “upon some visible<br /> portion thereof, or of the substance on which the<br /> same shall be mounted.” If, for the purpose of<br /> sustaining the intent of the legislators, so bold a<br /> departure from the literal sense, as in this case,<br /> may be taken in construing section 4962, how<br /> much more, in the case at bar, is a construction<br /> warranted, which alone can make the Act har-<br /> monious in its parts, and without which the<br /> whole law would become a nullity. Its purpose<br /> in securing international copyright otherwise<br /> would be entirely defeated. As a matter of fact<br /> it is not the custom to put the United States<br /> copyright notice on English editions of a work<br /> copyrighted in America. Much more unlikely<br /> would such notice be thought important in<br /> editions published in more remote countries. The<br /> result would be to make the copyright protection<br /> evidently intended to be given to works manu-<br /> factured in the United States practically null<br /> and void, and to destroy the International Copy-<br /> right Law.<br /> III. Thus much premised, are the allegations<br /> in the bill sufficient? They set up the publica-<br /> tion of the editions described, “printed from<br /> plates made within and type set within the limits<br /> of the United States, as required by law. That<br /> the notice required by section 4962 of the Revised<br /> Statutes of the United States has been duly and<br /> lawfully given in the several copies of said<br /> editions so published as aforesaid.” The only<br /> question here would seem to be will the court<br /> presume, outside the record, that there are other<br /> editions of the work than those set forth in the<br /> If it should be the fact that the<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 261 (#275) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 26 I<br /> editions pleaded constitute “every edition pub-<br /> lished,” there is, of course, a sufficient cause of<br /> action. Will the court presume otherwise upon<br /> demurrer? Reasonable presumptions are ad-<br /> mitted by demurrer as well as the matters<br /> expressly alleged : (Foster&#039;s Federal Practice,<br /> vol. I, p. 209; Amory v. Laurence, 3 Clifford,<br /> 523, 526.) But, says the court in Warfield v.<br /> Fisk (1883; 136 Mass., p. 219), “We cannot draw<br /> inferences of fact upon demurrer.” If it appear<br /> that the required notice was given in the several<br /> copies of every edition of which the court can<br /> take any cognisance, it is a “reasonable pre-<br /> sumption ” that the law has been complied<br /> with. It would be a violent presumption<br /> to assume outside the record, that there are<br /> other editions in which no notice, or defective<br /> notice, was given. The bill would be sufficient<br /> on the hearing if the facts alleged were proved.<br /> It would not be necessary even to prove literally<br /> the insertion of the notice in every copy. Pro-<br /> duction of one copy with the notice and general<br /> testimony as to the issue of the edition would be<br /> sufficient: (Falk v. Gast Lith. and Eng. Co. Ld.,<br /> 4o Fed. Rep. 168.) The contention of the defen-<br /> dant would make his pleading a “speaking de-<br /> murrer” where by argument or inference a mate-<br /> rial fact is suggested that is not alleged in the<br /> bill. Such a demurrer will be overruled: (Beach,<br /> Modern Equity Practice, vol. I, p. 265, and cases<br /> there cited.) Moreover, the copyright is per-<br /> fected by taking the three steps required by<br /> statute before and coincident with publication.<br /> Primă facie then, the copyright being perfect,<br /> the complainants are entitled to maintain their<br /> action. A copy of the record in the office of the<br /> Librarian of Congress, with the books showing<br /> the notice, make out a primá facie case against<br /> an infringer. If there has been any omission in<br /> subsequent or other editions than those pleaded,<br /> it is for the defendant to plead and prove that the<br /> complainant has by his omissions lost the copy-<br /> right he once had and which presumptively he<br /> still has. The notice is not a condition to the<br /> obtaining a copyright, but to the maintaining an<br /> action for infringement. If the facts allow it,<br /> the defendant, in case of lack of universality of<br /> the notice, must plead in abatement. He has no<br /> standing on demurrer. It may be added that the<br /> practice books giving forms of bills of complaint<br /> in copyright cases, give a pleading setting out<br /> generally that the complainants are the owners of<br /> a copyright taken out “previous to the publica-<br /> tion of the book in question, and secured according<br /> to law.” No other detail of fact is given in<br /> order to make out a primá facie case: (Beach,<br /> Modern Equity Pleading, vol. 2, p. 1281.) In<br /> Thompson v. Hubbard (131 U. S. 123), on which<br /> VOL. W.<br /> the demurrant seems to rely, the decision was<br /> rendered after the facts appeared on the trial and<br /> not on demurrer.<br /> Second.—Inasmuch as the demurrant in its<br /> brief does not insist upon the ground of demurrer<br /> questioning the constitutionality of the Interna-<br /> tional Copyright Act, the complainants will not<br /> discuss that topic at this time.<br /> Third.—There is no merit in demurrant&#039;s con-<br /> tention respecting failure to waive penalties end<br /> forfeitures. At the most the prayer of the com-<br /> plainants in this respect is surplusage. A bill to<br /> obtain relief against an infringement of a copy-<br /> right need not contain a waiver of the com-<br /> plainant’s statutory right to a forfeiture of the<br /> piratical plates: (Foster&#039;s Federal Practice (2nd<br /> ed.), vol. I, p. 175; Farmer v. Calvert Lith. Co.,<br /> I Flippin, 228.) If any part of the relief is<br /> proper, the demurrer on this point will be over-<br /> ruled. This is the latest doctrine in these cases:<br /> (Chicago, M. &amp; St. P. Ry. Co. v. Hartshorn,<br /> Treas., &amp;c., 3O Fed. Rep., 54 I (1887; Shiras, J.);<br /> Town of Strawberry Hill v. C. M. &amp; St. P. Ry.<br /> Co. et al, 4 I Fed. Rep. 568 (1890).)<br /> Fourth.-Nor is there room for argument that<br /> the charge of infringement is indefinite. The<br /> defendant is charged with having published,<br /> without authorisation, the book copyrighted.<br /> What has been copyrighted has been set forth in<br /> the bill. This is sufficient to put the defendant<br /> upon his answer.<br /> Fifth. — The questions involved before the<br /> court at this present time are purely questions of<br /> law. The defendant in his brief, has seen fit to<br /> talk “ to the galleries,” and to claim that this<br /> action was brought in bad faith, “solely for the<br /> purpose of intimidating the trade.” This autho-<br /> rises the complainants to say that there is no<br /> doubt whatever that the complainant, H. Rider<br /> Haggard (an author of no mean repute) is the<br /> author of the work “Nada the Lily;” that<br /> Longmans, Green, and Co. (the oldest firm of<br /> publishers in the world, and of undoubted re-<br /> spectability and standing) are the authorised<br /> publishers of the work; that the defendant, the<br /> Waverly Company, has published, without autho-<br /> rity, a piratical edition of this book, with the<br /> idea that through some technical lapse, the copy-<br /> right due to the complainants, and which they<br /> have believed they possess, has been vitiated ;<br /> and the said defendant is now trying to defeat<br /> complainants in the enforcement of these supposed<br /> rights upon which they have always in good faith<br /> relied. The complainants are prosecuting this<br /> action, not alone to secure their own rights, but<br /> also in behalf of the trade to ascertain, for the<br /> benefit of all, what the meaning of the Inter-<br /> national Copyright Law is, by its proper judicial<br /> B B 2<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 262 (#276) ############################################<br /> <br /> 262<br /> THE AUTHOIR.<br /> onstruction. Too important interests are in-<br /> volved for the case to be determined upon tech-<br /> nicalities; and though the complainants are<br /> advised and firmly believe the demurrer should<br /> be overruled, they ask, in case the court should<br /> take a different view, that they may have leave<br /> to amend on the usual terms; whereupon they<br /> will so amend by setting forth fully the exact<br /> facts in the case, and all collateral facts, that a<br /> full adjudication may be obtained upon demurrer<br /> before the highest tribunal, as to the meaning of<br /> the new law. Resting upon such an adjudication<br /> the entire book and publishing trade may intelli-<br /> gently shape its course. The main question<br /> involved is as to the meaning of section 4962, the<br /> complainants&#039; contention respecting which has<br /> been hereinbefore urged. Upon this point, espe-<br /> cially, the complainants pray for an authoritative<br /> expression of judicial opinion. And they asked<br /> that the demurrer in all respects be overruled,<br /> with costs.<br /> (Argued Oct. 6, 1894, before Hon. Marcus W.<br /> Acheson, at Philadelphia.)<br /> DICKINSON, THOMPson, AND MCMASTER,<br /> No. 1, Montgomery-street,<br /> Jersey City, N.J.,<br /> Solicitors for Complainants.<br /> DANIEL GREENLEAF THOMPson,<br /> No. 111, Broadway, N.Y. City,<br /> Of Counsel.<br /> W.—CANADIAN COPYRIGHT.<br /> The following letter appeared in the Times of<br /> the 26th Feb. : -<br /> “SIR,-Attention has already been called in<br /> your columns to the fact that the Canadian<br /> Copyright Bill, now awaiting the Royal assent,<br /> seriously menaces the interests of English authors<br /> and copyright owners. It is understood that<br /> a decision will shortly be arrived at on the<br /> question at issue between the Canadian and<br /> Imperial authorities. The danger being therefore<br /> imminent, those whose interests are threatened<br /> must now enter their protest against the Bill.<br /> By it any Canadian publisher will be permitted<br /> to produce, in any form and at any price he<br /> pleases, the work of any British author which has<br /> not, within one month of its first publication in<br /> this country, been reprinted and published in<br /> Canada, on the sole condition of paying a royalty of<br /> Io per cent. on the published price of the book.<br /> The officers of the Department of Inland Revenue<br /> are charged with the duty of collecting and<br /> paying these royalties, but they are specially<br /> exempted from any obligation to ‘account for<br /> any such royalty not actually collected.’<br /> “The objections to these proposals are weighty<br /> and obvious; it will suffice to indicate one or<br /> two.<br /> “The limit of one month is ridiculously insuffi-<br /> cient, and the provision suffices to deprive English<br /> authors, with the possible exception of a few<br /> writers of popular fiction, of any real copyright<br /> in Canada.<br /> “The absurd machinery which makes the Inland<br /> Revenue officials at once responsible and irrespon-<br /> sible for the collection of royalties is not new,<br /> and is of proved inefficiency. English authors<br /> and publishers can only look back with grim<br /> amusement on the futile attempt on the part of<br /> Canada to collect similar royalties on American<br /> pirated reprints with similar machinery. More-<br /> Over, in the absence of accounts, how is an<br /> English author to seek a remedy when he has<br /> reason to believe that a particular publisher has<br /> failed to make due payment P The needful<br /> evidence would not in practice be obtainable.<br /> It is true that the Canadian market is not<br /> large, nor, in the absence of a leisured and<br /> cultured class, is it likely to prove expansive. If<br /> Canada. Only were in question, English authors<br /> would probably submit to the injury likely to be<br /> caused by piracy of their works in a small<br /> literary area. But Canada does not stand alone.<br /> If this Bill becomes law, Canadian reprints will<br /> inevitably flood, as they are intended to flood,<br /> the market of the United States, and the rights<br /> which English owners of literary property now<br /> enjoy there will be seriously endangered. If, in<br /> Consequence of the action of Canada, the United<br /> States were to repeal their International Copyright<br /> Act, English authors would suffer great and<br /> irreparable loss.<br /> “In order to give united expression to the<br /> objections felt by persons whose interests are<br /> threatened by the proposed legislation, a petition<br /> to the Colonial Secretary has been prepared,<br /> which it is hoped will be largely signed<br /> during the next three weeks by authors, pub-<br /> lishers, artists, and owners of copyrights gener-<br /> ally. Copies of this petition may be obtained<br /> from the secretary of the Society of Authors, and<br /> signatures should be forwarded to him at the<br /> Society&#039;s offices, 4, Portugal-street, Lincoln’s-inn-<br /> fields, W.C.<br /> “I am, sir, your obedient servant,<br /> “W. M. ConwAy, Chairman of Committee of<br /> the Incorporated Society of Authors.”<br /> *- - -º<br /> w&quot; -<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 263 (#277) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 263<br /> NOTES FROM NEW YORK,<br /> RATHER curious survival of the old<br /> A colonial attitude towards England is<br /> demonstrated by the fact that any impor-<br /> tant series issued in the mother country is sure<br /> to be published over here; while, on the other<br /> hand, when an American series is brought out,<br /> only those volumes having more than a local<br /> interest appear in England. Thus, of the Great<br /> Commanders Series, which contains biographies<br /> of “Admiral Farragut’ by Captain A. T. Mahan,<br /> of “General Taylor &quot; by General O. O. Howard,<br /> U.S.A., of “General Jackson &quot; by James Parton,<br /> of “General Greene’’ by Captain Francis W.<br /> Greene, U.S.A., of “General J. E. Johnston ’” by<br /> Robert M. Hughes, of “General Thomas” by<br /> Henry Copee, LL.D., of “General Scott’ by<br /> General Marcus J. Wright, of “General<br /> Washington’ by General Bradley T. Johnson,<br /> of “General Lee’” by General Fitzhugh Lee, and<br /> of “General Hancock’” by General Francis A.<br /> Walker, only one volume has so far been repro-<br /> duced in England, and that was the first, which<br /> was doubtless due to Captain Mahan&#039;s own<br /> reputation. It was evident that the subject of<br /> the biography was not well known, since in the<br /> Times it was announced as “a new book by<br /> Captain Mahan, a life of the great Confederate<br /> Admiral, Farragut.” To another of our impor-<br /> tant series, that on American Men of Letters,<br /> there has just been added the biography of<br /> “George William Curtis,” by Mr. Edward Cary.<br /> This series is edited by Mr. Charles Dudley<br /> Warner, who contributed the first volume, the<br /> life of “Irving.” The other volumes are “Noah<br /> Webster,” by Horace E. Scudder; “Thoreau,”<br /> by Frank B. Sanborn; “George Ribley,” by O. B.<br /> Frothingham; “Cooper,” by T. R. Lounsbury;<br /> “Margaret Fuller Ossoli,” by T. W. Higginson;<br /> “Emerson,” by Dr. Holmes; “Poe,” by George<br /> E. Woodberry; “N. P. Willis,” by Henry A.<br /> . Beers; “Benjamin Franklin,” by John B.<br /> McMaster ; “Bryant,” by John Bigelow; and<br /> “William Gilmore Simms,” by William P. Trent.<br /> Of all these, the volumes on Cooper and on<br /> Emerson are the only two published in England.<br /> Two books of the series are model biographies<br /> —the “Cooper’ by Professor Lounsbury, and<br /> the “Poe’” by Professor Woodberry. In each<br /> case the authors took an immense amount of<br /> trouble to amass material, and then wrote a clear,<br /> concise, and comprehensive biography, which<br /> protruded no trace of the work behind it. There<br /> are soon to be added to this series the lives of<br /> “Lowell,” by Professor Woodberry, of Columbia<br /> College; “Whittier,” by Professor George R.<br /> Carpenter, of Columbia; “Motley,” by Professor<br /> Brander Matthews,<br /> Jameson; and “Parkman,” by Mr. John Fiske.<br /> This series is modelled on Mr. John Morley&#039;s<br /> “English Men of Letters,” only that the<br /> American volumes always contain a steel<br /> engraved portrait and a careful index—adjuncts<br /> lacking in the British books.<br /> An instance of failure to give “every man his<br /> due,” which would never have occurred in America,<br /> is to be found in the case of the “Great Educators<br /> Series.” This series was thought out, planned,<br /> brought out, and edited by Professor Nicholas<br /> Murray Butler. It is an international series<br /> having volumes by American, French, and<br /> British authors. It is printed in America and<br /> published here by Scribner&#039;s. Certain of the<br /> volumes have been exported to England and<br /> issued by Heinemann, and it is there known<br /> as Heinemann’s “Great Educators Series,” no<br /> mention whatsoever being made about Professor<br /> Butler&#039;s share in its production, or of its<br /> American origin.<br /> Macmillan and Co. are continuing their two-<br /> volume experiment at a dollar a volume, or 8s.<br /> for the work. This experiment was begun with<br /> “ Marcella,” and then continued with “ Katherine<br /> Lauterdale,” and now with “The Ralstons.” Mr.<br /> Crawford is the most popular of American<br /> novelists, and every new book of his sells at the<br /> rate of from 50,000 to 60,000 copies, while its<br /> immediate predecessor has a renewed sale of<br /> about Io,000. Although an American, Mr.<br /> Crawford does not know his New York as he<br /> does his Italy, and it is pleasing to note that in<br /> “Casa Braccia *-now running in the Century—<br /> he has returned to his old fields of operation,<br /> and is telling a new melodramatic tale of cos-<br /> mopolitan life.<br /> Four seasons ago Mr. T. J. B. Lincoln founded<br /> a literary club, called “The Uncut Leaves.” The<br /> club began very modestly with only a few<br /> members, who met once a month either at each<br /> other&#039;s houses or in a small hall hired for the<br /> occasion, where they listened to authors of various<br /> nationalities read from their unpublished manu-<br /> scripts. The success of this venture has been so<br /> great that the club now has several hundred<br /> members enrolled on its lists, and a suite of rooms<br /> is engaged for its monthly meetings at one of the<br /> best known halls in New York. Six readings are<br /> given during a season, and prominent men of<br /> letters are most happy to read or talk before such<br /> a sympathetic audience as is found gathered<br /> together on these occasions. Strangers are<br /> heartily welcomed, and Mr. Christie Murray has<br /> twice been present at the meetings, and each time<br /> succeeded in amusing the members. Mark Twain,<br /> Edward Eggleston, Mrs.<br /> Wiggin, and Mr. H. C. Bunner have all either<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 264 (#278) ############################################<br /> <br /> 264<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> read or spoken before the club this winter or last.<br /> There are no committees, nor is there even a<br /> president to run the club, Mr. Lincoln under-<br /> taking all the work, such as getting the speakers,<br /> fixing dates, hiring the hall, seeing to the<br /> announcements, and even constituting himself<br /> treasurer and presiding officer for the introduc-<br /> tion of the readers.<br /> An experiment has recently been tried by Mr.<br /> Alexander Black, who is both an amateur photo-<br /> grapher and a journalist. It is a form of enter-<br /> tainment which he calls a “picture play.” Mr.<br /> Black has written a story entitled “Miss Jerry,”<br /> which he reads to his audience, giving each<br /> character its own individuality by a slight change<br /> in his voice. At the same time numerous photo-<br /> graphs, which illustrate the many situatiºns, are<br /> thrown by a magic lantern slide on a large sheet.<br /> The plot of the story is a mere thread on which is<br /> strung many incidents that introduce well-known<br /> people. Miss Jerry is a bright, vigorous girl,<br /> who takes up the business of reporter as a con-<br /> genial means of livelihood, and her adventures in<br /> that capacity form the basis of the plot, around<br /> which is woven a slight love story. Mr. Black<br /> has been to much pains to make his photographs<br /> as realistic and natural as possible, and thus we<br /> See Miss Jerry boarding an elevated train, inter-<br /> viewing Mr. Chauncey Depew in his office, visiting<br /> the slums, and taking part in a brilliant ball.<br /> These are only a few of the many sides of New<br /> York that Mr. Black has written about and<br /> depicted. Whether this venture will prove a<br /> lasting success it is impossible to say, but that it<br /> is a mºst enjoyable form of entertainment, and<br /> has many as yet undeveloped possibilities in it, is<br /> very evident. -<br /> The travelled American has often stated that<br /> he wondered why no American periodical had as<br /> large a circulation as the Strand Magazine. As<br /> a matter of fact, two of our periodicals have over<br /> three-quarters of a million circulation, yet neither<br /> of them is published in New York, the centre of<br /> the publishing trade. The papers referred to are<br /> the Ladies&#039; Home Journal, issued in Philadelphia,<br /> and the Pouth&#039;s Companion, issued in Boston. It<br /> was on the former of these that the English<br /> Woman at Home was modelled. The Ladies’<br /> Home Journal is a monthly of thirty or forty<br /> pages of the size of the Illustrated London News,<br /> and its sale is principally outside this metropolis,<br /> for it aims to appeal to a more provincial audience.<br /> From its title it would be judged exclusively a<br /> woman’s paper, but this is not the case. There<br /> are always running through the year some articles<br /> especially applicable to men, such as the series<br /> called “When He is Sixteen,” articles written by<br /> four prominent women on all that concerns a boy<br /> at that age—his studies, amusements, choice of<br /> professions, &amp;c. Now a new series has been begun<br /> entitled one month “The Woman Who Has Most<br /> Influenced Me,” and the next “The Man Who Has<br /> Most Influenced Me ;” these naturally are written<br /> alternate months by men and women. The<br /> monthly always contains at least one serial story,<br /> and it was in this paper that Mr. Howell’s<br /> “Coast of Bohemia’’ appeared, and also Mr.<br /> Stockton’s “Pomona&#039;s Travels;” and there is,<br /> besides, generally a short story or two. A most<br /> delightful series of articles are now being written<br /> for it by Mr. Howells on “My Literary Passions.”<br /> The editorials are always timely, and on some<br /> broad subject. Besides this there are articles of<br /> general interest, comic or otherwise, and a poem<br /> or two. Another feature of this paper is the<br /> separation of the departments for answering<br /> correspondents, divided under the heads of<br /> “Floral Helps and Hints,” “Side-Talks with<br /> Girls,” “Hints on Home Dressmaking,” “Sug-<br /> gestions for Mothers,” “Art Help for Art<br /> Workers,” “Literary Queries,” and, lastly, “The<br /> Open Congress;” these (i.epartments are all under<br /> the direction of what might be called specialists.<br /> The illustrations and printing are both of a high<br /> order, and it would be hard to cite a periodical<br /> that has more widespread influence—an influence<br /> which is elevating both morally and intel-<br /> lectually.<br /> The Youth&#039;s Companion is a paper of an<br /> entirely different stamp, and with a different<br /> mission to fulfil. It is a wholesome weekly of<br /> good literary style, designed for readers of both<br /> sexes from fourteen to twenty-four years.<br /> Amongst its announcements for 1895 appear<br /> the following: A paper on “Nursing,” by<br /> Princess Helena of Schleswig-Holstein, and an<br /> account of a sculptor&#039;s work, called “The Story<br /> of a Statue,” by Princess Louise (Marchioness of<br /> Lorne); an article on the “Recollections of My<br /> Physician,” by Mr. Gladstone; a reminiscent<br /> account by Mr. J. M. Barrie, entitled “A School<br /> Revisited;” an article by Mr. Rudyard Kipling,<br /> “The Bold &#039;Prentice;” a speculative paper, “If<br /> Telescopes were Bigger,” by Camille Flammarion;<br /> an article on “How to Tell a Story,” by Mark<br /> Twain, and one on “An Editor&#039;s Relations with<br /> Young Authors,” by Mr. Howells; also “Bits of<br /> Scottish Character,” by the late Robert Louis<br /> Stevenson. From this array of names it is easy<br /> to see that the taste of the American youth is as<br /> much considered as that of his seniors. Indeed,<br /> we are singularly lucky in the type of our<br /> juvenile periodicals, for Harper&#039;s Young People<br /> and St. Nicholas have enormous circulations and<br /> much influence, and both have very high<br /> standards of literary and artistic merit. Thus<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 265 (#279) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 265<br /> the young American mind is not only catered to,<br /> but elevated.<br /> A circular has recently been sent around to the<br /> various members of the writing craft that a table<br /> of statistics concerning newspaper reviews had<br /> been made, and that the New York Times “led<br /> all the rest &quot; in regard to the number of books<br /> criticised in its columns, and in regard also to the<br /> space it devoted to literature. On looking through<br /> the table, it is surprising to find that of the 419<br /> American and British works appearing during the<br /> period of Oct. I to Dec. 31, 1894, the Times has<br /> actually reviewed 277, and that these reviews<br /> have occupied 117 columns. The promptness<br /> with which these reviews appeared after the<br /> publication of the books is also much to be com-<br /> mended—out of the 277, at least 240 were reviewed<br /> within a month. The statistical pamphlet is<br /> arranged in alphabetical order as regards the pub-<br /> lishers, and thus, as an example, out of the<br /> fifteen books issued by Longmans, Green, and<br /> Co., the Times reviewed eleven, and devoted<br /> fifty and one-half columns to them, whereas the<br /> Tribune reviewed five of them, the Post four, and<br /> the Sun only two. But, on the other hand, the<br /> JPost has far more book advertisements than the<br /> Times; sometimes it has as many as three pages.<br /> It is a great convenience to authors and publishers<br /> to know where books are most likely to receive<br /> prompt attention, and so this table of statistics is<br /> welcome.<br /> Ibsen&#039;s latest play “Little Eyolf’’ has just<br /> been published by Stone and Kimball, of Chicago,<br /> in the Green Tree Library. The volume is a<br /> dainty specimen of bookmaking, being tastefully<br /> and well bound, of a convenient size, and printed<br /> with care and thought. It has been most warmly<br /> received. It is interesting to note how curiously<br /> alike it is in subject to Mrs. Margaret Deland’s<br /> recent novel, “Philip and His Wife.” Although<br /> differing in every detail and in most of the inci-<br /> dents, yet the two books are almost parallel in<br /> the problem they present. It is a pleasure to<br /> announce that Mrs. Deland’s book has been<br /> deservedly a great success, and is already in its<br /> fifth edition.<br /> It is astonishing how the “Trilby’’ boom keeps<br /> up, and even seems on the increase. Word has<br /> come from Harper and Brothers that so far in<br /> printing the book IOO tons of paper have been<br /> used. It is a great pleasure to mention the fair-<br /> ness with which Harpers have dealt with Mr.<br /> Du Maurier. Upon accepting “Trilby,” the<br /> publishers, believing in the book, offered Mr.<br /> Du Maurier a very handsome royalty; but the<br /> author preferred a lump sum in proportion to<br /> their belief in the book, which was very great.<br /> Now, seeing the enormous success of the story,<br /> : Hugo&#039;s remarks.<br /> Harper and Brothers have notified Mr. Du<br /> Maurier that from Jan. I of this year he<br /> will receive a royalty, and not only a royalty on<br /> “Trilby,” but also on “Peter Ibbetson,” for<br /> which they had also paid a large sum down, but<br /> which has been lately carried along by the success<br /> of its author’s more recent book. A parody has<br /> just appeared, entitled “Biltry,” and the drama-<br /> tisation of “Trilby &quot; by Mr. Paul Potter<br /> is quite completed, and Mr. A. M. Palmer<br /> expects to produce it on March 4 in Boston. A<br /> “Trilby’’ afternoon has been arranged in aid of<br /> the New York Kindergarten Association. There<br /> are to be tableaux, taken from the illustrations,<br /> and all the songs mentioned in the story will be<br /> sung—thus it will be seem that “Trilby’’ has<br /> taken New York hearts by storm. One of the<br /> latest jokes current at present is the answer<br /> which supposedly appeared in a paper to an<br /> anxious inquirer—“No, Napoleon did not write<br /> ‘Trilby;” you have confused the magazines.”<br /> HALLETT ROBINSON.<br /> *~ - ~-&#039;<br /> r—- - ---,<br /> LETTER FROM PARIS,<br /> AM writing this in the melancholy of the<br /> loss of our dear Auguste Vacquerie, a<br /> friend of twelve years&#039; standing, a very<br /> kindly man, who, for his way of life, was one<br /> to be looked up to in this career of ours. He<br /> was in every sense of the word a gentleman of<br /> letters, and these are few in France.<br /> The first time that I met Auguste Vacquerie was<br /> twelve years ago, at the house of Victor Hugo,<br /> whose inseparable companion he was. Of the<br /> two poets, the disciple—for Vacquerie always pro-<br /> claimed himself but the disciple of Victor Hugo—<br /> haddecidedly the superior distinction, and, to con-<br /> fess the truth, I listened with far more interest to<br /> the things that he said that night than to Victor<br /> I frequently met him after-<br /> wards at the same house, and was on one occasion<br /> invited to call and see him at his own home, a<br /> fine mansion in the Rue Durmont d&#039;Urville. I<br /> called there one morning and found Vacquerie in<br /> bed, for, as he told me, he never rose till noon.<br /> “I wake at seven,” he said, “and immediately<br /> read all the morning papers ”—the floor of the<br /> bedroom and the counterpane of the bed were<br /> strewn with gazettes—“ and when I have read<br /> all the news, I write my daily article for the<br /> Rappel.” By the bedside stood a little table,<br /> with writing materials on it, and a bowl<br /> of bouillon, in draughts of which the editor<br /> sought inspiration. His process was different from<br /> that of Victor Hugo, and indeed he remarked on<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 266 (#280) ############################################<br /> <br /> 266<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> this, for Hugo always wrote standing, imitating<br /> Voltaire in this respect. “But,” said Vacquerie,<br /> “I am only a disciple.” Ithink that it was a pity<br /> that he contented himself with his position of<br /> disciple and imitator of Hugo, for he had decided<br /> originality and a particular sweetness of style,<br /> which would have sufficed to give him an excellent<br /> standing of his own in French literature. I shall<br /> never forget the kindness of his reception of me<br /> on that occasion, miserable little journalistic hack<br /> that I was at the time. He insisted on keeping<br /> me to breakfast, and after breakfast showed me<br /> over his art collection. I remember with what<br /> glee he pointed to a Delacroix, a picture of the<br /> good Samaritan, which he had bought for<br /> 50 francs, “a picture worth a hundred times that<br /> sum to-day.” He pressed me to return and see<br /> him, and I did so once or twice, but it is now a<br /> long time since I saw him last. I contented my-<br /> self with being his contemporary, and liked to<br /> think that there was a kindly Auguste Vacquerie,<br /> who was well disposed towards me, living in<br /> Paris. One has many friends like that. And<br /> now he is dead and buried, and I shall never<br /> see him again Paris seems different to me<br /> to-day.<br /> I noticed that several papers commented on the<br /> divorce between Jeanne Hugo and Léon Daudet<br /> with comments which were unjustifiable. Thanks<br /> to the excellent French law in this matter,<br /> no particulars of divorce cases may be published<br /> in the French papers—a law that might well be<br /> introduced, in despite of the penny and half-<br /> penny editors, into England—and, as In conse-<br /> quence nobody except the friends of the family<br /> knew anything about the case, nobody was in a<br /> position to comment upon it. It was a mere case<br /> of incompatibility of temper, and, though<br /> separated, the two ex-spouses have remained<br /> excellent friends. This is a good thing for the<br /> sake of the little boy, Victor Hugo’s great-grand-<br /> SOIl.<br /> I had expected to be able to give a description<br /> in this letter of the banquet which was to be<br /> given on Friday last to Edmund de Goncourt by<br /> his friends and admirers. In consequence, how-<br /> ever, of the sudden and regretted death of<br /> Auguste Vacquerie, M. de Goncourt wrote<br /> to the organisers of the banquet to ask them<br /> to postpone it till the following week. This<br /> being so, I fail to understand why certain French<br /> journalists have pointed to this postponement as<br /> another proof of the persistent bad luck which<br /> has pursued the de Goncourts through life. It<br /> is true that their first book was killed by the fact<br /> that it was published on the very day on which<br /> the coup d&#039;état was carried out in Paris, and<br /> consequently passed unnoticed ; but since then<br /> Having done so,<br /> fortune has, in my opinion at least, made ample<br /> reparation to the surviving brother. He holds a<br /> unique place in French literature, and will remain<br /> standing after many of the apparently more<br /> fortunate ones have been swallowed up in<br /> obscurity. Certainly his books have not sold by<br /> the hundred thousand, but that is a circum-<br /> stance on which so perfect an artist may rather<br /> congratulate himself.<br /> I am greatly interested at present in the<br /> writings of the German philosopher Nietzsche,<br /> which are being greatly read in Paris. The<br /> writer, I am sorry to say, will be silent hereafter,<br /> for his brain has given way, and he is confined in<br /> some German madhouse. Possibly this may be a<br /> subject for congratulation, for it is evident, from<br /> the direly pessimistic tone of his enunciations,<br /> that he was a very unhappy man—a Schopenhauer<br /> without Schopenhauer’s obvious insincerity—a<br /> Leopardi without the consolation of the poet’s<br /> art; and where ignorance is bliss—you know<br /> the rest<br /> The following is one of Nietzche&#039;s sayings<br /> about bad books: “Das Buch soll nach Feder,<br /> Tinte und Schreibtisch verlangen: aber gewöhnlich<br /> verlangen Feder, Tinte und Schreibtisch nach.<br /> dem Buche. Deshalb ist es jetzt so wenig mit<br /> Büchern.”<br /> The study of pessimism is an excellent one for<br /> young people. Pessimism is a disease, which,<br /> like measles, attacks everybody at least once in a<br /> lifetime. It is well to inoculate oneself with it<br /> early in life, so as to be protected against it at a<br /> time when it might less easily be borne. Ten years<br /> ago I was the gloomiest of melancholy Jacques.<br /> To-day the world seems a charming place to live<br /> lll.<br /> Amongst my papers I find the following auto-<br /> graph letter from William Wordsworth. It has<br /> never been printed before, and so I give it.<br /> Things have not greatly changed in the matter<br /> of poetry since the day on which it was<br /> written :<br /> MY DEAR SIR,<br /> Very pressing engagements have prevented me.<br /> looking over the MSS. you sent me till this evening.<br /> and remembering your conversation<br /> with me upon the subject, it seems unnecessary that I<br /> should say more than that the verses in some respects do<br /> much credit to their author, and show an easy command of<br /> language and are not deficient in harmony; and the story of<br /> the tale, though not having much novelty in it, is agree-<br /> able.<br /> I mention to you what is apparent enough, that poetry is<br /> not much in favour with the public at present, and there-<br /> fore if I thought these specimens of merit much superior to<br /> what, candidly speaking, I reckon them to be, I could not<br /> feel confident that their publication would be profitable to<br /> the writer.<br /> I must add, however, on the other side, that, as tastes and<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 267 (#281) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 267<br /> fancies are so various, it is impossible to foresee what would<br /> or would not succeed.<br /> - I remain, my dear sir,<br /> Faithfully yours,<br /> WM. WORDSwor&#039;IH.<br /> Rydal Mount,<br /> Jan. 28, 1841.<br /> Wordsworth used to be overwhelmed with<br /> MSS. from all parts of the world—an experience<br /> common to most writers whose names are known<br /> to the public. A whole room in Rydal Mount<br /> was set aside for the storage of these manuscripts,<br /> but, in spite of every precaution, many used to get<br /> lost. I remember my mother telling me that<br /> when she was quite a little girl, and was staying<br /> at Rydal Mount, she was one morning greatly<br /> upset by a pathetic letter from some poet in the<br /> South of England, who wrote saying that he had<br /> sent a long epic to Wordsworth some months<br /> previously, and that, though he had applied for<br /> its return several times, he had never received<br /> any answer. He added that all his hopes in this<br /> world were based on that epic, and implored for<br /> its return. She spent all that day, and the next<br /> day too, in looking for this manuscript, but was<br /> unable to find it. In the end she selected from<br /> a pile of poems, which for some reason or other<br /> could not be returned to their writers, one which<br /> was also an epic, and of about the same length<br /> as the missing one, and sent it to the poet, saying<br /> that she hoped that this one would as well. She<br /> inclosed in the letter the sum of half-a-crown,<br /> the whole contents of her savings-box, and asked<br /> the poet to accept this as a solatium. He was<br /> apparently satisfied, for he never wrote again.<br /> Speaking of the old days reminds me that a<br /> day or two ago I was looking over a book of<br /> accounts, which was kept in the house of an<br /> English nobleman, in the years 1622-23-24.<br /> It is most methodically kept, and includes every<br /> penny that was spent in that family during that<br /> period. The items vary from “Almesmonie,” as,<br /> for instance, “Item given to the prisoners in the<br /> Fleet,” or “Item given to my sister Anna Walker<br /> to helpe to buy her a wedinge gown,” to<br /> “Chardges in Travell,” &amp;c. I have read all the<br /> items through without finding that during those<br /> three years there was spent in that nobleman&#039;s<br /> family a single penny on literature in any shape<br /> or form, and this in spite of the fact that<br /> periodical visits were paid by his lordship and<br /> family to town. Things have certainly improved<br /> in England since those days, and fortunate it is<br /> for us who write that this is so.<br /> Is it not a pity that the very best portrait of<br /> our gentle Stevenson should be in America, and<br /> that there is little chance of its ever being seen in<br /> England again P. This is the portrait painted by<br /> Mr. Alexander, of Paris, whom many consider,<br /> with Whistler and Sargent, the finest portrait<br /> painter in the world. More than this, it is, next<br /> to his remarkable portrait of Walt Whitman, the<br /> painter&#039;s best work. What good portraits of<br /> Stevenson are there in England for our great-<br /> grandchildren to look at P<br /> Any publisher or editor who wants a cheap<br /> advertisement need only follow the example of<br /> various American editors and publishers in offering<br /> fantastic sums to Count Tolstoi for the right of<br /> publishing his new works. Tolstoi always refuses<br /> any dealings with his books and so no risk is run<br /> and Messrs. Puff, Quack, Réclame, and Co., of<br /> Paternoster-row, can safely offer him 2 dollars<br /> a letter for his work, as the American publisher<br /> did the other day. Nay, they might offer<br /> £10 a word, provided that they let the fact be<br /> known, and the paragraphists would do the rest.<br /> Are we not all very glad of the great success of<br /> Mr. Sala&#039;s last book—the most entertaining set of<br /> memoirs which has appeared for some years P. It<br /> is a book that every literary aspirant should read<br /> for his encouragement—the story of a brave life in<br /> a hard career of persistent heroism. One is proud<br /> to be the confrère of such a man.<br /> Daudet&#039;s new book, “La Petite Paroisse,” is a<br /> very clever study of jealousy—a passion much<br /> à la mode for literary treatment in Paris just<br /> now. Lemaître expounds it after his fashion in<br /> “Le Pardon ’’ at the Comedie. In the copy which<br /> Daudet sent me he wrote that he hoped I had<br /> been jealous, so that I might tell him if his book<br /> were true. I was glad to be able to tell him that,<br /> since childish jealousies in the matter of tops or<br /> tarts, I had never experienced that feeling which<br /> is said to be the only mental suffering which is a<br /> physical suffering at the same time. I under-<br /> stand that jealousy produces a very painful<br /> feeling below the breastbone, as when one has<br /> eaten too many blackberries. These are not<br /> sensations that I run after. Daudet&#039;s hero suffers<br /> badly, but is very brave through it all, and here<br /> again Daudet has shown that, in spite of all, he<br /> will look on the bright side of life, and on what is<br /> good in human nature. This is what is so<br /> excellent in his work. -<br /> I was very sorry to hear of the death of John<br /> O&#039;Neill, announced in last month&#039;s Author. I<br /> had never met him, but just before I last left<br /> London I received a very kind and encouraging<br /> letter from him, which came at a time when I<br /> was extremely despondent. Letters like that are<br /> a blessing to struggling authors. I had hoped<br /> to thank John O&#039;Neill for writing to me in<br /> person, and now that can never be.<br /> Marcel Schwob’s translation of “Moll Flanders”<br /> is the book of the season in Paris, next to<br /> Daudet&#039;s latest. Schwob has an excellent know-<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 268 (#282) ############################################<br /> <br /> 268<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> ledge of English literature, and is the personal<br /> friend of many of our leading writers. We<br /> English owe him a debt of gratitude for his<br /> championship of English literature in a country<br /> where people are singularly ignorant of its<br /> beauties. RobºFT H. SHERARD.<br /> I23, Boulevard Magenta, Paris.<br /> *- -*<br /> - * *-y<br /> NOTES AND NEWS,<br /> E need merely chronicle here the elections<br /> of Mr. W. Martin Conway as chairman<br /> of the committee of management, and of<br /> Mr. Anthony Hope Hawkins as a member of the<br /> council and of the committee of management.<br /> A brief report of the general meeting of the<br /> Society, which was held in the room of the<br /> Medical and Chirurgical Society, on the afternoon<br /> of the 25th ult., will be found in another column.<br /> We wish to call the attention of members to the<br /> resolution moved by Mr. Hall Caine and seconded<br /> by Mr. Rider Haggard, relating to Canadian<br /> Copyright. In another column will be found<br /> the Chairman&#039;s invitation to members to sign the<br /> petition which has been drawn up, and is lying<br /> for signature at the offices. It should be borne<br /> mind that the threatened legislation would<br /> destroy the homogeneity of British copyright,<br /> and would jeopardise the whole of the benefits<br /> resulting from American copyright. The danger<br /> is real and urgent, and members are invited to<br /> send in their names forth with.<br /> A communication addressed by Mr. R. Under-<br /> wood Johnson, the secretary of the American<br /> Copyright League, to the (New York) Evening<br /> Post is disquieting. From this it appears that a<br /> Copyright Bill has been introduced and reported<br /> by the Committee on Patents with a proviso which<br /> limits the total sum to be recovered under the<br /> statute (sect. 4965, ch. 3, title 60) to double the<br /> value of the “thing infringed upon,” &amp;c. Mr.<br /> Johnson enters a protest against this reform on<br /> many grounds, and points out that the proviso<br /> extends so as to cover literary as well as artistic<br /> work, so that, while this legislation is ostensibly<br /> intended to protect innocent infringers of photo-<br /> graphic copyright from blackmailing proceedings,<br /> it promises to enable any pirate to copy any<br /> periodical matter, whether literary or artistic,<br /> with comparative impunity.<br /> Though belated, for reasons which need not be<br /> explained, we lay a wreath upon the grave of<br /> Christina, Rossetti, The words found in another<br /> column are written by one who knew her. These<br /> are the occasions on which the mere critic, even<br /> the admiring or the reverential critic, must stand<br /> aside to let those speak who had the privilege of<br /> knowing the dead poet.<br /> *– ~ *<br /> e- - -<br /> THE LOSSES IN LITERATURE, 1894.<br /> BIE losses in literature, which have been both<br /> numerous and severe, include Professor<br /> James Anthony Froude, LL.D. ; Mr.<br /> Robert Louis Stevenson; Mr. Walter Pater; Dr.<br /> Oliver Wendell Holmes ; Professor William<br /> Robertson Smith, D.D., LL.D. ; Professor Henry<br /> Morley, LL.D.; Rev. Richard Morris, LL.D.; Sir<br /> James F. Stephen, the legal writer and essayist;<br /> Sir Austen H. Layard, of Nineveh fame; Miss<br /> Christina Georgina Rosetti; Professor John<br /> Nichol, biographer and poet, late Professor of<br /> English Literature in Glasgow University; Dr.<br /> John Weitch, Professor of Logic and Literature in<br /> Glasgow University; M. Leconte de Lisle, the<br /> distinguished French poet; the Comtesse Agenor<br /> de Gasparin; Professor William Dwight Whitney,<br /> the philological and Orientalist author; Mr.<br /> Edmund Yates ; the Hon. Roden Noel ; Mr.<br /> Charles H. Pearson, LL.D., the constitutional<br /> writer; Mrs. Augusta Webster; Mr. R. M.<br /> Ballantyne, the popular story writer; M. Maxime<br /> du Camp, the French author and academician;<br /> Professor James Darmesteter; Dr. George<br /> Bullen, formerly keeper of the Printed Books at<br /> the British Museum; Mr. William T. M&#039;Cullagh,<br /> Torrens; Miss Alice King, the blind novelist ;<br /> Rev. R. Brown-Borthwick, the hymnologist; Mr.<br /> George Ticknor Curtis; Rev. Alexander J. D.<br /> D&#039;Orsey; Rev. Edmund S. Ffoulkes; Dr. Brian<br /> Houghton Hodson, the Orientalist writer; F. W.<br /> Weber, the Prussian poet ; Dr. Francis Henry<br /> Underwood ; Señor Oliveira Martins, the eminent<br /> Portuguese historian ; Mr. John Francis Waller,<br /> LL.D.; Miss Elizabeth Peabody; Dr. H. W.<br /> Dulcken ; Miss Constance Fenimore Woolson;<br /> Dr. Terrien de Lacouperie, the Orientalist writer<br /> and scholar ; Dr. John Lord, LL.D., the his-<br /> torian; M. Armand Pagès, the French novelist;<br /> Dr. James M&#039;Cosh, the philosophical writer;<br /> Captain Lovett Cameron ; Mrs. Pitt-Byrne; Mrs.<br /> Jane Austin, the American authoress; Miss<br /> Sophia Dobson Collett, writer on Theism and<br /> Atheism; Miss E. Owens Blackburne, the Irish<br /> novelist; the Rev. Robert Anchor Thompson,<br /> historical writer; Miss Patton-Bethune, writer of<br /> sporting novels; M. Dugast-Matifeux, an eminent<br /> French antiquary ; Rev. J. Hamilton Thom ; Rev.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 269 (#283) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 269<br /> John Nassau-Simpkinson; Ludwig Pfau, the<br /> German poet and art critic; Mrs. Augusta<br /> Theodosia Drame, a well-known Roman Catholic<br /> writer; M. Victor Fournel, the literary critic;<br /> Mr. Andreas Edward Cokayne, antiquarian<br /> writer; Professor Karl Dillmann the emi-<br /> ment Ethiopic writer; Mr. Thomas George<br /> Stevenson, an Edinburgh author and publisher;<br /> M. Foucaux, Professor of Sanskrit at the Collège<br /> de France; M. Astié, Professor of Philosophy at<br /> Lausanne ; the Rev. Naphthali Levy, Jewish<br /> writer; Mr. Walter H. Tregellas, a Cornish<br /> author; Mr. Thomas Farrall, a popular Cumber-<br /> land writer; Mr. Henry Vizetelly, author of<br /> “Glances back through Seventy Years,” &amp;c.;<br /> Mr. J. J. Shean, of Hull, a county historian ; Mr.<br /> John Chessell Buckler, antiquarian writer; Mr.<br /> Mansfield Parkyns, writer on Abyssinia; Herr<br /> J. ter Gouw, author of the “History of<br /> Amsterdam. ”; Mr. Brackstone Baker, writer on<br /> Canadian and railway subjects; Herr Max Moltke,<br /> the German poet, philosopher, and translator;<br /> Mr. John Patrick Prendergast, author of “The<br /> Cromwellian Settlement of Ireland”; M. Dussieux,<br /> author of works on the reign of Louis XIV. ;<br /> Professor J. Von Dümichen, the eminent writer<br /> on Egyptology; Dr. J. Bradshaw, editor of<br /> “Grey ’’ and “Milton,” and of “The Chesterfield<br /> Letters ”; Voislav Ilic, the “Servian Heine ‘’;<br /> Helgi Hálfdanorson, the Icelandic poet ; Mr.<br /> Henry Manners Chichester, writer on British<br /> military history; Dr. William F. Poole, compiler<br /> of the “Index to Periodical Literature&quot;; Dr.<br /> Frankl, Austrian poet and prose writer; Professor<br /> Wilhelm Roscher, the eminent political economist;<br /> Mr. Edward Capern, the postman poet of Bide-<br /> ford; Mr. Cecil Robertson; Rev. Josiah Wright,<br /> classical writer; M. Louis Roumieux, the French<br /> “Provincial Ovid’’; Mr. W. O&#039;Neill Daunt,<br /> Irish historical writer; Mme. Betty Paoli (Barbara<br /> Glück), the Austrian poetess; Mr. Herbert Tuttle,<br /> historical writer; Mr. J. Dobie, Professor of<br /> Hebrew in Edinburgh University ; Nikolai<br /> Michailowitsch Astyrew, the Russian author;<br /> Mrs. Celia Thaxter; M. Jean Fleury; Mr. Eugene<br /> Lawrence, American historical writer; Dr. Siegfried<br /> Szamatolski, a promising German writer; Miss<br /> Augusta de Grasse Stevens; Mr. W. Douglas<br /> Hamilton, historical writer; Mr. John Russell,<br /> assistant editor of Chambers’s Journal; Dr. H.<br /> N. Van der Tunk, the greatest Malayan scholar<br /> of the century; Mr. Francis Romano Oliphant;<br /> Mr. John Askham, the Northamptonshire poet;<br /> M. Léon Palustre, a learned writer on the French<br /> Renaissance ; Professor Dr. Henrich Rudolf<br /> Hildebrand, the linguist and lexicographer; Mr.<br /> J. Bedford Leno, the Buckinghamshire poet; Mr.<br /> George H. Jennings; M. François de Caussade,<br /> of an almost unique personality.<br /> librarian of the Mazarine Collection; M. Claudio<br /> Jannet, Professor of Political Economy in the<br /> Catholic University of Paris; M. Victor Duruy,<br /> the historian; Rev. Caesar Malan, the Oriental<br /> scholar; Dr. John Chapman, proprietor and<br /> editor of the Westminster Review ; Mr. Alexander<br /> Ireland; Dr. Heinrich Hoffman, author of the<br /> famous “Struwwelpeter’”; and the Rev. William<br /> John Blew, hymnologist, &amp;c.—The Times, Jan. I.<br /> *- : *-*<br /> * * -<br /> CHRISTINA, G, ROSSETTI.<br /> ſ TVHE editor of this periodical has courteously<br /> T requested me to say something about<br /> Christina Rossetti in the March number of<br /> the Author, and I comply with his request,<br /> though with diffidence.<br /> Words are only the means whereby we strive<br /> to express our conceptions or to convey our<br /> impressions. And never does a writer feel so<br /> keenly how inadequate words are at the best as<br /> when he strives to show to others in some<br /> measure the sweetness, the irresistible fascination<br /> For the<br /> influence of personal qualities, such as those<br /> possessed by Christina Rossetti in so remark-<br /> able a degree, is well-nigh untranslatable into<br /> words.<br /> Time, skill in word-painting, and above all<br /> much preparatory thought, are needed before any<br /> success, however small, can be attained in such an<br /> endeavour. But if a volume is ever written,<br /> revealing the inner aspects of her character, as far<br /> as these could be revealed with a due sense of<br /> delicacy and proportion, the volume will be a<br /> permanent and priceless addition to English litera-<br /> ture. And, despite the difficulty of his task, I<br /> envy him who shall write the volume; the con-<br /> templation of such a character as that of<br /> Christina Rossetti will alone recompense him for<br /> his labour.<br /> The critic of the far future, of whom we hear<br /> so much and think so little, will accord a high<br /> place among the great poets of the century to<br /> the poet to whom we owe “Amor Mundi,” “An<br /> Apple Gathering,” “Maude Clare,” “The Con-<br /> vent Threshold,” and “Maiden-Song.” He will<br /> single out as among the finest love songs in our<br /> language such a flawless lyric as “When I am<br /> dead, my dearest &quot;-a lyric so full of atmosphere,<br /> so perfect in its tenderness and portrayal of<br /> unchanged and unchangeable affection. Nor<br /> must we forget that Christina Rossetti—whether<br /> we look to the quality or quantity of her<br /> devotional poetry—was pre-eminent among the<br /> illustrious English poets who have enriched<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 270 (#284) ############################################<br /> <br /> 27O<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> Christian literature by their genius. As long as<br /> Christianity remains the most vital force in the<br /> lives of millions of English-speaking people<br /> the memory of that poet of their faith who<br /> gave them such a poem as “Passing away, saith<br /> the world, passing away,” or “Paradise,” with<br /> its exquisite last stanza, the very quintessence of<br /> Christian expectation — who gave them that<br /> beautiful hymn, part of which, beginning “The<br /> Porter watches at the gate,” was sung so fittingly<br /> at her funeral service — who gave them the<br /> perfect lines, beginning “Thy lovely saints<br /> do bring Thee love,” will be cherished and<br /> honoured.<br /> Personally, Christina Rossetti had the quiet<br /> simplicity of real greatness, and this simplicity<br /> was doubtless in itself an evidence of genius. In<br /> intercourse with her one lost consciousness of<br /> being in the presence of a distinguished poet,<br /> because one became conscious of being in the<br /> presence of a woman distinguished in the more<br /> noble womanly qualities. Nature evidently had<br /> endowed her not only with the gifts proper to a<br /> poet, and these in a lavish degree, but also with<br /> choicest gifts of the heart and soul. But if this<br /> was so, it was equally true that Christina Rossetti<br /> had herself matured and perfected her natural<br /> gifts by that sublimest education of all—the<br /> education of the soul.<br /> She was a recluse, but she never talked to me as<br /> such, and even amid weakness and suffering she<br /> was constantly cheerful. The very tones of her<br /> voice, in their slow and distinct intonation, were<br /> pleasant to hear. She was quite willing to talk<br /> about her favourite authors, and I remember the<br /> amusement she betokened on learning that a<br /> French translation of “David Copperfield,” which<br /> I had picked up secondhand on the Quais during<br /> a recent visit to Paris, was entitled “Le Neveu<br /> de Ma Tante.”<br /> Deeply religious, she never obtruded her piety,<br /> yet I felt instinctively that I was in the company<br /> of a holy woman. In a copy of her “Verses,”<br /> given to me, she wrote in her own clear hand-<br /> writing—handwriting firm as long as she could<br /> continue to write at all—“Faith is like a lily,<br /> lifted high and white,” and to her the things and<br /> persons of the future life were realities. Probably<br /> this was the reason of her wonderful—her<br /> heroic endurance of pain. Despite her profound<br /> humility, and her vivid sense of human short-<br /> comings, she was sustained by the conviction<br /> that God’s angel Death would soon release<br /> her, and she no more doubted the existence<br /> of a state of coming blessedness than the<br /> traveller doubts the existence of the place for<br /> which he is bound, when setting out on a<br /> journey. I shall always feel proud and glad<br /> that I knew personally one of the most lovable<br /> women who ever lived.<br /> MACKENZIE BELL.<br /> *~ - --&quot;<br /> r- * ~,<br /> MRS. CARLYLE.<br /> ILL a voice ever be raised in defence<br /> of Carlyle P Much has been written<br /> touching Mrs. Carlyle’s married un-<br /> happiness, which everyone lays at the door of<br /> this long-suffering philosopher.<br /> In a recently published article, by the late<br /> Mrs. Alexander Ireland, she describes a visit she<br /> paid to Froude, in order to gain his permission<br /> to write Mrs. Carlyle&#039;s life. She gained Froude&#039;s<br /> permission because their view of Mrs. Carlyle&#039;s<br /> character was identical, for she says that Froude<br /> “deeply compassionated Mrs. Carlyle.”<br /> Perhaps it hovers closely on superfluousness.<br /> and temerity to argue so difficult a question, or<br /> to seek to readjust the balance between these<br /> two vexed and irreconcilable immortals; yet, in<br /> justice to Carlyle&#039;s memory, I would affirm that<br /> there was no lack of love, or even tenderness, on<br /> his part towards his wife.<br /> I have often heard one speak, who, in a quiet<br /> unobtrusive way, held intimate intercourse with<br /> the Carlyles, having experience of them in one of<br /> their gloomiest periods, for it was in the ten years<br /> during which Carlyle, under the shadow of his<br /> “Frederick the Great,” wrestled with the writing<br /> of his history. It was also the time when the<br /> unconscious philosopher paid his much resented<br /> visits to Lord and Lady Ashburton—at least, the<br /> period when Mrs. Carlyle most resented his so<br /> doing.<br /> But the impression this lady received, when<br /> she saw them together, which she did often, was<br /> of Carlyle&#039;s deep and abiding love for his wife,<br /> and of the high value he set upon her literary<br /> judgment, always reading to her his MS. and<br /> altering passages at her advice; how he strove<br /> with these emendations the following little<br /> touch by Mrs. Carlyle, related tâté-à-tête, best<br /> shows:–<br /> “The first day Mr. Carlyle came down very<br /> cross, in the evening, saying that he had done<br /> nothing all day, hang it ! had spent all the after-<br /> noon trying to alter that paragraph of hers, and<br /> he could not. The second day uneasy; the third<br /> day more so ; the fourth, sent J. in post haste to<br /> recall the proofs, that he might strike out<br /> the whole of “our melancholy friend&#039;s remarks.’<br /> Mrs. Carlyle sorry to find fault, and not to<br /> seemed pleased, as he is always dispirited himself<br /> at first, and wants encouraging.”<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 271 (#285) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 27 I<br /> One questions if from the mocking satirical<br /> spirit of Mrs. Carlyle there ever flowed much<br /> encouragement, prone as she was to discourse of<br /> him to friends and acquaintances in a carping,<br /> unkindly spirit. On the other hand, I have<br /> heard this lady before quoted assert that in his<br /> bearing to his wife there was a chivalrous,<br /> reverent strain, difficult to describe; said she<br /> always in conclusion, “his manner to Mrs.<br /> Carlyle was beautiful.” As tending to the cause<br /> of some unhappiness between them, much stress<br /> has been laid upon her superior position socially,<br /> and of the luxury and comfort she relinquished<br /> on her marriage; but between a Scotch country<br /> doctor&#039;s daughter, at the beginning of this<br /> century, and a farmer&#039;s son, was there such a<br /> yawning gulf fixed P Might not genius and love<br /> have bridged it over P at least if Mrs. Carlyle had<br /> been dowered with but a little more of the latter<br /> golden elixir—then perhaps she would not have<br /> deemed it such an unmitigated misfortune to<br /> have made a pudding, or baked a loaf of bread;<br /> though her biographers have dealt as darkly<br /> upon her days of domestic activity at Craigen-<br /> puttock as did Charles Dickens, with more reason,<br /> upon his days of degradation in the blacking<br /> factory. -<br /> Mrs. Carlyle, or rather wayward Miss Jane<br /> Welsh, desired before all things to marry a man<br /> of genius. It was the survival of an early girlish<br /> ambition, and, unlike the general course of girlish<br /> ambition, it was fulfilled, for fate, a trifle<br /> maliciously, as the sequel proved, chose to fasten<br /> it upon her by producing the man. It failed to<br /> make her happy, because she was unable, partly<br /> by health and temperament, to face all the<br /> discomforts and disenchanting details which fall<br /> to the lot of the wife of a struggling, ill-paid<br /> man of genius; and “the plain living and high<br /> thinking,” coupled with the absolute silence and<br /> solitude necessary to the “high thinking,” grew<br /> irksome to her. These were the conditions of her<br /> early married life; then, when success came, with<br /> social homage to herself, it found her a dis-<br /> appointed, embittered woman, bereft of any but<br /> the most fitful power of enjoyment, seeing all<br /> things clad in her own feverish distaste for them.<br /> In a letter written to her from her intended<br /> husband not long before their marriage, he<br /> strenuously insists upon that which eventually<br /> proved to be the essential need of her whole life,<br /> for he writes:<br /> “You have a deep, earnest, and vehement spirit,<br /> and no earnest task has ever been assigned to it.<br /> You despise and ridicule the meanness of the<br /> things about you. To the things you honour you<br /> can only pay a fervent adoration, which issues in<br /> no practical effect.” Was not this the root of the<br /> restless misery in her life? Destitute of any earnest<br /> purpose, her brilliant gifts found no outlet; instead<br /> her mocking spirit played round men and things,<br /> and her keen satire, like sheet lightning, lit up<br /> the words and the deeds of the men and women<br /> round her with the cold light of destructive irony,<br /> which recoiling at the last upon her heart, warped<br /> it from all invigorating effort. But she was a<br /> shrewd and kindly friend to those she loved. Far<br /> be it from me to dwell upon her character, or<br /> life, in a censorious spirit. Novalis has it,<br /> character is destiny; and her perpetual malady<br /> of unhappiness was in a measure due to lack<br /> of health, but still more to that which she<br /> herself described, in humorous despair, as an<br /> absence of “the faculty of being happy.” At<br /> times one is almost tempted to think she wore<br /> her grief as a fantastic garment, for in the<br /> dolorous liturgy of her diary there is some-<br /> thing theatrical and unreal. When all literary<br /> and fashionable London rolled up to her door,<br /> still she railed at fate, because it failed to amuse<br /> her.<br /> There must be a great many “mute, inglorious ”<br /> Mrs. Carlyles in the world who cannot give voice<br /> to their disillusionment with life as wittily as<br /> did she, who yet make a very cheerful fight of it,<br /> having successfully learnt the gentle art of being<br /> happy ; therefore is not the world a little harsh<br /> in its judgment when it ascribes all Mrs. Carlyle&#039;s<br /> lamentations due to the temper of the melancholy<br /> Creator of “Sartor Resartus P”<br /> GRACE GILCHRIST.<br /> *- Am aims--&gt;<br /> ,- w -.<br /> AN AUTHORS BEST WORK<br /> T is important to an author to know the<br /> circumstances under which he ordinarily<br /> does his best work. The experience of the<br /> majority of writers shows that the hour at which<br /> a man works, the place, and not a few other<br /> attendant circumstances of his labours—circum-<br /> stances in themselves apparently unimportant—<br /> exercise a great effect upon his ordinary capacity<br /> for literary production. The phenomenon is not<br /> quite universal. Anthony Trollope trained him-<br /> self into writing at any time, and in almost any<br /> place. Charles Dickens, when he was young,<br /> would write his newspaper reports on the palm<br /> of his hand, by the light of a dim lamp, in a<br /> post-chaise. But these were exceptional cases.<br /> Later Dickens&#039; letters mention predilections for<br /> quiet spots in which to write, and yearnings for<br /> strolls in the streets of London to inspire him;<br /> and probably nineteen authors out of twenty<br /> will echo the sentiments of a dramatist of some<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 272 (#286) ############################################<br /> <br /> 272<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> note who has said that all his happiest ideas<br /> present themselves to him in his own library.<br /> Nevertheless, many authors seem to give no<br /> serious attention to the lessons that might be<br /> derived from their experience of the difference<br /> both in quantity and quality of copy produced<br /> under more or less favourable circumstances.<br /> That is a mistake. The time of an author who is<br /> at all successful soon becomes very valuable,<br /> and its loss by mismanagement—and more time<br /> is lost by mismanagement than in any other way—<br /> is a real misfortune. The greater too a man’s<br /> success, the greater his reason for doing every-<br /> thing in his power to maintain his work at its<br /> highest level. It would be, in consequence,<br /> mere common prudence for an author to watch<br /> himself, and to take to heart as many lessons<br /> about his own strength and weakness, and about<br /> the circumstances under which he does his best<br /> work, as his experience will afford him. Such<br /> lessons are sometimes valuable results of failures,<br /> things that “one learns by making mistakes *-<br /> to quote Metastasio.<br /> It is true that some writers fall into an oppo-<br /> site error. Quite recently, amongst an author’s<br /> papers, was found a journal, not of hours only<br /> but of minutes, covering months and years, in<br /> which the employment of every moment had been<br /> chronicled with scrupulous accuracy with a view<br /> to ascertaining what time had been most<br /> profitably employed. Such finicking attention to<br /> infinitesimal details is a temptation to minds of<br /> a certain mould. It leads, of course, to waste,<br /> and not to economy of energy.<br /> Without, however, falling into this mistake,<br /> those who will “know themselves” may learn<br /> from a little self-observation a great deal that<br /> is well worth remembering. Personal experience<br /> will immediately suggest in every case to what<br /> the individual should turn his more particular<br /> attention, and to enumerate all that an author<br /> might with advantage try to observe would far<br /> exceed the limits of the present article. The<br /> following seem to be leading points which might<br /> suggest others.<br /> Where does a man find his finest stimulants of<br /> thought and invention ? Dickens found them in<br /> the crowded streets of London. More men have<br /> found them in the completest solitude. Few<br /> realise to how great a degree all that seems most<br /> spontaneous is really recollection. In conse-<br /> quence many men never adequately work the<br /> mine of their own memories. Instead they go<br /> about seeking—honestly, painfully, and often<br /> with many disappointments—what they all the<br /> time carry within themselves. M. Dumas, Fils,<br /> observes that “books teach nothing.” Those<br /> who, like Molière, take men rather than books for<br /> their study, will immediately understand the<br /> statement. Still Molière&#039;s favourite author was<br /> Lucretius, and Lucretius was never yet a favourite<br /> with any man who was not a close and careful<br /> reader. M. Dumas&#039; dictum has also been flatly<br /> contradicted, and the assertion made that “books<br /> teach everything.” That may be an exaggera-<br /> tion or an epigram, two things much alike; yet<br /> De Balzac observes, with truth, “the mission of<br /> art is not to copy nature, but to express nature,”<br /> which means, for the novelist, that the literary<br /> habit of thought is indispensable. But how wide<br /> a question is here opened for every author who<br /> would know what amount of inspiration he<br /> draws from the world, and how much from his<br /> reading.<br /> What assistance does an author get from his<br /> common-place books? Some years have passed<br /> since Mr. James Payn recommended the memo-<br /> randum-book to every one who desired to write.<br /> And it is needless to say how many authors have<br /> availed themselves of the help of note-books.<br /> But may not every author with advantage ask<br /> himself how much aid his note-books, have given<br /> him, or how little P And, if so, why little P<br /> One phenomenon connected with note-books must<br /> be familiar to all who have used them, their tire-<br /> Some suggestiveness of what is not wanted, and<br /> the temptation, never to be allowed an instant’s<br /> influence over the judgment, to use something,<br /> because it is in the note-book, and because it<br /> looks telling, when it is evidently not quite in<br /> place. An author, who has made his memoranda,<br /> has still something of importance to learn in dis-<br /> covering the best way of using them.<br /> What time and what labour an author saves<br /> who has found out what is, in his own case, the<br /> best method of perfecting a plot, and of resolving<br /> upon the lines of each successive chapter after<br /> the plot has been constructed Mr. William<br /> Black has said that many of his tales have been<br /> planned in the open air. M. Zola confesses his<br /> absolute inability to think out anything unless he<br /> has a pen in his hand. “My ideas only come in<br /> writing. I could never evolve any idea.<br /> by sitting in my arm-chair and thinking.” An<br /> English authoress has said the exact contrary.<br /> “I never attempt to write anything until I have<br /> Sat still for a long time thinking.” Here are<br /> three different ways of proceeding. And there<br /> are no doubt many others. Only it must be<br /> most important for an author to know which way<br /> is most helpful to himself. A man, who has not<br /> yet discovered that, might be in the position of<br /> Zola in an easy chair. On the other hand, here<br /> is a passage from a letter of Dickens: “I didn’t<br /> stir out yesterday, but sat and thought all day;<br /> not writing a line, not so much as the cross of a,<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 273 (#287) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 273<br /> “t” or the dot of an “i’ I imagined forth a good<br /> deal of Barnaby by keeping my mind steadily<br /> upon him ; and am happy to say I have gone to<br /> work this morning in good twig, strong hope, and<br /> cheerful spirits.”<br /> Another complete contrast between Dickens<br /> and Zola, suggests how great a difference there<br /> may be in the degree of elaboration which diffe-<br /> rent authors find it worth their while to give a<br /> scenario. Zola&#039;s scenario is longer than his book.<br /> Dickens, when he made a scenario, wrote only a<br /> few suggestive lines for each chapter. One<br /> author may waste his energies and tie his own<br /> hands by preparing a scenario that affords no<br /> scope for the development which the tale will<br /> take under his hands; and another lose time by<br /> constructing a scenario inadequate for his needs,<br /> so that he is compelled to recommence inventing<br /> his tale when he wants to be writing it. A<br /> writer ought to know exactly what form of<br /> scenario is most helpful to himself. A little<br /> attention to his own experiences would always<br /> show him how to construct it.<br /> That naturally next suggests the question of<br /> rapidity of composition. Rapid work is generally<br /> successful work. Hurried work is never rapid<br /> work. Any attempt to hurry invariably results<br /> in the composition dragging and everything going<br /> wrong. On the contrary, composition that flows<br /> out rapidly of itself is ordinarily a man’s best<br /> work. “The works and passages in which I have<br /> succeeded have uniformly been written with the<br /> greatest rapidity the parts in which I<br /> have come off feebly were by much the more<br /> laboured,” says Sir Walter Scott. “Slowness of<br /> production,” wrote Eugéne Delacroix, “is a blot<br /> on the talent of the artist. It leaves a stamp of<br /> fatigue.” Now, no phenomenon of literary work<br /> is so remarkable as the astonishing speed at which<br /> literary work can be done, at which some of the<br /> most remarkable literary work in the world has<br /> been done. Does it not follow that a man, who<br /> discovers something perpetually standing in the<br /> way of his getting on with his work, is probably<br /> pursuing a mistaken method, one perhaps con-<br /> genial to another man, but fatal to himself. He<br /> has not yet discovered the circumstances under<br /> which he does his best work. Many writers, for<br /> instance, never find a rapid flow of composition<br /> possible until after they have been writing for an<br /> hour or two. Dickens mentions this peculiarity.<br /> “I worked pretty well last night, but I have four<br /> slips to write to complete the chapter; and, as I<br /> foolishly left them till this morning, have the<br /> steam to get up afresh.” Suppose that a man<br /> who had thus “to get up steam ” thought that<br /> he could write easily and without fatigue by<br /> “doing a little every day,” then he would never<br /> reach the point where, in his case, the real flow of<br /> spirits and invention commenced.<br /> Connected with this difficulty of “getting up<br /> the steam ” may be the indisposition some men<br /> feel to set to work. Others start with a real zest.<br /> Perhaps these do not have to get up steam. But<br /> many can certainly echo De Balzac&#039;s Je m&#039;y mets<br /> avec désespoir. It is almost impossible to exag-<br /> gerate the reluctance such men feel to beginning.<br /> When this is the case an author should certainly<br /> discover what is, in his case, the best method of<br /> dealing with this dislike to going to work.<br /> Another question there is of a very different<br /> kind. An ancient adage runs, “Tailors and<br /> writers must follow the fashion.” The highest<br /> work will always lead the fashion rather than<br /> follow it; but failures are occasioned by insuffi-<br /> cient attention to what people desire to read, and<br /> it is possible for an author, annoyed by ill-<br /> success, to turn his attention to writing rather<br /> what is popular than what his own feelings<br /> prompt him to write. It would be most valuable<br /> to him to observe the results of his experiment.<br /> More is involved than at first sight appears in a<br /> consequent success or failure. He may find that<br /> it was a mistake to quit, a speciality that suited<br /> him. He may discover that he has a much<br /> greater versatility than he suspected himself of<br /> possessing. He may even descry a path leading<br /> to successes never previously obtained because<br /> the direction in which they lay had escaped his<br /> observation.<br /> This is touching up on a few salient points<br /> alone. Only in the cases mentioned would it be<br /> possible to overrate the value to the author of<br /> knowing the circumstances in which he could<br /> reckon upon doing his best work.<br /> HENRY CRESSWELL.<br /> *--<br /> z- - --&gt;<br /> THE WALUE OF A NOWEL,<br /> Tº: following case is reported, as follows, in<br /> the Daily Chronicle for Feb. 17:<br /> Yesterday, in the Westminster County Court, the case of<br /> Johnson v. Dicks came before his Honour Judge Lumley<br /> Smith, Q.C., and was a claim in formá pawperis for £50,<br /> as damages for the loss of MS. The plaintiff said that in<br /> 1888 he was at the house of Mr. John Dicks, at Streatham,<br /> and he asked him to write a story, which he sent to the<br /> defendant&#039;s place of business in the Strand, and was told<br /> a cheque would be forwarded, but he was afterwards<br /> informed that the story had been destroyed. He therefore<br /> claimed 350 for the damage. He had published many<br /> books, “Fairy Tales” in 1869, and others. Plaintiff said<br /> this was a large volume novel, and he was a well-known<br /> author. His Honour: But “Paradise Lost’’ was sold for<br /> £15, was it not P Plaintiff : But Black gets £1000 for a<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 274 (#288) ############################################<br /> <br /> 274<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> short novel, and reserves to himself the copyright. I have<br /> had 3 Io a week for thirteen weeks from the London<br /> Journal. Defendant said he never saw the story, and was<br /> not a member of the firm now. His Honour : I think 392<br /> will pay you well. Defendant : But I am not liable. His<br /> Honour: 382 will not hurt you. (Laughter.) Judgment for<br /> the plaintiff for £2.<br /> If this case is accurately reported, and there is<br /> no reason for believing the contrary, it is a most<br /> extraordinary and wonderful case. The author<br /> sues in formá pauperis (thus keeping up the<br /> glorious traditions of the literary profession)<br /> for the sum of £50 as damages for the loss of<br /> a MS. -<br /> Very good. He said that he was at the house<br /> of Mr. John Dicks in 1888, and was by him<br /> invited to write a story for him, i.e., one supposes<br /> for one of his papers. Here come one or two<br /> questions: (1) Was he asked to write a story<br /> without specification of length or subject? (2)<br /> Was his story to be sent in on approval, or was<br /> the author&#039;s reputation taken as a guarantee of<br /> good work P. (3) What price was proposed by<br /> the publisher ? (4) What price did the author&#039;s<br /> stories usually command, i.e., what was he accus-<br /> tomed to receive P (5) Would the author name<br /> some of his stories, and mention what prices he<br /> received for them P (6) Was Mr. John Dicks<br /> authorised to invite novelists in the name of the<br /> firm or company P<br /> These questions, observe, are not hostile to<br /> either party; they are only necessary to get at<br /> the truth. The plaintiff then said that he was<br /> promised when he delivered the story that a<br /> cheque should be sent. What was the amount<br /> he was to get by that cheque? It does not<br /> appear. He was then told that the MS. had been<br /> destroyed. How P By fire! If so it would be<br /> arguable whether the firm was liable.<br /> dentally P Also it might be arguable whether<br /> the firm was liable. He assessed his own damages<br /> at £50, and said it was a “large volume novel.”<br /> What is a “large volume novel P” Is it a three-<br /> volume novel, or one of the average length of a<br /> three-volume novel, which is about 180,000<br /> words P<br /> The defendant said that he had never seen the<br /> story; that he was not a member of the firm ;<br /> and that he was not liable.<br /> to leave a firm in which he has been a partner,<br /> is he still liable to that firm’s engagements P<br /> Then the judge, after some irrelevance about<br /> “Paradise Lost,” ordered the defendant to pay<br /> £2 | Now, either the defendant was liable or<br /> he was not. If he was not, why should he pay<br /> anything P If he was, he ought to have paid the<br /> value of the work, calculate 1 on the value of<br /> other works by the same author. As it is, the<br /> author appears to have been insulted, and the<br /> Acci-<br /> If a man is allowed<br /> publisher appears to have been fined. One more<br /> question ought to have been asked, Why did<br /> the author wait for seven years before bringing<br /> his claim P<br /> *- a -º<br /> r- - -<br /> ON, SELLING A BOOK OUTRIGHT.<br /> HIS is a method which has one or two<br /> obvious advantages. It gives the author<br /> what he very likely wants, a sum of money<br /> down; and it relieves him of any anxiety about<br /> the commercial success of his book. On the other<br /> hand, it sometimes makes him part with a very<br /> valuable copyright for a song ; and it tempts him<br /> to spend at once what should be spread over a<br /> term of years, viz., the whole life of his book.<br /> Most of the miseries of authors have been due to<br /> their regarding as income the lump sum obtained<br /> by selling the work of years. When, however,<br /> an author wishes to sell his book outright, or a<br /> publisher wishes to buy it, there are certain<br /> obvious considerations. To capitalise an author&#039;s<br /> interest in his book should be Conducted, as in<br /> every piece of business, with due regard to the<br /> probable, or the certain, results of the book. For<br /> instance, to buy a book of an author for a sum of<br /> money not one-tenth of what it will produce, as<br /> the purchasers know, but the author does not<br /> Know, is very commonly done.<br /> The following figures will show some of the<br /> points to be considered : We take our old friend<br /> the 6s. volume. It costs, we will say, Is. a copy<br /> to produce. It is sold to the trade at 3s. 7#d. ;<br /> the author on a 20 per cent. royalty would receive<br /> about 1s. 2%d. a copy; the publisher about 1s. 5d.<br /> If an author sells his book for a certain sum,<br /> what amount of sales would that cover ?<br /> Say he takes £50, that would cover royalties<br /> representing a sale of 825 copies.<br /> Say he takes £100, that would cover royalties<br /> representing a sale of 1650 copies.<br /> Say he takes £400, that would cover royalties<br /> representing a sale of 3400 copies,<br /> and so on. All copies beyond that limit would<br /> belong to the publisher, together with his own<br /> royalty on the preceding copies. -<br /> If, on the other hand, there is a certainty that<br /> the book will sell so many copies as a minimum,<br /> and a probability that it will sell so many more,<br /> the sum to be paid must represent that minimum<br /> first and the probability next ; and, of course, in<br /> such a transaction there is always the element<br /> of chance on both sides, so that one may<br /> give too much—of which we seldom hear—and<br /> the other may get too little, of which we often<br /> hear. -<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 275 (#289) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 275<br /> In making any such calculation or bargain as<br /> the above one must remember that the old-<br /> fashioned half-profit system still lingers as a<br /> rough-and-ready recognised method of apportion-<br /> ing the returns. Without accepting it formally,<br /> one may take it as a basis.<br /> The purchase of a book for a small sum, either<br /> knowing that it is going to prove a certain pro-<br /> perty or in the well-founded hope that it will do<br /> so, is a very important secret in the art of getting<br /> rich by the labour and brains of other people.<br /> Readers of the Author will remember how the<br /> venerable and religious Society for the Promotion<br /> of Christian Knowledge was proved to be in pos-<br /> session of this important secret, and how its<br /> righteous committee used the secret in a manner<br /> truly Christian by purchasing for £12, 320, £25,<br /> books which ran into thousands upon thousands.<br /> Let us take another case—a book sold for<br /> 3s. 6d. costing, in quantities, about 8d., a copy.<br /> As a rule it would be less.<br /> The author receives, say, £20, £25, or 330.<br /> The book is sold for 2s., which leaves a profit of<br /> Is. 4d.<br /> Tor the price of<br /> .820 means a royalty of 7d. for a<br /> sale of ................................. 700 copies.<br /> £25 means a royalty of 7d. for a<br /> sale of .............. ................ 850 copies.<br /> 330 means a royalty of 7d. for a -<br /> sale of ................................. I IOO copies.<br /> After which the publisher has the whole future<br /> proceeds o&#039; the book for himself.<br /> * ~ *-**<br /> e- * =<br /> BOOK TALK,<br /> Sº authors will doubtless appre-<br /> ciate the following extract from Harriet<br /> Martineau’s “Autobiography:” “I do not<br /> very highly respect reviews, nor like to write<br /> them ; for the simple reason that in ninety-<br /> nine cases out of a hundred the author under-<br /> stands his subject better than the reviewer.<br /> It can hardly be otherwise while the author<br /> treats one subject, to his study of which his<br /> book itself is a strong testimony; whereas the<br /> reviewer is expected to pass from topic to topic to<br /> any extent, pronouncing, out of his brief survey,<br /> on the results of deep and protracted study. Of<br /> all the many reviews of my books on America and<br /> Egypt there was not, as far as I know, one which<br /> did not betray ignorance of the respective coun-<br /> tries. And, on the other hand, there is no book,<br /> except a very few which have appeared on my own<br /> particular subjects, that I could venture to pro-<br /> nounce on ; as, in every other case, I feel myself<br /> compelled to approach a book as a learner, and<br /> not as a judge. This is the same thing as saying<br /> that reviewing, in the wholesale way in which it.<br /> is done in our time, is a radically vicious practise;<br /> and such is indeed my opinion. I am glad to see<br /> scientific men, and men of erudition, and true<br /> connoiseurs in Art, examining what has been done<br /> in their respective departments; and everybody<br /> is glad of good essays, whether they appear in<br /> books called Reviews, or elsewhere. But of the<br /> reviews of our day, properly so-called, the vast<br /> majority must be worthless, because the reviewer<br /> knows less than the author of the matter in<br /> hand.”<br /> The sixth volume of the fifth edition of<br /> “Chitty&#039;s Statutes of Practical Utility,” which is<br /> being published in about twelve volumes by<br /> Sweet and Maxwell Limited and Stevens and<br /> Sons Limited, under the editorship of Mr. J. M.<br /> Lely, has just appeared. The arrangement of the<br /> statutes is in alphabetical and chronological<br /> Order, under about 200 titles, such as “Act<br /> of Parliament,” “Adulteration,” “Copyright,”<br /> “Death Duties,” “Intoxicating Liquors,” “Local<br /> Government,” “Poor,” “Water,” and the like.<br /> Each title is prefaced by a separate table of<br /> contents, and so are many of the particular Acts.<br /> The foot-notes give the effect of or reference to<br /> decided cases and statutory rules. The final<br /> volume will contain a chronological table of the<br /> statutes printed in the work, an alphabetical table<br /> of short and popular titles of statutes, and a<br /> “general index,” in the compilation of which Mr.<br /> Ormsby will assist. Assistance in the annotation<br /> has been given by Mr. Craies as to the Metropolitan<br /> Acts, the Local Government Act 1894, and other<br /> subjects; by Mr. Mundahl as to the Extradition<br /> Acts; by Mr. W. A. Peck as to the Conveyancing<br /> Acts, the Settled Lands Acts, and the Trustee<br /> Acts; by Mr. Pulling as to the Merchant Shipping<br /> Act; and Mr. Simey as to the Factors Act and<br /> Highway Acts. The price of the whole work to<br /> subscribers was six guineas, but the price is now<br /> One guinea per volume.<br /> “A Mountain Path&quot; is the title of a book by<br /> Mr. John A. Hamilton (Sampson Low, Marston,<br /> and Co. Price 3s. 6d.). It is a collection of<br /> parables, fables, and talks about natural things<br /> which have already appeared in periodicals. The<br /> author states that the only aim in writing this<br /> book was to foster natural piety in children.<br /> “Walter Inglisfield” is publishing through<br /> Messrs. Sonnenschein a new volume of verse. .<br /> Miss F.F. Monterson has produced (Hutchinson<br /> and Co.) her new work, “Into the Highways and<br /> Hedges.” g<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 276 (#290) ############################################<br /> <br /> 276<br /> THE AUTHOIR.<br /> Mrs. Cliffe&#039;s translation of Longuardi&#039;s poems<br /> ls about to appear in a second edition.<br /> Byrne&#039;s story called “A Fragment,” together<br /> with his Parliamentary speeches, is published in<br /> the fifth volume of the Tauchnitz edition of his<br /> complete works.<br /> In recognition of his numerous historical<br /> articles that have appeared in the magazines and<br /> reviews, but perhaps more especially for his<br /> important contribution to fourteenth and fifteenth<br /> century history, the volume entitled “A Forgotten<br /> Great Englishman,” Mr. James Baker, the author,<br /> has just been elected a Fellow of the Royal<br /> Historical Society. He is at present travelling in<br /> Egypt, from whence he is writing a series of<br /> articles on that country.<br /> Miss Margaret Cross has completed a new<br /> novel, which Messrs. Hurst and Blackett will<br /> publish next month. It is called “Newly<br /> Fashioned,” and it will have on its title-page<br /> the suggestive motto,<br /> Such is the power of that sweet passion,<br /> That it all sordid baseness doth expel,<br /> And the refined mind doth newly fashion<br /> Into a fairer form.<br /> Mr. William Tirebuck&#039;s new story, “Miss<br /> Grace of All Souls,” will be published by<br /> Beinemann and Co. in the spring. It is dedicated<br /> to the author&#039;s brother, the Rev. Thomas<br /> Tirebuck, of Birmingham. The arrangements<br /> were concluded by the Authors&#039; Syndicate.<br /> Mr. Basil Thomson’s “Diversions of a Prime<br /> Minister” (Blackwood and Sons). The Prime<br /> Minister is Mr. Thomson himself, and the realm<br /> which he administered was the island of Tonga.<br /> Messrs. A. and C. Black will publish this month<br /> a novel in one volume called “The Grasshopper.”<br /> It is by Mrs. Alfred Sidgwick, who under the<br /> name of Mrs. Andrew Dean has contributed<br /> several stories to the Pseudonym Library.<br /> “His Egyptian Wife,” a novel by Hilton Hill,<br /> will be issued in March by Digby, Long and Co.<br /> The book will be published simultaneously in New<br /> York and London.<br /> “Conscience makes the Martyr,” by S. M.<br /> Crawley Boevey is published by Mr. Arrowsmith,<br /> and has been kindly criticised by the Literary<br /> Płorld, The Academy, and other papers.<br /> The Authors&#039; Syndicate has arranged for the<br /> publication of Mr. John Lloyd Warden Page&#039;s<br /> new book, “The Coasts of Devon and Lundy<br /> Island,” through Mr. Horace Cox. The volume<br /> will be profusely illustrated.<br /> M. Dim. Vikelas, the eminent novelist, is the<br /> president of the International Committee of the<br /> Olympic games to be held at Athens from<br /> April 5th to 15th, 1896. The official programme<br /> of the games is now in type.<br /> Mr. Gladstone, the inexhaustible, is ready with<br /> another volume—his edition of the Psalter, to be<br /> published in Europe and America immediately.<br /> IIe contributes a concordance and a condensed<br /> commentary.<br /> Mr. Balfour&#039;s book on “ The Foundations of<br /> Belief.” has undoubtedly been the book of the<br /> past month. As usual, someone has turned up<br /> to accuse the writer of having stolen his ideas.<br /> This time it is Dr. Beattie Crozier, who publishes<br /> his plaint in the Chronicle.<br /> Sir Benjamin Richardson has confided to a con-<br /> temporary not only that he possesses a number of<br /> sketches and jottings made by Cruikshank for his<br /> own biography, but that he also hopes some day<br /> to write this hitherto neglected book, and embody<br /> his valuable material.<br /> It is hard reading for authors whose manu-<br /> scripts are returned to read that there are quite<br /> a number in the habit of declining publisher&#039;s<br /> invitations. A contemporary says that Mrs. J.<br /> R. Green, for instance, is unable to do any literary<br /> work for at least four years; while Dr. Jessop is<br /> said to have mortgaged the next six years. Mr.<br /> Stanley Weyman, we believe, has gone for a<br /> year&#039;s holiday, during which he refuses to work;<br /> while Mr. S. R. Crockett has contracts signed,<br /> sealed, and delivered for all the work that he can<br /> possibly produce during the present century.<br /> The Westminster Gazette wishes to know what<br /> has become of the Life of Adam Smith, by Mr.<br /> Leonard Courtney, and that of Bishop Berkeley,<br /> by professor Huxley. To these might be added<br /> a number of bookly promises not performed. For<br /> instance, first and foremost, where is Mr. John<br /> Morley&#039;s Life of John Stuart Mill? Second,<br /> where is the long expected and greatly desired<br /> Life of John Delane of the Times 2 Third,<br /> where is Lord Rowton’s Life of the Earl of<br /> Beaconsfield P<br /> Professor Rhys Davids, upon whose pension<br /> from the Civil List such a bitter attack was<br /> made in Parliament, has been delivering a course<br /> of lectures called “The Literature and Religion<br /> of India,” at Harvard and John Hopkins Univer-<br /> sities, in the United States, and Messrs. Putnam<br /> will shortly publish them simultaneously on both<br /> sides of the Atlantic under the above title.<br /> Messrs. Osgood will begin the publication of<br /> the collected works of Mr. Thomas Hardy in a<br /> few weeks with “Tess.” The volumes will be<br /> monthly, and the second will be “Far from the<br /> Madding Crowd.”<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 277 (#291) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 277<br /> The following interesting series of impromptu<br /> dedications written by Stevenson in a set of his<br /> works given to his American physician, Dr.<br /> Trudeau have appeared in the New York Book-<br /> Öuyer.<br /> “A CHILD’s GARDEN OF VERSEs.”<br /> ——To win your lady (if, alas ! it may be)<br /> Let&#039;s couple this one with the name of<br /> Baby |<br /> “TREASURE ISLAND.”<br /> I could not choose a patron for each one :<br /> But this perhaps is chiefly for your son.<br /> “KIDNAPPED.”<br /> ——Here is the one sound page of all my writing,<br /> The one I’m proud of, and that I delight in.<br /> “DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE.”<br /> Trudeau was all the winter at my side :<br /> I never spied the nose of Mr. Hyde.<br /> “ UNDERWOODs.”<br /> Some day or other (&#039;tis a general curse)<br /> The wisest author stumbles into verse.<br /> “THE DYNAMITER.”<br /> As both my wife and I composed the thing,<br /> Let&#039;s place it under Mrs. Trudeau&#039;s wing.<br /> “MEMORIES AND PORTRAITs.”<br /> Greeting to all your household, small and big,<br /> In this one instance, not forgetting—Nig<br /> “THE MERRY MEN.”<br /> If just to read the tale you should be able,<br /> I would not bother to make out the fable.<br /> “TRAVELs witH A DONKEY.”<br /> It blew, it rained, it thawed, it snowed, it thundered—<br /> Which was the Donkey P I have often wondered<br /> “PRINCE OTTO.”<br /> This is my only love tale, this Prince Otto,<br /> Which some folks like to read, and others not to.<br /> “MEMOIR OF FLEEMING JENKIN.”<br /> The preface mighty happy to get back<br /> To its inclement birthplace, Saranac<br /> “FAMILIAR STUDIES OF MEN AND Books.”<br /> My other works are of a slighter kind;<br /> Here is the party to improve your MIND !<br /> VIRGINIBUs PUERISQUE.”<br /> I have no art to please a lady’s mind.<br /> Here&#039;s the least acid spot,<br /> Miss Trudeau, of the lot.<br /> If you’d just try this volume, &#039;twould be kind<br /> Mr. Le Gallienne&#039;s name is prominent among<br /> the announcements of new books. His “Book-<br /> Bills of Narcissus,” the first and, perhaps, the<br /> most charming book he has written, has just been<br /> published in an enlarged edition, and a new edition<br /> of his “English Poems” is to be issued imme-<br /> diately. Besides these a new volume of verses<br /> called “Robert Louis Stevenson : an Elegy; and<br /> Other Poems, Mainly Personal,” and a collection<br /> of odds and ends of literary criticism entitled<br /> “Retrospective Reviews: a Literary Log,” are<br /> announced. Mr. Lane is, of course, the pub-<br /> lisher.<br /> The next volume in Arrowsmith&#039;s Bristol<br /> Library will be “The Adventures of Arthur<br /> Roberts: by Railroad and River,” told by him-<br /> self and chronicled by Mr. Richard Morton. It<br /> is to be an anecdotal biography of the famous<br /> burlesque actor.<br /> The forthcoming season promises to be specially<br /> rich in biographies. For instance, Mr. John Rae’s<br /> “Life of Adam Smith;” a “Biography of Sir<br /> John Drummond Hay, for forty years our Repre-<br /> sentative in Morocco,” by his daughters; a “Life<br /> of George Borrow,” by Professor Knapp, of<br /> Chicago; a “Biography of Dr. Holmes,” by Mr.<br /> John T. Morse, jun. ; “Reminiscences of Richard<br /> Cobden,” by Mrs. Schwabe, with a preface by<br /> Lord Farrer; the “Life of Sir Samuel Baker;”<br /> and Mr. Leslie Stephen&#039;s Memoirs of his brother,<br /> Sir James Fitzjames Stephen. -<br /> Mudie&#039;s Library is said to have refused Mr.<br /> Arthur Machen’s book, “The Great God<br /> Pan.” -<br /> Mr. Fisher Unwin, who publishes already half-<br /> a-dozen “libraries &#039;&#039; or series of books, announces<br /> yet another, with the comparatively commonplace<br /> title of “The Half-Crown Series.” Mr. Robert<br /> Buchanan’s “Diana&#039;s Hunting ” will be the first,<br /> and Mrs. Rita L. Humphreys—who is best known<br /> by her Christian name—the second, called “A<br /> Gender in Satin.” -<br /> It seems strange that Mr. Stanley should have<br /> waited so long before giving the world an account<br /> of “My Early Travels and Adventures.” Much<br /> of this book has never been reprinted from the<br /> newspapers to which it was originally contributed,<br /> and part of it is entirely new. It will be con-<br /> cerned with Indian warfare in America and the<br /> tragic end of General Custer, who was out-<br /> manoeuvred and killed by Sitting Bull; the early<br /> history of the Suez Canal; and the exploration of<br /> Palestine, Persia, the Caucasus, and Armenia.<br /> Messrs. Sampson Low and Co. will issue the book<br /> about Easter.<br /> Messrs. Cassell and Co. have hit upon an idea<br /> for an important series of books, to be entitled the<br /> “Century Science ’’ series, of which Sir Henry<br /> Roscoe is the editor. The first, to be published<br /> immediately, will be by the editor himself, and<br /> called “John Dalton and the Rise of Modern<br /> Chemistry.” It will be followed by “The Rise<br /> of English Geography,” by Mr. Clements R.<br /> Markham, the distinguished President of the<br /> Royal Geographical Society.<br /> Two new reprints of standard authors are just<br /> making their appearance. The first is Messrs.<br /> J. M. Dent&#039;s complete edition of Defoe, in sixteen<br /> volumes, with editorial notes and illustrations,<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 278 (#292) ############################################<br /> <br /> 278<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> produced in the delightful style to which this<br /> firm has accustomed us. The series costs 28. 6d.<br /> a volume, net, and will be completed by October.<br /> The second reprint is the new edition of George<br /> Eliot’s works, which Messrs. Blackwood will issue.<br /> It is to be known as the “Standard” edition, and<br /> to consist of twenty-one volumes, also at 2s. 6d.<br /> “Adam Bede’’ is to appear at once in two<br /> volumes, and “The Mill on the Floss &#039;&#039; will<br /> follow.<br /> The star of Ouida does not shine so brightly as<br /> it once did. Perhaps her forthcoming book,<br /> which Messrs. Methuen announce, will win her<br /> back something of the public approval which<br /> seems rather unjustly to have left her. The titles<br /> of some of its articles—such as “The Failure of<br /> Christianity,” “The Sims of Society,” “Some<br /> Fallacies of Science,” “The State as an Immoral<br /> Factor,” and “The Penalties of a Well-known<br /> Name &quot;—promise, however, more polemics than<br /> entertainment. *<br /> Mr. Henry Arthur Jones has been a devoted<br /> contributor to the magazines, and lecturer before<br /> playgoing societies, on theatrical topics. No<br /> doubt his forthcoming book, “The Renascence of<br /> the English Drama,” to be published immediately<br /> by Messrs. Macmillan and Co., is a reprint<br /> of these. Mr. Jones&#039;s plays are of varying<br /> interest, but his opinions, whether expressed on<br /> the stage, the page, or the platform, are always<br /> original and interesting — as Matthew Arnold<br /> found when he was captivated by “Saints and<br /> Sinners.”<br /> Three new monthly magazines have to be<br /> chronicled as the month&#039;s contribution to the<br /> flowing tide of periodical literature. First,<br /> London Home, an obvious competitor to the<br /> Strand Magazine, at half the price, edited by<br /> Mr. Ralph Caine, and published by Horace Cox.<br /> Second, On Watch, edited by Mr. Herbert<br /> Russell, the son of Mr. Clark Russell, and pub-<br /> lished by Sampson Low at 6d., is to be entirely<br /> given up to naval subjects and news. Third,<br /> Messrs. Chapman and Hall are about to join the<br /> ranks of publishers who have magazines of their<br /> own, and announce, for publication in May,<br /> Chapman&#039;s Magazine, a 6d. monthly, to be<br /> edited by Mr. Oswald Crawfurd, the chairman of<br /> Chapman and Hall Limited. Besides these, the<br /> indefatigable Mr. Shorter has issued during the<br /> past month the Album, a 6d. weekly collection of<br /> photographs; and he is about to launch still<br /> another illustrated weekly, devoted entirely to<br /> sport.<br /> . A new series called “The Northern Library” is<br /> announced by Mr. Nutt. Among the early<br /> volumes to appear will be “The Saga of King<br /> Olaf Tryggwason,” translated by the Rev. John<br /> Sephton ; “The Ambales Saga,” edited and<br /> translated by Mr. Israel Gollancz; and “The<br /> Faereyinga Saga,” translated by Mr. F. York<br /> Powell, Regius Professor of Modern History at<br /> Oxford.<br /> Two books by Colonel Reginald Hart, Director<br /> of Military Education in India, entitled “Reflec-<br /> tions on the Art of War,” and “Sanitation and<br /> Health,” have just been published by Messrs.<br /> W. Clowes and Sons Limited. They have both<br /> been very well reviewed.<br /> Messrs. Dent and Co. will shortly issue a<br /> revised and illustrated edition of Mrs. Alford<br /> Baldwin’s “Story of a Marriage.”<br /> “A Year of Sport and Natural History,” edited<br /> by Mr. Oswald Crawfurd, C.M.G., has just been<br /> published by Messrs. Chapman and Hall. It is<br /> composed of a series of natural history articles<br /> that were issued in Black and White. The work<br /> is beautifully illustrated, and is in every way<br /> first class.<br /> CORRESPONDENCE,<br /> I.—“EDITIONs.”<br /> HE announcement in the last number of the<br /> Author that Pierre Loti’s new book bears on<br /> the title page the legend of its being the<br /> “twenty-eighth edition,” though, in fact, the work<br /> is not yet issued to the public, raises the old ques-<br /> tion of what is an “edition;” whether it is worth<br /> the publisher&#039;s while to continue such literary<br /> fictions as “second edition, “third edition ”—or<br /> even “twenty-eighth edition ?” An “edition ”<br /> may mean any number of copies from 50 to<br /> 50,000. At one time it meant that the volume<br /> had been reprinted a specified number of times,<br /> and was therefore some guarantee that the book<br /> was not only in good demand, but had received<br /> the author&#039;s latest corrections; in fact, what is<br /> now termed a “new edition.” In a day of<br /> universal printing from stereos, this is no longer<br /> the case, even with technical treatises. In short,<br /> this numbering of “ edition,” is little better than<br /> a transparent fraud on the less sophisticated part<br /> of the publishers “public.” By a sort of vague<br /> understanding, never reduced to any protocol,<br /> and therefore never acted upon, an “edition ”<br /> was supposed to be IOOO copies, though why sales<br /> need have been counted in this rather cumbersome<br /> fashion it is rather difficult to understand. If it<br /> is allowable to estimate the merits of a book by its<br /> sale, would it not be more in accordance with reason,<br /> not to say common honesty, to intimate that the<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 279 (#293) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 279<br /> booksellers have taken 500, 800, 15OO, to 5000, or<br /> whatever may be the numerical expression of their<br /> confidence in the selling value of the author&#039;s<br /> name P But even then this does not quite meet<br /> the merits ºf the case. There are, as poor authors<br /> sometimes learn on settling up accounts with the<br /> modern Sosii, such things as “ sale or return,”<br /> which enable them to discount the inflated an-<br /> nouncements about the number of copies ordered<br /> “by the trade,” or which have been subscribed<br /> for in the after-enthusiasm of Mr. So and So&#039;s<br /> annual dinner. Pierre Loti’s twenty-eighth-<br /> edition-in-anticipation is no doubt perfectly<br /> justified by experience. But what is to be said of<br /> the minor novelist who prints at least three<br /> “editions” at the same time, though actually the<br /> total number of copies may be counted by<br /> hundreds P. On the other hand, it would not be<br /> difficult to point to popular books which sell by<br /> the thousand, without the publishers thinking it<br /> necessary to stimulate the flagging zeal of the<br /> public by announcements which, at best, are<br /> meaningless, and at worst might be characterised<br /> by a word not to be whispered where the dealings<br /> •of such honourable men as the purveyors of<br /> literature are concerned. R. B.<br /> II.-A DEFENCE OF RUSTIC READING.<br /> I think your contributor who speaks of village<br /> reading is dealing with what was the case thirty<br /> or forty years ago, rather than at the present<br /> time. I have had the means of knowing a good<br /> deal of what is the course of literature in an<br /> average south country parish, in great part<br /> agricultural, but not far from a large railway<br /> station.<br /> A man who acts as agent for a local weekly<br /> &#039;paper, and is also clerk to the parish council, and<br /> secretary to the village club and reading room,<br /> tells me that there are not above a dozen houses<br /> where a newspaper of some sort is not taken in,<br /> either Lloyd&#039;s or a local one ; and I have certainly<br /> found even the elder children at the schools<br /> aware of public events.<br /> There is a centre in the county which lends out<br /> books to village reading rooms, and for the last<br /> six or eight years this has kept up a constant<br /> exchange of biography, travels, good novels, and<br /> tales of adventure. Marryatt, Kingston, Mayne<br /> Reid, Harrison Ainsworth are favourites with the<br /> younger men and lads, and they read eagerly any<br /> tale of seafaring life. -<br /> There are besides, two lending libraries, chiefly<br /> for the women and children, but that the men<br /> also read the books is shown by the inquiries for<br /> print large enough for father. I know from the<br /> reports of a society for which I am the literary<br /> associate, that most parishes have likewise<br /> good libraries, generally well resorted to. The<br /> women also are apt to obtain books of the<br /> penny dreadful order, of course on their own<br /> account.<br /> “Fox&#039;s Book of Martyrs’’ is often to be met<br /> with, generally an inheritance ; and the two books<br /> that all have heard of and wish to read are the<br /> “Pilgrim’s Progress&quot; and “Robinson Crusoe,”<br /> but I cannot think that the writer of “Rustic<br /> Reading ” can really know John Bunyan&#039;s great<br /> classic if he thinks it likely to terrify children into<br /> the way of virtue. It generally contains only one<br /> illustration at all alarming, e<br /> I doubt, too, whether he can be familiar with<br /> parish magazines. The two most popular ones,<br /> The Banner of Faith and the Church Monthly,<br /> certainly contain tales and papers that do not<br /> deserve the term mawkish. Perhaps I may also<br /> observe that the nickname Hodge is one that<br /> greatly displeases both the peasant and all that<br /> are interested in him. C. M. Y.<br /> III.-LITERATURE IN RUSSIA.<br /> The new young Tsar, Nicholas II., apparently<br /> holds men of letters in high esteem, and is capable<br /> of estimating the true worth of their efforts for<br /> the dissemination of knowledge among the classes<br /> through the medium of the press and other<br /> channels, he having granted a sum of £50,000<br /> (500,000 roubles) to be paid out of the exchequer<br /> for the formation of a special fund to relieve<br /> journalists, authors, and others engaged in<br /> literature, in distress, and to permanently pro-<br /> vide for their widows and orphans at death. A<br /> grand and general burst of joy and jubilation<br /> went forth from the united Russian Press at the<br /> reception of the glad news, as every indigent<br /> pressman is now sure that, when the breadwinner<br /> is removed, his wife and family will not be left to<br /> starve. The Russian Emperor has truly set a<br /> noble example, which might with advantage be<br /> emulated by our Government.<br /> Count Leo Tolstoi has completed a new work<br /> entitled “Master and Servant.” It will make its<br /> appearance in the columns of the Northern<br /> Gazette in the course of a month or so. A few<br /> details of the everyday life of this veteran writer<br /> may be of interest to the readers of the Author.<br /> When I visited him at Yasuaja Poliana, on his<br /> own estate, I was very hospitably entertained by<br /> him and his family, and shall never forget the<br /> kindness shown me. Count Tolstoi is a staunch<br /> teetotaler, a strict vegetarian, and a non-smoker.<br /> He invariably rises at 8 a.m., and, after partaking<br /> of a cup of coffee, adjourns to his study, a sparely<br /> furnished room, which he tidies up and dusts<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 280 (#294) ############################################<br /> <br /> 28O<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> himself, as no abigail is allowed to enter its<br /> sacred precincts, where he writes until ten. He<br /> then takes his constitutional, returning for lunch<br /> about twelve. The bill of fare during my stay<br /> was boiled millet, cabbage sprouts, cauliflower,<br /> and stewed apples and plums. Lunch ended,<br /> he enjoys a snooze. An hour later he is hard at<br /> work again in his sanctum. At six he dines of<br /> much the same fare as at lunch. His family are<br /> not all vegetarians and teetotalers; in fact, the<br /> countess, his wife, strongly disapproves of his<br /> ascetic habits, and takes no trouble to conceal her<br /> dislike of them. The count sometimes mows<br /> the grass, but he has given up tilling the ground,<br /> as his medical advisers have forbidden over<br /> exertion as dangerous in the weak state and poor<br /> action of his heart. Coffee has also been pro-<br /> scribed, and he is gradually weaning himself<br /> from its use. The count is still hale and hearty,<br /> and when he can take “Shank’s pony” to<br /> Moscow and back without feeling any evil<br /> effects from his pedestrian feat, one is inclined<br /> to prophesy a good lease of life yet for the<br /> great novelist. He has crossed the span of life<br /> alloted to man by the Psalmist, and now stands<br /> on the threshold of the outside limit, which can<br /> only be attained by reason of strength.<br /> Odessa, 27 Feb. 8. W. ADDIson.<br /> IV.-A World of ENCOURAGEMENT.<br /> then resigned their membership. An instance is<br /> also cited in the Author for the current month of<br /> a writer, who, under such circumstances, became<br /> a member, his obligation to the Society being<br /> £15 at the time of his resignation against a set-<br /> off of one guinea entrance fee. I, for one, most<br /> strongly protest against such an abuse being<br /> permissible a second time, and consider that in<br /> justice to the Society we should protect our-<br /> selves against such vampires, who would only<br /> cripple its interests and usefulness. Cannot a<br /> resolution be passed rendering any member<br /> abusing an advantage of the Society ineligible<br /> for re-election ? ANNIE BRADSHAw.<br /> Feb. 16.<br /> W.—How LONG TO WAIT P<br /> I think “S. B.&#039;s.” suggestions in your last issue<br /> are well worthy the attention of the Society of<br /> Authors, especially that of a limit of time as to<br /> payment after publication.<br /> The great uncertainty as to the date of pay-<br /> ment is the cause of much difficulty and distress<br /> amongst women writers especially, who do not<br /> like to press for payment, and yet often need the<br /> money sadly.<br /> I write for several periodicals, the publisher of<br /> one of which sends a cheque regularly at the end<br /> of the following month after publication; another,<br /> once in three months; one, only once in the year,<br /> i.e., in January.<br /> I do not object to any of these arrangements,<br /> for, although I consider the first-named the best,<br /> I know when to expect the money due, and can<br /> arrange accordingly. But in the case of other<br /> periodicals, which profess to settle accounts every<br /> three months, the money is usually, after the first<br /> quarter of the year, withheld until the following<br /> January (this year until Feb. 1), and therefore<br /> the sum due to me in June, 1893, does not reach<br /> my hands for seven months, while that due in<br /> September is four months late in payment. In<br /> my own case this does not press so hardly as it<br /> might in many others, as I happen to have an<br /> income independent of my writings; but I<br /> tremble to think to what depths of despair my<br /> poorer sisters must be reduced by this long drawn-<br /> out “hope deferred.”<br /> Moreover, it is a species of dishonesty, for the<br /> money thus withheld for seven months should<br /> bear interest, and this is a clear gain to the<br /> publisher, and a similar loss to the writer.<br /> I notice in the report of the Committee of<br /> Management for the year ending in January, a<br /> statement to the effect that writers have joined<br /> the Society when in difficulty, and upon being<br /> released from their difficulty, at possibly both<br /> trouble and expense to the Society, they have<br /> Surely this might be remedied by a “certain set of<br /> rules” being drawn up (as suggested by “S. B.”),<br /> by which all the , members of the Society of<br /> Authors should abide, forwarding with the MS.<br /> a printed copy of these rules, and thus avoiding<br /> the unpleasant necessity of either “dunning” the<br /> editor (with the probable result of dismissal, or<br /> rejection of future MSS.) or living on expecta-<br /> tions, instead of cash down, for an unlimited<br /> number of months. R. L. I.<br /> VI.-AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERs.<br /> I have read with interest the letter from the<br /> Secretary of the Incorporated Society of Authors<br /> in the issue of the Athenaeum of 23rd Feb. It is<br /> evident from the statement of facts that it would<br /> have been impossible for the Society to support<br /> such a case. I have no doubt its decision will<br /> strengthen the Society’s hands. The judicial<br /> manner in which you have acted throughout will,<br /> I am sure, very much strengthen the feeling of<br /> confidence which members of the Society have in<br /> your judgment and discretion. I think that you<br /> have been largely instrumental in preventing the<br /> Society from drifting into aimless and inutile<br /> litigation. A WELL-WISHER.https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/274/1895-03-01-The-Author-5-10.pdfpublications, The Author
275https://historysoa.com/items/show/275The Author, Vol. 05 Issue 11 (April 1895)<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=%3Cem%3EThe+Author%3C%2Fem%3E%2C+Vol.+05+Issue+11+%28April+1895%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 05 Issue 11 (April 1895)</a><a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Publication">Publication</a>1895-04-01-The-Author-5-11281–304<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=89&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=5">5</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=76&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1895-04-01">1895-04-01</a>1118950401C be El u t b or,<br /> (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors.<br /> Monthly.)<br /> CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT.<br /> VoI. V.-No. 11.]<br /> APRIL 1, 1895.<br /> [PRICE SIXPENCE.<br /> For the Opinions earpressed in papers that are<br /> signed or initialled the Authors alone are<br /> responsible. None of the papers or para-<br /> graphs must be taken as earpressing the<br /> collective opinions of the committee unless<br /> they are officially signed by G. Herbert<br /> Thring, Sec.<br /> -<br /> HE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all<br /> remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and<br /> requests that all members not receiving an answer to<br /> important communications within two days will write to him<br /> without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union<br /> Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered<br /> letter only.<br /> Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on<br /> all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub-<br /> jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are<br /> returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS.<br /> *-<br /> WARNINGS AND ADWICE,<br /> agent.<br /> 4. AscERTAIN WEAT A PROPOSED AGREEMENT GIVEs To<br /> BOTH SIDES BEFORE SIGNING IT.-Remember that an<br /> arrangement as to a joint venture in any other kind of busi-<br /> ness whatever would be instantly refused should either party<br /> refuse to show the books or to let it be known what share he<br /> reserved for himself.<br /> 5. LITERARY AGENTs.-Be very careful. You cannot be<br /> too careful as to the person whom you appoint as your<br /> Remember that you place your property almost un-<br /> reservedly in his hands. Your only safety is in consulting<br /> the Society, or some friend who has had personal experience<br /> of the agent. Do not trust advertisements alone,<br /> 6. CoST OF PRODUCTION.——Never sign any agreement of<br /> which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part,<br /> until you have proved the figures.<br /> 7. CHOICE OF PUBLISHERS.–Never enter into any cor-<br /> respondence with publishers, especially with those who ad-<br /> vertise for MSS., who are not recommended by experienced<br /> friends or by this Society.<br /> 8. FUTURE WORK.—Never, on any account whatever,<br /> bind yourself down for future work to anyone.<br /> 9. PERSONAL RISK.—Never accept any pecuniary risk or<br /> responsibility whatever without advice.<br /> Io. REJECTED MSS.—Never, when a M.S. has been re-<br /> fused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises<br /> they may put forward, for the production of the work.<br /> II. AMERICAN RIGHTS.—Never sign away American<br /> rights. Keep them by special clause. Refuse to sign any<br /> agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the<br /> publisher, unless for a substantial consideration.<br /> 12. CESSION OF COPYRIGHT.-Never sign any paper,<br /> either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright,<br /> without advice.<br /> 13. ADVERTISEMENTs. -- Keep some control over the<br /> advertisements, if they affect your returns, by a clause in<br /> the agreement.<br /> I4. NEVER forget that publishing is a business, like any<br /> other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy,<br /> charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with<br /> business men. Be yourself a business man.<br /> Society’s Offices :—<br /> 4, PoETUGAL STREET, LINCOLN&#039;s INN FIELDs.<br /> -- - *-- - --&quot;<br /> - - -<br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.<br /> I. RAWING THE AGREEMENT.-It is not generally<br /> understood that the author, as the vendor, has the<br /> absolute right of drafting the agreement upon<br /> whatever terms the transaction is to be carried out.<br /> Authors are strongly advised to exercise that right. In<br /> every form of business, this among others, the right of<br /> drawing the agreement rests with him who sells, leases, or<br /> has the control of the property.<br /> 2. SERIAL RIGHTS.—In selling Serial Rights remember<br /> that you may be selling the Serial Right for all time; that<br /> is, the Right to continue the production in papers. If you<br /> object to this, insert a clause to that effect.<br /> 3. STAMP You R AGREEMENTS. – Readers are most<br /> URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements<br /> immediately after signature. If this precaution is neglected<br /> for two weeks, a fine of £IO must be paid before the agree-<br /> ment can be used as a legal document. In almost every<br /> case brought to the secretary the agreement, or the letter<br /> which serves for one, is forwarded without the stamp. The<br /> author may be assured that the other party to the agree-<br /> ment seldom neglects this simple precaution. The Society,<br /> to save trouble, undertakes to get all the agreements of<br /> members stamped for them at mo ea&#039;pense to themselves<br /> eacept the cost of the stamp.<br /> WOL. V.<br /> I. VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive<br /> advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub.<br /> lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his<br /> business or the administration of his property. If the advice<br /> C C 2<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 282 (#296) ############################################<br /> <br /> 282<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member<br /> has a right to an opinion from the Society’s solicitors. If the<br /> case is such that Counsel&#039;s opinion is desirable, the Com-<br /> mittee will obtain for him Counsel’s opinion. All this<br /> without any cost to the member.<br /> 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright<br /> and publisher&#039;s agreements do not generally fall within the<br /> experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple<br /> to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually<br /> engaged upon such questions for us. -<br /> 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past<br /> accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in<br /> order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree-<br /> ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively<br /> so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any<br /> agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor-<br /> mation thus obtained may prove invaluable.<br /> 4. If the examination of your previous business trans-<br /> actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should<br /> take advice as to a change of publishers.<br /> 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro-<br /> posed document to the Society for examination.<br /> 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in<br /> the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish-<br /> ing firm in the country.<br /> 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you<br /> are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are<br /> reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing<br /> the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen-<br /> dence of the writer.<br /> 8. Send to the Editor of the Awthor notes of everything<br /> important to literature that you may hear or meet with.<br /> 9. The committee have now arranged for the reception of<br /> members’ agreements and their preservation in a fireproof<br /> safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con-<br /> fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who<br /> will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:—(1)<br /> To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To<br /> stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon<br /> them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments<br /> due according to agreements.<br /> *-- ~ *-*<br /> •- ~~~<br /> THE AUTHORS’ SYNDICATE,<br /> EMBERS are informed :<br /> I. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate takes charge of<br /> the business of members of the Society. That it<br /> submits MSS. to publishers and editors, concludes agree-<br /> ments, examines, passes, and collects accounts, and, gene-<br /> rally, relieves members of the trouble of managing business<br /> details. w<br /> 2. That the terms upon which its services can be secured<br /> will be forwarded upon detailed application.<br /> 3. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate works only for those<br /> members of the Society whose work possesses a market<br /> value.<br /> 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiations<br /> whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia-<br /> tions are placed ea clusively in its hands, and that all<br /> communications relating thereto are referred to it.<br /> 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by<br /> appointment, and that, when possible, at least two days&#039;<br /> notice should be given.<br /> 6. That every attempt is made to deal with all communi-<br /> cations promptly. That stamps should, in all cases, be sent<br /> to defray postage.<br /> 7. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate does not invite MSS.<br /> without previous correspondence ; does not hold itself<br /> responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice; and that<br /> in all cases MSS. must be accompanied by stamps to defray<br /> postage.<br /> 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for<br /> lectures by some of the leading members of the Society;<br /> that it has a “Transfer Department * for the sale and<br /> purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a “Register<br /> of Wants and Wanted &#039;&#039; is open. Members are invited to<br /> communicate their requirements to the Manager.<br /> There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services<br /> will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It<br /> is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the<br /> Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in<br /> the Syndicate.<br /> NOTICES,<br /> HE Editor of the Awthor begs to remind members of the<br /> Society that, although the paper is sent to them free<br /> of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very<br /> heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great<br /> many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest<br /> 6s. 6d. subscription for the year.<br /> The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and<br /> communications on all subjects connected with literature<br /> from members and others. Nothing can do more good to<br /> the Society than to make the Awthor complete, attractive,<br /> and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this<br /> work send their names and the special subjects on which<br /> they are willing to write P<br /> Communications for the Author should reach the Editor<br /> not later than the 21st of each month.<br /> All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether<br /> members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate<br /> to the Editor any points connected with their work which<br /> it would be advisable in the general interest to publish.<br /> Members and others who wish their MSS. read are<br /> requested not to send them to the Office without previously<br /> communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable<br /> despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in<br /> which they are received. It must also be distinctly under-<br /> stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances,<br /> undertake the publication of MSS.<br /> The Authors’ Club is now open in its new premises, at<br /> 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary<br /> for information, rules of admission, &amp;c.<br /> Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they<br /> have paid their subscriptions for the year P. If they will do<br /> this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker&#039;s<br /> order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the<br /> trouble of sending out a reminder.<br /> Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the<br /> warning numbered (8). It is a most foolish and may be a<br /> most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding<br /> for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they<br /> would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five<br /> years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest<br /> or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then<br /> hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them-<br /> selves into literary bondage for three or five years P<br /> Those who possess the “Cost of Production ” are<br /> requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15<br /> per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 283 (#297) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 283<br /> of “doing sums,” the addition of three shillings in the<br /> pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding<br /> is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be<br /> added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands<br /> at £9 4s. The figures in our book are as near the exact<br /> truth as can be procured; but a printer&#039;s, or a binder’s,<br /> bill is so elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be<br /> arrived at. -<br /> Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged<br /> in the “Cost of Production” for advertising. Of course, we<br /> have not included any sums which may be charged for<br /> inserting advertisements in the publisher&#039;s own magazines,<br /> or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too<br /> often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from<br /> sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket,<br /> by inserting any number of advertisements in his own<br /> magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are<br /> who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those<br /> who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it.<br /> *-*. --&gt;<br /> THE COMMITTEE,<br /> R. HENRY NORMAN, the author of<br /> “Real Japan,” “The Peoples and Politics<br /> of the Far East” (just published by Mr.<br /> Fisher Unwin), and other books, and the literary<br /> editor of the Daily Chronicle, has been appointed<br /> to the committee and council of the Society. By<br /> Mr. Norman&#039;s election the last vacancy on the<br /> committee for the current year is filled.<br /> *-- - -—º<br /> r- - -,<br /> LITERARY PROPERTY,<br /> I.—CANADIAN COPYRIGHT.<br /> H.E Dominion Government have ceased the<br /> collection through the Customs of the<br /> 12% per cent. royalty on reprints of British<br /> copyright works brought into Canada, which has<br /> been collected hitherto for the benefit of the<br /> authors. The Tariff Act passed last season<br /> provided for the discontinuance of the collection<br /> of the royalty from March 27 of this year, in<br /> order to emphasise Canada&#039;s claim to exclusive<br /> jurisdiction in the Dominion regarding copy-<br /> right.—Standard, April 2.<br /> To the Editor of the Times.<br /> SIR,--Your issue of Feb. 26, containing the<br /> letter of Mr. W. M. Conway on Canadian copy-<br /> right, has just been received here, and I must<br /> ask the favour of a reply thereto.<br /> Mr. Conway overlooks several important points<br /> which entirely destroys the force of his arguments.<br /> First, the geographical position of Canada, side<br /> by side as it is with the United States.<br /> Second, that, should the English author fail to<br /> publish in the United States before or simul-<br /> taneously with publication elsewhere, he loses<br /> copyright there, and any United States publisher<br /> can reprint the book without payment of any<br /> royalty whatever, and send the book into Canada<br /> unless it is copyrighted here. Under the Canadian<br /> Act, on the other hand, the author has thirty<br /> days after publication elsewhere in which to<br /> publish in Canada, and thereby secure exclusive<br /> copyright.<br /> Third, to secure copyright in the United States<br /> the author must actually have the type set up<br /> within the United States, The Canadian law, on<br /> the other hand, specially permits the importation<br /> of plates into Canada free of duty.<br /> If the English author refuses or neglects to<br /> secure copyright in the United States, he loses<br /> all rights there. But not so in Canada, for the<br /> Canadian Act provides that any publisher here<br /> wishing to reprint any such book must first give<br /> security for the payment of a royalty of Io per<br /> cent, for the benefit of the author.<br /> It will be seen, then, that the Canadian Act<br /> grants valuable concessions to the English author<br /> which concessions are denied him in the United<br /> States.<br /> Mr. Conway repeats the statement that if the<br /> Canadian Bill becomes law Canadian reprints will<br /> inevitably flood the United States market. I<br /> think I can show Mr. Conway, and those who<br /> think as he does, that this statement has no<br /> foundation in fact. Section 4956 of the United<br /> States Copyright Act reads:—“During the<br /> existence of such copyright (in the United States)<br /> the importation into the United States of any book,<br /> chromo, or photograph, so copyrighted, or any<br /> edition or editions thereof shall be and<br /> it is hereby prohibited.” Section 4965 of the<br /> same Act provides the penalty for the infringe-<br /> ment of the foregoing provision. The United<br /> States copyright owners are therefore fully<br /> protected, and in the face of these provisions<br /> of the United States Act it will be worse<br /> than folly to continue to assert that Canadian<br /> reprints would or could flood the United States<br /> market.<br /> Mr. Walter Besant&#039;s new book, “Beyond the<br /> Dreams of Avarice,” furnishes an apt illustration<br /> in point. Mr. Besant’s book is issued in London<br /> at 6s. It is copyrighted in the United States, and<br /> is issued there at I dol. 50 cents. The British<br /> copyright owners have, however, issued a special<br /> cheap edition for the Canadian market, and Mr.<br /> Besant may rest assured that this special Canadian<br /> edition (which was printed in London and is now<br /> selling in Canada for 75 cents a copy) will not<br /> flood the United States market, for the very excel-<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 284 (#298) ############################################<br /> <br /> 284<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> lent reason that the United States copyright<br /> owner is fully protected, as the United States<br /> copyright law prohibits the importation and sale<br /> of unauthorised editions in the United States. So<br /> with “The Ralstons,” Mr. Marion. Crawford’s<br /> recent novel, which is published in London at<br /> 12s. It is copyrighted in the United States, and<br /> sells there for 2 dols.<br /> owner has printed in London a special cheap<br /> edition, which is sold in Canada, for 75 cents a<br /> copy; yet the United States market is not being<br /> flooded with this cheap edition, although it is<br /> published at less than one-half the price of the<br /> United States edition, as the United States law<br /> prevents any such action. Did space permit,<br /> scores of similar cases could be given, and it can<br /> readily be seen that the fear that Canadian edi-<br /> tions will flood the United States market is<br /> utterly unfounded.<br /> In conclusion, I suggest that our English<br /> friends be perfectly fair in statements they make<br /> through the Press. Thus, when Mr. Conway<br /> says, as he does in his letter, that “Canadian<br /> reprints will flood, as they are intended to flood,<br /> the United States market,” and calls for signa-<br /> tures to a petition asking for disallowance of the<br /> Canadian Act on this account as one of the chief<br /> grievances, it is an open question whether every<br /> signature so secured has not been secured under<br /> false pretences, as Canadian reprints cannot<br /> flood, nor, above all, was it ever intended that<br /> they should flood, the United States market.<br /> Canadians resent and protest at such a misleading<br /> statement, as it places their case in a false light<br /> before the British public.<br /> RICHARD T. LANCEFIELD, Hon. Secretary<br /> Canadian Copyright Association.<br /> Public Library, Hamilton, March 9.<br /> Times, March 22, 1895.<br /> To the Editor of the Times.<br /> ... SIR,--The letter of Mr. R. T. Lancefield, hon.<br /> secretary of the Canadian Copyright Association,<br /> does not call for a lengthy reply. He contends<br /> that I overlook “ the geographical position of<br /> Canada, side by side as it is with the United<br /> States.” The fact is that the situation of Canada.<br /> is the chief cause of our anxiety. If Canada were<br /> a country isolated in the midst of others not<br /> English speaking, we should regret her action,<br /> but it would not be powerfully injurious, for the<br /> Canadian market for books is small, and the loss of<br /> it, though regrettable, would be no great matter.<br /> But if Canada obtains the right to issue cheap<br /> unauthorised reprints of the works of English<br /> writers, these reprints will be imported into the<br /> United States, all laws and customs houses not-<br /> The British copyright .<br /> withstanding, for Canada&#039;s long land frontier<br /> cannot be blocked. Tauchnitz reprints find their<br /> way through English customs houses in great<br /> numbers; how much more must Canadian reprints<br /> invade the United States if ever the threatened<br /> system were inaugurated.<br /> Mr. Lancefield’s further contention that the<br /> Canadian proposals would put an English author<br /> in a better position in Canada than he is now<br /> placed in the United States is specious; but the<br /> fact is not material, for the magnitude of the<br /> United States market is a compensation which<br /> Canada cannot offer. The question is one of cost.<br /> It pays to undergo considerable expense to secure<br /> the United States market ; it would not pay to<br /> undergo a much smaller expense to secure the<br /> Canadian market. Few books will ever be taken<br /> for Canada under the conditions of the new Act.<br /> The rest will be robbed of anything worth the<br /> name of copyright.<br /> From an author&#039;s point of view the situation<br /> threatens to become intolerable. Having written<br /> his book and secured an English publisher, he<br /> already has to hunt up an American publisher<br /> also. This takes time. It is proposed that he<br /> shall further have to find a Canadian publisher.<br /> If all the other parts of the British Empire follow<br /> suit, obviously an author&#039;s work in arranging<br /> with publishers all over the earth and seeing his<br /> book through the press in a dozen simultaneous<br /> editions will be much greater than his work in<br /> writing it.<br /> The only just and sound arrangement is for<br /> universal copyright to follow single publication<br /> anywhere, and this greatly desired consummation<br /> seemed till recently to be coming within the<br /> bounds of possibility. Canada’s proposed retro-<br /> grade and particularist action threatens to post-<br /> pone it indefinitely. Even Mr. Lancefield does<br /> not pretend that the Canadian Act is fashioned<br /> in the interests of literature, still less in the<br /> interests of the authors who make literature, or<br /> of the readers that profit by it. The injury is to<br /> be wrought solely for the sake of a small body of<br /> printers whose profits will be infinitesimal com-<br /> pared with the far-reaching damage they will<br /> effect.—I am, Sir, your obedient servant,<br /> W. M. ConwAY, Chairman of Committee of<br /> the Incorporated Society of Authors.<br /> 4, Portugal-street, Lincoln’s-inn-fields.<br /> Times, March 24, 1895.<br /> One or two points may be added to those in<br /> Mr. Conway&#039;s letter.<br /> I. As to the Canadian proposal to retire from<br /> the position of civilised states in order to practise<br /> piracy openly, he says nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 285 (#299) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 285<br /> 2. As to the flooding of the United States with<br /> cheap reprints, he quotes the Act, but neglects to<br /> point out how with the enormous undefended<br /> frontier it is to be enforced. He then mentions<br /> one or two books lately republished in Canada<br /> which have not been largely exported to the States.<br /> Why P Simply because they are published at<br /> 75 cents, or 3s. a copy. There is not likely to be<br /> any successful piracy at that price.<br /> 3. He is still bold enough to parade the old<br /> pretence of a royalty. First, it is to be a<br /> Io per cent. royalty—a miserable, iniquitous, and<br /> sweating royalty, long since exploded in this<br /> country and the States. But, even if it were a<br /> fair royalty, what security is there for its collec-<br /> tion ? None. The Canadian “royalty” has been<br /> with us for many years. Once Charles Reade got<br /> eighteenpence by it. Mr. W. H. Lecky, the other<br /> day, said that he had once obtained over a pound<br /> by it. I have never received a farthing from it.<br /> In the face of the absence of any machinery<br /> for enforcing the payment of the royalty, and for<br /> auditing the accounts; and in face of the miserable<br /> nature of the royalty offered; to talk of “con-<br /> cessions” to the British author demands, indeed,<br /> a brazen front. EDITOR.<br /> Also from the Times of the same date :-<br /> Mr. Lancefield’s argument appears to be that<br /> because the United States, a foreign power,<br /> chooses to impose conditions as to remanufacture<br /> of books in America before granting copyright<br /> protection to British authors, Canada, which is .<br /> a part of the British Empire, is justified in<br /> attempting to do likewise. He does not pretend<br /> that any necessity for this arises from the difficulty<br /> of procuring English books in Canada at<br /> moderate prices, for he carefully explains that<br /> under the present law the works of English<br /> authors are offered for sale in the Dominion at<br /> lower prices than in Great Britain or the United<br /> States. The only apparent reason for seeking to<br /> secure the Royal assent to this precious Bill is<br /> that it may possibly put a little money into the<br /> pockets of a few needy Canadian printers, while<br /> it would certainly injure English authors and<br /> would probably not benefit Canadian buyers. The<br /> logical outcome of such a concession to Canada<br /> would be similar legislation in each of the self-<br /> governing colonies, with the result that, although<br /> fully protected in nearly all foreign countries by<br /> the Treaty of Berne, an English author would,<br /> if he wished to remain proprietor of his own<br /> book, be obliged to provide for the printing of ten<br /> or a dozen separate editions. The economic<br /> waste of such a monstrous system is positively<br /> appalling. F.<br /> March 24.<br /> *-<br /> The petition against the Canadian Copyright<br /> Act, which has been lying for the last three<br /> weeks for signature at the offices of the Society,<br /> has now been forwarded to the Marquis of Ripon.<br /> There are more than 1500 signatures to the<br /> petition, and amongst them are the names of all<br /> the best known writers in science, fiction, &amp;c., in<br /> the United Kingdom. In addition, the most im-<br /> portant known publishing firms have added their<br /> signatures. It is hard in such a long list to<br /> discriminate, but a few of the names are appended.<br /> Perhaps it is worth while to repeat again the<br /> points which make the question one of such great<br /> importance. After a long and difficult struggle<br /> it was recognised by most of the civilised nations,<br /> at the Berne Convention, that copyright was the<br /> exclusive property of the author, and was not<br /> therefore to be trammeled with trade restrictions.<br /> After a still further struggle the Americans were<br /> brought to recognise the fact that property<br /> existed in copyright, but unfortunately they<br /> attached to that property a trade limitation.<br /> The step was retrogressive, and opposed to the<br /> liberal view of all the nations that signed the<br /> Berne Convention. But to obtain any concession<br /> across the water was of considerable advantage<br /> to the holders and originators of valuable<br /> property. The Canadians are now desirous of<br /> placing a somewhat similar trade restriction on<br /> the property of British and other authors. It is<br /> not worth while to go into the Act in detail, but<br /> there appears to be no doubt that should it<br /> obtain the Royal assent, not only will the American<br /> copyright be imperilled, but it is quite possible<br /> that the signatories to the Berne Convention may<br /> have something to say on the matter. The<br /> question is not one concerning the freedom of a<br /> colony to legislate on its affairs—as the Canadians<br /> so frequently and so vainly assert—but touches the<br /> question of piracy, which, when on the high seas,<br /> has been long ago suppressed by the unanimous<br /> voice and power of the civilised world.<br /> L. Alma-Tadema, R.A. George Gissing<br /> Edward Arnold Frederick Goodall<br /> Sir Robert Ball, F.R.S. Sydney Grundy<br /> Robert Bateman Richard Garnett, LL.D.<br /> Geo. Bell and Sons Thomas Hardy<br /> Walter Besant Anthony Hope Hawkins<br /> Augustine Birrell, M.P. William Heinemann<br /> A. and C. Black Holman Hunt<br /> William Black Prof. Huxley, F.R.S.<br /> Hall Caine A. D. Innes and Co.<br /> Chappell and Co. Henry Irving<br /> Hon. John Collier Jerome K. Jerome<br /> W. M. Conway Henry Arthur Jones<br /> F. H. Cowen Mrs. E. Kennard<br /> A. Constable and Co. Prof. E. Ray Lankester<br /> Earl of Desart W. E. H. Lecky<br /> Frank Dicksee, R.A. Lady W. Lennox<br /> B. L. Farjeon Longmans, Green, and Co.<br /> Archdeacon Farrar, D.D. Mrs. Lynn Linton<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 286 (#300) ############################################<br /> <br /> 286<br /> A UTHOR.<br /> THE<br /> Edna Lyall<br /> Rev. W. J. Loftie, F.S.A.<br /> Sir A.C. Mackenzie, Mus.Doc.<br /> Macmillan and Co.<br /> James Martineau<br /> Helen Mathers<br /> S. H. Mendlessohn<br /> George du Maurier<br /> Phil May<br /> Methuen and Co.<br /> Justin McCarthy, M.P.<br /> John Murray<br /> Prof. Max Müller<br /> J. C. Nimmo<br /> Henry Norman<br /> David Nutt<br /> Novello and Co.<br /> W. H. Pollock<br /> Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart.,<br /> LL.D<br /> A. W. Pinero<br /> W. H. Russell.<br /> George Routledge and Co.,<br /> Ltd.<br /> Sir B. W. Richardson<br /> T. Scrutton<br /> C.Williers Stanford, Mus.Doc.<br /> M. H. Spiellman<br /> Herbert Spencer<br /> Sir John Stainer<br /> Sir Arthur Sullivan<br /> Lord Tennyson<br /> Sir H. Thompson, Bart.<br /> Brandon Thomas<br /> Baron H. de Worms<br /> John Strange Winter<br /> J. McNeil Whistler<br /> Stanley J. Weyman<br /> Earl of Wharncliffe<br /> Florence Warden<br /> James Payn I. Zangwill. G. H. Titerse.<br /> II.-AN AGREEMENT ON THE CovKRT COPYRIGHT<br /> |BILL.<br /> (Sent to Congress, Feb. 27.)<br /> At a conference comprising representatives of<br /> the American Newspaper Publishers’ Association,<br /> the American Publishers’ Copyright League, and<br /> the American (Authors&#039;) Copyright League, held<br /> in New York, Feb. 21, 1895, the following sub-<br /> stitute for the proviso of the Covert Bill was<br /> unanimously agreed upon :<br /> “Provided, however, that in case of any such<br /> infringement of the copyright of a photograph<br /> made from any object not a work of the fine arts,<br /> the sum to be recovered in any action brought<br /> under the provisions of this section shall be not<br /> less than IOO dollars, nor more than 5000 dollars;<br /> and provided, further, that in case of any such<br /> nfringement of the copyright of a painting,<br /> drawing, statue, engraving, etching, print, or<br /> model or design for a work of the fine arts, or in<br /> case of any such infringement of the copyright of<br /> a work of the fine arts, the sum to be recovered<br /> in any such action shall be not less than 250<br /> dollars,and not more than IO,OOO dollars.”<br /> This substitute is acceptable also to leading art<br /> publishers and photographers. It will relieve<br /> the newspapers of excessive penalties without<br /> endangering the security of copyright property.<br /> In behalf of the three above-mentioned national<br /> organisations, we respectfully request your sup-<br /> port to the effort to pass the Bill, as thus<br /> amended, at the present session by unanimous<br /> COnsent.<br /> W. C. BRYANT,<br /> Secretary, A.N.P.A.<br /> GEORGE HAVEN PUTNAN,<br /> Secretary, A.P.C.L.<br /> RoberT UNDER wood JoHNSON,<br /> Secretary, A.C.L.<br /> III.-ON SELLING A Book OUTRIGHT.<br /> A “Publisher,” writing to the Athenæum, calls<br /> upon the writer of the article with the above title<br /> to “state publicly ” in the Athenæum “what sort<br /> of book’’ he refers to as a 6s. book which can be<br /> produced at Is. a copy, or a 3s. 6d. book which<br /> can be produced at 8%d. I would point out to<br /> this “Publisher ” that it is not customary to call<br /> upon the writer of an article in one paper to<br /> explain himself in another, and that a state-<br /> ment made in the Author is as “publicly ”<br /> made as in the Athenæum. As he reads the<br /> Author, however, I will answer him here. If<br /> he will refer to the “Cost of Production,” a copy<br /> of which he doubtless possesses, he will find<br /> estimates showing exactly the kind of book meant.<br /> It is so clearly described as to leave no doubt<br /> possible. (Note that on p. 28 and on p. 34 there<br /> is a misprint of 5s. for 6s.) Since this pamphlet was<br /> printed, binding has gone up about 15 per cent.,<br /> and composition has slightly advanced, but paper<br /> has gone down. From these estimates it is<br /> evident that a 6s. book printed in quantities may<br /> cost a good deal less than Is. a copy. As regards<br /> a 3s. 6d. book, the average book of that price was<br /> in the writer&#039;s mind, viz., such a story book for<br /> boys and girls, as printed in large editions,<br /> certainly does not cost more than 8; d. a volume.<br /> But in the “Cost of Production,” p. 34, it is<br /> shown that actually a long novel issued in a large<br /> edition would cost no more than four-fifths of a<br /> shilling per copy.<br /> The “Publisher ” wants to include advertising<br /> in the “cost of production.” Certainly not; for<br /> the simple reason that by including it the cost<br /> may be made anything. By charging whatever<br /> the publisher pleases for advertising as often<br /> as he pleases in his own organ, which costs<br /> him nothing ; for advertising by exchange,<br /> which costs him nothing; by suppressing large<br /> discounts received from certain papers; he can<br /> load the actual cost of the book indefinitely.<br /> Let us not forget the case quoted some time<br /> since in the Author, where a demand was made<br /> for £30 odd for advertisements; and where the<br /> author&#039;s adviser offered to pay only whatever<br /> money had been actually expended. The amount<br /> proved to be under £4 A very little book was<br /> thus alleged to have cost £26 more than it actually<br /> did by thus swelling the advertisements The<br /> amount actually spent for advertising—not, of<br /> course, counting a successful novel—is in general<br /> very little, except in the rare case of a book which<br /> will “bear” it. An ordinary book, calculated to<br /> obtain at the best a circulation sufficient to pay its<br /> expenses, and a modest something over, cannot<br /> possibly, as the smallest knowledge of the<br /> figures will show, have a very large sum<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 287 (#301) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 287<br /> spent upon announcing it. The reason may<br /> well be understood when it is known that<br /> the expenditure of £20—which seems little—in<br /> advertising an edition of IOOO copies actually<br /> means the addition of nearly 5al. a copy on the<br /> cost of production. We will add the advertising<br /> to the cost of production as soon as we know<br /> that the actual money homestly spent, and no<br /> more, is to be charged. To these considerations<br /> may be added the fact that publishing firms differ<br /> from each other in no respect more than in the<br /> money they spend on advertising and in the<br /> organs in which they spend it.<br /> THE WRITER OF THE ARTICLE.<br /> *- A --&quot;<br /> - - -<br /> ROYAL LITERARY FUND,<br /> HE annual meeting of the Royal Literary<br /> Fund was held yesterday afternoon at 7,<br /> Adelphi-terrace. The chair was taken by<br /> Mr. W. E. H. Lecky, one of the vice-presidents, and<br /> there were present Mr. F. W. Gibbs, C.B., Q.C.,<br /> Mr. C. Knight Watson, Mr. Lewis Morris, Mr.<br /> W. J. Courthope; Mr. Fraser Rae, Mr. William<br /> Stebbing, Mr. Edward Dicey, C.B., Mr. F. D.<br /> Mocatta, Mr. George Dalziel, Mr. J. H. Grain, Dr.<br /> Macaulay, Mr. Thornton Sharp, Mr. Sidney Lee,<br /> Mr. Richard Bentley, Mr. F. C. Danvers, Sir<br /> William Farrer, Sir B. W. Richardson, and others.<br /> The minutes of the last annual meeting, held<br /> last April, having been read and confirmed, Mr.<br /> W. J. Courthope read the registrars&#039; report, which<br /> classified the grants awarded in 1894 as follows:<br /> —Class I., history and biography, nine grants,<br /> £455; class II., science and art, two grants, 34O;<br /> class III., classical literature and education, seven<br /> grants, 3485; class IV., archaeology, topography,<br /> and travels, six grants, 3415 ; class W., novels<br /> and tales, ten grants, 3400 ; class VI., periodical<br /> literature, three grants, 312O ; class VII., miscel-<br /> laneous, eight grants, £190. The grants varied<br /> in amount from £150 to £10. Of the forty-five<br /> persons relieved twenty-seven were men to the<br /> extent of £1,130, and eighteen women, 38975.<br /> The total sum invested as appearing in the<br /> treasurer&#039;s report amounted to £49,212 16s. 8d.,<br /> producing an income of £1667 8s. The annual<br /> amounts of the grants had varied from ten guineas<br /> in 1790, the date of the foundation of the fund,<br /> to £3335 in 1883, which was the highest reached.<br /> 32Oo had been invested in Consols, and on Dec. 3 I<br /> there was a balance in hand of £199,-Times,<br /> March 14, 1895.<br /> &gt;<br /> º:<br /> WOI. W.<br /> THE AMERICAN GUILD OF AUTHORS,<br /> HERE lies before us a copy of the tract<br /> T issued by the American Guild of Authors.<br /> It is called “Methods of Publishing.”<br /> Four methods are enumerated:<br /> 1. The royalty system.<br /> 2. That in which the author assumes a share<br /> of the cost and receives in return a larger<br /> royalty.<br /> 3. That in which the author bears the expense<br /> and pays the publisher a commission.<br /> 4. That in which the publisher buys out the<br /> author.<br /> On the first it is simply remarked that it is the<br /> fairest plan provided the publisher makes an<br /> honest return of the books sold. But nothing is<br /> said as to the amount of royalty. What is it to<br /> be P Why is it adopted as fair? What does it<br /> give the publisher and what the author? We<br /> recommend these questions very earnestly to our<br /> American friends.<br /> It is afterwards stated that popular authors<br /> are now asking for a “graded” royalty—10 per<br /> cent. for the first 3OOO, 15 per cent. up to 15,000<br /> or 20,000, and after that 20 per cent.<br /> Let us see how this kind of “graded ” royalty<br /> would suit authors on this side. We may take<br /> our old friend the six shilling volume, 20 sheets,<br /> small pica type, about 258 words to a page. The<br /> cost of the first edition of 3OOO copies is about a<br /> shilling each — call it a shilling, that of the<br /> following copies is about IOd, a copy. The trade<br /> price may be taken as generally 3s. 7#d. The<br /> following result would be pretty close to the<br /> truth :—<br /> First 3Ooo. 3OOO–2O,OOO.<br /> Royalty Royalty<br /> IO per cent. I5 per cent.<br /> Author receives ... 3890 £765<br /> Publisher makes ... 3303 ...... 39.1608<br /> The publisher has to pay for the advertising,<br /> say £80. -<br /> We are willing to believe that the risk of pro-<br /> duction is perhaps greater in the States than<br /> here, but we are unwilling to believe that the<br /> American Guild of Authors desires the publisher<br /> to have three times the share of the author.<br /> On the second plan it is customary, it is said,<br /> for the author to pay the cost of composition and<br /> plates, and for the publisher to pay for printing,<br /> binding, and advertising, giving the author a<br /> 20 per cent. royalty. But it is complained that<br /> the publisher charges more than the real cost.<br /> Then follow two pages devoted to “tricks.”<br /> We are unfortunately familiar with them.<br /> The following figures are given as fair prices<br /> for printing, &amp;c. :<br /> I) D<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 288 (#302) ############################################<br /> <br /> 288<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> I. Composition and electro-plate, 12mo, small<br /> pica, about 420 words to a page; per page, I dol.<br /> 2. Paper and presswork, per IOOO copies,<br /> 257-56 dols.<br /> 3. Binding, at 22; cents, per volume, 225 dols.<br /> Total cost, 882.56 dols.<br /> The cost per volume would be ‘882 dols., or<br /> 3s. 6d. each. This is enormous compared with the<br /> English cost of production. One cannot under-<br /> stand how the business of publishing can be<br /> carried on at all against such high figures as<br /> these.<br /> A form of agreement, said to be customary, is<br /> included in the tract. We refrain from comment<br /> upon it in order to avoid a charge of interfering<br /> in what is not our business.<br /> The tract contains at the end a list of<br /> “Reputable Publishers.” We are happy to<br /> observe that there are a great many in various<br /> parts of America. Suppose, however, that it were<br /> discovered that one of them was not quite so<br /> reputable as had been believed; a new edition<br /> of the tract would have to be struck off with the<br /> offender&#039;s name removed. Would it not be better<br /> that the Society should vouch for no one, leaving,<br /> as we do, every house to make its own reputation ?<br /> *- --&gt;<br /> * * *-*.<br /> LETTER FROM PARIS.<br /> ONSIEUR MARCEL PREVOST has<br /> written an indignant letter to the Paris<br /> edition of the New York Herald. He<br /> begins by saying: “This is what I read in the<br /> New York Recorder of Feb. 2 I. ‘Marcel Pre-<br /> vost’s much - discussed novel, “The Demi-<br /> Virgins,” which will be produced shortly as a<br /> play at one of the Paris theatres, has been trans-<br /> lated into English by Arthur Hornblow, and will<br /> be issued this week by the Holland Publishing<br /> Company. I am told that there is plenty of<br /> dramatic material in the book for a good play.<br /> Here is a golden opportunity for an aspiring<br /> dramatist.” Thus in the first place my “Les<br /> Demi-Vierges’ is translated without my autho-<br /> risation, without any compensation to me for the<br /> harm which the translated edition is likely to<br /> have on the sale of the original edition ; and<br /> secondly, young dramatic authors are cynically<br /> invited to make their fortunes by dramatising my<br /> story. I am sure, dear sir, that you consider such<br /> conduct unworthy of a great nation such as the<br /> one to which Mr. Hornblow belongs, and that<br /> you will assist me in defending my rights, or at<br /> least in protesting against this pillage of my<br /> work.” M. Prevost concludes by saying that<br /> he is aware that there is no literary convention<br /> between France and America, but neither is<br /> there one between France and Russia, or between<br /> France and Denmark, yet the publishers both in<br /> Denmark and Russia paid him fees for the autho-<br /> risation to publish translations of “Les Demi-<br /> Vierges.” r<br /> The Herald devotes a leader to the subject of<br /> M. Prevost’s letter, but I am afraid the indig-<br /> mant author will derive but small comfort from<br /> its remarks, which are summed up in the words<br /> concluding the article: “Unfortunately, however,<br /> there exists no treaty to protect author&#039;s rights<br /> of this nature, and so long as this defect in our<br /> international treaties remains there is no legal<br /> remedy. The appeal to public opinion, which M.<br /> Marcel Prevost to-day makes through the<br /> Herald&#039;s columns, is the only step that can be<br /> made towards obtaining an adequate redress.”<br /> I think this is the first time that a French<br /> author has protested in public against the<br /> American pirate, and it is to be regretted that<br /> the occasion of this first protest should be a book<br /> such as Marcel Prevost’s “Les Demi-Vierges”—<br /> a vile book if ever one was written ; and the only<br /> interest, to speak frankly, that I take in M.<br /> Prevost’s case, is in the information it affords as<br /> to the best way of creating for oneself with one&#039;s<br /> pen a success not only national but universal. It<br /> is a great pity that these things should be so,<br /> but so they are, and the writer of such books<br /> can reap rewards which are refused to men of<br /> letters who have a respect for their calling and<br /> the feeling of the dignity of their pen. “Les<br /> Demi-Vierges” went into over IOO editions in<br /> France, and has been translated into every<br /> European language. It now, according to<br /> Monsieur Prevost, is appearing in America,<br /> though I do not think that any publisher will care<br /> to undertake its publication in England. The<br /> moral seems to be that this is the stuff in which<br /> the reading public is most widely interested, and<br /> Du Maurier&#039;s clever cartoon in this week&#039;s Punch,<br /> depicting a conversation between a lady porno-<br /> grapher and a pornographic publisher is as true<br /> to life as are all the scenes depicted by this admir-<br /> able artist. It is a great pity that these things<br /> should be so, for it seems to show that civilisation<br /> is not advancing, and it shows further that the<br /> sense of human dignity is fading away through-<br /> out the world. I may be called a prude, but I<br /> declare very frankly that I have no manner of<br /> consideration for the writer who speculates on<br /> the hoggishness of the majority of readers, and<br /> that he is never, in my estimation, a brother<br /> author.<br /> I was speaking the other night with a Spanish<br /> journalist who has literary ambitions, and I asked<br /> him why he never wrote books, for I knew him as<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 289 (#303) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 289<br /> a very clever man, with a wide knowledge of life<br /> and a great experience. He said that he could<br /> not afford to work for nothing, and went<br /> on to explain that a Spanish author gets no<br /> money from a publisher, that consequently there<br /> are no Spanish authors, as you and I can well<br /> understand. I said, “What, not a peseta ?” and<br /> he said “Not a peseta.” This is worse than in<br /> Russia or Poland, where, I believe, a successful<br /> author may look for ten roubles, or even twenty,<br /> per sheet of printed matter, that is to say, about<br /> £2 for sixteen pages of printed text. We English<br /> authors and you French authors are very fortunate<br /> II.16I1.<br /> Alphonse Daudet has somewhat changed his<br /> mind about his intentions in England. He told<br /> me that he would accept certain invitations which<br /> had been made to him. “But,” he added, “they<br /> will have to be content with a bust. A bust is<br /> all that I can offer them.” He meant that he<br /> cannot appear otherwise than sitting down. It<br /> was sitting that our dear master made his<br /> memorable speech on the occasion of the<br /> De Goncourt banquet.<br /> Monsieur José de Herédia was to have been<br /> received into the company of the French Academy<br /> next month. This, however, has now been put<br /> off, and Monsieur Herédia’s reception will not<br /> take place for some months. The reason of this<br /> is that Monsieur François Coppée has been<br /> seriously ill, and will be unable to speak at<br /> Herédia’s reception, as had been arranged.<br /> The reference above to Polish and Russian<br /> authors makes me think, and not without a<br /> heaviness at heart, of a very sad experience of<br /> mine of a few days ago. Some years past I knew<br /> in Paris a Russian author. He had been in the<br /> Russian army, and was an exile under sentence<br /> of death. A very clever man, very well read, and<br /> always reading. He starved at ten roubles the<br /> sheet, but though he did not often have a dinner,<br /> he always could buy books, and the garret in<br /> which he lived—the identical garret occupied by<br /> Racine in the rue Wisconti—was full of them.<br /> He used to come and see me, and I loved his<br /> conversation. But he had strange habits of in-<br /> temperance, and in the end I was forced to ask<br /> him not to come to see me any more, for riotous-<br /> ness at that time appalled me. A year ago I<br /> received, when down in the South, a letter from<br /> him. He said that he wanted to see me again,<br /> that he could not bear the thought of a definite<br /> separation. I answered him, I am glad to<br /> remember this, in a friendly way, and told him<br /> that I would come and see him when I returned<br /> to Paris. Last week I found his letter amongst<br /> my papers, and at once wrote to invite him to<br /> my house. On Thursday morning I received a<br /> letter from a sister of charity to say that my<br /> old friend was ill and very tired, and could not<br /> come to see me, but that my visit would “give<br /> him immense pleasure.” I could not go to see<br /> him on Thursday, but I went on Friday. The<br /> street in which he lived was in a very remote<br /> quarter of Paris, and it took an hour in a cab<br /> to get there. The door was opened by a beautiful<br /> sister of charity in blue. I said, “You have a<br /> Monsieur here P” She said, “Yes,” and<br /> then added, quite simply, “he died one hour<br /> ago.” Then she pressed me to come and see<br /> him. “He looks quite nice,” she said, and she<br /> spoke of death, as it should be spoken of, as the<br /> great desideratum of life. I allowed myself to<br /> be persuaded, and followed her to the poor little<br /> room in this Polish house of refuge, and there I<br /> saw my old friend, with a table by the bedside,<br /> and on the table a crucifix and two burning<br /> candles. He had been a big, riotous man in the<br /> old days, and there he was, so pinched and peaked<br /> that his form hardly raised the covers of the<br /> bed. It was a terrible meeting, and though the<br /> sister wanted me to stay and kneel down Iran<br /> from the room. I have thought of nothing<br /> since, and I do not think that anything I have<br /> ever seen in life more deeply affected me. His<br /> poor fingers were stained with ink, and there was<br /> an unfinished manuscript on the chest of drawers.<br /> No doubt, the sister of charity was right. No<br /> doubt, Death was a comforter here. But why<br /> had I not arrived two hours earlier 2 “He was<br /> looking forward to your visit,” said sister Angéle.<br /> “Your letter made him quite joyous.” Death,<br /> whether it come as a comforter or no, is the one<br /> terrible thing.<br /> I met M. Aurélien Scholl, President of the<br /> Société des Gens de Lettres, a night or two<br /> ago, and he spoke to me for some time about the<br /> affairs of the society. Amongst other things<br /> which he told me was that certain friends and<br /> admirers of Paul de Kock had decided to erect a<br /> little statue or memorial to him in the garden of<br /> the house in which he lived for many years before<br /> his death. “I intend to interest the Society in<br /> this matter,” said the President, and he went on<br /> to speak of his high admiration for Paul de Kock.<br /> I think there never was an author more unfairly<br /> treated by fame. One knows what the average<br /> reader expects when with twinkling eyes he picks<br /> up a de Kock. It is quite unfair. Paul de Kock<br /> had wit and verve, and an admirable power of<br /> story-telling. He had no desire to attract<br /> readers by what has been alluded to above.<br /> People think that his speciality. I do not know<br /> if his Memoirs have ever been translated into<br /> English. They ought to be. I picked up a copy<br /> of them at a bookseller&#039;s some days ago. It was<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 290 (#304) ############################################<br /> <br /> 29O<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> a most interesting book, full of anecdotes about<br /> people of notoriety under the Revolution and the<br /> Empire. He knew Fouquier-Tinville as a bland<br /> young man. He had a famous interview with<br /> Emperor Napoleon. The book shows the man as<br /> he was, and it is strange that it should be out of<br /> print in France.<br /> Mr. Grant Allen is in Paris at the time of writ-<br /> ing, and, I am sorry to say, is ill. At least when I<br /> last heard news of him he was lying in bed with<br /> porous plasters wrapped about him. Mr. F. C.<br /> Philips is in Paris also, busy as usual, and full of<br /> work and schemes for future work. He is one of<br /> the English authors who are best known and most<br /> appreciated in France, where everybody seems to<br /> have read “As in a Looking-glass.” I under-<br /> stand that he is at work on a long novel sans pre-<br /> judice of any number of short stories and plays.<br /> This is a man of very wonderful activity.<br /> In reading over “Moll Flanders” in Marcel<br /> Schwob&#039;s masterly translation, I came across a<br /> passage which makes me think less of “Jane<br /> Eyre&#039;” as a work of art than I have thought till<br /> now. You may remember that just after Jane<br /> Eyre has been pressed by the frigid St. John to<br /> marry him, she rushes out into the garden and<br /> there suddenly hears a cry of “Jane, Jane, Jane,”<br /> from the distant Rochester. When Charlotte<br /> Bronté was asked how she came to think of so<br /> striking a scene—those were the days when tele-<br /> pathy was unknown—she used to drape herself in<br /> some mystery—I have this from a person who so<br /> interrogated her —and reply: “I wrote it because<br /> it is true,” leaving one to imagine that this was a<br /> thing of her own experience. It was an effec-<br /> tive scene, but Defoe had imagined it some years<br /> previously, and so we have a sorrowful scholia to<br /> enter into our copies of “Jane Eyre.” . . .<br /> I have no English Defoe by me, but the scene to<br /> which I refer is where Moll Flanders calls for<br /> the departed Jemmy, in the inn at Chester, and<br /> Jemmy hears her very voice, though then fifteen<br /> leagues distant, and so returns to her.<br /> And alas and alack into our copies of “The<br /> Cenci” a similar sorrowful scholia must be<br /> entered, and indeed against those particularly<br /> beautiful lines which conclude the play:<br /> . . . . Here, mother tie<br /> My girdle for me, and bind up this hair<br /> In any simple knot; aye, that does well.<br /> And yours, I see, is coming down.<br /> You know the lines and, like us all, you have<br /> admired, with enthusiastic admiration, this con-<br /> ception which shows us a woman on the very<br /> brink of the precipice thinking about pretty,<br /> trivial womanly things. Well, I happened on<br /> Webster the other day, and, in turning over the<br /> leaves of “La Duchesse d’Amalfi.” in Ernest<br /> Lafond&#039;s translation, I read a passage where the<br /> Duchess just about to be strangled by the execu-<br /> tioner gives trivial womanly orders. Her little<br /> boy is to have the syrup for his cough, nor is her<br /> little girl to be allowed to go to bed until she has<br /> said her prayers. It is the finer conception of<br /> the two, and, such as it is, it deprives Shelley of<br /> all the glory of his lines. I am very sorry, for I<br /> think that there was nothing in Shelley that I<br /> liked better than this—this picture of femininity<br /> under the very shadow of death. But so our idols<br /> one after the other get broken and cast down.<br /> How true it is—as further exemplified by the<br /> preceding remarks—that “ les beaua esprits se<br /> rencontrent.” Let me point out that Tennyson&#039;s<br /> line in “Locksley Hall ”— it is line 38–<br /> And our spirits rushed together at the touching of the<br /> lips—<br /> reads like an almost literal translation of Schiller&#039;s<br /> lines in “Amalia’’:<br /> Seine Küsse—paradiesisch Fühlen<br /> Wie zwo Flammen sich ergreifen, wie<br /> Harfentóne in einander spielen<br /> Zu der himmelwollen Harmonie—<br /> Stürzten, flogen, schmolzen Geist und Geist zusammen<br /> Lippen, Wangen, brannten, zitterten<br /> Seele ranſm in Seele.<br /> And, again, as to that beautiful line about the<br /> “burden of an honour to which she was not<br /> born,” is not memory carried back to line 99 of<br /> the sixth Satire of the First Book by Horace:<br /> Nollem Onus haud unquam solitus portare molestum.<br /> The bitterest thing that was ever said about<br /> our poor friend Boulanger was Jules Ferry&#039;s<br /> remark that he was a “Saint-Arnaud de Café-<br /> Concert.” Boulanger called Ferry out for this<br /> epigram, and Ferry would not go. I have no<br /> comment to make on Ferry&#039;s conduct, for he is<br /> dead and Boulanger is with him, and those are<br /> things not to be talked of now. But I was<br /> reminded of this to-day on receiving from Tresse<br /> and Stock a copy of Dr. Cabrol’s interesting<br /> Memoirs, edited and prefaced by Paul de Régla,<br /> which deals exclusively—as the title of the<br /> volume indicates—with Marshal Saint-Arnaud in<br /> the Crimea. This is a very interesting book,<br /> giving a full account, almost day by day, of<br /> the last six months of the life of the Marshal,<br /> down to the hour when—well, I hardly like to<br /> repeat the Doctor&#039;s version of how the gallant<br /> Marshal met his death, for I have many friends<br /> in the Bonapartist camp. In the same packet I<br /> received from these publishers a book entitled<br /> “Le Roman d’une Fée,” by M. Henri Belliot,<br /> an ardent littérateur, who writes to me to say<br /> that, as an Englishman, I shall appreciate a<br /> fairy-story better than his compatriots. I hope<br /> to be able to do so when I have found time to<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 291 (#305) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR,<br /> 291<br /> read the book. In the meanwhile I mention its<br /> existence and wish it very well.<br /> A curious offer was made to me the other day.<br /> It came by telegraph from the proprietor of a<br /> New York daily paper. This person, it appears,<br /> has written a historical work—or, rather, has<br /> had a historical work written for him by some<br /> literary hack—in French. He desired to publish<br /> a translation of the work in English, and asked<br /> me to do the translation for him. A condition<br /> was that my name should not appear in connec-<br /> tion with the book. He was to figure on the<br /> title-page as the writer. He proposed a remunera-<br /> tion of 6s. a thousand words. What amusing<br /> people there are in this world to be sure!<br /> ROBERT H. SHERARD.<br /> 123, Boulevard Magenta, Paris.<br /> *— a 2-2<br /> -sº<br /> NOTES FROM NEW YORK,<br /> New York, March 16.<br /> HE most important literary news of the<br /> month is the announcement that New<br /> York is at last to have a public library<br /> worthy of the chief city of a great nation. At<br /> the present time this immense town of ours, with<br /> a population of perhaps four millions contained<br /> within a radius of twenty-five miles from the city<br /> hall, is less well provided with books accessible<br /> to all citizens than Boston is or Chicago, to make<br /> no comparison with London, or Paris, or Berlin.<br /> Hitherto the chief public library of New York<br /> has been that founded fifty years ago by John<br /> Jacob Astor, a German immigrant who had made<br /> a fortune in New York, and wished to do some-<br /> thing for the city of his choice. He began by<br /> giving about £IOO,OOO, and his son and grandson<br /> in turn gave similar sums.<br /> The Astor Library was very fortunate in its<br /> first librarian, Coggswell, and its earlier books<br /> were admirably selected. But its endowment<br /> was inadequate, and it has grown but little of<br /> late years. It has not quite 3OO,OOO volumes,<br /> and its buildings, books, and funds are valued at<br /> perhaps 340O.OOO.<br /> A quarter of a century ago Mr. James Lenox—<br /> an interesting account of whose book collecting<br /> was written by the late Henry Stevens, of Wer-<br /> mont—established by will the Lenox Library,<br /> endowing it handsomely, and bequeathing to it<br /> all his own rare books, including the finest col-<br /> lection of Bibles in the world. This library is<br /> housed in a sumptuous building overlooking<br /> Central Park, and it has adjacent land, allowing<br /> for great expansion. Its assets are said to<br /> amount to more than £500,000.<br /> VOL. W.<br /> A third library was made possible by the will<br /> of Samuel J. Tilden, once a candidate for the<br /> presidency of the United States; but there was<br /> a long litigation over the will, and, after a final<br /> compromise, the trustees have now about<br /> 2400,000—a wholly insufficient sum with which<br /> to buy the land, erect a building, stock it with<br /> books, and meet the future expenses of a public<br /> library. A proposal was made by Columbia<br /> College to grant a site on the new grounds where<br /> the college is about to build, but this was not<br /> favourably received by the Tilden trustees.<br /> Now, however a union has been brought about,<br /> and all these institutions are to be merged in one,<br /> starting with perhaps 4OO,OOO volumes, and<br /> having assets of at least a million and a half<br /> sterling. The details of the consolidation are<br /> not yet determined upon, but the union itself is<br /> an assured fact. The site has not been selected;<br /> but probably the buildings of the Astor will be<br /> sold, and the new edifice will be erected on the<br /> ample grounds belonging to the Lenox. The<br /> style and title of the new corporation will be “The<br /> Public Library of the City of New York, Astor,<br /> Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.” This name will<br /> invite further benefactors, who might have<br /> thought it an impertinence to contribute to the<br /> library of the Astor family or to that bearing the<br /> names of the late Mr. Lenox or the later Mr.<br /> Tilden. The suggestion has been made that the<br /> new corporation should also take over the<br /> excellent and useful Free Circulating Library,<br /> which has half a dozen branches in the most<br /> thickly populated portions of the city. The<br /> announcement has been made that the new<br /> library will be managed in the most progressive<br /> manner; it will be open on Sundays, and in the<br /> evening ; it will allow books to be withdrawn for<br /> home reading; it will provide special privileges<br /> for students; it will endeavour to meet every<br /> reasonable public demand. Upon the new board<br /> of trustees are some of the ablest and most<br /> public spirited men in New York. Of course, it<br /> will be several years before the full benefit of the<br /> consolidation will be apparent; but the news has<br /> been received with the greatest satisfaction.<br /> The giving of prizes for stories, and plays, and<br /> poems has never greatly benefited literature,<br /> although it has always been an excellent adver-<br /> tisement for the giver. It is sixty years since<br /> Poe won a prize of £20 offered by a Baltimore<br /> weekly paper for the best short story, but he did<br /> not write the tale especially for the contest; he<br /> withdrew the “MS. found in a Bottle&quot; from the<br /> paper to which he had sold it for £6, and offered<br /> it for the prize, and thus made an extra profit of<br /> 3I4. Three diffierent sets of prizes are now<br /> offered for competition among the American<br /> E. E.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 292 (#306) ############################################<br /> <br /> ** ** . . *s.<br /> 292<br /> Writers of fiction to-day. The most important o<br /> those is that which the New York Herald i<br /> prepared to give. Perhaps the conditions of the<br /> contest cannot be better set forth than in the<br /> actual words of the advertisement:<br /> THE HERALD’S PRIZE OFFER.<br /> SIXTEEN THOUSAND DoILARs To BE AwarDED TO<br /> AMERICAN NovKLISTS AND POETs.<br /> The New York Herald will award a prize of Io,000 dollars<br /> for the best serial story of between 50,000 and 75,000 words<br /> by an American writer, whether professional or amateur.<br /> The conditions of this contest are as follows :<br /> The manuscripts must be submitted anonymously, and<br /> must bear only the initials of their authors or other private<br /> identification marks, so that the identity of the writer will<br /> not be known to the committee of three examiners, who will<br /> be appointed by the Herald, and who will select three stories<br /> of the greatest merit.<br /> The stories, so selected, will be printed in the Herald,<br /> daily and Sunday, as occasion requires, beginning early in<br /> October, 1895.<br /> The readers of the Herald will be asked to decide by<br /> ballot which story they like best, and the prize of Io,000<br /> dollars will be awarded accordingly.<br /> The manuscripts, other than the three selected by the<br /> examiners, will be returned to the writers, upon their identi-<br /> fication by means of their initials or private marks. The<br /> writers will be at liberty to publish these returned manu-<br /> scripts elsewhere, and no reference will be made by the<br /> Herald that they have been rejected.<br /> All manuscripts for this competition must be submitted<br /> before July 1, 1895.<br /> THREE OTHER PRIZES.<br /> The Herald also offers three other prizes—the first of<br /> 3000 dollars for the best novelette of between 15,000 and<br /> 25,000 words; the second, a prize of 2000 dollars for the<br /> best short story of between 6ooo and Io, Ooo words; and the<br /> third, a prize of IOOO dollars for the best epic poem, based<br /> on some event of American history that has occurred since<br /> the beginning of the War of the Revolution.<br /> The conditions that will govern the competition for the<br /> prize of Io,ooo will also govern those for the prizes of<br /> 3ooo dollars, 2000 dollars, and IOoo dollars. The chosen<br /> manuscripts will be published in the Herald, in turn, upon<br /> the conclusion of the serials.<br /> All manuscripts for these latter competitions must be<br /> submitted to the Herald before Sept. 1, 1895.<br /> The obvious comment to be made upon this is<br /> that the actual winner of any one of these prizes<br /> will be well paid, but that the unfortunate<br /> writers of the second best and third best novels,<br /> short stories, and epics will receive no payment at<br /> all. Far more equitable is the arrangement pro-<br /> posed by a syndicate of important papers headed<br /> by the Hartford Courant (of which Mr. Charles<br /> Dudley Warner is the editor in chief). Their<br /> advertisement reads as follow :<br /> A TWO THOUSAND DOLLAR PRIZE.<br /> A NUMBER OF WELL-KNOWN NEWSPAPERS ANNOUNCE<br /> THE LARGEST CAPITAL PRIZE, EVER OFFERED.<br /> We will pay a first prize of Two Thousand Dollars for<br /> the best detective story from 6ooo to 12,000 words in<br /> length, for publication in our daily issues in instalments of<br /> about 2000 words per day.<br /> be submitted to Prize Editor,<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> We will pay a second prize of Five Hundred Dollars for<br /> the second best detective story submitted. *<br /> . All manuscripts intended for this competition must<br /> Bacheller, Johnson, and<br /> Bacheller, Nos. 112 to 117, Tribune-buildings, New York<br /> City, on or before May 1, 1895, Every manuscript must be<br /> typewritten and accompanied by a sealed envelope con-<br /> taining the name of its author. It will not be opened until<br /> a decision is reached. For identification said envelope<br /> should bear some phrase which also appears above the title<br /> of the story submitted. All good stories will be published<br /> at a satisfactory price. Other details of the contest and<br /> arrangements for an equitable decision will be in charge of<br /> Mr. Irving Bacheller, to whom all inquiries should be<br /> addressed. -<br /> The third set of prizes is offered by the<br /> Pouth&#039;s Companion, of Boston, one of the most<br /> widely circulated weekly papers in the country,<br /> and one which has always exhibited remarkable<br /> enterprise in securing contributions from writers<br /> of prominence. In a former competition of the<br /> Youth&#039;s Companion a prize of £IOO was carried<br /> off by Mr. Frank R. Stockton&#039;s tale “An<br /> Unhistoric Page.” The stories now to be<br /> rewarded must not contain less than 22OO Words,<br /> or more than 3ooo; they must be original; they<br /> must not be love stories or fairy tales, nor can<br /> they deal with religion or politics; their moral<br /> tone must be unexceptionable, and the list of<br /> prizes is as follows:— Dollars.<br /> For the best original story sent us . . . . , 500<br /> For the next in literary and general merit ... , 500<br /> For the third in merit e e º e s a 250<br /> For the fourth in merit ... 250<br /> For the fifth in merit 25O<br /> For the sixth in merit 25O<br /> For the seventh in merit I OO<br /> For the eighth in merit ... IOO<br /> For the ninth in merit - . . . . . . . . IOO<br /> For the tenth in merit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I OO<br /> For the eleventh in merit ... . . . . . . . . . IOO<br /> Total ... 25OO<br /> To two recent issues of the New York Tribune,<br /> Professor T. R. Lounsbury, the author of the<br /> masterly “Studies in Chaucer,” contributes an<br /> eight column review of Professor Skeat&#039;s new<br /> edition of the author of the “Canterbury Tales.”<br /> The review is written, with all the learning and<br /> with all the humour which unite to make Professor<br /> Lounsbury a very dangerous opponent. It will<br /> probably be reprinted as a pamphlet, in which<br /> case it will reach the Chaucer students of Germany<br /> and England. Professor Lounsbury declares<br /> that Professor Skeat&#039;s new edition “will be abso-<br /> lutely essential to all who devote themselves to the<br /> special study of Chaucer,” and “as such it ought<br /> to be welcomed cordially by every lover of litera-<br /> ture.” But he accuses Professor Skeat of having<br /> made frequent and abundant use of his (Pro-<br /> fessor Lounsbury&#039;s) labours, without giving him<br /> any credit in the first three volumes.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 293 (#307) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 293<br /> The Authors’ Club of New York, now in its<br /> thirteenth year, is at last permanently settled<br /> in quarters of its own, of which it has a long<br /> lease. Its new apartments are a handsome and<br /> commodious suite of four rooms on one of the<br /> upper floors of the extension of the magnificent<br /> music hall erected by Mr. Andrew Carnegie.<br /> As a member of the club, Mr. Carnegie saw that<br /> these rooms were specially reserved, and the<br /> terms upon which they were secured were ex-<br /> ceptionally favourable. “Liber Scriptorum,” the<br /> book of the Authors’ Club (of which an account<br /> has already been printed in your pages), has been<br /> so profitable that it was possible to vote a sum<br /> of £600 for the decoration and furnishing of the<br /> new apartments; and, in gratitude to Mr.<br /> Carnegie for his services in securing them, the<br /> original MSS. of the “Liber Scriptorum,” sump-<br /> tuously bound in two immense folio volumes,<br /> were presented to him. The fortnightly Thurs-<br /> day evening meetings of the Authors&#039; Club<br /> continue to be among the pleasantest affairs of<br /> the kind. The prosperity of the club endures,<br /> and its membership increases steadily.<br /> Chicago, which has now three richly endowed<br /> public libraries, is getting to be a literary centre.<br /> Its Twentieth Century Club is a worthy rival of<br /> the Nineteenth Century Club of New York, in<br /> emulation of which it was founded. Its young<br /> and lusty university has not succeeded in attract-<br /> ing the best instructors from the older institutions<br /> of the East, but it has a tower of strength in<br /> Professor Von Holst, who has recently published<br /> a learned and acute study of the French<br /> Revolution. It has in the Dial one of the most<br /> scholarly critical journals in America—a critical<br /> journal so excell-nt indeed that its two faults<br /> may well be forgiven it. These faults are an<br /> undue jealousy of New York (but this is a<br /> common failing in Chicago) and an undue<br /> deference to the opinion of London, even on<br /> American authors (but this is a common feeling<br /> even elsewhere than in Chicago). Chicago is<br /> also the home of one of the most vigorous of<br /> American novelists, Mr. Henry B. Fuller, the<br /> author of that curiously dilletante book, “The<br /> Chevalier of Pensieri Wani,” and also of that<br /> robust specimen of realism, “The Cliff Dwellers.”<br /> He is now about to publish a second study of<br /> Chicago society, bearing the very up-to-date title,<br /> “With the Procession.” This will be published<br /> in New York by Harper and Brothers, but three<br /> other works of fiction by Chicago authors are<br /> announced by the new and enterprising Chicago<br /> house of Stone and Kimball. These are, “A<br /> Little Sister to the Wilderness,” by Miss Lillian<br /> Bell; “A Sawdust Doll,” by Mrs. Reginald<br /> De Koven (the wife of the composer of “Maid<br /> Marian’’); and “Two Women and a Fool,” by<br /> Mr. H. C. Chatfield-Taylor.<br /> The sale of “Trilby’’ is said to be slackening<br /> a little now, but it has already reached 150,000<br /> copies, at seven shillings, and it is likely to be<br /> stimulated again by the success of the ingenious<br /> dramatisation just brought out at a Boston<br /> theatre by Mr. A. M. Palmer, and to be<br /> performed in New York next season.<br /> HALLETT ROBINSON.<br /> NOTES AND NEWS.<br /> AM very glad to see in “Hallett Robinson’s ”<br /> New York Letter a tribute to the literary<br /> position of Chicago and its aspirations. A<br /> year and a half ago I incurred the kind of ridicule<br /> which attaches to a new and unexpected state-<br /> ment by saying something to the same effect.<br /> When one finds a city richly endowed with public<br /> libraries; the natural centre of a vast geo-<br /> graphical area; possessed of a wealthy university,<br /> in which English literature is well represented<br /> and adequately taught; where literature is held<br /> by the cultivated class in the highest respect;<br /> possessing a critical paper equal in ability to<br /> anything we have in this country ; and containing<br /> a company of men and women, mostly young,<br /> eagerly cultivating literature, and aspiring to<br /> the production of good and, if it may be.<br /> great work, one is justified in prophesying that<br /> out of this company there will presently emerge<br /> some one who will make himself known over the<br /> English-speaking world. I spoke to this effect<br /> in 1893, and now our New York correspondent<br /> speaks to the same effect.<br /> The following extract is from a new American<br /> volume of essays, called “Meditations in Motley,”<br /> by Walter Blackburn Harte (Arena Publishing<br /> Company, Boston, Mass.). -<br /> It is a most lamentable thing that, in spite of all the<br /> literary activity and the intellectual restlessness of our time,<br /> there are not probably more than half a dozen writers in the<br /> United States who follow literature, pure and simple, as a<br /> profession; and it is noteworthy that among these there are<br /> neither poets nor essayists.<br /> The tractate of the American Guild of Authors,<br /> noted in another column, may partly explain the<br /> reason why so few Americans are able to adopt<br /> literature frankly as a profession. Of course, it is<br /> greatly to be desired that writers of the better kind<br /> —one would say men and women of genius, but<br /> that the word is now almost forbidden—should be<br /> able to devote themselves altogether to the literary<br /> craft. In order to do this, however, they must be<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 294 (#308) ############################################<br /> <br /> 294<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> able to live. In this country there are thousands<br /> who do live by literature, not popular novelists<br /> alone, but writers in every branch, not leaders only,<br /> but writers of the rank and file. There never was a<br /> betterrank and file—better drilled, betterequipped,<br /> braver, and more full of zeal—than our own. Let<br /> us see how these our people live. First of all,<br /> many of them are students in the history of litera-<br /> ture; many of them are good scholars; many have<br /> studied some foreign literature, and are authori-<br /> ties in French, German, Italian, Spanish, or<br /> some other literature; many are students in<br /> history, ancient and modern, English or foreign;<br /> many are students in science; some have mastered<br /> out of the way branches; some have made a<br /> special study of sport, games, art, music, the<br /> drama, &amp;c. Most, in fact, have some special<br /> knowledge which may at any time be wanted. In<br /> the next place, there are, in this country, a dozen<br /> magazines open to a scholar—perhaps a well-<br /> known writer may contribute six or seven articles<br /> in the year to these magazines; there is<br /> next the better class of weekly—the Saturday<br /> Review, the Spectator, the Athenæum, the Speaker,<br /> the National Observer, the Realm, and others—<br /> a good writer ought to find no difficulty in<br /> getting on one of these papers; there are the<br /> two Quarterly Reviews, but they can find room<br /> for very few writers; there are the weekly maga-<br /> zines, such as Chambers’, Cassells’, &amp;c., to which<br /> few writers would disdain to contribute. Again,<br /> there is the literary department of the great<br /> daily papers; that of the evening papers; there<br /> is dramatic criticism ; art criticism; musical<br /> criticism. Or, again, there are the leading<br /> articles of the dailies. It will thus be understood<br /> that to the man who knows something, and can<br /> write pleasantly, there are abundant opportunities<br /> of work. Then a man’s special knowledge, sooner<br /> or later, whatever it is, naturally and inevitably<br /> assumes book form.<br /> Another branch of literary work is that of<br /> editing and preparing books for publishers. We<br /> are apt to forget, in our concern about modern<br /> literature, that publishers have the whole of the<br /> past to deal with as they please. They are con-<br /> stantly bringing out new editions of past authors.<br /> These must have an introduction, notes, appen-<br /> dices, and index, all to be done by some man of<br /> letters. Again, which one would fain ignore but<br /> cannot, there is the reading for publishers. It is<br /> not work that many like to do, but it must be<br /> done by somebody.<br /> These are some of the conditions of the<br /> literary life in this country. It would seem,<br /> however, as if in America things were different.<br /> The American magazines, with one or two<br /> exceptions, are not in the least like our scholarly<br /> Nineteenth Century, Contemporary, and Fort-<br /> nightly. Such weekly reviews as the Spectator<br /> or the Saturday simply do not exist in America;<br /> they have no Quarterly Reviews; they have no<br /> papers corresponding to Chambers’ and the<br /> Cassells&#039; productions; their newspapers do not<br /> seem to include a considerable literary element—<br /> one may be wrong, but this is how it seems<br /> to us. Then the American publisher is not,<br /> apparently, always bringing out new editions of<br /> dead writers; and, in short, one would like some<br /> of our American friends to tell us how an<br /> American man of letters (not being a popular<br /> novelist) does manage to live at all.<br /> In the narrow churchyard south of St. Mary<br /> Overies (now called St. Saviour&#039;s), Southwark<br /> —somewhere, it is not known where—there lie<br /> in one grave the remains of Philip Massinger<br /> and of Fletcher his friend. The name of the<br /> latter is always associated with that of Beau-<br /> mont, but Massinger undoubtedly did a good<br /> deal of work with and for him. The name<br /> of Massinger is entered in the burial register as a<br /> “stranger,” which means, of course, nothing more<br /> than a person belonging by birth to some other<br /> parish. It is now proposed to put up a stained<br /> glass window in the new nave of the church, in<br /> memory of Massinger. I do not think that this<br /> is a cause which needs pleading with the readers<br /> of this paper and the members of this Society.<br /> Will those who love to see honour paid to litera-<br /> ture send their offerings to this object to the<br /> Rev. W. Thompson, D.D., St. Saviour&#039;s Church,<br /> Southwark? The church now rebuilt still retains<br /> its Reformation name. Perhaps it may be per-<br /> mitted to hope that it may soon return to its<br /> historic name of St. Mary Overies.<br /> The following letter has reached me:<br /> In Halifax, last week, I happened to pick up a book of<br /> yours, “The Revolt of Man,” issued by the Halifax Corpo-<br /> ration Library. I thought it might be an interesting fact to<br /> you to know that this august body does you the honour of<br /> circulating your work in its Tauchnitz Edition :<br /> Some time since a remonstrance was published<br /> in the Author against the importation and circu-<br /> lation of Tauchnitz books. An attempt was made<br /> to minimise the importance of the damage done<br /> to authors by the free circulation of their books.<br /> Here we have an illustration of what may happen.<br /> The number of libraries in the country is rapidly<br /> increasing ; many of these have several branches.<br /> Of popular books they take many copies. Suppose<br /> they ali take Tauchnitz copies! Why not ? No<br /> attempt is made to stop them. Library com-<br /> mittees will speedily forget that to buy these<br /> editions is against the law ; they will only<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 295 (#309) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 295<br /> remember that the Tauchnitz Edition is cheaper.<br /> Thus will be lost to author and publisher many<br /> thousands of every popular book.<br /> What is the law on the subject P<br /> It has thus been given to me by a lawyer:<br /> “I do not think there is any offence in owning<br /> or in circulating a copy of a Tauchnitz edition of<br /> an English book. The offender must not sell it<br /> or hire it, in which case it would be an infringe-<br /> ment of copyright, and he would be liable to be<br /> proceeded against under the 17th section of 1842<br /> Act, and 42nd and 152nd section of the Customs<br /> Act, 1876,<br /> “The joint effect of these sections appears to<br /> be that anyone importing, selling, or hiring any<br /> foreign printed copy of a copyright book know-<br /> ingly, or having in his possession any copy for<br /> sale or hire, shall, on conviction before two<br /> justices of the peace, forfeit 310 and double the<br /> value of every copy: £5 to go to the officer of<br /> Excise, and the remainder to the proprietor of<br /> the copyright; such book to be seized and<br /> destroyed.<br /> “Does the Halifax Free Library hold the<br /> copy for sale or hire P Under the Customs Act<br /> of 1876 the Customs can seize and destroy any<br /> books on the copyright list; but notice of copy-<br /> right in writing to the Commissioners of Customs<br /> is a condition precedent.”<br /> A complete translation of Balzac&#039;s novels,<br /> published at a low price, edited by a well-known<br /> scholar, is a literary experiment of very con-<br /> siderable interest. All who read French at all<br /> read the Comédie Humaine; but will those who<br /> cannot read French buy the translation ? The<br /> writer, to begin with, is Parisian through and<br /> through, with that note of the past inseparable<br /> from work fifty years old. Again, does Balzac<br /> possess the sensational qualities which now seem<br /> necessary to success? And, when we have agreed<br /> to let our own past masters stand forgotten on<br /> the shelves, shall we be eager to take up the<br /> French masters? For instance, Dickens seems<br /> fast losing his hold—only for a time, but still—<br /> for the present. Thackeray is only read by “the<br /> better sort’”; as for Charles Lever and Anthony<br /> Trollope, apparently they are gone; and as for<br /> Wilkie Collins and Charles Reade, they are read<br /> only in two or three books. Each generation, in<br /> fact, will have its own novelists belonging to<br /> itself; it grudges not classics belonging to the<br /> dead, but they must be few, one to this old<br /> novelist, one to that ; it will refuse to read the<br /> whole of the dead man’s work. Will the present<br /> generation so far depart from established custom<br /> as to admit en bloc the whole of the Comédie<br /> Humaine P. We shall see, and, as I said above,<br /> it is a literary experiment of very considerable<br /> interest. With Messrs. Dent and Co., who<br /> understand dainty books, for publishers; with Mr.<br /> George Saintsbury, who understands his Balzac,<br /> for an editor, and with Messrs. Constable to print<br /> the work, the series should have every chance.<br /> Some three or four years ago—perhaps more—<br /> there appeared a new translation of “Don<br /> Quixote,” by Mr. H. E. Watts. It was not<br /> reviewed by many papers, and by still fewer was<br /> it adequately reviewed. One or two critics, how-<br /> ever, had the intelligence to perceive that this<br /> was the finest translation as yet offered to the<br /> public, and the work of a fine Spanish scholar<br /> who possesssed other qualities for the translation<br /> of Cervantes besides scholarship—notably, know-<br /> ledge of the time and the social conditions of<br /> the time; humour and the quick perception<br /> of the humorous ; and, among other things,<br /> the common sense which keeps a translator<br /> and an annotator from being carried away by<br /> his subject, and the various theories, fads,<br /> and crotchets which gather round such a subject<br /> as the Knight. The book was published in three<br /> big quarto volumes at a price prohibitory. The<br /> purse of the ordinary book buyer—marrow but<br /> well meaning — could not attain to that price.<br /> So the matter rested, and it seemed as if, but<br /> for a few libraries, the work was closed to the<br /> public. Well: a new edition has now been<br /> undertaken (Messrs. A. and C. Black) at a reason-<br /> able and possible price; and we shall be able to<br /> possess at last the immortal work of Cervantes<br /> in a translation worthy and adequate.<br /> Is there room for another novel on the gentle-<br /> man highwayman P. The field one would think<br /> was entirely occupied by Ainsworth and Lytton.<br /> Nevertheless, Mr. C. T. C. James—no novice in<br /> the art of story telling—boldly pushes in with a<br /> new story on the old theme. The fact is that no<br /> field in fiction is occupied. He would be a bold<br /> man who would treat of Tunbridge Wells in 1750,<br /> with Thackeray as a rival; but the rivalry is not<br /> an impossible thing. Again, he would be a bold<br /> man who would face Scott in the 1745 business,<br /> but such audacity is not impossible. Mr. James,<br /> however, does not in reality present himself as a<br /> rival of the two elder novelists. He confines him-<br /> self to a single tavern in a London suburb and to<br /> its adventures with a single highwayman. He<br /> presents a vivid and interesting picture of life a<br /> hundred and fifty years ago. The book carries<br /> one along breathless from beginning to end.<br /> There is only one fault to find with it—a fault<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 296 (#310) ############################################<br /> <br /> 296<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> that is not discovered till the book is done with<br /> and cold criticism begins. The highwayman is<br /> pardoned. Why? Because his mistress once<br /> gave a cup of purl to the king P. Not sufficient<br /> reason. The man is a thief and a robber. There<br /> is no escape from that ; and, as such, he would<br /> assuredly have been hanged, purl or no purl.<br /> In January last, a communication entitled<br /> “Editorial Amenities,” signed “C. H.,” ap-<br /> peared in the Author. There were three cases of<br /> complaint. As regards the last, the editor of the<br /> magazine in question has sent copies of the corre-<br /> spondence to this paper. It appears from the<br /> letters (1) that the article was accepted and paid<br /> for; (2) that the editor, on revising his accepted<br /> articles, found errors which, in his judgment,<br /> made the paper useless to him; (3) that he<br /> accordingly declined to print the paper, still<br /> exercising his judgment as editor; (4) that, as<br /> the paper was anonymous, the refusal did no<br /> harm to the author&#039;s reputation; (5) that the<br /> author, although he had been paid for the paper,<br /> was quite free to send it elsewhere ; (6) that it<br /> is impossible for an editor to carry on a<br /> controversy with any contributor as to the<br /> reasons of his decision; (7) that the editor has<br /> found no reason to change his opinion as to<br /> certain inaccuracies in the contribution ; and (8)<br /> that the author is quite free to retain his<br /> own opinion, and to believe that the paper is<br /> accurate.<br /> It is always a mortifying thing to have a MS.<br /> returned. But an editor is absolute ; he must,<br /> in the nature of the case, be absolute; and an<br /> editor cannot possibly be expected to carry on ex-<br /> planations and reasons for his decisions.<br /> Two months ago, in a notice on the death of<br /> Sir John Robert Seeley, I mentioned that he had<br /> been a member of the council of the Society. A<br /> good many correspondents pointed out that his<br /> name was not on the list. In short, I was wrong,<br /> because Seeley never was upon our council at all.<br /> His connection with the Society was that of Vice-<br /> President, an office which still exists, but has been<br /> allowed to drop out of prominence, most of the<br /> W.P.&#039;s having long since joined the council. In<br /> the first year of the Society&#039;s existence, when it<br /> was absolutely necessary that it should receive<br /> the nominal support and approval of as many<br /> leaders as possible, with this view, the committee<br /> invited certain writers and scholars to signify<br /> their approval of the objects of the Society by<br /> becoming Vice-Presidents. In the month of<br /> April, 1885, I find in the minute-book of the<br /> committee the following acceptances of this invita-<br /> tion. It was a goodly list.<br /> Matthew Arnold<br /> Philip James Bailey<br /> Lord Brabourne<br /> Frank Cowley Burnand<br /> J. Anthony Froude<br /> Bishop of Chichester<br /> Prof. Huxley, F.R.S.<br /> The Librarian of Windsor<br /> Castle .<br /> Sir Henry Maine, K.C.S.I.<br /> Sir Theodore Martin<br /> James Payn<br /> John Ruskin, D.C.L.<br /> Prof. Seeley<br /> Prof. Skeat&#039;<br /> Sir Richard Temple<br /> Prof. Tyndall, LL.D.<br /> Dean Waughan<br /> W. G. Wills.<br /> Some of the Vice-Presidents afterwards, as<br /> stated above, became members of the council;<br /> others remained, and are still, vice-presidents,<br /> though their names are no longer advertised.<br /> It is pleasing to record that Seeley did more<br /> than remain simply an honorary vice-president.<br /> In the year 1888, when the Society gave a dinner<br /> to American men and women of letters, Seeley<br /> lent the weight of his name as a steward. He<br /> regularly received, and, there is reason to believe,<br /> read the documents of the Society and spoke.<br /> The Royal Literary Fund last year relieved the<br /> necessities of forty-five applicants—twenty-seven<br /> being men and eighteen women. By the rules of<br /> the Fund, applicants must prove that they are<br /> authors by putting in their published works.<br /> How many men and women are there in this<br /> country who could thus prove themselves to be<br /> authors P. There are about 1350 members of the<br /> Society, all of whom have produced books. Now<br /> this number includes very few writers of educa-<br /> tional books, very few writers of technical books,<br /> and not many writers of theological books. Let<br /> us suppose that there are twice that number out-<br /> side the Society: this gives us a total of, say,<br /> 4000 authors. The total applicants for relief<br /> during the last year was forty-five—that is to<br /> say, I 125 per cent. This is a very satisfactory<br /> percentage. Authorship is certainly improving<br /> on its material side. The grants to the men<br /> average about £42 apiece; those to the women<br /> £54 apiece.<br /> If “Weary&quot; will send me her name and<br /> address, I will endeavour to answer her letter.<br /> The subject is hardly suitable for these columns.<br /> At the moment of going to press we learn that<br /> Canada has ceased to collect the royalties accord-<br /> ing to the old agreement. It would be interesting<br /> to learn how much was collected last year, and<br /> who has received any share of it.<br /> WALTER BESANT,<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 297 (#311) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 297<br /> DECADENCE OF LITERATURE,<br /> Dº &#039;S theory is eminently true of<br /> literature. It is a case of the survival of<br /> the fittest. The weak may flourish for a<br /> time and choke the environs like the lianes in a<br /> tropical forest, but they perish with their season,<br /> and the stalwart trees survive and make them-<br /> selves evident in later generations.<br /> For the present there is an enormous growth of<br /> these ephemeral productions, and may I be for-<br /> given for suggesting that editors and publishers<br /> of magazines are a good deal to blame, not only<br /> for their growth but for the deterioration of what<br /> might have been a forest tree, or at best a worthy<br /> shrub P No sooner has a writer made “a hit ’’<br /> than he or she is besieged with solicitations to<br /> contribute to this or that periodical, and it<br /> requires considerable self-control, maybe, or in-<br /> dolence, or superiority to pelf to resist and refuse<br /> till the production is ripe, or not to try to gratify<br /> more than one at the same time. To take an<br /> illustration from art, pot-boilers, instead of pic-<br /> tures, are the consequence.<br /> Nothing is more true than what Mr. Cresswell<br /> says in the last number, though rapid work is<br /> good, hurried work is never good, and the pub-<br /> lisher who displays an attractive catalogue of<br /> authors announced at the beginning of the<br /> year, almost compels some at least to hurried<br /> work. Also the distinctive characteristics of the<br /> periodicals are lost by thus obtaining the ser-<br /> vices of the authors who are willing to write for<br /> all and each. I believe some of the American<br /> magazines bind a writer to write for nothing else;<br /> and it is really a wise arrangement, since the old<br /> sense that it was honourable to work for one firm<br /> alone has died away. Another modern fashion<br /> ruinous to good literature is the laying contribu-<br /> tions on the bed of Procrustes. Readers are sup-<br /> posed to object to a tale passing the limits of<br /> a volume. They like to have it finished<br /> off, and be free to begin a fresh serial,<br /> and thus the story always shows symptoms of<br /> winding up in November, and we are sure the<br /> hero and heroine will be married or defunct in<br /> December. Well if they are allowed to finish<br /> their career with proper honours! How many<br /> stories have I read where the beginning was full<br /> of pleasant details, but the latter end was<br /> evidently squeezed together and cut down, so as<br /> to lose all proportion and become a spoilt per-<br /> formance.<br /> This is a new fashion. Take up an old Black-<br /> wood, see “Ten Thousand a Year” runs on<br /> number after number ; or an old Cornhill, where<br /> “Phineas Finn,” “The Knight of Gwynne,” and<br /> the admirable “Lettice Lisle,” have a never<br /> wearied audience; or, again, Household Words<br /> knew and prized Mrs. Gaskell too well to part<br /> with her till death cut off the end of “Wives and<br /> Daughters.”<br /> Totus, teres atque rotundus is a good rule, but<br /> if Milton could not carve a statue out of a cherry<br /> stone it is hard for lesser geniuses, after carving<br /> the head in one proportion, to have to get the<br /> limbs into the remainder of the stone. If a<br /> fiction is to be good for anything, it must have<br /> its needful development, and not be sacrificed to a<br /> December number.<br /> Some people have a real genius for the short<br /> story, Brett Hart’s “Luck of Roaring Camp’’ or<br /> “Mademoiselle Ixe” seem to me perfect speci-<br /> mens of the style. Americans excel in them, but<br /> then they have the advantage of an immense field<br /> of country and every variety of manners and of<br /> civilisation, whereas in our old country the<br /> changes are continually rung on ghosts and<br /> detectives, and the demand creates a very<br /> mediocre style of supply. A tale of character<br /> requires space (at least if it be not a mere sketch),<br /> and it would be well to follow Anthony<br /> Trollope&#039;s habit of either publishing the whole<br /> at once, or not letting a chapter appear till the<br /> whole was complete in his portfolio. Another<br /> mischievous habit is that of hasty reviewing.<br /> When I began the world, to solicit a favourable<br /> notice would have been thought unworthy. I may<br /> truly say that I never have done so, except<br /> when a book was for some special purpose<br /> needed to be put forward. Reviews used then<br /> to be often good criticisms, really useful. Some-<br /> times they stung hard, but generally they were<br /> really improving by the faults they found. They<br /> embodied and brought home the judgment of<br /> the public of cultivated minds, and never should I<br /> have thought of trying to enlist them in my<br /> favour, or ask for their verdict. When an editor<br /> myself, I was always prejudiced (fairly or<br /> unfairly) by being asked for a friendly notice,<br /> or by having a whole bundle of cuttings from<br /> papers sent me with a MS. ; and, worse than all,<br /> it has happened to me to receive with a new<br /> book a packet of extracts from it in type, for the<br /> convenience of the reviewer P To see a whole<br /> page of opinions of the press, mostly provincial,<br /> never gives me a good impression, though this<br /> may be due more to the publisher than the<br /> author, and it is treating the subject like tea,<br /> cocoa, or soap. The multitude of publications<br /> which are all poured forth at one time, and the<br /> insistence of publishers and authors for an early<br /> notice, absolutely prevents efficient treatment in<br /> criticism. Time and space alike fail, and whether<br /> a book be bad or good, or “ower gude for<br /> banning ower good for blessing,” it has to be<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 298 (#312) ############################################<br /> <br /> 298<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> skimmed over and despatched in a few lines.<br /> This is not criticism. It is mere advertisement.<br /> No guide to the author hardly, except in the<br /> higher stamp of literary journals—a guide to the<br /> reader in the selection from the circulating<br /> library. Are these simply the murmurs of an<br /> old author, laudator temporis acti, or is there<br /> any means of raising the tone and aspirations of<br /> writers P C. M. YONGE.<br /> *-- ~ 2–º<br /> s= **s-s<br /> A SHEAF OF POETS,<br /> HEY have accumulated during two months<br /> until now there is quite a little pile. Is it<br /> not a sign or proof of a reviving taste in<br /> poetry that there should be so many “bids” for<br /> poetic fame? We may take it, without meaning<br /> to give any offence, that the poets all pay for the<br /> production of their work. Would they tell us<br /> how many copies they sell? For instance, thirty<br /> years ago a certain friend of mine published at<br /> his own expense a thin volume of verse. Exactly<br /> three copies were sold. How many have been<br /> sold of the volumes before me?<br /> The best course for the Author to adopt is to<br /> let each scribe speak for himself without favour.<br /> The order in which they speak means nothing:<br /> I. The “In Memoriam ” of Italy. A Century<br /> of Sonnets from the Poems of Victoria Colonna,<br /> Marchesa de Pescara. Translator anonymous.<br /> (London: Henry Gray, Leicester-square.)<br /> AMOR, TU SAI.<br /> Thou knowest, Love I never turned my feet<br /> From thy dear prison; that I ne&#039;er untied<br /> Thy light yoke from my neck, nor ne&#039;er denied<br /> Thy service which at first my soul found meet ;<br /> Time shall ne&#039;er change my faith, of old complete;<br /> Thy bond, as once I bound it, still shall bide ;<br /> Nor, for the bitter fruit thy tree doth hide,<br /> Doth my heart find the seed less pure or sweet.<br /> Now hast thou seen how in a faithful heart<br /> Thy sharpest arrow hath no skill to wound,<br /> That Death against it hath no force or power;<br /> O let at last the tie which bound it part,<br /> (Tho&#039; sweeter aye it was than freedom found)<br /> Yet lags and lingers yet my joyful hour.<br /> II. “Sita,” and other Poems. By Mrs.<br /> Aylmer Gowing. (London: Elliot Stock.)<br /> TENNYSON.<br /> oCTOBER 6, 1892.<br /> All glorious with the mystery sublime<br /> Thy eyes shall fathom soon,<br /> Night&#039;s bosom pillows thee, O son of Time !<br /> In splendours of the moon.<br /> Cometh thy daybreak—there shall be no night<br /> In that far heaven, Luntrod<br /> By course of quenching suns or stars, whose light<br /> Shall be the face of God.<br /> True seer, from thy heart the lamp of faith<br /> Glowed clear through storm and shine,<br /> And clothed the fearful majesty of Death<br /> In robes of grace divine.<br /> And thine the hand of might, the tender touch<br /> That makes our pulse thine own<br /> By love&#039;s enchantments, for thou hast loved much,<br /> And grief’s excess hast known.<br /> Sweet singer, by thy voice of human love<br /> And sorrow, pure and strong,<br /> Teach us to find our God, while thou, above,<br /> Art singing a new song.<br /> III. “Thoughts in a Garden.”<br /> Stevenson. (London : Elliot Stock.)<br /> AUTUMN SONG.<br /> All day the fiercest winds have blown,<br /> The leaves upon the grass are strown,<br /> Save a few stragglers, sad and lone,<br /> That fringe the boughs;<br /> The fir-tree groans, as, on the height,<br /> He feels the tempest&#039;s frenzied flight,<br /> Yet from the earth his grasp of might<br /> No wrench allows.<br /> By A. C.<br /> The flowerets, erst so bright and brave,<br /> Now in the dust have found a grave;<br /> No loving hand their life could save<br /> From ruin drear;<br /> Only the blossoms named of gold,<br /> Defiant of the rain and cold,<br /> Still form a funeral-wreath to fold<br /> O&#039;er Nature’s bier.<br /> There is an end to Summer’s pride,<br /> To autumn with his garners wide;<br /> Now winter comes, with rapid stride,<br /> His throne to take ;<br /> Long will his fetters bind the earth,<br /> He robs the year of half its worth,<br /> While scent of flowers and woodland mirth,<br /> Our lives forsake.<br /> IV. “Wignettes.” By Aubrey St. John Mild-<br /> may. (London : Elliot Stock.)<br /> TWELFTH-NIGHT.<br /> (Reprinted by permission from the “Spectator,” January 13th, 1894.)<br /> I should like to have your dimples,<br /> Your wonderment, your nonsense,<br /> Your grave hands, and your tripping feet,<br /> Your carelessness, your conscience;<br /> I should like to know the secrets<br /> You are talking with your brother<br /> Between the mazes of the dance,<br /> As your eyes meet one another.<br /> Little maid, all eyes, and such eyes<br /> Half-lightning and half-laughter,<br /> Sugar-things I should like to eat,<br /> Aud never hunger, after :<br /> Tell me, little maid, do you believe<br /> That if you looked and looked,<br /> And turned into a tipsy-cake,<br /> The best that could be cooked,<br /> Do you think that if I swallowed you<br /> And incontinently died,<br /> That the judge would call it murder<br /> Or only suicide P<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 299 (#313) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 299<br /> Because I’ve drunk your beauty in ;-<br /> But you don’t know what that means<br /> Any more than beams, which pony loves,<br /> Can know that they are beans.<br /> Good-night, dear, dainty tipsy-cake,<br /> I’m but a selfish jade,<br /> Just whinnying to himself about<br /> The dinner he has made.<br /> And I may not, may not keep you<br /> For my sweet-meat to enjoy,<br /> God has planned you for a help-meet<br /> For some happy, happy boy.<br /> W. “Pipings.” By John Arthur Coupland.<br /> (London: John Ferries.)<br /> DREAMS.<br /> A ghost-like vapour wraps the wood,<br /> And frozen is the stream,<br /> The birds upon bare branches brood,<br /> And nothing breaks their dream.<br /> They dream of Spring, of Summer sweet,<br /> Of green and leafy bowers.<br /> I also dream : in winding-sheet<br /> Behold the murdered hours.<br /> WI. “In Leisure Time.” By William S.<br /> Mavor. (London: Elliot Stock.)<br /> TO TERPSICHORE.<br /> If Choryphaeus leading the dancing choir<br /> With steps of stately ceremonial;<br /> Or leaping Faun and Bacchanal<br /> Around thine altar cannot tire<br /> Their nimble feet;<br /> If Pyrrhic dances yield<br /> Their martial music as the crashing shield<br /> And falchion meet ;<br /> Or, if we pleasure us<br /> As eye beholds<br /> Nymphs, robed in draperies diaphanous,<br /> Whose fleecy veils their sensuous limbs surround<br /> In serpent folds,<br /> Whose lissom feet but kiss the ground ;<br /> If such affect Thee, gladly we<br /> Thus pay our festal vows, Terpsichore<br /> VII. “Scintillae Carminis.” By Percival<br /> W. H. Almy. (London: Elliot Stock.)<br /> RATE : A PASTORAL.<br /> And the bells, the bells, the tumbling bells<br /> Shall reel and peal through the livelong day;<br /> And they’ll deck the church with blooming birch,<br /> And the cherry bloom and the may, the may ;<br /> “So kiss me, Kate, and we’ll be married o&#039; Sunday.”<br /> And you shall have rings and golden things,<br /> And satin shoes as white as milk,<br /> And coloured bows and high clock hose,<br /> And a glittering gown of silk, of silk;<br /> “So kiss me, Kate, and we’ll be married o&#039; Sunday.”<br /> And servants shall wait on my Lady Kate,<br /> Like a maiden queen of a high degree ;<br /> And garlands rare shall bind your hair,<br /> Dragged from the mouth of the bee, the bee ;<br /> * So kiss me, Kate, and we’ll be married o&#039; Sunday.”<br /> VIII. The “Mummer.” By Harry Gaelyn.<br /> (London : Elliott Stock.)<br /> IN A CITY.<br /> Dim grimy way<br /> In the dull drear City,<br /> Where never a ray<br /> Of God’s sun, through the livelong day<br /> Pierces the pall of the murky sky,<br /> To tell of pity<br /> And hope, to those who live and die<br /> T)ay by day,<br /> In that grimy way.<br /> Yet there,<br /> By yon crazy stair,<br /> Long years ago, Love stayed his flight.<br /> There,<br /> In the dusky light<br /> Love shook his wings and all was bright<br /> For two true souls—and they<br /> Until this day<br /> Have found that grimy way<br /> A pathway of delight.<br /> IX. “The Prophecy of Westminster.”<br /> Harriet E. H. King. (London: W. B. Whitting-<br /> ham.)<br /> This volume of verse is in honour of Cardinal<br /> Manning.<br /> THE COMFORTER, COMFORTED<br /> O Thou whose throne was set in Westminster,<br /> Among the many god-like names whereby<br /> We hold thee in our hearts, this one doth lie<br /> Nearest each thought of thee—the Comforter.<br /> What bitter pains, what manifold disgrace<br /> Hiding itself from every other face,<br /> What broken hearts, what wounds of penitents,<br /> What secret cruelties, what ghastly rents,<br /> Open have lain beneath thy pitying eye,<br /> Fled to thy bosom as to sanctuary,<br /> And felt thy holy tenderness outpoured<br /> Upon the quivering life, to hope restored<br /> X. “Religio Clerici and other Poems.” By<br /> Alfred Starkey. (London: Elliot Stock.)<br /> The principal poem in this collection is purely<br /> religious. It is difficult to quote any passage<br /> which, detached, would fully represent the powers<br /> of the poet. Here, however, are the opening<br /> lines:<br /> Last year, what time the bells of summer months<br /> Had rung their sweetest chimes, I took my way<br /> Up through the long sea-walleys, dark and stern<br /> In bouldered turf and reappearing rock<br /> Struck through the shallow soil, like hoary bones<br /> Of some vast buried age. In the slant light<br /> I saw the bramble dews gleam changeful sparks<br /> Of pearl and ruby ; and oft I stayed to watch<br /> The autumn spiders spin their floating threads,<br /> And launch their ačry voyages; or paused<br /> While on some red-leaved bough the robin, left<br /> Sole chorister of all the tuneful quire<br /> Which filled in spring, the chancel of the year<br /> With soft and grateful song, now piped a faint<br /> And faltering dirge o&#039;er bright days dead or dying,<br /> Mingling its matin notes with vesper falls<br /> Of melancholy minors, like a sigh<br /> From Nature’s sabbath heart.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 300 (#314) ############################################<br /> <br /> 3OO<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> XI. The “ Divine Surrender.” By William<br /> Wullan. (London: Elliot Stock.)<br /> This is a “Mystery Play” treating of the<br /> Crucifixion. It is impossible to quote anything<br /> unless one were to take several pages.<br /> *- a -º<br /> BOOK TALK,<br /> OME time ago Mr. John Hollingshead issued<br /> a booklet of an autobiographical nature, and<br /> now he announces a complete autobiography<br /> in two volumes for the coming publishing season.<br /> His acquaintance with literary and theatrical<br /> celebrities has been, of course, very large.<br /> A very curious and significant fact is announced<br /> from America, that the library of the late Oliver<br /> Wendell Holmes has been valued at only £160.<br /> A new connection between the Press and<br /> the publishers is to be inaugurated this<br /> spring by the appearance of the “ Pall Mall<br /> Magazine Library,” which Messrs. Sampson<br /> Low and Co. will issue. “The Decline and Fall<br /> of Napoleon,” by Lord Wolseley; and “The Rise<br /> of Wellington,” by Lord Roberts, will be the<br /> first two volumes. The editors of the Magazine<br /> will contribute an introduction. The price of the<br /> series is to be 3s. 6d.<br /> The work upon which the late Sir John Seeley<br /> was engaged when he died was “The Growth of<br /> British Policy,” and it is being edited by Pro-<br /> fessor Prothero for the Cambridge University<br /> Press, in two volumes. It seems a pity that this<br /> could not have been included in the uniform<br /> edition of Sir John Seeley&#039;s works, of which<br /> Messrs. Macmillan will issue “The Expansion of<br /> England” on May 3, and “Ecce Homo,”<br /> “Natural Religion,” and “Lectures and Essays”<br /> at monthly intervals.<br /> Mr. George Allen, who began as a publisher<br /> of Ruskin, is extending his list in many direc-<br /> tions, and “Ruskin House” is more of a com-<br /> pliment than a description. His edition of<br /> Spenser’s “Faerie Queen,” edited by Mr. Wise,<br /> and illustrated by Mr. Walter Crane, has reached<br /> its fifth part, and he announces “The Gurneys of<br /> Earlham,” in three volumes, by Mr. Augustus<br /> J. C. Hare, profusely illustrated. The work is<br /> the memoirs and correspondence of the eleven<br /> children of John and Catherine Gurney, 1775-<br /> 1875.<br /> The most important work of travel in the<br /> autumn season will probably be Captain Young-<br /> husband&#039;s account of his famous journeys in<br /> India and the far East. The title has not yet<br /> been finally settled, as it is difficult to get one<br /> which describes the whole field, but it will pro-<br /> bably be “The Heart of a Continent; being the<br /> Narrative of Travel from 1886-1894 in Man-<br /> churia, Mongolia, Chinese Turkestan, the Pamirs,<br /> and the Hindu-Kush.” Mr. McCormick, who<br /> illustrated Mr. Conway’s “Himalayas,” will also<br /> be the illustrator of this work. Mr. Murray is<br /> the publisher.<br /> A short time before his death Professor Blackie<br /> collected together materials for his biography,<br /> and this will be published in the autumn by<br /> Messrs. Blackwood and Co. It is written by<br /> Miss Stoddart.<br /> In Messrs. Putnam’s Sons’ “ Heroes of the<br /> Nations” series, Mrs. Oliphant will write on<br /> “Joan of Arc; ” Mr. Oman, of All Souls, Oxford,<br /> on “Marlborough and England as a Military<br /> Power; ” and Professor Burr, of Cornell, on<br /> “Charlemagne as the Reorganiser of Europe.”<br /> Mr. Leslie Stephen’s “Ethical Discourses” will<br /> shortly be published by Messrs. Sonnenschein who<br /> also announce twelve interesting volumes of their<br /> new “Social England” series. Mr. Baldwin Brown<br /> will write on “The History of the Fine Arts in<br /> England; ” Mr. Cornish, Vice-Provost of Eton,<br /> on “Chivalry;” Professor Winogradoff on “The<br /> English Manor;” Mr. Henry Balfour on “The<br /> Evolution of Household Implements; ” Mr.<br /> Inderwick, Q.C., on “The King&#039;s Peace, a His-<br /> torical Sketch of the English Law Courts; ” Mr.<br /> S. O. Addy, on “The Evolution of the English<br /> House; ” Professor Cunningham on “The<br /> Influence of Alien Immigration on Social Life; ”<br /> Alice Law on “Guilds, and the Rise of the Mer-<br /> chant Class; ” and Mr. G. C. Chisholm, on “ The<br /> Influence of Geography and Travel on Social<br /> Life.”<br /> The Westminster Gazette has published, on the<br /> authority of Messrs. Chapman and Hall, the<br /> interesting fact that, since 1872, of the People&#039;s<br /> Edition of Carlyle’s “Sartor Resartus” 89,000<br /> copies have been sold, and of “ Heroes and Hero<br /> Worship,” IoS,000.<br /> All who have read and delighted in Mr. Nisbet<br /> Bain’s translations of “ Hans Andersen’s Fairy<br /> Stories”—and who has not both read them and<br /> delighted in them P-will look forward greatly to<br /> his Life of Andersen, which will be published by<br /> Messrs. Lawrence and Bullen in the spring.<br /> The Ealing Free Library has transferred “The<br /> Manxman &quot; to the reference department, where<br /> only adults can procure it ; the chairman of the<br /> committee, the Rev. J. S. Hilliard, describing it as<br /> “a most indecent book.”<br /> No announcement has yet been made on the<br /> subject, but it may be taken for granted that in<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 301 (#315) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 3O I<br /> the autumn we shall have a striking account<br /> from the pen of Slatin Pasha on his eleven years&#039;<br /> captivity in the Mahdi&#039;s camp. It will be<br /> remembered that Father Ohrwalder, who was<br /> rescued in a similar manner through the instru-<br /> mentality of Major Wingate, R.A., in 1892,<br /> published in that year a very interesting book.<br /> Mr. Blackmore has written a series of tales in<br /> verse, to be published under the title of<br /> “Fringalla,” by Mr. Elkin Matthews in the<br /> spring. The same publisher announces Professor<br /> Corbin’s Harvard prize essay on “The Elizabethan<br /> Hamlet,” with a prefatory note by Professor York<br /> Powell. The idea of the essay is that nowadays<br /> we have lost sight of a comic element in “Hamlet”<br /> which was present to Elizabethan audiences.<br /> A book awaited with eagerness by soldiers and<br /> historians is General Sir Daniel Lyson’s “The<br /> Crimean War from First to Last.” It is said to<br /> be full of facts and stories that have never been<br /> published before, and the author is credited with<br /> being one of the few officers who never left the<br /> camp of the First Division for a single day from<br /> the outbreak of hostilities to their conclusion.<br /> Sir Daniel is now eighty-one.<br /> A book by Baron Rothschild on his trip to Cape<br /> Town and on South Africa generally is nearly<br /> ready. No doubt it will appear in an appropriately<br /> gorgeous form. The publishers are Messrs.<br /> Longmans. The tenth edition of Erichsen’s<br /> magnum opus “The Science and Art of Surgery,”<br /> in two volumes, with a thousand engravings, is<br /> also announced by the same publishers.<br /> The Figaro has published a series of very<br /> interesting extracts from M. Clemenceau’s book<br /> entitled “La Mélée Sociale.” This appears to be<br /> a very pessimistic view of human activities.<br /> No doubt an English translation will soon be<br /> announced. Perhaps the indefatigable Mr.<br /> Sherard already has it in hand.<br /> The preliminary announcements of Mr. Henry<br /> Dyer’s volume on “The Evolution of Industry,”<br /> promise a very opportune and needed work. He<br /> regards his subject from both social and political<br /> standpoints, and discusses such timely topics as<br /> the position of women, Municipal control, State<br /> control, and, of course, industrial training.<br /> Messrs. Macmillan are the publishers.<br /> The new editor of the Daily Chronicle, in<br /> succession to Mr. A. E. Fletcher resigned, is Mr.<br /> H. W. Massingham, who has for a considerable<br /> period acted as assistant-editor and political<br /> director, as well as writing the brilliant daily<br /> sketch of House and Lobby. The new editor of<br /> the Morning Post, in succession to Mr. A. K.<br /> Moore, deceased, is Mr. Locker, son of Mr.<br /> Arthur Locker, for many years editor of the<br /> Graphic, and nephew of Frederick Locker-<br /> Lampson, the poet.<br /> The first edition of IOOO copies of Mr. Henry<br /> Norman’s book on “The Peoples and Politics of<br /> the Far East ’’ was sold out, the publisher<br /> announces, within the first week of publication,<br /> and a second edition is now ready. During the<br /> month Mr. Norman has been appointed assistant-<br /> editor of the Daily Chronicle, of which paper he<br /> has for some time had charge of the literary<br /> department.<br /> “The Cyclopædia of Names,” published by the<br /> Century Magazine, and by Mr. Fisher Unwin in<br /> this country—certainly one of the most useful<br /> books of reference that has ever seen the light—<br /> is to be issued in monthly half-guinea parts.<br /> Journalists, and people who have occasion to<br /> make researches, have for several years past<br /> greatly valued the “Index to Periodicals,” which<br /> has been issued yearly from the Review of<br /> Rezniews office. Mr. Stead has now commenced<br /> the issue of his “Index to Periodicals&quot; monthly,<br /> at Id. The index shows the contents of the<br /> magazines and of the Review of Reviews for the<br /> coming month, and all the books issued during<br /> the previous month, including Parliamentary<br /> publications.<br /> A week or two will see a most important and<br /> interesting work, in the shape of the biography<br /> of the late Professor Freeman, by Dr. Stephens,<br /> the Dean of Winchester. Messrs. Macmillan<br /> and Co. will publish it in two volumes. It is<br /> said that “the letters will be found to contain a<br /> more striking testimony to the range and variety<br /> of their author&#039;s studies than is afforded by any<br /> of his printed works.”<br /> Every month now brings at least one new<br /> magazine, that of March being a sixpenny<br /> monthly called The Englishwoman, edited by Miss<br /> Ella Hepworth Dixon, and published by F. W.<br /> White and Co,<br /> A new sixpenny illustrated weekly, The Hour,<br /> has also made its appearance under the editor-<br /> ship of Mr. A. N. Williamson.<br /> “The World&#039;s Own Book; or, the Treasury of<br /> à Kempis,” by Percy Fitzgerald, is announced for<br /> early publication by Mr. Elliot Stock. The work<br /> incidentally gives an account of the chief editions<br /> of the imitation, with an analysis of its methods,<br /> and is illustrated by several facsimiles of pages<br /> from MSS. and early printed editions.<br /> The publication of Miss Elizabeth Hodges&#039;s<br /> book, “Some Ancient English Homes and<br /> their Associations: Personal, Archæological, and<br /> Historic,” T. Fisher Unwin, which was arranged<br /> for the first of the month, is, owing to the<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 302 (#316) ############################################<br /> <br /> 3O2<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> ravages of influenza among the printers, post-<br /> poned until after Easter. The book, which is<br /> well illustrated, gives descriptive histories of<br /> some interesting but little known Warwickshire<br /> and Gloucestershire “Homes” and their various<br /> inmates, from Saxon times onward.<br /> Mr. Egerton Castle&#039;s new novel, called “The<br /> Light of Scarthey,” will appear serially in the<br /> Times (weekly edition) before coming out in one<br /> vol. form. It will begin on the 19th of April, and<br /> will run about six months. It will then be pub-<br /> lished by Messrs. Osgood, McIlvaine, and Co.<br /> “To-Day&#039;s Christ : A Study in Re-Incarna-<br /> tion,” by Dr. Joseph Parker, of the City Temple,<br /> is now ready. The publishers are James Nisbet<br /> and Co., 2 I, Berners-street, W.<br /> Mr. Reynolds Ball has been appointed travel<br /> editor of the Road, and will take charge of the<br /> new “Travel and Tour Department,” which<br /> begins in this month’s number. One of the most<br /> interesting features will be an exhaustive review<br /> of a recent popular travel work under the heading<br /> “The Book of Travel of the Month.” Mr.<br /> Douglas Sladen’s “On the Cars and Off” will be<br /> the subject of the April review.<br /> We are sorry to record the death of the lady who<br /> wrote under the nom de plume of “E. Chilton.”<br /> She wrote, in truth, very little, and probably<br /> many of our readers never heard of her. But she<br /> possessed a singularly pure and clear style, and a<br /> certain amount of humour, which made her work<br /> attractive. Perhaps she would have done very<br /> much better had she been spared. There seems<br /> to be no harm in mentioning that her real name<br /> was Mrs. Chilton Brock.<br /> A scholarly and instructive little book, called<br /> “Books Fatal to their Authors” (Elliott Stock),<br /> has been sent to me. In style and in matter the<br /> book reminds one of Disraeli’s books about<br /> literature and authors. Book lovers will make a<br /> note about it. The author, in a second edition,<br /> will do well to correct a misstatement. The<br /> editor of this paper has nowhere said that<br /> publishers now “incur no financial risk.” He<br /> has never said anything so foolish. What he<br /> has said, over and over again, is a very different<br /> thing: That in these days few publishers take<br /> risk, in the old sense of the word. They have<br /> found out the safer plan, viz., where there is risk<br /> to make the author take that risk. The richer<br /> houses sometimes publish books where returns<br /> are doubtful—there are often special reasons why<br /> even a certain loss is advisable; they sometimes<br /> start magazines; they sometimes lock up money<br /> in costly ventures; but the great majority, the<br /> smaller houses, seldom, if they can help it, run<br /> any risk at all in the publication of books.<br /> “Meditations in Motley,” by Walter Black-<br /> burne Harte, is a collection of essays by an<br /> American writer, published by the “Arena Com-<br /> pany, Boston.” It is a handy little volume, and<br /> contains many good things. Among others there<br /> is a revelation of the conditions of criticism in<br /> in America, which ought to reconcile us to our<br /> own country.<br /> “The Friend of Sir Philip Sidney’’ (London:<br /> |Elliot Stock,) is a selection from the works in<br /> verse and prose of Fulke Greville, Lord Brooke.<br /> The selection is made by Alexander B. Grosart.<br /> A mºst curious and interesting little volume.<br /> The “Divine Problem of Man,” by Mariquita,<br /> Wiscountess de Panama (London: The Roxburghe<br /> Press) is a religions book which may be com-<br /> mended to those who read works of religious<br /> speculation.<br /> “Silvia Craven” (London : Elliot Stock), by<br /> M. Gordon Holmes, is a six-shilling novel. It is<br /> rather long for these days of quick reading. The<br /> tone of the book is maintained throughout at a<br /> high level.<br /> “Some of our English Poets.” By the Rev.<br /> Canon Bell, D.D. (London : Elliot Stock.) The<br /> poets treated are Gray, Goldsmith, Cowper,<br /> Scott, Coleridge and Wordsworth. There is<br /> always something new to say about a great<br /> writer. Canon Bell has found enough to make<br /> a charming volume of pleasant criticism.<br /> “Cardinal Manning,” a character sketch, by<br /> Harriet Clemence Hamilton King. (Dondon:<br /> Whittingham and Co.) This little work is<br /> written in uncritical admiration of the late<br /> Cardinal. It consists largely of extracts from<br /> his sermons.<br /> Mr. Arthur Dillon, with Mr. William Page, is<br /> forming a syndicate in order to revive Shake-<br /> speare&#039;s comedy of “Twelfth Night, or What<br /> You Will,” to be played after the 16th, or early<br /> 17th manner. Mr. Dillon says, “Our principle<br /> is that every playwright shows to fairest<br /> advantage in that form of stage for which. he<br /> designed his plays. This is especially true of<br /> Shakespeare, who wrote with such technical<br /> knowledge of the stage of his day.”<br /> “The Silent Room,” by Mrs. Harcourt Roe,<br /> has been published by Messrs. Skeffington and<br /> Co. in Is. form.<br /> Annabel Gray has transferred her works, “The<br /> Ghosts of the Guard-room&quot; and “A Spanish<br /> Singer,” to Messrs. C. Turner and Co., 30 and 32,<br /> Ludgate-hill, who will continue the series.<br /> “Llanako: a Welsh Idyll,” is the title of a new<br /> novel just issued by Messrs. Gay and Bird. The<br /> author is Mrs. Fred Reynolds.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 303 (#317) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 3O3<br /> Mr. Frank Barrett&#039;s new story, “A Set of<br /> Rogues,” will appear serially this summer in a<br /> number of provincial weeklies. The arrange-<br /> ments are in the hands of the Authors&#039; Syndicate.<br /> Mr. Richard Pryce&#039;s new story, “The Burden<br /> of a Woman,” will be published almost imme-<br /> diately by Messrs. A. D. Innes and Co. The<br /> arrangements have been concluded by the Authors&#039;<br /> Syndicate.<br /> Mrs. Paul King, author of “Cousin Cinderella,”<br /> is about to produce a novel in three volumes,<br /> called “Lord Goltho, an Apostle of Whiteness.”<br /> The publishers are Messrs. Hutchinson and Co.<br /> Many of our older members will be pleased to<br /> hear that Mr. James Stanley Little was on the<br /> 23rd ult. married to Miss F. Maud Thérèse<br /> Lablache.<br /> There is always a certain diffidence in speaking<br /> of Pierre Plowman and other writings of that<br /> age. One ought to be able to read English of<br /> that period; it is English, only a little more<br /> archaic than Spenser. Yet, as a matter of fact,<br /> the reading is so troublesome, reference to notes<br /> or a glossary is so frequent, that, except in one&#039;s<br /> student days, Langland is practically never read at<br /> all. It is time to sweep away the convention that<br /> we all understand fourteenth-century English; and<br /> this, it is to be hoped, will be assisted by Miss<br /> Rate Warren’s “Translation<br /> Vision ” (Fisher Unwin, 1895). The Translation<br /> is close and literal, yet preserves the spirit of the<br /> original. A few notes are added; there is an<br /> appendix, and there is an introduction. Such a<br /> little book does more to make us understand<br /> the fourteenth century than half a dozen learned<br /> volumes with annotations and glossaries. We<br /> must have the learned volumes; but for them we<br /> could not become students in Old or Middle<br /> English. We hope that Miss Warren will con-<br /> tinue her task of making things plain and popular.<br /> * - - --&quot;<br /> - w -<br /> CORRESPONDENCE,<br /> I.—“RUSTIC READING &#039;&#039;: A REPLY.<br /> ET me assure my critic “C. M. Y.” that my<br /> article on this subject did not deal “with<br /> what was the case thirty or forty years<br /> ago,” an epoch with which I had no personal<br /> acquaintance. Every word of it was the result of<br /> my own observation and experience as a country<br /> clergyman, nor have I any reason to suppose that<br /> the condition of this parish in matters literary is<br /> in any way exceptional. ;<br /> “The writer,” says his critic, cannot really<br /> know John Bunyan&#039;s great classic if he thinks it<br /> of Langland’s.<br /> likely to terrify children into the way of virtue.”<br /> But it was to the alarming illustrations of certain<br /> editions, and not to the text, that I took exception,<br /> John Bunyan is not to be held responsible for the<br /> vagaries of his illustrators -<br /> Then I am told that I am not familiar with<br /> parish magazines. Alas ! this is far from being<br /> the case, and I can only repeat that hardly any of<br /> them contain writing worthy the name of literature.<br /> The one exception that I know is Mr. J. G.,<br /> Adderley&#039;s Goodwill, but in this, unfortunately,<br /> there is a strong tinge of socialism.<br /> Lastly. “The nickname Hodge is one that<br /> greatly displeases both the peasant and all that<br /> are interested in him.” Dear me, what could I<br /> have been thinking of to use it in this gloriously<br /> democratic age I hope that Thomas Hodge,<br /> Esquire, Parish Councillor, will forgive my forget-<br /> fulness.<br /> THE WRITER OF THE PAPER.<br /> II.—EDITORs&#039; RULEs.<br /> “R. L. T.” has mistaken my suggestion, and I<br /> fear if we authors combined to frame a set of<br /> rules, regulating the terms for the reception of<br /> our MSS., the only result would be a swift and<br /> speedy return of our productions by the indignant<br /> editors. My idea was that they should draw up<br /> a new act of uniformity, out of the kindness of<br /> their hearts, in order that the weary writers<br /> should know how long to wait for rejection or<br /> acceptance, and cheques. The vulgar tradesman<br /> does not give unlimited credit ; why then should<br /> the distinguished, or insignificant, author P<br /> S. B.<br /> III.--WoRD&#039;s For SoNGs.<br /> In Mr. R. H. Sherard&#039;s February “Letter from<br /> Paris,” he says: “Only the very best writers of<br /> words for songs in England can hope for as much<br /> as four, or at the outside five, guineas for their<br /> words, whilst the average price paid to the poet<br /> is, I believe, 5s.”<br /> Speaking from my own experience, the average<br /> price is two guineas for words worth setting, and<br /> I have never once been offered words at anything<br /> like as low as 5s., nor for the words of my songs<br /> have my publishers, who have uniformly and<br /> courteously given the price asked.<br /> The poet then, unlike composer and publisher,<br /> has no further risk. -<br /> Touching upon the half royalty system in<br /> France ; if a poet took half the royalties of a song<br /> in England, it would hardly be an equal divi-<br /> sion P<br /> The writer of the music has only that one form<br /> of publishing to profit by, whereas the poet only<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 304 (#318) ############################################<br /> <br /> 3O4.<br /> THE AUTHO/?.<br /> sells the musical copyright of his poem, and can<br /> publish it in book form without restriction.<br /> In cases where musical copyright is not wished<br /> to be disposed of, the poet frequently grants his<br /> very kind permission to set the same words many<br /> times, thereby popularising his work, or he can<br /> request special terms.<br /> With all appreciation of Mr. Sherard’s sugges-<br /> tions and with every respect for the unspeakable<br /> help of poetry, the labours and risks of music are<br /> so great that the benefit of the minor poet seems<br /> to me best insured in the position he occupies at<br /> present. MARY AUGUSTA SALMOND.<br /> IV.-MUSICAL PUBLISHING.<br /> In reading the valuable remarks upon this<br /> subject in the Author for March, I so thoroughly<br /> agree that “the iniquity of seven copies as six’’<br /> should be challenged.<br /> Why should not thirteen copies count as<br /> twelve, as in the booksellers’ trade P If musical<br /> works are properly stored, this should amply<br /> allow for loss to publishers in soiled or spoilt<br /> copies.<br /> Regarding charges for the performing rights<br /> of composers in oratorios, cantatas, and operas,<br /> the remarks are just, but I would refer the<br /> writer to 45 &amp; 46 Vict. c. 40, ss. I and 2, which<br /> is quoted on page 62 of that admirable little<br /> handbook, “The Law of Musical and Dramatic<br /> Copyright,” by Ed. Cutler, T. E. Smith, and<br /> F. E. Weatherley.<br /> In the case of songs it would seem impolitic<br /> if not imposible to charge.<br /> It must always be remembered how small a<br /> public music has compared with that which<br /> literature and the drama possess.<br /> In some songs, such as “The Lost Chord”<br /> and “The Better Land,” it would appear im-<br /> portant to have mentioned in royalty agreement<br /> if the publisher “shall be entitled to arrange<br /> and use the melody in any separate musical<br /> composition ” with or without any further<br /> payment P -<br /> It is for the greatest composers to begin to<br /> insist upon more equitable terms.<br /> Lesser writers would only have their work<br /> refused for that of others. M. S.<br /> W.—THE GENERAL MEETING.<br /> I was unfortunately unable to attend the<br /> general meeting on the 25th, otherwise, though<br /> only a very humble member, I should have felt<br /> it my duty to protest against Mr. Stuart-<br /> Glennie&#039;s strictures.<br /> I have belonged to the Society for nearly ten<br /> years, and whenever I have had occasion to<br /> resort to its services, have been invariably im-<br /> pressed by the admirable manner in which the<br /> business has been conducted. In fact, so far as<br /> my experience is concerned, its attributes may<br /> be summed up in these three words, “Capability,<br /> Celerity, Courtesy,” and there are, I am sure,<br /> very few members who would not render a<br /> similar testimony. WILLIAM TOYNBEE.<br /> WI.—PARALLELISM.<br /> On Nov. 16, 1892, I awoke from sleep with the<br /> idea of the following sonnet, and with the final<br /> line shaped almost exactly as it stands, present in<br /> my mind—whether as carried out of a dream or<br /> as forged in some mental process exactly<br /> synchronous with the recovery of consciousness I<br /> am quite unable to determine. The idea took<br /> possession of me, though at first I recoiled from<br /> the grotesquerie of the gnat, feeling that in the<br /> retention, at all events, of the word, the solemnity<br /> of the whole conception would be risked. That<br /> same morning I composed the sonnet (the first I<br /> ever wrote) in one draft, altering the last line to<br /> “The cry of a hurt bird doth reach me here &quot;;<br /> but in a third copy restoring the ant, in the<br /> deliberate conviction that the grotesquerie was<br /> only skin-deep, and that the thoughtful reader<br /> would justify my decision. Besides, I felt a sort<br /> of scrupulousness in tampering with the gift of a<br /> dream.<br /> Two or three days ago I saw an advertisement<br /> of a new book or pamphlet by my friend Mr.<br /> Coulson Kernahan. The title is as follows:<br /> “God and the Ant: A Dream of the Last Day.”<br /> On the face of it, the motif of that, one would<br /> say, is almost identical with the motif of my<br /> Plagiarism, conscious or unconscious, is out of<br /> the question. -<br /> I fancy that the parallelism is remarkable<br /> enough to deserve record. Besides having<br /> seemingly been first in ink, I should like to be<br /> first in print.<br /> &#039;Atrokatóorraorus IIdivrov.<br /> Lo, the great day that sees God&#039;s purpose wrought !<br /> Time in His lap doth lie, a woven skin,<br /> Sin is His awful aureole, and pain<br /> On His forefinger shines, a pearl sum-caught.<br /> Yea, the great day, the end of all God’s thought:<br /> The stars roll anthems, all the airy main<br /> Washes bright rapture, mingled with the strain<br /> Of human cycles to the vintage brought.<br /> Creation praises. Lo, God lifts His hand,<br /> Spreading mild lightning on from sphere to sphere :<br /> The tide of triumphs stops; the planets stand ;<br /> Yea, the worlds hearken, as high God speaks clear:<br /> “Broken is all the harmony I plann’d :—<br /> There is a gnat whose voice I do not hear.”<br /> FREDERICK LANGBRIDGE.https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/275/1895-04-01-The-Author-5-11.pdfpublications, The Author
276https://historysoa.com/items/show/276The Author, Vol. 05 Issue 12 (May 1895)<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=%3Cem%3EThe+Author%3C%2Fem%3E%2C+Vol.+05+Issue+12+%28May+1895%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 05 Issue 12 (May 1895)</a><a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013732253</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Publication">Publication</a>1895-05-01-The-Author-5-12305–332<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=89&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=5">5</a><a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=76&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1895-05-01">1895-05-01</a>1218950501C be El u t b or,<br /> (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors.<br /> Monthly.)<br /> CON DUCTIED BY WALTER BES ANT.<br /> VoI. W.-No. 12.]<br /> MAY 1, 1895.<br /> [PRICE SIXPENCE.<br /> For the Opinions earpressed in papers that are<br /> signed or initialled the Authors alone are<br /> responsible. None of the papers or para-<br /> graphs must be taken as eaſpressing the<br /> collective opinions of the committee unless<br /> they are officially signed by G. Herbert<br /> Thring, Sec.<br /> *-*. --&gt;<br /> * = -<br /> HE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all<br /> remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and<br /> requests that all members not receiving an answer to<br /> important communications within two days will write to him<br /> without delay. All remittances show.ld be crossed Union<br /> Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered<br /> letter only.<br /> Communications and letters are invited by the Editor on<br /> all subjects connected with literature, but on no other sub-<br /> jects whatever. Articles which cannot be accepted are<br /> returned if stamps for the purpose accompany the MSS.<br /> *-* -º<br /> a- - -<br /> WARNINGS AND ADWICE.<br /> I. RAWING THE AGREEMENT.-It is not generally<br /> understood that the author, as the vendor, has the<br /> absolute right of drafting the agreement upon<br /> whatever terms the transaction is to be carried out.<br /> Authors are strongly advised to exercise that right. In<br /> every form of business, this among others, the right of<br /> drawing the agreement rests with him who sells, leases, or<br /> has the control of the property.<br /> 2. SERIAL RIGHTS.—In selling Serial Rights remember<br /> that you may be selling the Serial Right for all time; that<br /> is, the Right to continue the production in papers. If you<br /> object to this, insert a clause to that effect.<br /> 3. STAMP You R AGREEMENTs. – Readers are most<br /> URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements<br /> immediately after signature. If this precaution is neglected<br /> for two weeks, a fine of £10 must be paid before the agree-<br /> ment can be used as a legal document. In almost every<br /> case brought to the secretary the agreement, or the letter<br /> which serves for one, is forwarded without the stamp. The<br /> author may be assured that the other party to the agree-<br /> ment seldom neglects this simple precaution. The Society,<br /> to save trouble, undertakes to get all the agreements of<br /> members stamped for them at no ea&#039;pense to themselves<br /> eacept the cost of the stamp.<br /> - WOL. W.<br /> 4. ASCERTAIN WHAT A PROPOSED AGREEMENT GIVES To<br /> BOTH SIDES BEFORE SIGNING IT.-Remember that an<br /> arrangement as to a joint venture in any other kind of busi-<br /> ness whatever would be instantly refused should either party<br /> refuse to show the books or to let it be known what share he<br /> reserved for himself.<br /> 5. LITERARY AGENTS.—Be very careful. You cannot be<br /> too careful as to the person whom yow appoint as your<br /> agent. Remember that you place your property almost un-<br /> reservedly in his hands. Your only safety is in consulting<br /> the Society, or some friend who has had personal experience<br /> of the agent. Do not trust advertisements alone.<br /> 6. COST OF PRODUCTION.--Never sign any agreement of<br /> which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part,<br /> until you have proved the figures.<br /> 7. CHOICE OF PUBLISHERS.–Never enter into any cor-<br /> respondence with publishers, especially with those who ad-<br /> vertise for MSS., who are not recommended by experienced<br /> friends or by this Society.<br /> 8. FUTURE WORK.—Never, on any account whatever,<br /> bind yourself down for future work to anyone.<br /> 9. PERSONAL RISK.—Never accept any pecuniary risk or<br /> responsibility whatever without advice.<br /> IO. REJECTED MSS.—Never, when a MS. has been re-<br /> fused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises<br /> they may put forward, for the production of the work.<br /> II. AMERICAN RIGHTS.—Never sign away American<br /> rights. Keep them by special clause. Refuse to sign any<br /> agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the<br /> publisher, unless for a substantial consideration.<br /> 12. CESSION OF COPYRIGHT.-Never sign any paper,<br /> either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright,<br /> without advice.<br /> I3. ADVERTISEMENTS. —- Keep some control over the<br /> advertisements, if they affect your returns, by a clause in<br /> the agreement.<br /> 14. NEVER forget that publishing is a business, like any<br /> other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy,<br /> charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with<br /> business men. Be yourself a business man.<br /> Society&#039;s Offices :—<br /> 4, PORTUGAL STREET, LINCOLN&#039;s INN FIELDs.<br /> * -- ~ *-*<br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY,<br /> I. VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive<br /> advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub.<br /> lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his<br /> business or the administration of his property. If the advice<br /> F F 2<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 306 (#320) ############################################<br /> <br /> 306<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member<br /> has a right to an opinion from the Society&#039;s solicitors. If the<br /> case is such that Counsel’s opinion is desirable, the Com-<br /> mittee will obtain for him Counsel’s opinion. All this<br /> without any cost to the member.<br /> 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright<br /> and publisher&#039;s agreements do not generally fall within the<br /> experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple<br /> to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually<br /> engaged upon such questions for us.<br /> 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past<br /> accounts with the loan of the books represented. This is in<br /> order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree-<br /> ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively<br /> so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any<br /> agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor-<br /> mation thus obtained may prove invaluable.<br /> 4. If the examination of your previous business trans-<br /> actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should<br /> take advice as to a change of publishers.<br /> 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro-<br /> posed document to the Society for examination.<br /> 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in<br /> the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish-<br /> ing firm in the country.<br /> 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you<br /> are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are<br /> reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing<br /> the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen-<br /> dence of the writer. -<br /> 8. Send to the Editor of the Author notes of everything<br /> important to literature that you may hear or meet with.<br /> 9. The committee have now arranged for the reception of<br /> members’ agreements and their preservation in a fireproof<br /> safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as con-<br /> fidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who<br /> will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers:—(1)<br /> To read and advise upon agreements and publishers. (2) To<br /> stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon<br /> them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments<br /> due according to agreements.<br /> &gt;<br /> º:<br /> THE AUTHORS’ SYNDICATE,<br /> TEMBERS are informed:<br /> I. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate takes charge of<br /> the business of members of the Society. That it<br /> submits MSS. to publishers and editors, concludes agree-<br /> ments, examines, passes, and collects accounts, and, gene-<br /> rally, relieves members of the trouble of managing business<br /> details. -<br /> 2. That the terms upon which its services can be secured<br /> will be forwarded upon detailed application.<br /> 3. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate works only for those<br /> members of the Society whose work possesses a market<br /> value.<br /> 4. That the Syndicate can only undertake any negotiations<br /> whatever on the distinct understanding that those negotia-<br /> tions are placed eaclusively in its hands, and that all<br /> communications relating thereto are referred to it.<br /> 5. That clients can only be seen by the Director by<br /> appointment, and that, when possible, at least two days&#039;<br /> notice should be given.<br /> 6. That every attempt is made to deal with all communi-<br /> cations promptly. That stamps should, in all cases, be sent<br /> to defray postage.<br /> 7. That the Authors&#039; Syndicate does not invite. MSS.<br /> without previous correspondence ; does not hold itself<br /> responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice; and that<br /> in all cases MSS. must be accompanied by stamps to defray<br /> postage.<br /> 8. That the Syndicate undertakes arrangements for<br /> lectures by some of the leading members of the Society;<br /> that it has a “Transfer Department’’ for the sale and<br /> purchase of journals and periodicals; and that a “Register<br /> of Wants and Wanted &#039;&#039; is open. Members are invited to<br /> communicate their requirements to the Manager.<br /> There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services<br /> will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It<br /> is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the<br /> Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in<br /> the Syndicate.<br /> NOTICES.<br /> HE Editor of the Awthor begs to remind members of the<br /> Society that, although the paper is sent to them free<br /> of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very<br /> heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great<br /> many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest<br /> 6s. 6d. subscription for the year.<br /> The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and<br /> communications on all subjects connected with literature<br /> from members and others. Nothing can do more good to<br /> the Society than to make the Author complete, attractive,<br /> and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this<br /> work send their names and the special subjects on which<br /> they are willing to write P<br /> Communications for the Author should reach the Editor<br /> not later than the 21st of each month.<br /> All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether<br /> members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate<br /> to the Editor any points connected with their work which<br /> it would be advisable in the general interest to publish.<br /> Members and others who wish their MSS. read are<br /> requested not to send them to the Office without previously<br /> communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable<br /> despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in<br /> which they are received. It must also be distinctly under-<br /> stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances,<br /> undertake the publication of MSS.<br /> The Authors’ Club is now open in its new premises, at<br /> 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary<br /> for information, rules of admission, &amp;c.<br /> Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they<br /> have paid their subscriptions for the year P If they will do<br /> this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker&#039;s<br /> order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the<br /> trouble of sending out a reminder. º<br /> Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the<br /> warning numbered (8). It is a most foolish and may be a<br /> most disastrous thing to enter into an agreement binding<br /> for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they<br /> would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five<br /> years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest<br /> or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then<br /> hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them-<br /> selves into literary bondage for three or five years P<br /> Those who possess the “Cost of Production ” are<br /> requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15<br /> per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 307 (#321) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 3O7<br /> of “doing sums,” the addition of three shillings in the<br /> pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding<br /> is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be<br /> added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands<br /> at £948. The figures in our book are as near the exact<br /> truth as can be procured; but a printer&#039;s, or a binder&#039;s,<br /> bill is so elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be<br /> arrived at.<br /> Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged<br /> in the “Cost of Production” for advertising. Of course, we<br /> have not included any sums which may be charged for<br /> inserting advertisements in the publisher&#039;s own magazines,<br /> or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too<br /> often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from<br /> sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket,<br /> by inserting any number of advertisements in his own<br /> magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are<br /> who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those<br /> who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it.<br /> *-*. --&gt;<br /> sº- ºr -ºss<br /> LITERARY PROPERTY.<br /> I.—CANADIAN COPYRIGHT.<br /> Ottawa, April 14.<br /> HE collection by Customs officials of the 12%<br /> per cent. author&#039;s royalty on reprints of<br /> British copyright works brought into<br /> Canada will not cease until the present Parlia-<br /> ment is dissolved. The view is now held by<br /> departmental experts that, until England consents<br /> to a Canadian copyright law, the royalty must be<br /> collected, as an Imperial statute cannot be over-<br /> ridden by a mere Canadian enactment.—Times,<br /> April 15, 1895.<br /> In the House of Commons at Ottawa yesterday,<br /> the Hon. G. E. Foster, Minister of Finance,<br /> announced that at the request of the Imperial<br /> Government a Canadian representative would be<br /> sent to England to discuss the copyright question<br /> personally with the Imperial authorities for the<br /> purpose of coming to an understanding. In the<br /> meantime the proclamation of the Canadian<br /> Copyright Act of 1889 would be withheld.—<br /> Times, April 23, 1895.<br /> II.—THE CANADIAN CASE.<br /> “Certain erroneous statements,” it is stated,<br /> “having been circulated with regard to the<br /> Canadian Copyright Act of 1889, it has been<br /> deemed advisable by the Copyright Association<br /> of Canada to issue the following statement:”<br /> The Canadian Copyright Act of 1889 was<br /> unanimously passed by the Parliament of<br /> Canada, and assented to by the Governor-<br /> General. -<br /> The Act was to come into operation on pro-<br /> clamation of the Governor-General.<br /> The Governor-General has not yet proclaimed<br /> the Act.<br /> The Canadian Government contend that they<br /> have the right to legislate fully on copyright, it<br /> being one of the classes of subjects intrusted to<br /> º Parliament of Canada by the B.N.A. Act of<br /> 1867.<br /> The following are among the reasons why the<br /> Act should be proclaimed:<br /> A Copyright analogous to a Patent.<br /> A copyright is analogous to a patent.<br /> Canadian Copyright Act is analogous to<br /> the Canadian Patent Act. The Patent Act<br /> requires manufacture in Canada. The Imperial<br /> Government did not disallow the Patent Act.<br /> The Imperial Government would not propose that<br /> a United States patentee, on securing the British<br /> patent, should thereby secure the Canadian patent.<br /> Why should the Imperial Government assure the<br /> United States author, that on securing copyright<br /> in Great Britain, he thereby secures copyright in<br /> Canada? Canada exclusively legislates as to the<br /> terms on which patents may be secured in Canada.<br /> Canada should be permitted to exercise the same<br /> powers as to the terms on which copyrights may<br /> be secured in Canada.<br /> The<br /> Canadian Market must not be sold.<br /> The United States publisher when buying from<br /> a British author the copyright for the United<br /> States, stipulates that Canada shall be included.<br /> Canadians resent this sale of their market, and<br /> persist in their claim to adopt such legislation as<br /> will put a stop thereto.<br /> Canadian Reprints cannot flood other Markets.<br /> The fear that Canadian publishers would flood<br /> the British and United States markets with cheap<br /> editions, is utterly unfounded, as the Copyright<br /> Acts of those countries prohibit the importation<br /> and sale of unauthorised editions, and impose a<br /> heavy penalty for violation of the law. Canadian<br /> publishers, therefore, could not flood either<br /> market with cheap editions.<br /> It has happened that orders for books sent to<br /> London have been returned with “cannot supply.”<br /> marked thereon, thus forcing Canadians to buy<br /> those books from the United States publishers.<br /> On the other hand, the British publisher prints<br /> a cheap edition of a work by a United States<br /> author. This cheap edition is exported to Canada.<br /> An illustration on this point is furnished in the<br /> case of F. Marion Crawford&#039;s book, “The<br /> Ralstons.” This book was published in the<br /> United States at 2 dollars. It was published<br /> simultaneously in Great Britain at 12s. But the<br /> British publishers printed a cheap Colonial edition<br /> which sold in Canada for 75 cents. This cheap<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 308 (#322) ############################################<br /> <br /> 308<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> edition was on sale in Canada within a day or<br /> two after the publication of the United States<br /> 2 dollar edition. Here, then, is a British<br /> publisher issuing a cheap paper edition for sale<br /> in Canada—when one of the main objections of<br /> the opponents of the Canadian Act, which is<br /> made to do duty on every occasion, is that the<br /> Canadian publisher will issue cheap paper<br /> editions which will flood the United States<br /> market in competition with the more expensive<br /> United States editions ! . It must be distinctly<br /> understood, however, that this cheap paper edition,<br /> which is sold in Canada, does not flood the United<br /> States market, for the very excellent reason,<br /> already stated, that the United States Copyright<br /> Act prohibits its importation or sale in the United<br /> States.<br /> Imports allowed from Britain.<br /> The Canadian Act permits the importation of<br /> British editions of works, whether copyrighted<br /> here or published under the royalty clause of<br /> the Act; but excludes foreign editions.<br /> No Piracy in Canadian Act.<br /> Should the author (be he British or American)<br /> neglect to secure copyright in Great Britain, any<br /> publisher may reprint the work there without<br /> paying the author.<br /> Should the author neglect to secure copyright<br /> in the United States, any publisher may reprint<br /> the work there without paying the author.<br /> Should the author neglect to secure copyright<br /> in Canada, no Canadian publisher could reprint<br /> the work in Canada without paying the author<br /> Io per cent. royalty.<br /> It is therefore clearly seen that while the<br /> British and United States Acts permit the piracy<br /> of authors’ works, the Canadian Act does not.<br /> The Royalty Clause.<br /> The introduction of the royalty clause in the<br /> Canadian Act was not original with the promoters<br /> thereof. The idea was suggested by the Foreign<br /> Reprints Act, passed by the Imperial Parliament,<br /> which allows a United States publisher, or other<br /> foreign publisher, who has printed a copyright<br /> book without permission, to supply the Canadian<br /> market on payment of a royalty of I2; per cent.<br /> collected on the wholesale price of the book,<br /> which royalty goes to the British copyright owner.<br /> It was but natural for the Canadian to desire<br /> to be placed on an equal footing with the foreign<br /> publisher so far as his own market was concerned.<br /> Therefore a royalty of Io per cent. on the retail<br /> price of the book was suggested.<br /> Furthermore, many difficulties have been<br /> encountered in collecting the royalty on imports,<br /> it being almost impossible to keep a complete and<br /> accurate list at every Custom House, and to check<br /> every invoice therefrom. The collection of the<br /> royalty on reprints, on the other hand, is provided<br /> for by the Canadian Law in a perfectly safe<br /> manner, as the Inland Revenue Department is to<br /> stamp the title page of each copy of every book<br /> issued, and before this is done the royalty must<br /> be paid to the Government to the credit of the<br /> author. As a matter of fact, then, the author<br /> will exchange his royalty of I2; per cent. on<br /> imports, which is uncertain of collection, for a<br /> royalty on reprints of Io per cent. on the retail<br /> price, which is certain of collection.<br /> Geographical Position.<br /> In considering this question, the geographical<br /> position of Canada, side by side with the United<br /> States, ought not to be overlooked. This fact<br /> makes Canada&#039;s position very different indeed<br /> from that of any other British colony.<br /> Advantages given to Authors.<br /> Compare the United States Copyright Act, now<br /> in operation, with the Canadian Copyright Act,<br /> and it will be seen that many advantages are<br /> given to authors by the latter.<br /> To secure copyright in the United States, the<br /> British author must print his book there from type<br /> set within the limits of the United States, or from<br /> plates made from type set within the limits of<br /> the United States. The Canadian Act provides<br /> for no such restriction, but allows both British<br /> and United States authors to set the type in<br /> Canada, or print from plates, as they may think<br /> best. In anticipation of the Canadian Act<br /> coming into force, the Canadian Government<br /> passed a special enactment allowing plates for<br /> books to be imported into Canada free of duty.<br /> This concession was made, thinking that it would<br /> be appreciated, but those opposing the Act seem<br /> determined to ignore the concession. Yet the<br /> concession is there, and it proves that Canada.<br /> grants British authors copyright in Canada, on<br /> far more liberal terms than they can secure copy-<br /> right in the United States; and that Canada.<br /> grants United States authors copyright in<br /> Canada on far easier terms than Canadians are<br /> granted copyright in the United States.<br /> Injustice to important Canadian Interests.<br /> Canada has not only lost the printing of works<br /> by foreign authors, but is fast losing the printing<br /> of works by Canadian authors, not because the<br /> books can be printed cheaper or better abroad,<br /> but because they have to be manufactured in the<br /> |United States in order to secure copyright there.<br /> When that is done, there is no necessity for issu-<br /> ing a Canadian edition, as the Canadian market<br /> can be supplied by the United States edition.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 309 (#323) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 3O9<br /> Reading Public inconvenienced.<br /> Under the present law, the Canadian readin<br /> public are ignored, and the works of both British<br /> and United States authors must be imported into<br /> Canada, and, moreover, these editions are, in many<br /> cases, published at such prices as to put them<br /> beyond the reach of the great majority of<br /> Canadian readers.<br /> British authors are now able to secure copy-<br /> right in the United States, and United States<br /> authors are now able to secure copyright in Great<br /> Britain (which covers Canada). Therefore the<br /> copyright owners now refuse to print in Canada.<br /> They supply this market with editions printed<br /> either in the United States or Great Britain.<br /> This is considered a great injury to the printing,<br /> paper, and allied industries in Canada. It is,<br /> moreover, a source of trouble and annoyance to<br /> the people of Canada, as the British market is<br /> so far away that, after the supply on hand of a<br /> book is exhausted, some weeks must elapse before<br /> a new supply can be procured.<br /> Objections refuted.<br /> A circular, containing objections to the<br /> Canadian Act, has been recently issued in<br /> England. These objections should not prevail.<br /> The circular states that Canada has asked the<br /> British Government to sanction arrangements to<br /> take copyright in Canada away from all British<br /> authors except such as are Canadians. Such is<br /> not the case. Canada does not propose to take<br /> away copyright in Canada from British authors.<br /> The British author and the United States author<br /> may, under the Canadian Act, secure copyright<br /> in Canada on exactly the same terms as the<br /> Canadian author.<br /> It is objected that the Canadian Act will injure<br /> the value of the British edition, because the<br /> Canadian edition could be imported into the<br /> United Kingdom and the other colonies, and<br /> compete with it. But from the report of Lord<br /> Knutsford’s Copyright Commission of 1892, it<br /> appears that, at the instance of the British copy-<br /> right owners, the law of Great Britain was framed<br /> so that the importation of Canadian reprints of<br /> British works into Great Britain is prohibited.<br /> It is objected that the Canadian Act is at<br /> variance with the Free Trade principles of the<br /> United Kingdom. That may be. The Canadian<br /> Tariff Act is also avowedly at variance with the<br /> Free Trade principles of the United Kingdom—<br /> yet the British Government would not propose<br /> to interfere with it.<br /> It is objected that the Canadian Act will<br /> destroy the British author&#039;s present means of<br /> securing copyright in the United States of<br /> America. That is only an opinion. Are not the<br /> British publishers themselves alone responsible<br /> for the agitation against allowing British authors<br /> to hold copyright in the United States ? The<br /> action of the British Music Publishers’ Associa-<br /> tion in contesting what is known as the “manu-<br /> facturing ” clause in the United States Act, has<br /> done British authors incalculable harm in the<br /> United States; and if the British music pub-<br /> lishers will not accept that manufacturing clause<br /> (as British book publishers have very wisely<br /> done), British authors may yet find themselves<br /> deprived of the benefit of copyright in the United<br /> States.<br /> As to the Berne Convention, it should be under-<br /> stood that the Canadian Parliament never adopted<br /> or agreed to the Berne Convention. On the con-<br /> trary, the Canadian Parliament has twice asked<br /> that notice be given of Canada&#039;s desire that the<br /> Convention be denounced.<br /> Most of the other objections are based on the<br /> supposition that the author loses control over his<br /> work under the Canadian Act. Nothing could be<br /> further from the fact, since, by complying with<br /> the terms of the Act, authors and copyright<br /> owners retain entire control of their works and<br /> may suppress old editions, or issue new ones as<br /> desired.<br /> Canadians stand by the Act of 1867.<br /> Canadians insist on the full right of the Parlia-<br /> ment of Canada to pass and enact legislation on<br /> copyright as desired from time to time; the same<br /> as they enjoy on the other subjects intrusted to<br /> that Parliament under the B.N.A. Act of 1867.<br /> The right of the Parliament of Canada to enact<br /> and enforce its own copyright legislation has<br /> been indorsed by the unanimous vote of the<br /> Parliament and Senate of Canada; by the News-<br /> paper Press of Canada; by the Board of Trade of<br /> the City of Toronto, and other cities; by the<br /> Employing Printers of Canada; by the Typo-<br /> graphical Unions and Printing Pressmen&#039;s<br /> Unions; by the Trades and Labour Councils<br /> (comprising representatives from the various<br /> trades), by the Booksellers’ and Paper Makers’<br /> Association, and by many others.<br /> The above reasons, amongst others, for the<br /> enforcement of the Copyright Act of 1889, were<br /> laid before Sir Mackenzie Bowell, the Premier of<br /> the Dominion of Canada, and Sir Charles Hibbert<br /> Tupper, the Minister of Justice, by an influential<br /> deputation of the Copyright Association of<br /> Canada, at Toronto, in February, 1895.<br /> Signed on behalf of the Copyright Association<br /> of Canada,<br /> J. Ross ROBERTSON, President.<br /> DAN. A. RosB, Vice-President.<br /> RICHARD T. LANCEFIELD, Hon. Secretary.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 310 (#324) ############################################<br /> <br /> 3 IO<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> - III.--THE OTHER SIDE.<br /> Hitherto we have had only expressions of<br /> opinion from publishers, and politicians in the<br /> hunt for votes, and the vital point at issue has<br /> been completely ignored.<br /> It is not a question whether a wrong has been<br /> done to Canada by not allowing her to legislate as<br /> to copyright, nor whether United States publishers<br /> are to be allowed to flood the Canadian market<br /> with British authors’ works printed in the United<br /> States, but the crucial question is whether the<br /> authors, engravers, printers, sculptors, and photo-<br /> graphers of the country are to be deprived of the<br /> vast benefits of the Berne Convention at the<br /> bidding of a few clamorous publishers. When a<br /> cause is bad, false issues are always raised. It<br /> does not matter one iota to the public where the<br /> books are printed and bound, provided they are<br /> cheap and good, and it must be conceded that we<br /> can get a cheaper and better class of work from<br /> Europe and the United States.<br /> Last year I had the privilege of paying Canadian<br /> publishers about 1100 dollars for a limited issue<br /> of a work on the Patent law of Canada, some of<br /> which have been sold in European countries as<br /> well as in the United States, and my attention<br /> has been drawn to copyright matters, both as a<br /> lawyer and in my daily practice as a solicitor of<br /> patents, and my firm is even now procuring<br /> Canadian and European copyrights for a client<br /> for a work of universal interest ; so I claim to be<br /> better posted generally than the public, who are<br /> ignorant of the rights which are being thrown<br /> away to obtain this mongrel Act of 1889, by the<br /> passing of which our membership in the Berne<br /> Convention is severed, and our privileges<br /> destroyed. By simply obtaining a Canadian<br /> copyright, the protection of the courts, without<br /> further registration, is obtained throughout the<br /> United Kingdom and all its colonies and posses-<br /> sions, also in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy,<br /> Spain, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and other places.<br /> In the recent case of “ Harfstaengel v. Baines and<br /> Co. (1895), I. A. C., p. 20, “The Empire Theatre<br /> Living Picture Case,” the right of suit in British<br /> courts was conceded to a German copyrighter,<br /> although no registration had taken place under<br /> the British Copyright Act. The only condition<br /> precedent to obtaining copyright in the foregoing<br /> countries is that the formalities prescribed by law<br /> in the “country of origin” must be complied with.<br /> Ten years are allowed within which translation<br /> may be made, and authorised translations are<br /> protected the same as original works.<br /> By the British Act of 1842, copyright was<br /> obtainable covering all the colonies, &amp;c., provided<br /> the work was first (or simultaneously) published<br /> in the United Kingdom, and it was immaterial<br /> whether it was printed in the United King-<br /> dom or whether it was written by a British<br /> subject or not. This has ever since been<br /> the policy of British statesmen, who aimed at<br /> the benefit of the masses and the encourage-<br /> ment of art and literature in the country; printers<br /> and publishers could not dictate the policy of the<br /> Government to suit themselves, as unfortunately<br /> has been the case both in the TInited States and<br /> Canada. Why should Canada at the bidding of<br /> publishers, printers, and a portion of a noisy press<br /> pursue a policy of isolation and make this country<br /> take a step backward of fifty years towards the<br /> Dark Ages to pander to a few who will never<br /> benefit much by the Act of 1889, if it ever should<br /> become law P. There have been International<br /> Copyright Acts in the United Kingdom—1844,<br /> 1852, 1875—with the principal countries of<br /> Europe; the Berne Convention was merely an<br /> enlargement and consolidation of these Acts. No<br /> literary man or artist who understands the<br /> matter and the privileges which are being thrown<br /> away has asked to have the foolish Act of 1889<br /> become law; indeed it would be folly to suppose<br /> so. Canada and the United States are both far<br /> behind Europe in art, science, and literature;<br /> reputation and progress among the nations of the<br /> world do not count when the almighty dollar<br /> steps in. The United States, however, have<br /> separate international treaties with all the foreign<br /> countries named of the Berne Convention (except<br /> Spain and Luxembourg), and also with Denmark<br /> and Portugal, which are not members, while poor<br /> Canada with suicidal folly will by the passing of<br /> the Act of 1889 be completely isolated, and will<br /> not retain even the reciprocal advantages granted<br /> us by the Imperial Act of 1886.<br /> The Act of 1889 imposes impossible conditions<br /> on British authors, whose property is to be<br /> taken without their leave, and, besides that, is<br /> so badly drawn as to embody several glaring<br /> mistakes, so that lawyers will be able to drive<br /> the traditional coach and four through it in<br /> the usual manner. On a future occasion I may<br /> take this up.<br /> The official returns from the ad valorem duty<br /> of 12% per cent. on reprints of British works<br /> hitherto collected in the Camadian Customs since<br /> December, 1850, for British authors, and now<br /> happily ended, show what a farce the collection<br /> has been, and will arouse grave doubts whether<br /> much of the beggarly IO per cent, royalty<br /> provided for in the Agt of 1889 would find its<br /> way to the pockets of the British author.—<br /> Yours, &amp;c., John G. RIDOUT.<br /> Toronto, April 4.<br /> Toronto Mail and Earpress, April 6.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 311 (#325) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 3 II<br /> IV.--THE “IIVING PICTUREs &#039;’ LITIGATION.<br /> The following summary of this case was pub-<br /> lished (Friday, April 26th) by the Westminster<br /> Gazette :<br /> “What happened was this : the Empire Theatre,<br /> starting what has since become a very popular<br /> form of “show,” produced some living groups on<br /> the stage. These groups were arranged after<br /> some pictures by foreign artists, the copyright of<br /> which belonged to the fine art publisher, Herr<br /> Hanfstaengl. In due course of business, the<br /> Daily Graphic and the Westminster Budget<br /> published outline sketches, more or less rough, of<br /> the performances at the Empire. Herr Hanf-<br /> staeng1 thereupon proceeded at law for infringe-<br /> ment of copyright:<br /> 1. Against the Empire, in respect of the living<br /> groups;<br /> 2. Against the Empire, in respect of the painted<br /> backgrounds to the groups;<br /> 3. Against the Daily Graphic, in respect of<br /> its sketches of the performances at the Empire ;<br /> 4. Against the Westminster Budget, on the<br /> same ground.<br /> The fate of these proceedings was as follows:<br /> 1. Carried to the Court of Appeal, and dis-<br /> missed with costs;<br /> . Mr. Justice Stirling granted an injunction;<br /> the Court of Appeal overruled him, and were<br /> sustained by the House of Lords;<br /> 4. Mr. Justice Stirling, basing himself on the<br /> decision of the House of Lords, dismissed the<br /> case with costs;<br /> 2. This was the case decided on April 25th. Mr.<br /> Justice Stirling dismissed it so far as concerned<br /> most of the pictures, but decided that the back-<br /> grounds of two of them were an infringement of<br /> copyright.<br /> We need not trouble our readers with any more<br /> law than this—namely, that what the Copyright<br /> Acts forbid, as piracy, is “copies or colourable<br /> imitations of the painting [or photograph] or the<br /> design thereof.” What, therefore, the Courts<br /> have now decided in the group of cases in ques-<br /> tion is—(1) that living groups, posed after<br /> pictures, are not—apart from any question of<br /> painted backgrounds—infringements of copy-<br /> right; (2) nor are rough sketches of pictures<br /> such as are familiar to the public in the illus-<br /> trated papers.”<br /> W.—THE RETAIL PRICE.<br /> The following letter appeared in the Athenæum<br /> of April 8: Park-street, Bristol, April 1, 1895.<br /> It is, possibly, typical of the inertness of book retailers<br /> that the statement quoted in the Athenæum, March 23, as<br /> to 6s. novels “sold to the trade at 3s. 7#d.” is allowed to<br /> pass without comment. This is one of the misleading half-<br /> WOL. W.<br /> truths constantly appearing in the Awthor. Retailers would<br /> be glad to find someone who would supply them with the 6s.<br /> novels they want at 4s. There is evidently a good living<br /> going begging if the Author be correct.<br /> W. GEORGE’s SONS.<br /> As regards “misleading half-truths,” it is<br /> remarkable that those who speak about them<br /> never venture to correct them. The Author<br /> would like, above all things, to be correct. Why<br /> do not these booksellers state plainly what they<br /> have to pay ? How, then, was the sum of 38.7%d.<br /> arrived at as a fair average estimate of the<br /> general retail price of a 6s. book P. In this way.<br /> The general retail price of a 6s. book is nominally<br /> 4s. 2d. But 5 per cent. discount is allowed “for<br /> the account,” and thirteen are allowed as twelve.<br /> That works out at 3s. 7+}d. The fraction was<br /> reduced in favour of publishers from +} to #.<br /> It was thus intended to make some allowance for<br /> bad debts. The Society, in issuing these figures,<br /> was not considering the relations of booksellers<br /> to publishers, but of authors to publishers. Its<br /> first care, therefore, was not to overstate their own<br /> case. With this object it assumed that all books<br /> were bought at thirteen as twelve, which is very<br /> far from being the case, though, it must be<br /> remembered, in order to get at an average price,<br /> with some publishers the thirteen ordered are<br /> allowed to be of various books. If all the books<br /> were bought simply as single copies our royalty<br /> tables would have to be altered throughout, and<br /> authors’ royalties very much increased. We<br /> have, so far, received no complaints from pub-<br /> lishers as to the alleged understatement of the<br /> retail price.<br /> rº- + -º<br /> THE DEFERRED ROYALTY.<br /> HE proportion of proceeds that the author<br /> T should assign to the publisher can never<br /> be decided, once for all, on equitable prin-<br /> ciples, because no connection can be established<br /> between the author’s work and the publisher&#039;s.<br /> The former conceives and executes the book, bring-<br /> ing to his work all his knowledge, learning, skill,<br /> and ability. This is one kind of work. The pub-<br /> lisher performs the mechanical part: he sends the<br /> MS. to the printer, and he gives it the help of<br /> his own machinery in introducing the book to<br /> the world. This is another kind of work. The<br /> two kinds are incommensurable. Therefore some<br /> kind of recognised principle, adopted and agreed<br /> upon by all, is the nearest approach that we<br /> can expect to the settlement of the question.<br /> Thus, it has always been supposed, till lately,<br /> that a half profit system, in the case of any<br /> ordinary book, was as fair a method as could be<br /> devised. In the rare case of a very successful<br /> G. G.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 312 (#326) ############################################<br /> <br /> 3I 2<br /> THE AUTHOIR.<br /> work, in one certain to be in great and extra-<br /> ordinary demand, this plan would be manifestly<br /> unjust. But the half, profit system has been<br /> discredited by those publishers who falsify their<br /> accounts; for £IOO writing £I IO or £I2O :<br /> and charging for advertisements for which<br /> they have not paid. “I like the half profit<br /> system,” said Douglas Jerrold, “for there is<br /> certain to be no division with the publisher.”<br /> Discredited as it has been, it still remains in<br /> practice, especially with those persons who<br /> continue—there are not many left—to falsify<br /> their accounts. There remains, however, in<br /> the minds of authors a feeling that more than<br /> one-half of the profits ought not to be taken by<br /> the publisher; and they fondly believe that any<br /> offer made to them is based upon that principle.<br /> Nor does the publisher ever openly demand more<br /> than one-half; in certain cases he asks for no<br /> more than one-third.<br /> We have already seen in these columns what is<br /> meant by a royalty of Io, I 5, 20, or 25 per cent.<br /> Our calculations were based upon a trade price<br /> which we assumed to be general, though it was<br /> really placed somewhat too low. We shall perhaps<br /> be able to revise this table of royalties. Meantime<br /> it must be observed that it is extremely difficult<br /> for an author to get a royalty which actually<br /> corresponds to a half profit return, a fact which<br /> would by itself suggest that in many cases the<br /> accounts were falsified, and the “half profits”<br /> returned were only a fourth, or even less.<br /> We have now to consider a system which has<br /> come in of late years, and must be exposed. It is<br /> that of the deferred royalty. Under the old half<br /> profit system the publisher said, “I will stand in<br /> with you—my risk of money against your risk of<br /> time.” Under the royalty system the publisher<br /> says, “If there is any risk I take it”—of course,<br /> in most cases, there is none, or, as a man of<br /> business, he would not take it—“ and from the<br /> outset, which increases the risk, I load the book<br /> with so much royalty.”<br /> A deferred royalty at first sight seems perfectly<br /> fair. What could be fairer than that profits<br /> should be reckoned after the cost of production<br /> has been defrayed P As usual, however, the cost<br /> of production is very carefully withheld, and the<br /> mere mention of such a thing is violently resented.<br /> And, again, the publisher who flourishes his<br /> deferred royalty is extremely shy of stating<br /> what the proposal means to himself. When<br /> will authors have the courage to say: “Make<br /> me an offer showing in exact details what<br /> you propose for yourself out of my property, and<br /> what you will give me P’’ or, failing this, why do<br /> they not always bring their agreements to the<br /> Society for explanation before they sign them P<br /> Here, for instance, are a few cases of actual<br /> proposals of a deferred royalty :<br /> 1. This was the case of a very distinguished<br /> man of letters. He was asked to write a book for<br /> a certain series. Terms: Royalty of so much per<br /> cent. — a very moderate percentage — to begin<br /> after two editions of a thousand copies each had<br /> been sold. In other words, the enterprising<br /> firm calmly proposed to take for themselves the<br /> whole proceeds of two editions before they gave<br /> the author anything !<br /> 2. This was the case of an educational book.<br /> The author was offered a little cheque down<br /> with a royalty of so much—not much—to begin<br /> after many thousands (!!) of copies had been<br /> sold. Making a very rough calculation, it<br /> looked as if the generous and noble-hearted firm<br /> was proposing to make a profit of about six or<br /> seven times what it gave the author, before the<br /> moderate royalty began.<br /> This kind of business seems to be more common<br /> in educational books than in general literature.<br /> There is no reason why there should be any<br /> difference. Some educational books are costly to<br /> produce, but a book that is once established is a<br /> mine of gold. There is, doubtless, real risk<br /> attached to the publication of some educational<br /> books, though the name of the writers of books<br /> produced by reputable firms should be a guarantee<br /> of their value. In such cases, the old half profit<br /> system was designed to meet the difficulty. Let the<br /> author, when considering any proposed agreement,<br /> simply demand an estimate in writing of the cost<br /> of production and the comparative shares of profit.<br /> If he has any doubt about the document, let him<br /> refer it to the Society; of course, it must be a<br /> detailed estimate, showing the number of sheets,<br /> the size of the page, the character of the type, the<br /> style of binding, the price of stereos, and so<br /> forth. If the firm refuse that estimate let him go<br /> elsewhere<br /> The deferred royalty proposal has a much better<br /> chance of catching the ignorant and credulous<br /> author when a small cheque down is proposed<br /> than with nothing. The author thinks that he is<br /> certain to get something. This, with the fact<br /> that his book is going to appear, reconciles him.<br /> It was a publisher with a real knowledge of human<br /> nature who first invented the little cheque on<br /> account. The offer might be miserable and<br /> grasping, but there was at least something down,<br /> and the writer&#039;s vanity was flattered by the pro-<br /> duction of his book. -<br /> 3. The next is the case of a three-volume<br /> novel. The author was to receive a royalty—<br /> quite a large and handsome royalty—after the<br /> sale of 350 copies. He was at first greatly<br /> uplifted with admiration of the princely firm<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 313 (#327) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 3 I 3<br /> which had made him this magnificent offer—an<br /> admiration which suddenly vanished when he<br /> found out that no more than 350 copies had been<br /> printed and that the type had then been distri-<br /> buted. So that the generous publisher never<br /> meant him to have anything at all out of his<br /> book, and knew very well beforehand how many<br /> would be taken by the libraries.<br /> 4. The last is a case quoted in “Methods of<br /> Publishing,” in which the royalty was to begin<br /> “after the expenses are defrayed.” Nothing at<br /> all was said about any audit of accounts, and so<br /> the author was expected to take the publisher&#039;s<br /> word as to what the expenses were.<br /> The royalty system, since the Society exposed<br /> its early iniquities, has been greatly improved.<br /> Royalties are given now which would have been<br /> indignantly refused a few years ago, when<br /> ignorance of the figures enabled grasping dealers<br /> to deal with royalties as they pleased. But the<br /> deferred royalty still offers grand opportunities<br /> for grasping and greed.<br /> Now, it cannot be said that any of the cases<br /> above quoted, or any cases similar to them, are,<br /> strictly speaking, fraudulent, unless in the last<br /> case, where an opening was left for falsifying the<br /> accounts.<br /> How, then, can these cases be described P. If a<br /> man places himself in the hands of another, whom<br /> he believes to be honourable and upright; if<br /> the former, further, believes that in the manage-<br /> ment of his property he will receive a fair<br /> proportion, say half the proceeds, and if that<br /> man so trusted gets the other to sign an agree-<br /> ment by which two-thirds, or three-fourths, or<br /> five-sixths of the profits go secretly into his<br /> own pocket; if he does this, knowing ſhe other<br /> to be ignorant of the figures, how shall we<br /> describe that man P. He is, at least, one who<br /> trades on the ignorance of others, one who<br /> systematically “bests” his partners.<br /> If the royalty is to begin after the expenses<br /> are defrayed, these expenses must be laid down<br /> at the outset, and an audit of the books granted<br /> as a matter of course. This would not absolutely<br /> stop cheating, if that were attempted; but it<br /> would make it more difficult, because it would<br /> involve the assistance of accomplices. Then, as<br /> soon as the actual expenses of a whole edition<br /> are defrayed, the royalty should be 50 per cent.<br /> on the actual trade price of the book until<br /> that edition is exhausted. To repeat, it has<br /> never been argued or held that a publisher should<br /> for his share in the work be entitled to ask for<br /> more than one-half. Yet see, by the cases given<br /> above, what a monstrous share he may secretly<br /> seize by such an agreement as any one of those<br /> quoted above.<br /> WOL. W.<br /> LETTER FROM PARIS.<br /> UR young friend George Hugo, the grand-<br /> son of the poet, will in future be known<br /> as Comte George Hugo. He succeeds to<br /> the family title by the death of Comte Leopold<br /> Hugo, who was the eldest son of Victor Hugo&#039;s<br /> elder brother, Abel Hugo, the eldest son of the<br /> gallant general, Joseph Hugo, of whom M. de<br /> Ménéval, Napoleon&#039;s private secretary, writes<br /> that he was a young officer full of fire and<br /> activity, who rendered yeoman’s service to the<br /> Emperor and King Joseph in Spain, and wrote<br /> Some most interesting memoirs on the war in<br /> Spain, which were published with a preface by<br /> his eldest son, Abel. Leopold Hugo cannot be<br /> described as a literary man. He was rather a<br /> savant, with a speciality for geography, and was<br /> in high repute at the Academy of Sciences.<br /> Just before he died he asked that his little cousin,<br /> Charles Daudet, the son of Leon Daudet and<br /> Jeanne Hugo, should be brought to him. He<br /> will be much regretted by all who knew him.<br /> George Hugo, or rather Comte George Hugo, and<br /> his little son Jean are now the only representa-<br /> tives of the male branch of this distinguished<br /> family. George Hugo, by the way, is coming to<br /> London on May 6, in the company of the<br /> Daudets. Apropos of this visit, I may mention<br /> that M. de Goncourt told me on Thursday<br /> last that he did not intend to accompany his<br /> º to London. “I don’t like ovations,” he<br /> Sal Ol.<br /> Speaking of de Goncourt, one is glad to hear<br /> that next month Charpentier will publish the<br /> eighth volume of the “Journal des Goncourt,” of<br /> the strong interest of which to all those who are<br /> interested in contemporary French life, literary,<br /> social, and artistic, I have already spoken. I<br /> hear that the author has submitted the proofs to<br /> various persons of whom he has spoken in this<br /> volume, so as to avoid any such complaints about<br /> indiscretion as were made in reference to previous<br /> volumes of the same diary.<br /> Apropos of the “Journal des Goncourt,” which<br /> I may perhaps explain may be translated either<br /> as the “Goncourt&#039;s Newspaper’ or as the “Gon-<br /> court&#039;s Diary,” a barrister told me that once when<br /> defending a prisoner down in the South of<br /> France he made copious quotations from these<br /> books, with visible effect on the jury. His client<br /> was acquitted, and after the trial the foreman of<br /> the jury came to see him and asked him in the<br /> name of various members of the jury to inform<br /> them where the “Goncourt&#039;s Newspaper &quot; was<br /> published, whether it was a daily or a weekly<br /> paper, and what were the terms for subscription.<br /> The name of the barrister who told me this is<br /> G G 2<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 314 (#328) ############################################<br /> <br /> 3I4<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> Raymond Daly, himself a writer of no mean<br /> order. A volume of his short stories, to be<br /> entitled “The Gold and the Grey,” are being<br /> translated by Mr. Stewart Merrill, the American<br /> poet, and will be published in London next<br /> autumn.<br /> Admirers of Gustave Flaubert have long<br /> desired to possess an adequate life of the greatest<br /> master of prose that France has seen in this &quot;<br /> century. One is therefore pleased to read that in<br /> a few days from now we shall possess such a book,<br /> written by M. Albert Collignon, &amp; man well<br /> suited for the task. M. Albert Collignon was<br /> for many years editor of La Vie Littéraire, and<br /> is the author of numerous works of fiction and<br /> biography. Almost simultaneously with the<br /> Flaubert book he will publish a work on Diderot.<br /> But the Flaubert book will interest you and me<br /> the more, I think.<br /> A new French slang dictionary is in prepara-<br /> tion and will be welcomed by those who love to<br /> stray on the by-paths of philology. It is being<br /> put together by M. Dellesalle. It will be in two<br /> parts, French-Slang and Slang-French, just like<br /> any other dictionary of two languages. It should<br /> be useful to writers of realistic novels, and will<br /> save them the trouble of studying French slang in<br /> the unpleasant regions where it flourishes.<br /> I have another little anecdote about William<br /> Wordsworth which may interest those who are<br /> interested in this poet. A lady tells me that<br /> when she was a little girl—it is the same little<br /> girl who sent the epic and the half-crown to the<br /> destitute poet—she used to stay at Rydal Mount,<br /> and that William Wordsworth used to make her<br /> read aloud to him, not for his diversion, indeed,<br /> but in order to train her voice. “He used to con-<br /> stantly interrupt me to correct my enunciation<br /> whenever I raised my voice unduly, either in read-<br /> ing or speaking, and would quote Shakespeare&#039;s<br /> “sweet low voice, an excellent thing in woman’<br /> till I conceived a strong dislike for Cordelia,<br /> which was only removed by Ellen Terry&#039;s splen-<br /> did acting of the part.” It was rather hard on a<br /> little girl, home for the holidays, to be exercised<br /> in this way—a way worthy rather of the Blimber<br /> establishment; but Wordsworth had particular<br /> views on many subjects. It is, however, quite<br /> certain that his views on hospitality were sadly<br /> traduced by Miss Martineau, who related that the<br /> poet had told her that he received so many<br /> visitors at Rydal Mount that he could not afford<br /> to entertain them all, and that he had instructed<br /> his wife to supply tea and bread and butter only<br /> to strangers, and to charge cost price for anything<br /> else in the way of refreshment. Why did Miss<br /> Martineau say this, I wonder P. It was, of<br /> course, an utter falsehood.<br /> According to M. Jules Huret, the victor in<br /> the Huret-Mendés duel, there is in preparation a<br /> “History of the Second French Empire,” with<br /> notes by the Empress Eugenie. This should be<br /> an interesting work. I often have regretted that<br /> Baron Haussmann never wrote a history of those<br /> Imperial days, and I remember suggesting to him.<br /> that he should do so. But he said that his<br /> memoirs ought to suffice, and that he would not<br /> betray the confidence which his master had put<br /> in him, even after his death, by betraying State<br /> secrets of which, by his position and owing to<br /> his friendship with Napoleon III., he had become<br /> cognisant. No man knew better what had gone<br /> on behind the scenes during that lurid period of<br /> French history than Baron Haussmann.<br /> ROBERT H. SHERARD.<br /> 123, Boulevard Magenta, Paris.<br /> * - - -*<br /> *- - -s.<br /> NEW YORK LETTER,<br /> New York, April 13.<br /> ERHAPS the most important literary news<br /> P of the past few weeks is the announcement<br /> just made that certain of the leading<br /> professors of history in the chief American<br /> Universities, in conjunction with other historical<br /> students, have determined to establish an<br /> American Historical Review. At present there<br /> is no periodical in the pages of which the his-<br /> torical investigator really feels at home, for the<br /> little monthly Magazine of American History tries<br /> to be “popular,” and is given over largely to the<br /> amateur and to the notes and queries collector.<br /> A meeting was held in New York last Saturday,<br /> attended by representatives of most of the<br /> colleges where history receives special attention,<br /> and an editorial board was elected consisting of<br /> Professor Adams (of Yale), Professor W. M.<br /> Sloane (the writer of the serial biography of<br /> Napoleon now appearing in the Century), Mr.<br /> J. B. McMaster (the author of the “History of<br /> the American People,” the fourth volume of<br /> which the Appletons have just published), Pro-<br /> fessor H. Morse Stephens (of Cornell), and<br /> Professor A. B. Hart (of Harvard). It is con-<br /> sidered probable that Professor Hart will be the<br /> managing editor, and that Longmans, Green,<br /> and Co. will be the publishers of the new<br /> periodical. It will be a quarterly not unlike the<br /> English Historical Review, also published by<br /> Longmans, Green, and Co. The first number of<br /> this American Historical Review will not appear<br /> before the autumn, but thereafter its appearance<br /> is assured for at least three years, a substantial<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 315 (#329) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 3 I5<br /> guarantee fund having been raised to make this<br /> a certainty.<br /> Probably few readers in England, except those<br /> who have had special occasion to consider the<br /> subject, have any conception of the very extra-<br /> ordinary work which the American Universities<br /> are now doing in history, and more particularly<br /> in the allied departments of political science,<br /> sociology, and economics. This is one of the<br /> points to which Mr. Bryce called attention in his<br /> speech introducing Lowell at the first dinner, the<br /> Society of Authors gave. At Columbia College<br /> alone in the School of Political Science there are<br /> three full professors of political economy, besides<br /> a professor of sociology, a professor of adminis-<br /> trative law, a professor of comparative juris-<br /> prudence, a professor of international law,<br /> a professor of constitutional law, and half a<br /> dozen professors and lecturers on history. At<br /> Harvard and at Yale, at Johns Hopkins, and<br /> at Chicago, there are faculties inferior only in<br /> numbers to that at Columbia. And nearly all<br /> these institutions issue periodicals, generally<br /> quarterlies. By a thoughtful arrangement the<br /> Harvard Quarterly Journal of Economics, the<br /> Columbia Political Science Quarterly, and<br /> the Yale Review are issued each a month<br /> later than the other, so that the three taken<br /> together appear every month in the year. All<br /> three of them give a certain amount of space<br /> to history, and will probably continue to<br /> do so.<br /> The Suwanee Review, edited by Professor Trents<br /> of the University of the South, is frankly devoted<br /> to literature and to history. Half a dozen years<br /> ago there was a New Princeton Review, edited<br /> by Professor Sloane, but dissensions arose among<br /> the owners, and it was finally absorbed by the<br /> Columbia Political Science Quarterly. In it. Pro-<br /> fessor Sloane tried to combine the solid merits of<br /> the old-fashioned quarterly reviews with the more<br /> alluring vivacity of the brisker monthly reviews.<br /> The venerable North American Review, to which<br /> Bryant contributed “Thanatopis,” and, which<br /> Lowell edited for years, was bought by a rich and<br /> foolish young man named Rice a dozen years ago.<br /> Under the advice of Mr. Laurence Olyphant, Rice<br /> made it a monthly, modelling it upon the Nine-<br /> teenth Century of Mr. Knowles, but going much<br /> farther in search of sensationalism—so far, indeed,<br /> that the present North American Review has<br /> been characterised as “a monthly edition of the<br /> New York Herald.” Its management is now in<br /> the hands of Mr. David Munro, a shrewd Scotch-<br /> man, and of Mr. William H. Rideing, an English-<br /> man with a very large acquaintance with the<br /> writers of England. Perhaps this is the reason<br /> why the North American Review gives up a large<br /> proportion of its space to articles by European<br /> writers on European topics.<br /> Its chief rival, the Forum, also a monthly, is<br /> edited by Mr. Walter H. Page; it is more digni-<br /> fied, less sensational, and far more American in<br /> its list of contributors and in its choice of subjects.<br /> A third monthly review called the Arena, is<br /> published in Boston; it is edited by Mr. B. O.<br /> Flower; it is rather the organ of the faddists of<br /> all sorts, the cranks and the freaks, than a vehicle<br /> for serious discussion of serious topics. The<br /> scholarly Atlantic Monthly, now edited by Mr.<br /> H. E. Scudder, is still the periodical that most<br /> steadily maintains a lofty standard. The<br /> Atlantic is half a magazine and half a review.<br /> It admits fiction and poetry, and it discusses<br /> politics now and again; but it devotes a very<br /> large proportion of its space to literature. Its<br /> book reviewing is generally done by experts, but<br /> it is mostly anonymous, and therefore lacks<br /> authority. Perhaps the best book reviewing in<br /> America is to be found in the pages of periodicals<br /> like the Political Science Quarterly and like the<br /> Educational Review of Professor Nicholas Murray<br /> Butler, in which every book worth consideration<br /> is sent to an expert, who vouches for his opinion<br /> with his name and address. In the United<br /> States, as in Great Britain, there is a tendency<br /> of the unsigned book review to be wanting in the<br /> weight—to be more careless, not to say more<br /> flippant, than the article can afford to be which<br /> the writer guarantees with his own name.<br /> The most exhilarating and stimulating criti-<br /> cism of belles lettres we have had here in America.<br /> for several years was that contributed monthly to<br /> Harper’s when Mr. Howells had charge of the<br /> “Editor&#039;s Study.” Whether one agreed with Mr.<br /> Howells&#039;s opinions or not—in fact, more especially<br /> when one did not agree with them—they were<br /> unfailing stimulants to thought. They tended<br /> to make every reader examine again the founda-<br /> tions of his own opinions. Mr. Howells has been<br /> missed from the Editor&#039;s Study of Harper&#039;s<br /> Monthly for several years now ; but he has just<br /> &#039;begun to contribute almost every week to<br /> Harper&#039;s Weekly a signed article on a new book,<br /> a group of new plays, or an exhibition of new<br /> pictures. His article this week is on the absurd<br /> “Degeneracy” of Dr. Nordan, in the course of<br /> which he not only exposes the pretensions of the<br /> German author, but he declared again what seem<br /> to him to be the real and abiding merits of Tolstoi,<br /> Ibsen, and Zola. “Stops of Various Quills” is<br /> the title of the volume of poems by Mr. Howells<br /> which Harper and Brothers will publish shortly.<br /> A novelette of his, which has just been concluded<br /> in the Cosmopolitan, will also be published by<br /> the Harpers during the spring. And another<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 316 (#330) ############################################<br /> <br /> 316<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> novel, “The Story of a Play,” will begin in<br /> Scribner&#039;s Magazine later in the year, to run<br /> through half a dozen numbers. Mr. Howells has<br /> also recently edited the recollections of his father,<br /> whose early wanderings through Ohio are fresh<br /> and characteristic and interesting.<br /> Mr. Stedman and Professor Woodberry con-<br /> tinue to work steadily on their complete edition<br /> of the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Four volumes<br /> containing the prose tales are now published, the<br /> first of which opened with a brief, compact,<br /> authoritative biography by Professor Woodberry,<br /> and followed by a critical introduction to the<br /> stories by Mr. Stedman; while to the last of the<br /> four Professor Woodberry appended various<br /> bibliographical and explanatory notes. For the<br /> first time in any edition of Poe his text is here<br /> adequately revised, and his slovenly quotations<br /> are amended and traced to their sources. There<br /> are portraits of Poe in every volume, one of<br /> which has never before been engraved. There<br /> are illustrations by Mr. Albert E. Sterner. The<br /> making of the book, the taste of the typography,<br /> the harmony of the page and of the type and of<br /> the paper, reflect great credit on the publishers,<br /> a young and enterprising Chicago firm, Messrs.<br /> Stone and Kimball. The fifth volume, contain-<br /> ing “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym &quot; and<br /> the “Journal of Julius Rodman,” will probably<br /> be ready next month. The other five volumes<br /> completing the edition are to be expected before<br /> the end of the year. Mr. Stedman has had an<br /> attack of the grippe which has delayed the<br /> appearance of his long-promised “Victorian<br /> Anthology,” intended to accompany his discussion<br /> of the “Victorian Poets.”<br /> Mr. Bryce, at that first dinner of the Society of<br /> Authors, said that the two things he had recently<br /> noticed in American literature were, first, the great<br /> variety of political and economic writing; and,<br /> second, the abundance of short stories having a<br /> strong local flavour, redolent of the soil. This<br /> local short story continues to be very popular in<br /> our magazines, until now there is hardly any part of<br /> the United States which someone has not taken<br /> as a field for fiction. Among the recent volumes<br /> of these tales are Mrs. Margaret C. Graham’s<br /> “Stories of the Foot Hills &#039;’ of California and<br /> Miss Murfree’s “Phantoms of the Footbridge,” in<br /> which “Charles Egbert Craddock” sets up before<br /> us again the strange and uncouth mountaineers<br /> of Tennessee. Also to be noted are Mrs. S. M. H.<br /> Gardner’s “Quaker Idyls;” Mr. William Henry<br /> Shelton’s “Man with a Memory &#039;&#039; (chiefly war<br /> stories); Mrs. Mary Tappan Wright’s “A<br /> Truce’” (chiefly New England tales); while Mr.<br /> Louis Pendleton&#039;s story of “The Sons of Ham ”<br /> is a discussion of the duty of the nation toward<br /> the enfranchised negro clothed in the garb of<br /> fiction.<br /> At the Publishers&#039; Night of the Authors’ Club<br /> —the first formal entertainment given by the<br /> club since it moved into its new and permanent<br /> home in Carnegie Hall—Mr. Charles J. Long-<br /> man was among the guests. Mr. Longman has<br /> been in America for a month or more, having had<br /> a fortnight of sunshine in Florida, and having<br /> spent two or three days in Washington among<br /> the relics of ancient man in the Smithsonian<br /> Institute. The importance of the American<br /> branch of Longmans, Green, and Co. is increasing<br /> year by year. The number of books by American<br /> authors published by this oldest of London houses<br /> is also steadily growing, Indeed, as the Long-<br /> mans and the Macmillans have both found, it is<br /> impossible for any British publishing house to<br /> hold a position of consequence in the United<br /> States without having on its list a great many<br /> books of American authorship. Mr. Longman<br /> expects to sail for England a week from to-day.<br /> Mr. John Lane was also among the guests of the<br /> Authors—and so was Mr. Richard Le Gallienne,<br /> who returns home to-day.<br /> A story told at this reception of the Authors&#039;<br /> Club is said not to be new—but it is perhaps true.<br /> A very unfunny article was sent by an ambitious<br /> amateur to an American comic paper, and at the<br /> foot of it the aspiring author has written in pencil,<br /> “What will you give for this P” “Ten yards<br /> start” was what the unfeeling editor wrote under-<br /> neath when he returned the MS. FI. R.<br /> - *- ~ 2-sº<br /> *<br /> NOTES AND NEWS.<br /> HE Canadian Copyright business still con-<br /> tinues to trouble the world. We publish<br /> in another part of this paper the Canadian<br /> case drawn out by themselves. It amounts, appa-<br /> rently, to this ; that while every civilised country<br /> in the world has acknowledged literary property<br /> to be as real and as worthy of being guarded as<br /> any other kind of property, Canada alone desires<br /> to secede from this honourable convention, and<br /> to appropriate and “convey ’’ literary property to<br /> her own supposed advantage—that is, the advan-<br /> tage of a few printers for whose sake this great<br /> iniquity is to be perpetrated.<br /> It has been found impossible to keep American<br /> books out of Canada, or Canadian books out of<br /> America. It is ridiculous to keep repeating that<br /> the laws forbid the importation of such books.<br /> Who regards the law P Who enforces it?<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 317 (#331) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 31 7<br /> Canada used to be overrun by American cheap<br /> piracies. Distant colonies, such as Jamaica and<br /> the Cape, used to be overrun by American cheap<br /> piracies, notwithstanding the law. With a frontier<br /> unprotected, unguarded, thousands of miles long,<br /> there can be no protection for such a law. For<br /> all intents and purposes the books published in<br /> America might have been before the Copyright<br /> Act published in Canada. And so it will be<br /> again. As for the old royalty of 12% per cent.,<br /> from which the author never got anything, that<br /> is to be exchanged for one of Io per cent, the<br /> receipts from which are equally dubious. We<br /> are told that no book is to be issued without a<br /> stamp. And who is to enforce this provision<br /> over the broad extent of Canada? Are we to<br /> expect the whole Canadian people individually to<br /> insist upon this stamp P Moreover, to offer a<br /> successful author Io per cent, when he receives<br /> I5, 20, and sometimes 25 per cent. is impudent.<br /> As, however, no one will now get anything, it<br /> matters nothing what they offer. Only it would<br /> have looked better to make the illusory proposal a<br /> little more attractive.<br /> The Canadians “resent the sale of their<br /> market.” What does this mean? It means that<br /> the American publishers buy of the author the<br /> Canadian rights; in the same way they buy the<br /> American rights. This gives them undisputed<br /> right to sell in Canada. Now, it is perfectly open<br /> to Canadian publishers, if there are any, to set up<br /> an office in New York. English authors will be<br /> Quite as ready to deal with them as with<br /> American publishers. It will be but a question<br /> of fair dealing—not a 10 per cent. royalty—and<br /> enterprise. English publishers have done this.<br /> Longmans have a house in New York; there is a<br /> Cassell and Co. in New York. Why cannot the<br /> Canadians do the same<br /> On the proposed Canadian Copyright Act, a<br /> small collection of opinions from three authors and<br /> two publishers appeared in the Contemporary<br /> Review of April. The opinions are very clear,<br /> and very clearly put. The Act is a blow against<br /> the recognition of literary property which has<br /> been obtained from all civilised nations. It proposes<br /> practically to take the works of English and<br /> American authors; to reprint them as the<br /> Canadian booksellers—they have no publishers—<br /> please; to cut them up and mutilate them as they<br /> please. These facts are plainly and forcibly<br /> brought out, and the opinions ought to be put<br /> together in a pamphlet with the rest of the<br /> protests against this iniquitous proposal. That<br /> the Act is not defended by the better class of<br /> Canadians is shown oy a protest of a Canadian<br /> lawyer here reproduced (see p. 3 Io), which first<br /> appeared in a Toronto paper. The last has not<br /> been said on this subject, nor has the Act yet<br /> become law. Meantime it is shameful that a<br /> country like Canada should for a moment enter-<br /> tain a proposal to revert to the old time of<br /> international piracy. .<br /> Here is a noble chance for novelists, or aspirants,<br /> who can construct a story of mystery. The<br /> Chicago Record offers to authors the following<br /> prizes for novels of incident, dramatic situations,<br /> and mystery. Bear in mind these conditions,<br /> O ye candidates Incident — always more<br /> incident — dramatic situations, surprises, and<br /> Tableaua, in every chapter : the mystery of a<br /> great and wonderful secret, to be discovered on<br /> the last page, to be kept up throughout. That is<br /> the first condition. The next is that the story must<br /> have been written by the candidate who sends it;<br /> sworn evidence of that must be sent with the<br /> story. Thirdly, the story must be, in length,<br /> from 140,000 to 160,000 words—viz., the average<br /> length of a serial to run six months in a weekly<br /> paper, viz., about 5000 or 6000 words for an<br /> instalment. Fourthly, the subjects must not be<br /> those of certain popular novels of the day. As to<br /> the prizes, they range from £2OOO down to<br /> £100. And the Chicago Record reserves the<br /> right of using such stories as do not win a prize<br /> for its own columns at 5 dollars, or £I, per<br /> column. Unsuccessful stories will be returned.<br /> Very well, the whole thing may be bogus; but I<br /> do not think that it is bogus, because so much<br /> publicity has been given to such an offer. If I<br /> were a young novelist I would have a try. Think<br /> of a mystery—murder, money, jewels, a claimant,<br /> a forgery. Fix upon as strong a motif as you can<br /> —don&#039;t be afraid of making it too strong; and<br /> then go ahead. The MSS. have to reach Chicago<br /> before Oct. I of this year. You have therefore<br /> less than five months to spend over the work.<br /> Chapman’s “Magazine of Fiction,” vol. I, No. 1,<br /> is lying before me. A magazine entirely devoted<br /> to fiction would seem a perilous undertaking,<br /> especially at a time when in every other number<br /> of every other magazine there appears an article<br /> on the Decay of Fiction. At the same time,<br /> however, in every advertising column there is<br /> a long list of books in their fiftieth, their<br /> hundredth edition, showing that the small num-<br /> ber of English families which can buy books<br /> are buying that class of book. The editor, Mr.<br /> Oswald Crawfurd, has probably gauged the<br /> demand before making the venture. Meantime<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 318 (#332) ############################################<br /> <br /> 3.18<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> there is one new feature. The magazine is to<br /> contain dramatic dialogues; stories in dialogue;<br /> and even plays. We all know how much more<br /> pleasantly dialogue can be made in skilful hands<br /> to tell the story than long and tedious narrative.<br /> It is one of the later developments in the art of<br /> fiction that it is becoming more and more dramatic<br /> in form—not in set “tableaux,” after the old<br /> fashion, but in the substitution of dialogue for<br /> description. The new number contains eight<br /> papers—by Bret Harte, Anthony Hope, Stanley<br /> Weyman, George Brett, James Payn, Frankfort<br /> Moore, Violet Hunt, and John Davidson.<br /> A propos of Free Libraries and Tauchnitz books,<br /> the following suggestion seems worthy of con-<br /> sideration. Perhaps some Bradford citizen may<br /> take it up. I have to thank a correspondent,<br /> “F. N. W.,” for it.<br /> In nearly every case the borrowers of books from Free<br /> Libraries are compelled to pay one penny per annum for the<br /> renewal of their tickets. TXoes not this constitute a hiring<br /> within the letter of the law P I have submitted the case to<br /> three legal gentlemen, and all admit that it is an exceedingly<br /> nice point. At any rate, it seems to me to be worthy of<br /> consideration.<br /> I have before me the rules of the new<br /> Hampstead Public Libraries. I do not find in<br /> them anything about the payment of a penny.<br /> There are fines for the detention of books, but<br /> not for the renewal of a ticket. Perhaps there is<br /> no penny demanded at Bradford. Is not, how-<br /> ever, the circulation of a Tauchnitz book by a<br /> public library the infringement of the law P Is it<br /> not the same thing as the open distribution of<br /> smuggled goods P<br /> One is curious to watch the effect of the Free<br /> Libraries on the Circulating Libraries. For my<br /> own part, I do not expect any perceptible effect.<br /> The general shrinkage of incomes, if it goes on,<br /> will more and more diminish the number of sub-<br /> scribers, but not the Free Libraries, which will<br /> be used by the class below those who pay three<br /> guineas a year to Smith or Mudie. And since<br /> this class cannot possibly afford to buy books, not<br /> harm at all, but good, will be done by the exten-<br /> sion of the Free Libraries. Surely it is a good<br /> thing for an author to feel that his book will<br /> have the chance at least of being read by millions<br /> instead of by thousands. Surely those who<br /> desire to reach and to influence these millions<br /> will rejoice in thinking that their books are now<br /> within reach of so vast an audience; and surely<br /> it will not be a bad thing in the immediate future<br /> for a publisher to feel that he can place the whole<br /> of one edition at once among the libraries of the<br /> country.<br /> Authors are an irritable race, especially and<br /> proverbially those who write verse. The fol-<br /> lowing note explains the repetition of this maxim:<br /> My little volume I sent you, which was considered suffi-<br /> cient passport for enrolment in your honourable Society, has<br /> failed to be recognised in the Awthor in any way whatever,<br /> although all my friends (men of letters, too) have called<br /> Some of the poems perfect cameos, unique, and so on. I<br /> see, therefore, that my merits as an author by authors do<br /> not warrant my burdening the Society with my name.<br /> In other words, a member of the Society has<br /> withdrawn because he did not receive a notice of<br /> his book in these columns. The Author is not a<br /> review; it does not profess to publish criticisms<br /> on books. It does, however, announce and men-<br /> tion new books and new editions. Until lately it<br /> published a list of all the new books; for the sake<br /> of getting space this list has been now abandoned.<br /> With regard to young poets, it is found that the<br /> fairest way with these is to let them speak for<br /> themselves. And the little volume referred to<br /> has either not reached me—it is still, probably,<br /> on the shelves of the secretary’s office—or I have<br /> mislaid it, for which, as the author takes it so<br /> much to heart, I am sorry. If he had communi-<br /> cated with me I would have had a search made<br /> for the book, and should have given him the<br /> same chance as the others—viz., allowed him to<br /> speak for himself.<br /> This restriction as to criticism does not prevent<br /> the writer of “Book Talk” from mentioning,<br /> selecting, or praising any book which he thinks<br /> may deserve it.<br /> The following must be taken for what it is<br /> worth on some results of the proposed “Net’”<br /> system:<br /> Some remarks made to me yesterday by a country book-<br /> seller upon the “Net” system in the price of books appear to<br /> me to touch upon a probable source of injury to authors<br /> through the “Net” system which, so far as I have seen, has<br /> been unnoted in the Awthor. He said: “I do not know to<br /> whom the extra profits go—certainly not to the booksellers;<br /> and, to prove that the profits do not go to us, I may tell you<br /> that for the future, unless we are paid ready money for<br /> books that are sold net, we are going to charge our<br /> customers twopence in the shilling upon the net price. We<br /> cannot afford to give credit unless we do this. Should our<br /> customers hesitate about paying twopence in the shilling<br /> upon the net price in the event of the book being put to<br /> their credit, we shall decline to order the book.”<br /> I will try to obtain by the next number some<br /> results of the “Net” system as applied to royal-<br /> ties. So far as the figures have been furnished<br /> me, they are simply surprising. If the system<br /> prevails, which seems unlikely, if only for the<br /> reason that the British public, which grows poorer<br /> every year, is not going to pay 6s., or even 5s.,<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 319 (#333) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 3 IQ<br /> instead of 4s. 6d., we shall have to revise the<br /> whole of our royalty tables.<br /> A letter appears to-day (April 26) in the Daily<br /> Chronicle which looks like the commencement of<br /> an outpouring against literary agents. A certain<br /> kind of publisher is never tired of attacking the<br /> wickedness of the literary agent, who makes his<br /> former practices impossible. This writer, who<br /> signs himself “An Onlooker,” accuses the literary<br /> agents of “emasculating ” literature by making<br /> Contracts for authors in advance, and “half a<br /> decade” or five years in advance. He sees in<br /> imagination, or has been told to see, a miserable<br /> author, pen in hand, hurriedly grinding away day<br /> and night, throwing off his sheets, producing far<br /> too rapidly for his powers, “bribed” by his agent.<br /> There is really nothing in the world on which<br /> greater rubbish, more ignorant rubbish, more<br /> mischievous rubbish is constantly written and<br /> believed than the production of literature, espe-<br /> cially fiction. To begin with, it is not the agent<br /> but the publisher who makes the contract ; it is<br /> a very rare thing for a publisher to trust an<br /> author&#039;s staying powers so long in advance as five<br /> years. It is the case that editors of good maga-<br /> zines secure the services of writers a year or two<br /> years in advance; it is also the case that pub-<br /> lishers secure the book rights of the same works<br /> in advance. Then comes the question whether, by<br /> engaging himself beforehand, an author neces-<br /> sarily hurries himself? Of course he does not.<br /> He may be so foolish as to undertake too much ;<br /> but most novelists bring out one novel only a year,<br /> and perhaps two or three short stories. Why<br /> should they not place these novels in advance?<br /> I should like to learn the names of any authors<br /> who have been “bribed ” into hurried and incom-<br /> plete work, or are under contracts beyond their<br /> powers to fulfil honourably. The agent does not<br /> — cannot — increase the production; he only<br /> relieves the writer of what is the most irksome,<br /> the most irritating, the most anxious part of his<br /> work—the commercial side of it.<br /> WALTER BESANT.<br /> *—- - -*<br /> NATURE AS INTERPRETED IN THE POEMS<br /> OF GEORGE MEREDITH,<br /> |TF the lover of Wordsworth were to seek<br /> among later English poets for his successor<br /> as the High Priest of Nature, he would be<br /> not a little surprised to find that his most ardent<br /> disciple is, not the late Laureate; not Matthew<br /> Arnold, who was loudest in his praise; but Mr.<br /> George Meredith whose genius appears at first<br /> glance so unlike that of Wordsworth as to leave<br /> but few points of resemblance. Notwithstanding<br /> this diversity, even the most cursory reader of<br /> Mr. Meredith’s poetry must be struck by the fact<br /> that in it the lesson which Wordsworth made it<br /> his life’s highest aim to inculcate has found its<br /> simplest as well as fullest expression.<br /> The familiar stanza in the second part of<br /> “Expostulation and Reply ’’ in which Words-<br /> worth declared that -<br /> One impulse from a vernal wood<br /> May teach you more of man,<br /> Of moral evil and of good,<br /> Than all the sages can,<br /> must surely have lingered in Mr. Meredith’s<br /> memory when he wrote the concluding lines of<br /> his poem on “South-West Wind in the Wood-<br /> land ’’ in which he tells us that he who hearkens<br /> to the voice of Nature and yields his spirit to<br /> her benignant influence with a complete trust in<br /> her powers and purposes will obtain<br /> More knowledge of her secret, more<br /> Delight in her beneficence,<br /> Than hours of musing, or the lore<br /> That lives with men could ever give.<br /> That this was more than a mere passing phase<br /> of thought in Mr. Meredith’s mind no reader of<br /> his poems can doubt. The volume in which the<br /> lines quoted occur is the earliest collection of his<br /> poems; that published by Parker in 1851, and<br /> though the poet in it did not lay so much stress<br /> on the importance to man of a close communion<br /> with Nature, as he does in later volumes, there is<br /> nevertheless more than one significant reference<br /> to the love of Earth for her children, and her<br /> beneficent influence in restoring the moral as<br /> well as physical health of those who have for-<br /> saken her for a season.<br /> In “London by Lamplight,” a later poem in<br /> the same book, the writer expresses his belief in<br /> the sanative forces of Nature and faith in her<br /> power to regenerate the dwellers in crowded<br /> cities could they but be restored to her arms.<br /> He who loves Nature will, he declares, never be<br /> forlorn ; and a vision of her loveliness is more<br /> than a recompense for days of weariness and toil,<br /> In more than one poem he tells us that he who<br /> once gains Nature as his friend will never lose<br /> her; that the joys of her bestowal are never<br /> ending.<br /> In “Modern Love, &amp;c.,” a book published<br /> eleven years later, the poet dwells with even<br /> greater emphasis upon a theme which may truly<br /> be said to constitute the most important portion<br /> of his message to his fellowman. In this volume<br /> the “Ode to the Spirit of the Earth in the<br /> Autumn” is devoted to the proclamation of an<br /> evangel, which though it has found many<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 320 (#334) ############################################<br /> <br /> 32O<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> expositors has not, since preached by Words-<br /> worth, been urged on man’s acceptance with a<br /> force and persistence equal to Mr. Meredith’s.<br /> The truth and beauty of earth who is “our<br /> only visible friend,” her love and care for her<br /> offspring, who renounce and denounce her, her<br /> serenity, her sanity, her healthfulness, her free-<br /> dom from sorrow, are dwelt on with an ecstacy of<br /> expression for which the only parallel is to be<br /> found in the utterances of the earlier poet. Even<br /> death, hitherto the great bugbear of humanity,<br /> ceases to be thus regarded by the lover of earth,<br /> O, green bounteous earth !<br /> Bacchante Mother stern to those<br /> Who live not in thy heart of mirth;<br /> Death ! Shall I shrink from loving thee P<br /> Into the breast that gives the rose,<br /> Shall I with shuddering fall P<br /> Earth knows no desolation,<br /> She smells regeneration<br /> In the moist breath of decay.<br /> She knows not loss :<br /> She feels her need,<br /> Who the winged seed<br /> With the leaf doth toss. -<br /> And to this serenity, this majestic calm, man<br /> may aspire if he truly loves and feels confidence<br /> in Mother Earth,<br /> She can lead us, only she,<br /> TJnto God’s footstool, whither she reaches;<br /> Loved, enjoyed, her gifts must be ;<br /> Reverenced the truths she teaches,<br /> Ere a man may hope that he<br /> Ever can attain the glee<br /> Of things without a destiny |<br /> The fervour and depth of Mr. Meredith’s<br /> utterances on this theme are plainly shown by the<br /> fact that after an interval of over twenty years,<br /> during which the poet was immersed in prose, he<br /> devoted a complete book to “Poems and Lyrics<br /> of the Joy of Earth,” in which we find the same<br /> expressions of joyous confidence in Nature. Man,<br /> we are told, is a compact of blood, and brain, and<br /> spirit, and should he, in his folly, attempt to<br /> favour anyone of these at the expense of<br /> the others a dire result may be expected.<br /> The purely sensual nature is equally in danger<br /> with the purely intellectual or the rigidly ascetic.<br /> Earth from whom we derive the health which is<br /> the source of all lasting happiness demands that<br /> blood, and brain, and spirit maintain a happy<br /> union, and, for love of her, we unquestionably<br /> obey her behests with ultimate and certain good<br /> to ourselves.<br /> Earth your haven, Earth your helm,<br /> You command a double realm<br /> Labouring here to pay your debt,<br /> Till your little sun be set,<br /> Leaving her the future task<br /> Loving her too well to ask.<br /> From her we can learn every lesson if we but<br /> hearken to her, and bear with us a wise receptive-<br /> ness. By thus doing we gain “a larger self,” and<br /> a sweeter fellowship with all animate things<br /> 6. In SU162S.<br /> In a poem entitled “Earth and Man” their<br /> relationship is even more clearly defined than in<br /> any earlier work from the same hand, and the<br /> folly of man&#039;s attempt to read “the riddle of the<br /> painful earth,” instead of resignedly and calmly<br /> accepting a mother&#039;s love, is shown in no mis-<br /> takable terms. The poem resembles, in treat-<br /> ment, a familiar passage in “Empedocles on<br /> Etna,” inasmuch as it shows that man, while he<br /> curses earth, is one with the power against which<br /> his curses are levelled, a power which labours for<br /> man’s good whether he curse or bless,<br /> If he aloft for aid<br /> Imploring storms, her essence is the spur,<br /> His cry to Heaven is a cry to her<br /> He would evade.<br /> #: $<br /> # e #: :#:<br /> And her desires are those<br /> For happiness, for lastingness, for light.<br /> &#039;Tis she who kindles in his haunting night<br /> The hoped dawn-rose.<br /> As if the poet had, with this book, exhausted<br /> this fruitful theme, we have no hint of it in<br /> “Poems and Ballads of Tragic Life,” published<br /> in 1887, the contents of which deal with phases<br /> of human life and passion, but the subject was<br /> happily far from exhausted, and accordingly, in<br /> the following year a volume entitled “A Reading<br /> of Earth’’ was published. This book, which is<br /> the last volume of poetry he has written, must<br /> for the present be considered to contain Mr.<br /> Meredith’s final expressions on “man and nature,<br /> and on human life.” In it he sets himself not<br /> so much to demonstrate man&#039;s relationship to<br /> nature as to interpret her many moods, and to<br /> state the benefits accruing to man from a con-<br /> templation of each and all of them. In “Rough<br /> Weather ” a comparison is drawn between a life<br /> of ignoble ease and warmth, and one of hardship<br /> and wrestling with adverse forces, and the gifts<br /> of Nature are proved to be designed for him<br /> who has courage to endure.<br /> Nature<br /> Judged of shrinking nerves, appears<br /> A mother whom no cry can melt ;<br /> But read her past desires and fears,<br /> The letters on her breast are spelt.<br /> Would we learn of earth her lesson P. Then<br /> we must be prepared to accept symbols instead of<br /> words; yet we have but to ask to learn—<br /> Harsh wisdom gives Earth, no more ;<br /> In one the spur and the curb :<br /> An answer to thoughts or deeds,<br /> To the Legends an alien look;<br /> To the Questions a figure of Clay.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 321 (#335) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 32 I<br /> Yet we have but to see and hear,<br /> Crave we her medical herb.<br /> And to love her is to gain this<br /> For love we Earth, then serve we all ;<br /> Her mystic secret then is ours,<br /> the secret of unruffled calm and enduring patience<br /> mingled with a steadfast faith in the welfare of<br /> the human race.<br /> Nature has been variously interpreted by the<br /> poets since Wordsworth&#039;s day, but by none with<br /> such keen vision and set purpose as by Mr.<br /> Meredith. His interpretation while it differs in<br /> some points from Wordsworth&#039;s, more closely<br /> resembles it than does that of any of his contem-<br /> poraries. In Lord Tennyson’s poems, save in<br /> “In Memoriam ” in which she is described as<br /> antagonistic to and careless of life, Nature assumes<br /> the appearance of a vast field in which human<br /> figures move, and to which it forms a suitable<br /> background. In Mr. Browning&#039;s we get a degree<br /> nearer; here her sunshine and her storms exhibit<br /> her sympathy with the woes and joys of man.<br /> Mr. Swinburne&#039;s interpretation—if such it can be<br /> called—resembles Mr. Browning&#039;s, while Rossetti&#039;s<br /> exhibits an affinity to the Laureate&#039;s, with the<br /> addition that the poet evidently sees with a<br /> painter&#039;s eye; and Mr. Wm. Morris also selects<br /> his landscapes and groups his figures with a view<br /> to artistic effect. Matthew Arnold’s alone ap-<br /> proaches Mr. Meredith’s conception, and that<br /> very rarely; once, in the passage of “Empedocles”<br /> already referred to, and again in a short poem<br /> entitled “A Wish,” in which he speaks of the<br /> Earth as a friend<br /> Which never was the friend of one,<br /> Nor promised love it could not give,<br /> But lit for all its generous sun, -<br /> And lived itself, and made us live.<br /> It is rumoured that Mr. Meredith intends for<br /> the future to devote himself exclusively to poetry.<br /> Such an announcement cannot but be gratifying<br /> to all lovers of poetry, for Mr. Meredith, while<br /> he has followed the steps of Wordsworth in his<br /> interpretation of Nature, has also realised his<br /> predecessor&#039;s conception of the poet inasmuch as<br /> he is a teacher, a great teacher. As a con-<br /> tribution to the literature of optimism his poems<br /> occupy an important position. They have the<br /> same health-giving powers as Nature herself,<br /> and are as inspiriting as the seasons.<br /> *-* -<br /> *- - -<br /> HE WOULD BIE AN AUTHOR,<br /> DO not for a moment suppose that my<br /> experiences have been in the least extraor-<br /> dinary. Perhaps it is unwise of me to<br /> attempt to write them down: and yet they may<br /> have some interest for hopeful aspirants to<br /> literary honours, even if they should be of no<br /> service to such.<br /> First let me state the conditions under which I<br /> began to scribble. Before attaining my ninth<br /> birthday I left school to begin work at a mine, the<br /> School Board being then in its infancy. From<br /> that early age until I was over twenty-one a pen<br /> was scarcely ever in my fingers, although, like<br /> Mr. Toots in “Dombey and Son,” I could perhaps<br /> have managed to “chalk a bit.” Hitherto the<br /> whole of my time had been spent in work and<br /> play, with a little random reading in my leisure,<br /> a very little indeed. Perhaps I had some discri-<br /> mination between what was good and what was<br /> not of the little reading I did, but so far from my<br /> mind was the thought of authorship that I do<br /> not remember even to have written a letter.<br /> Being an impulsive and impressionable youth, I<br /> wasted most of my leisure in courting, wooing one<br /> delicate girl to such good purpose that by the<br /> time I had attained my majority I had been<br /> married nearly three years, and was over head<br /> and ears in debt, having known what it was to<br /> be out of work and to have the doctor calling for<br /> weeks together.<br /> These facts are given simply to show how<br /> thoroughly unfitted and unprepared I was for any<br /> attempt at authorship, even if I had then pos-<br /> sessed the desire for it, which, let me admit, I did<br /> not. About this time, however, the idea struck<br /> me that it would be a pleasant pastime to copy<br /> out such short pieces of prose or verse as took my<br /> fancy, wherefore I purchased a sixpenny exercise-<br /> book and occasionally put my hand to the task of<br /> improving my writing, but betrayed no great<br /> earnestness in the matter. Having never been a<br /> visitor at public-houses, my evenings were<br /> mostly spent at home; yet, with the exception of<br /> two or three old standard books and the serial<br /> stories of the local newspaper, I still read very<br /> little. One day a friend lent me a volume of<br /> Burns&#039; poems, which proved a delightful revela-<br /> tion, and gave me an appetite for more. Later I<br /> read Cowper, Thomson, Wordsworth, Byron,<br /> Moore, &amp;c., each of whom in turn delighted me,<br /> and thenceforth I became a student of literature<br /> in general, with a slowly increasing enthusiasm<br /> for books and writers. Now, when the new<br /> magazines come to the reading-room I look them<br /> over with a feverish eagerness that is almost<br /> painful.<br /> About seven years ago, being still in low cir-<br /> cumstances, I began occasionally to puzzle out a<br /> few verses, with now and again a very short<br /> sketch in prose. Instead of consigning these<br /> first attempts to the flames, I sent them to an<br /> editor who sometimes publicly criticised the work<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 322 (#336) ############################################<br /> <br /> 322<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> of would-be authors, wherefore I had the glorious<br /> satisfaction of seeing some of them in print.<br /> After a number of failures and a little unremune-<br /> rated success, one lucky piece at last merited, or<br /> gained at any rate, the distinction of being<br /> paid for. The circumstances under which this<br /> first payment reached me make an almost tragic<br /> story, which there is no space to tell in this<br /> paper. -<br /> This brings me to about five years ago. The<br /> period between that date and the present is the<br /> time of my most important experiences. Finding<br /> that I was now able to write short sketches and<br /> verses which might merit the consideration of<br /> editors, I began to inclose stamped addressed<br /> envelopes with my MSS., a judicious practice not<br /> hitherto adopted. My handwriting was still that<br /> of an unpolished scribbler; the punctuation may<br /> have been fairly good, but the spelling—. This<br /> latter feature of my composition is even yet very<br /> imperfect; it is doubtful if I shall ever learn to<br /> spell correctly. The theory of grammar is one<br /> to which I could never give any continued<br /> attention.<br /> A careful estimate of my work, done during<br /> leisure evenings these five years, gives the follow-<br /> ing result: About 450 pieces have been written,<br /> short stories, short articles, and verses, chiefly<br /> the latter. As near as I am able to compute, the<br /> work may be divided into 190 prose pieces and<br /> 26o of verse. Of the whole 450, the accepted<br /> pieces, all of which have been paid for, number<br /> 360; verses 250, stories and articles I IO; thus<br /> leaving eighty prose pieces and ten of verse<br /> declined.<br /> The verses average about four stanzas in length,<br /> and the payment has varied from 5s. to half-a-<br /> guinea. The length of the stories and articles<br /> varies from two to six pages of foolscap, and the<br /> payment from Ios. to two guineas.<br /> The successful pieces have not all been accepted<br /> the first time they were submitted, not a few<br /> having been returned, rewritten, and sent again.<br /> Several contributions have come back after they<br /> had been cut up and given out to the printers<br /> Only some four or five pieces have been entirely<br /> lost.<br /> The rejected work has mostly been returned<br /> within a fortnight or three weeks, but occasionally<br /> pieces have stayed away longer, a few having<br /> come home after they had been away over a year.<br /> Most of the accepted work has been paid for<br /> about the date of publication, but I have found<br /> the most regularly paying publishers subject to<br /> slight variation, while others pay for work a week<br /> or two after it appears. Some publishers send a<br /> copy of the journal containing one&#039;s contribution,<br /> but others don’t ; wherefore, seeing that I have<br /> not been a regular subscriber to every paper<br /> written to, a number of stories have been accepted<br /> which I have never had the pleasure of seeing in<br /> print.<br /> Besides the verses, articles, and short stories,<br /> I have to count two attempts at serial story<br /> writing, neither of which have been persevered<br /> with, both having been dropped before the<br /> tenth chapter was begun. From these a few<br /> chapters were accept when offered as short<br /> stories. A third attempt promises to be more<br /> successful, as it is now about half written, and<br /> has something more than a mere chance of being<br /> accepted.<br /> Verse writing has been a very pleasant<br /> recreation. My method is to write them on a<br /> slate, so that it is easy to erase a word or a line<br /> and substitute a better. I find it hard work to<br /> write prose, and am very slow at it, seldom pro-<br /> ducing more than three pages of foolscap in four<br /> hours.<br /> During the last few years I have often been<br /> disheartened, but have quickly regained hope,<br /> and have persevered in the face of discourage-<br /> ment and difficulty; yet I am fully pursuaded<br /> that the same time and energy given to any<br /> other kind of work might have made me a<br /> fortune.<br /> It seems to me that in order to become a &quot;<br /> successful author one should have a great<br /> enthusiasm for literary work, a good education,<br /> exceptional experiences, unlimited patience, un-<br /> ceasing perseverance, a rare imagination, and a<br /> reliable bank account to fall back upon during<br /> the “declined with thanks’ period. Of course,<br /> if one has been reared in the literary atmosphere,<br /> and editors are among one&#039;s friends, it is easier<br /> to get a start. My lot was not cast in this<br /> atmosphere, and I am afraid I do not possess<br /> anyone of these qualifications. So far I look<br /> upon myself as a failure, but have put down these<br /> facts for what they might be worth to any<br /> aspirant who finds himself at a similar dis-<br /> advantage. Perhaps I may be able to gain a<br /> livelihood by this kind of work in time, with<br /> health and good fortune to assist me. Seeing<br /> that I was over twenty-eight years of age when<br /> my first story was accepted, and am now only<br /> thirty-three, also taking into consideration the<br /> fact that I gave little or no study to literature<br /> until a few years ago, it is evident I am still a<br /> child in the literary school. Probably this paper<br /> will be regarded as unwarrantably egotistical,<br /> which doubtless it is, wherefore, although my<br /> experiences are not half told, I must bring it to a<br /> close.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 323 (#337) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 323<br /> AUTHORSHIP AND JOURNALISM IN<br /> RUSSIA.<br /> HE literary profession the wide world over<br /> is one long tale of disappointment, drud-<br /> gery, deprivation, and destitution. The<br /> few exceptions to the rule only go to prove its<br /> generalness.<br /> Authorship in the Tsar&#039;s realms is about at its<br /> lowest ebb. The daily feuilleton in the news-<br /> papers has almost completely done away with<br /> works of a lasting character. Instead of authors<br /> trying to elevate the reading public, they have<br /> descended to their level. They only seek to<br /> amuse them and pander to their tastes without<br /> any attempt at instruction. The details of the<br /> latest domestic scandal are woven into a dialogue,<br /> utterly devoid of plot or moral, and presented<br /> for the readers&#039; delectation. The few composi-<br /> tions exhibiting any signs of originality in con-<br /> struction of plot or portrayal of character are<br /> invariably of foreign origin, and find their way<br /> into the Russian press in translation. In this<br /> latter branch of the art British authors are in<br /> great vogue, and several familiar names are to be<br /> met with in contemporary magazines. A short<br /> while ago the statistics of a provincial library<br /> showed that the authors, taken in their respec-<br /> tive order of popularity, most in demand were<br /> Tolstoi, Lermontoff, Turgenieff, Gogol, Pees-<br /> wensky, Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Mayne Reid,<br /> Walter Scott, Dickens, and Lord Byron. I did<br /> not see a single contemporary English author,<br /> but this was not to be wondered at, as the trans-<br /> lations of their works appear in magazines and<br /> newspapers, and seldom, if ever, come out in book<br /> form.<br /> The literature of to-day, in more senses than<br /> one, is of the most ephemeral nature. The<br /> puerile, pernicious productions which at present<br /> find acceptance testify to the decline and gradual<br /> decay of the author&#039;s craft. Racy writers on<br /> topical subjects flourish abundantly, but masters<br /> of pure diction, finished style, aiming at instruc-<br /> tion and elevation, will be sought for in vain.<br /> The halo of mystery which encircles the harem,<br /> the brutishness which distinguishes the Orient, the<br /> &#039;breath of scandal which taints a noble name—all<br /> these have their slaves. It is only the contempla-<br /> tion of the workings of the passions of the lowest<br /> possible order that stirs a ripple of interest on the<br /> placid surface of the great sea of surfeited<br /> pleasure which characterises the present genera-<br /> tion. Some affirm that Tolstoi was little known<br /> before his realistic book “ Kreutzer Sonata ?”<br /> turned the general public&#039;s attention to him. And<br /> who now of all living Russian writers can claim<br /> to rank among first-rate authors P. They could be<br /> counted on the digits of one hand. The only one<br /> that enjoys a world-wide renown is Tolstoi. And<br /> he is as if he were no more. He came of that<br /> Russian strain which had Pushkin and Lermon-<br /> toff for its representatives. They studied natu-<br /> ralism, and died in practising it. Both writers<br /> met their death in a duel, in consequence of an<br /> unholy love. In his youth Tolstoi was also not<br /> free of the divine passion, and out of his youthful<br /> experiences he evolved a tale which was true to<br /> the life, and for which the world thanked him.<br /> But now he is returning to the fallacies of a by-<br /> gone age. He is vainly trying to revive the<br /> myths of a long-flown past; to rehabilitate the<br /> Garden of Eden; to hasten the Milennium—all<br /> equal impossibilities. The hoary head befits the<br /> philosophical mind, but his “Babellic” structure<br /> constructed to a fantastic Utopian design will<br /> never exist on its chimerical groundwork. The<br /> store of sound reason and clear judgment which<br /> he has rejected will yet become the corner-stone<br /> of a more substantial and enduring edifice erected<br /> on the principles of labour and progress. One<br /> trait in his character we cannot help admiring is<br /> his sincerity. He is sincere in everything he<br /> does, as long as his belief in its virtue lasts. But,<br /> then, belief is so very flexible. He may change it<br /> to-morrow. At the risk of being discursive, I<br /> will relate the following as illustrative of the<br /> commercial value of a name: When the Count<br /> was on the Caucasus serving in the army, he sent<br /> some of his first effusions to a Moscow editor,<br /> who replied that he would accept them, but<br /> could not pay for them. Now Tolstoi is<br /> offered fabulous prices for his works, but he<br /> replies that he accepts no pay. What would<br /> then have been treasured beyond all measure is<br /> now despised as mere worthless dross. Vanity of<br /> vanities, all is vanity, saith Solomon — espe-<br /> cially riches, for they take wings and fly away<br /> with the morn. “Two things have I required of<br /> Thee,” saith Agur, the prophet, “deny me them<br /> not before I die. Remove me far from vanity and<br /> lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me<br /> with food convenient for me.”<br /> The ordinary scribe has often to exist and<br /> nourish a wife and family on the poorest pittance<br /> —pay which a daily labourer would scorn. In pro-<br /> portion to the vast population, it is a surprisingly<br /> small percentage of the people that ever take a<br /> paper into their hands. The “Negramotnia,” or<br /> those unable to read or write, are in an over-<br /> whelming majority in rural districts, and in the<br /> towns themselves the number is simply appalling.<br /> Sometimes the number of those in villages boast-<br /> ing only a rudimentary education descends to as<br /> low a figure as I per cent., and even lower, so it<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 324 (#338) ############################################<br /> <br /> 324<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> is no matter for amazement, when we consider<br /> the ignorance of the populace, that the writer&#039;s<br /> labours in Russia are so little valued. True, his<br /> lot has been slightly bettered by the liberal grant<br /> of the Tsar, but it is only like a drop in the<br /> oeean, and can only prove of real benefit to the<br /> indigent writer if the Imperial example is fol-<br /> lowed by private subscriptions to the fund from<br /> wealthy patrons of the literary art.<br /> Of course we must recollect that the teeming<br /> millions of the Russian empire are as yet in the<br /> elementary stages of civilisation, but the Govern-<br /> ment is using its best endeavours to educate the<br /> masses, and its efforts must eventually be crowned<br /> with success, and then a brighter day will dawn<br /> for those engaged in literature.<br /> WILLIAM ADDIson.<br /> Odessa, 27 March I I.<br /> *-- ~ *<br /> e= * *<br /> BOOK TALK.<br /> HE Dover Chronicle says Mr. Joseph Hatton<br /> is sojourning at St. Margaret&#039;s Bay and<br /> making excursions about the coast between<br /> Deal and Dover with a view to certain incidents<br /> in a new novel that is to begin its serial career<br /> during the autumn in a London weekly. “The<br /> Banishment of Jessop Blythe.” is Mr. Hatton&#039;s<br /> latest book, and he chose to adopt the method<br /> of three volumes in one, in which shape the<br /> novel is in active demand at the libraries<br /> and booksellers’. In May or June Mr. Hatton<br /> will publish a shilling novelette entitled “Tom<br /> Chester&#039;s Sweetheart&quot; (Hutchinsons). It will<br /> be an extended treatment of the author&#039;s story<br /> entitled “The Editor” that appeared in the<br /> Ludgate Monthly. “The Banishment of Jessop<br /> Blythe’’ is published in America by Messrs.<br /> Lippincott.<br /> The large edition of “The Money Lender<br /> Unmasked,” by Mr. Thomas Farrow, was entirely<br /> exhausted within one month from the date of<br /> publication. A second edition has been prepared<br /> and is now ready. This work appears to be one<br /> of the successes of the season, and, in view of the<br /> attention of Parliament having been drawn to the<br /> subject, promises to be of much service as a<br /> standard work of reference should a Royal Com-<br /> mission be granted. In the new edition Mr.<br /> Farrow has still further strengthened the “Intro-<br /> ductory” portion.<br /> Mr. C. L. Marson&#039;s book, “The Psalms at<br /> Work,” will shortly appear in a second edition<br /> (Elliot Stock). A revised edition of “The<br /> Blessed Dead in Paradise,” by J. E. Walker,<br /> with an introduction by Canon Bell, will also be<br /> published immediately by the same firm.<br /> Mrs. Alec Tweedie’s first book, “A Girl’s Ride<br /> in Iceland,” will be published in a third edition<br /> in May by Mr. Horace Cox. It will be brought<br /> out at Is., but will be much revised, making it<br /> up to date. Several Icelandic stories will be<br /> added, and many new illustrations. Mrs.<br /> Tweedie&#039;s last book, “Wilton, Q.C., or Life in a<br /> Bighland Shooting Box,” is in a second edition,<br /> the first having sold out a month from publica-<br /> tion.<br /> “John Bickerdyke” will shortly issue a volume<br /> of reminiscences, short stories, and essays on the<br /> scientific side of angling. The volume will be<br /> entitled “Days of My Life on Waters Fresh and<br /> Salt, and Other Papers,” and will be illustrated<br /> by an intaglio frontispiece and a number of full-<br /> page illustrations made from photographs taken<br /> Ha the author. The publishers are Longman<br /> and Co.<br /> The same author also has in the press a<br /> volume on modern sea fishing. This book, which<br /> is expected about July, will form one of the<br /> Badminton Series (Longman and Co.). It is<br /> being illustrated by Mr. C. Napier Hemy and Mr.<br /> R. E. Pritchett, and will contain contributions on<br /> Antipodean and other foreign fish, tarpon, and<br /> whaling by Mr. William Senior (“Red Spinner”),<br /> Mr. Alfred C. Harmsworth, and Sir H. Gore<br /> Booth,<br /> About the end of May Mr. E. Norrys Connell<br /> will issue a new novel called “The House of the<br /> Strange Woman.” Mr. Connell is already<br /> favourably known as the author of “In the<br /> Green Park.” This book should have been out<br /> earlier, but the firm of printers who were origi-<br /> nally charged with its production took exception<br /> to certain chapters on conscientious grounds. The<br /> volume is to be the pioneer of a new series of<br /> four-shilling novels which, at Mr. Connell’s sug-<br /> gestion, Messrs. Henry and Co. purpose issuing<br /> in an unique form.<br /> The “Parnassos,” the Philological Society of<br /> Athens, have elected—époqêvos—unanimously—<br /> as honorary member Mrs. Elizabeth M. Edmonds,<br /> author of “Amygdala’’ and of many works on<br /> modern Greece and modern Greeks.<br /> Professor Warr’s book for the “Dawn of Euro-<br /> pean Literature” series (S.P.C.K.) on the Greek<br /> epic will appear next month.<br /> Captain Lionel Trotter, author of “India under<br /> Victoria,” “Warren Hastings,” &amp;c., is engaged<br /> upon a “Life of General John Nicholson,” who,<br /> after a brilliant career in the Punjaub, fell in the<br /> prime of manhood while leading his storming<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 325 (#339) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 325<br /> column along the ramparts of Delhi, in Septem-<br /> ber, 1857. Several of Nicholson&#039;s old friends<br /> have promised their aid in this work.<br /> The Delegates of the Clarendon Press are about<br /> to issue Vol. XIII. of Professor Buchheim’s<br /> “German Classics,” consisting of Schiller&#039;s<br /> pathetic tragedy, “Maria Stuart.” The text<br /> will be provided with a complete commentary,<br /> and preceded by an historical and a critical<br /> introduction. The distinguishing features of this<br /> edition will consist in the fact that the drama<br /> will be annotated strictly in accordance with the<br /> English, French, and Latin sources consulted<br /> by Schiller, and that several of his sources have<br /> been traced for the first time by the Editor.<br /> Mr. Robert H. Sherard’s new novel, “Jacob<br /> Niemand,” will be published as a six-shilling<br /> volume in June by Messrs. Ward and Downey,<br /> Mr. Sherard has recently written, and disposed<br /> of for publication in serial form, a story entitled<br /> “The Mocking Bird.” His authorised biography<br /> of Mme. Sarah Bernhardt is not yet finished,<br /> and cannot be ready till the autumn.<br /> “Greece and Her Hopes and Troubles,” by<br /> “Hilarion” (Glasgow: James Maclehose and Sons),<br /> is a short and plain statement of what Greece is,<br /> what she has done, and what she hopes to accom-<br /> plish. It contrasts the Greece of the present day<br /> with the time of bondage to the Turk. The<br /> object of the author is to set down the exact<br /> truths concerning the country and the people<br /> without exaggeration or suppression. The cession<br /> of the Ionian Islands, for instance, is regarded<br /> from the Hellenic point of view as one of the<br /> most generous acts ever recorded of any nation.<br /> The Rev. James Bowmes has just published a<br /> volume of verse (Sonnenschein) called “Randolph<br /> Lord De Vere, and other Poems.”<br /> extract gives one of the shorter poems:<br /> Ye merry breezes fresh that come and go,<br /> And mark your course by songs from waving corn,<br /> And laughter from the rivers as they flow,<br /> Ye cannot move a heart all worldly worn<br /> Thou sun that spreadest with thy radiant light<br /> The forest, vale, and heathered mountain side,<br /> And causest them to look contented, bright,<br /> Thou can’st not soothe a heart that time has tried<br /> Ye stars that dwell within the sapphire sky,<br /> And view with tender eyes the earth below,<br /> With all your love and all your sympathy,<br /> Ye cannot cheer a heart bowed down with woe<br /> Then, breezes, airy spirits, roam around !<br /> Shine, sun, until thine everlasting gloom<br /> Gaze, stars, from out the blue expanse profound !<br /> All will behold some day my silent tomb<br /> “The Two Dunmores: a Sporting Love Story<br /> of To-day,” is apparently a first work by “Blake<br /> Lamond.” It is published by Remington and<br /> The following .<br /> Co. The author should avoid the habit of giving<br /> too much detail. In order to convey a vivid<br /> picture not all the background should be painted.<br /> The impression is best produced by selection and<br /> suggestion.<br /> “Ernest England : a Drama for the Closet,” is<br /> by J. A. Tucker, late editor of the Daily News,<br /> Calcutta (Leadenhall Press). The work is a<br /> mixture of prose and poetry. It is a perfectly<br /> serious work, of great length, and treats of many<br /> subjects. Why, alas ! will men write such<br /> terribly long dramas P Three hundred and fifty<br /> pages | Who, even in a long review, could do<br /> justice to this lengthy prose-poem P<br /> “Tales from the Western Moors,” by Geoffrey<br /> Mortimer, a new name. The book contains<br /> nearly twenty tales, some of them more than<br /> about twelve pages long. The writer knows his<br /> country, and the dialect and manners of the<br /> people, well. The publishers are Gibbings and<br /> Co., Bloomsbury.<br /> “French Gems ” is quite a little book (Elliot<br /> Stock)—a booklet of eighty pages—containing on<br /> the left hand a sentence, a reflection, a text, a<br /> poem, in French ; and on the right hand “Reflec-<br /> tions,” in English verse. The author of the<br /> “Reflections,” “J. G.,” hopes to assist the mission<br /> to French-speaking foreigners in Great Britain in<br /> connection with the French Reformed Church,<br /> Bayswater, under the care of the Rev. J. M. H.<br /> Du Pontet de la Harpe.<br /> “A Future Roman Empire’ is a pamphlet<br /> rather than a book, by Mr. George Edward Tanner<br /> (Elliot Stock). It is a sequel to a work by the<br /> same writer, called “Unpopular Politics.” The<br /> writer contemplates the possibility of the revival<br /> of a second great Roman Empire, of which he<br /> gives a map. He is, apparently, determined that<br /> the second empire shall be exactly the same as<br /> the first. He includes all the countries round<br /> the Mediterranean to the British Isles, but<br /> excludes Germany and Russia, and Asia beyond<br /> the Euphrates. Most of us will probably emi-<br /> grate when that empire arrives.<br /> Mr. George Moore has finished the scheme of<br /> his new novel, and will now set to work upon<br /> it. It deals with the career of a prima donna<br /> who feals uneasy about the life she is leading, and<br /> at length submits herself to a priest for advice.<br /> His counsel is that she should go into a convent,<br /> and this agrees with her own inclinations. So she<br /> becomes a nun; and around the secrecy of life in<br /> a convent the story is woven. Mr. Moore antici-<br /> pates that the writing of the book will occupy him<br /> for two years. His completed work, called “Celi-<br /> bates,” will be issued within the next few days.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 326 (#340) ############################################<br /> <br /> 326<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> the autumn by Messrs. Methuen.<br /> Mr. John Hollingshead&#039;s Reminiscences will be<br /> published early this month by Messrs. Sampson<br /> Low, in two volumes. The title is “My Life-<br /> time,” and a portrait of the author is given.<br /> Messrs. Chapman and Hall have in prepara-<br /> tion a novel entitled “Elizabeth&#039;s Pretenders,”<br /> by Mr. Hamilton Aidé; also “Pages from the Day<br /> Book of Dethia Hardacre,” by Mrs. Fuller Mait-<br /> land.<br /> Mr. Douglas Freshfield, the president of the<br /> Alpine Club, has written a book on Mountaineer-<br /> ing, which will be published by Mr. Edward<br /> Arnold. It will consist of a record of the explo-<br /> ration of Central Caucasus by members of the<br /> club throughout the last twenty-five years, and of<br /> the author&#039;s own experiences particularly, he hav-<br /> ing spent two summers there lately. The book<br /> will be in two large volumes, illustrated, and with<br /> maps. Another new work of travel is “Three<br /> Months in the Forests of France,” by Miss Mar-<br /> garet Stokes,” the author of “Six Months in the<br /> Apennines.” The book is a description of a pil-<br /> grimage in search of the Irish saints of France.<br /> Messrs. Bell and Sons are the publishers.<br /> The series of letters written by Robert Louis<br /> Stevenson, during his life in Samoa, to his friend<br /> Mr. Sidney Colvin, are to be published early in<br /> These are said<br /> to be the most interesting of any of Stevenson&#039;s<br /> correspondence during the period of his remote<br /> exile, and contain a record from month to month<br /> of his work and opinions. A portrait of the<br /> novelist will be the frontispiece to the book,<br /> which will appear simultaneously in America.<br /> Mr. Lilley&#039;s recent lectures at the Royal Insti-<br /> bution are to appear in book form under the title<br /> “Four Humorists of the Nineteenth Century.”<br /> Dickens represents the democrat in humour.<br /> Thackeray the philosopher, George Eliot the<br /> poet, and Carlyle the prophet.<br /> To his many other successes, Mr. Stead will<br /> attempt to add that of a novel writer. His first<br /> novel will be called “A Modern Maid in Modern<br /> Babylon,” and will relate the adventures of a<br /> young girl who came to London some years ago.<br /> It will be published some time this year.<br /> The Marquis of Lorne has written a “Gover-<br /> nor’s Guide to Windsor Castle,” which Messrs.<br /> Cassell have published. This will doubtless set a<br /> fashion in such things, and it is interesting reading,<br /> which can be appreciated either at the Castle or at<br /> home. -<br /> Mr. Justin McCarthy expects to have the last<br /> two volumes of his “History of the Georges,”<br /> ready at the beginning of next year. The latter<br /> part of Mr. J. H. McCarthy’s work on the French<br /> Revolution is to appear in the autumn.<br /> Another series of fiction has made a start,<br /> namely “The Times Novels.” This, of course,<br /> consists of stories that have appeared in the<br /> Weekly edition of the Times. The series, which<br /> is published by Messrs. Osgood, opens with “A<br /> Daughter of the Soil,” by Mrs. Francis. Mr.<br /> Egerton Castle’s “Light of Scarthey’” will be the<br /> next to appear.<br /> The next reprint in the beautiful Kelmscott<br /> Press series will be “Sir Percyvelle of Galles.” It<br /> appears shortly, but Mr. Morris has already sold<br /> the greater part of the issue, which consists of 35o<br /> paper copies, and eight on vellum.<br /> A new work by Mr. Frank Vincent, in which he<br /> gives a survey of the entire continent of Africa.<br /> from his recent journeyings there, will be published<br /> shortly by Mr. Heinemann. It will be called<br /> “The Actual Africa; or, the Coming Continent,”<br /> and will have IOO full page illustrations.<br /> Mr. Henry James will also at an early date<br /> issue “Terminations,” a new volume of stories<br /> (Heinemann.)<br /> Messrs. Nichols are about to issue Victor Hugo&#039;s<br /> works in English. There are from twenty to<br /> thirty volumes in the series, fully illustrated, and<br /> they will appear at intervals of a month. No<br /> English translation of Hugo exists so complete as<br /> this.<br /> A series of handbooks on the Cathedrals of<br /> England is about to be commenced by Messrs.<br /> Dent. Everything of interest concerning the<br /> buildings, the traditions, and historical associations<br /> surrounding them, will be told by writers who are<br /> thoroughly conversant with the matter. “Canter-<br /> bury,” by the Hon. and Rev. W. H. Fremantle,<br /> Dean of Ripon (a former Canon of Canterbury),<br /> will appear first. “Ely,” by Dean Stubbs; and<br /> “Tewkesbury,” by Dr. Spence, will follow.<br /> Another book for children comes soon from<br /> Mrs. Molesworth, entitled “Sheila&#039;s Mystery.” It<br /> will be published by Messrs. Macmillan. This<br /> writer has now produced about seventy books.<br /> Mr. Clement Scott&#039;s book on Irving First<br /> Nights, from “The Bells” to “King Arthur,” is.<br /> expected to be ready by the end of the month.<br /> Mr. G. W. Smalley, who will soon cease to be the<br /> Dondon correspondent of the New York Tribune<br /> and becomes the New York correspondent of the<br /> Times, is bringing out a new book entitled “Studies<br /> of Men,” which Messrs. Macmillan will publish<br /> this month. It consists of a large number of Mr.<br /> Smalley’s character sketches of eminent men,<br /> which are mostly reprints in a revised form from<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 327 (#341) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 327<br /> the Tribune. Among the subjects are the German<br /> Emperor, Lord Rosebery, Sir William Harcourt,<br /> Cardinal Newman, Professor Tyndall, Mr. Balfour,<br /> Prince Bismark, Mr. Parnell, and about forty<br /> others. Before he leaves London the distinguished<br /> journalist is to be entertained at dinner by a<br /> Select company of his American and English<br /> confrères.<br /> The announcement of a “Ruskin Reader ’’ from<br /> Mr. George Allen&#039;s press serves to remind us that<br /> this publishing house is named after Ruskin, a<br /> fact which might pardonably be forgotten, since<br /> Mr. Allen is extending his business so far beyond<br /> Ruskinian literature alone. The new reader is to<br /> be out in a few days. It has been compiled from<br /> “Modern Painters,” “The Seven Lamps of<br /> Architecture,” and “The Stones of Venice,” and<br /> is intended for young students. From Ruskin<br /> House will also come “The History of Huon<br /> of Bordeaux,” by Mr. Robert Steel, illustrated by<br /> Mr. Fred Mason; and “Biographical Essays&quot;—<br /> of Dean Stanley, Dean Alford, Mrs. Duncan<br /> Stewart, and others—by Mr. Augustus J. Hare,<br /> in addition to the latter&#039;s Life of the Gurney<br /> Family already announced.<br /> Mr. E. Denison Ross has completed the trans-<br /> lation of “The Tarikk-i-Rashidi,” a rare Persian<br /> work, which has hitherto existed only in manu-<br /> script, and the volume will be issued by Messrs.<br /> Sampson Low shortly. It forms a history of the<br /> Central Asian section of the Moghuls, who<br /> separated themselves early in the fourteenth<br /> century from the main stem of the Chaghatai<br /> dynasty. Their princes became masters of<br /> Moghulistan and of all Eastern Turkistan, and<br /> continued powerful for more than 250 years.<br /> The author of the work is Mirza Mohammad<br /> Haidar, cousin of the Emperor Baber of<br /> Hindustan, the grandfather of the famous<br /> Akbar. Mr. Ney Elias, H.M.&#039;s Consul-General<br /> for Khovason, has superintended the translation<br /> and written an introduction and explanatory<br /> notes.<br /> Mr. H. E. Watts’s “Life of Miguel de<br /> Cervantes Saavedra,” which will be uniform with<br /> his new edition of “Don Quixote,” is to be<br /> published by Messrs. A. and C. Black on July 1.<br /> The book of the month has been the “Tetters<br /> of Samuel Taylor Coleridge,” published by Mr.<br /> Heinemann. The letters are mostly new, and<br /> include those written to Mrs. Coleridge, Words-<br /> worth, Southey, Charles Lamb, John Murray,<br /> and Thomas Poole, giving much invaluable light<br /> upon the poet&#039;s career. They extend from 1785<br /> to 1833, but are yet not a complete collection.<br /> The editor, Mr. Ernest Hartley Coleridge, grand-<br /> son of the poet, says that “a complete collection<br /> must await the ‘coming of the milder day,” a<br /> renewed long suffering on the part of his old<br /> enemy the ‘literary public.’”<br /> Great eagerness was manifested in getting a<br /> translation of Tolstoy&#039;s new novel, “Master and<br /> Man * into sale. Six days after receiving the MS.<br /> Messrs. Chapman and Hall had a large edition<br /> in the market. Mr. Walter Scott follows more<br /> leisurely with a translation. What would have<br /> been the first to reach this country, however,<br /> was stopped and suppressed, for some reason, on<br /> the Russian frontier.<br /> A “Life of the late Lord Randolph Churchill”<br /> will be published very shortly. Mr. T. H. S.<br /> Escott is the biographer, and he has been assisted<br /> in compiling the work by Lord Dufferin, Lord<br /> Reay, Sir Henry Drummond Wolff, and Sir John<br /> Gorst. Messrs. Hutchinson are the publishers.<br /> The City Treasurer of Birmingham, Mr. W. R.<br /> Hughes, who wrote “A Week&#039;s Trip in Dickens&#039;s<br /> Land,” has placed his valuable collection of<br /> Dickens&#039; editions and memorabilia at the service<br /> of Mr. Thomas Wright for the “Life of Dickens.”<br /> which the latter is preparing. A good deal of<br /> new matter has, it is said, been established by<br /> Mr. Wright, chiefly concerning the novelist&#039;s<br /> childhood. The work will not be ready before<br /> the end of the year, at the earliest.<br /> In Mr. David Nutt’s “Tudor Translation ”<br /> series the next issue will be North’s “Plutarch,”<br /> with an introduction by Mr. George Wyndham.<br /> It will appear in six volumes, between now and<br /> December. Forthcoming publications in the<br /> series include “Holland&#039;s Suetonius,” “Fenton&#039;s<br /> Bandello,” “Shelton&#039;s Don Quixote,” and<br /> “Holand&#039;s Livy.”<br /> Messrs Bell have in course of preparation a new<br /> series of Royal Naval Handbooks, which will be<br /> edited by Commander C. U. Robinson, author of<br /> “The British Fleet.” Admiral Sir Vesey Hamil-<br /> ton writes on Naval Administration and Organisa-<br /> tion, Professor Laughton on Naval Strategy,<br /> Captain C. Campbell on the Internal Economy of<br /> a Warship, and Captain H. G. Garbett on Naval<br /> Gunnery. The Entry and Training of Officers and<br /> Men is by Lieut. J. Allen, Torpedoes by Lieut. J.<br /> Armstrong, Steam in the Navy by Fleet-Engineer<br /> R. C. Oldknow, and Naval Architecture by Mr.<br /> J. J. Welch.<br /> Mr. Israel Gollancz is working at an edition of<br /> Henry VI., besides having in preparation books<br /> on the “Hamlet Saga,” “Tancred and Gismunda,”<br /> and the Anglo-Saxon poems in the Exeter book.<br /> The “Temple Shakespeare,” which is edited by<br /> Mr. Gollancz, has had an enormous sale, Messrs.<br /> Dent putting it at considerably over 200,000.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 328 (#342) ############################################<br /> <br /> 328<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> The past month has witnessed the appearance<br /> of the New Budget, an illustrated weekly, which<br /> took the place, without the loss of a week, of the<br /> Pall Mall Budget, the latter having been with-<br /> drawn, somewhat unaccountably, from the field on<br /> the last Saturday of March. The editor of the<br /> deceased magazine, and the majority of its staff,<br /> have come over to the new venture, which is being<br /> conducted with spirit largely on the same lines.<br /> Mr. Harry Furniss, having accepted control of the<br /> art section, his own journal Lika Joko likewise<br /> closes its career. Another new sixpenny weekly<br /> is The Hour, which is edited by Mr. C. H. Wil-<br /> liamson. It is of course illustrated, and it makes<br /> a feature of prize competitions and insurance<br /> schemes. Vanity Fair changed hands last month,<br /> but the new proprietor is not announced, except<br /> that he is “a gentleman of taste and credit.”<br /> Mr. Charles Dixon&#039;s book on “The Migration<br /> of British Birds” will be ready at Messrs. Chap-<br /> man and Hall&#039;s immediately. In it the author<br /> advances what is believed to be an entirely new<br /> law governing the geographical dispersal of<br /> species, and illustrates its application in the case<br /> of British birds.<br /> Several volumes of verse will be published<br /> by Mr. Lane immediately. These include Mr.<br /> Le Gallienne&#039;s new book, entitled “Robert Louis<br /> Stevenson, an Elegy; and Other Poems, mostly<br /> Personal ; ” and Mr. Francis Thomson&#039;s, which is<br /> called “Songs Wing to Wing; ” “Vespertilia<br /> and other Poems,” by Mrs. Rosamond Marriott<br /> Watson (for which Mr. Anning Bell has designed<br /> a special title-page); and “Poems of the Day<br /> and Year,” by Mr. Frederick Tennyson. A<br /> novel called “Consummation,” by Victoria Cross,<br /> is also announced to appear soon from the Bodley<br /> Head, and will be the first of a new four-and-<br /> sixpenny series.<br /> A correspondent assures the Chronicle that<br /> the circulation of one million copies was not<br /> secured, as it had stated, by a single novel by<br /> the American writer, Albert Ross (Lynn Boyd<br /> Porter), but by a series of six novels. He points<br /> out that of “Ben Hur,” another American book,<br /> 4OO,OOO copies were sold ; while “Mr. Barnes of<br /> New York,” first written by Mr. A. C. Gunter<br /> as a play, and then adapted in despair to novel<br /> form, caught on to the extent of 250,000. But<br /> the million record appears still to be a-begging,<br /> The sale of King Solomon’s Mines,” which is<br /> being reprinted, will thus be brought up to<br /> IOO,OOO in this country and the colonies, and Max<br /> O’Rell&#039;s “John Bull and Co.,” is in its 20th<br /> thousand. “The Bonnie Brier Bush,” by Ian<br /> Maclaren, approaches 40,000, and a “Yellow<br /> Aster” 28,000.<br /> One result of General Booth’s recent Trans-<br /> atlantic tour will be a work on “Darkest<br /> America.” He will not have it ready for a<br /> considerable time, however. Two new volumes<br /> will shortly appear in the “Chief Ancient Philo-<br /> sophies” series of the Society for Promoting<br /> Christian Knowledge. They are “Platonism,” by<br /> the Rev. T. B. Strong, of Christ Church, Oxford;<br /> and “Neo-Platonism,” by the Rev. Dr. Charles<br /> Bigg. “The Greek Epic,” by Professor Warr, of<br /> Ring&#039;s College, which will also be issued imme-<br /> diately, is an addition to the “Dawn of European<br /> Literature” series. Mr Fisher Unwin publishes<br /> a biography of the late W. F. A. Gaussen,<br /> of Pembroke College, Cambridge, the translator<br /> of Potapenko&#039;s Works. The book is called<br /> “Memorials of a Short Life,” the Rev. Canon<br /> Browne of St. Paul’s edits it, and writes an<br /> introduction, the remainder consisting of personal<br /> letters. In the “National Churches&quot; series, pub-<br /> lished by Wells Gardner, the next volume will<br /> be “The History of the Church in America,” by<br /> Dr. Leighton Coleman, Bishop of Delaware. It<br /> will be issued simultaneously in England and<br /> America in a few days.<br /> “The Musical Educator” is the title of a work<br /> which Messrs. Jack, of Edinburgh, will issue in<br /> five illustrated volumes. Amongst the contribu-<br /> tors are Mr. James Sneddon, Mr. J. C. Grieve,<br /> Mr. William Townsend, Mr. F. Lauback, and Mr.<br /> William Daly. Dr. John Greig is the editor.<br /> Esmé Stuart&#039;s new novel “Married to Order ’’<br /> will be issued immediately in the two-volume<br /> library form. Esmé Stuart is the author of “Joan<br /> Wellacot,” “A Woman of Forty,” “ Kestell of<br /> Greystone,” &amp;c. The publisher is Horace Cox,<br /> Windsor House, Bream&#039;s-buildings.<br /> “A Fisherman’s Fancies,” by F. B. Doveton,<br /> published by Elliot Stock, is a book of collections<br /> of short sketches which will no doubt appeal to<br /> those of the public who desire to pass away a<br /> pleasant half-hour. The sketches that touch on<br /> fishing, and which no doubt give the name to the<br /> book, are excellent reading for those who are fond<br /> of that sport.<br /> Mr. Justin Charles MacCartie, author of<br /> “Making his Pile,” has just produced a new<br /> story called “The Darleys of Dingo Dingo,”<br /> which deals with Australian country life of the<br /> present day. It is published by Messrs. Gay and<br /> Bird.<br /> It has been announced in the Academy and<br /> other papers that Mr. F. H. Perry Coste, B.Sc.,<br /> &amp;c., is the author of “Towards Utopia,” and<br /> “On the Organisation of Science,” which have<br /> been issued under the nom de guerre of a “Free<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 329 (#343) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 329<br /> Lance.” Towards Utopia,” which, in spite of its<br /> Utopian title, disclaims any very “Utopian’”<br /> dreams, is mainly occupied with an attempt to<br /> trace broadly the various economic and moral<br /> factors through which a natural evolution of society<br /> to a semi-Utopian state may be brought about.<br /> The American rights in “Towards Utopia’’ were<br /> acquired by Messrs. Appleton as soon as the book<br /> appeared; and immediately afterwards the author<br /> received and refused an offer for a German transla-<br /> tion.<br /> The output of new books in the United States<br /> last year was in the following order:—First,<br /> fiction, then political and social science, then<br /> theology, religion, biography, history, travels, and<br /> poetry. There were 2821 books by American<br /> writers printed in the United States, IOS6 books<br /> were imported, and 577 books by English and<br /> other foreign authors were produced on the other<br /> side. The greatest number of importations was<br /> in theology and religion, and reached 262 volumes<br /> In 1893 a large number of volumes, already in<br /> hand, had to be published, though the times were<br /> unfavourable, and in 1894 the publishers, already<br /> fearful of hard times, were more careful about<br /> entering into new engagements.-PWestminster<br /> Gazette.<br /> Another case of a public library circulating<br /> pirated books has been discovered by the West-<br /> minster Gazeffe.<br /> We have before us Ruskin’s “Time and Tide,” bearing<br /> the following inscription on the title page: “New York :<br /> John Wiley and Sons, 15, Astor-place, 1888.” For many<br /> months past this “pirate ’’ has been freely issued at the<br /> Tate Lending Library, Brixton. We learn from the Chief<br /> Librarian that it was a presentation copy, and while he<br /> would certainly not dream of purchasing a “pirate,” he saw<br /> no reason to refuse one as a gift.<br /> It is a nice case for the conscience. He would<br /> be a very conscientious person who would refuse<br /> to keep on his shelves a gift book because it<br /> belonged to a pirated edition. But surely a<br /> public library is in a different position; such a<br /> book certainly ought not to be kept on the shelves<br /> and lent out to readers.<br /> *– ~ --&quot;<br /> &amp;= - -<br /> CORRESPONDENCE,<br /> I.—EDITORS’ RULES.<br /> FEAR, we are but wasting time, paper, and<br /> ink in this controversy if we are to wait<br /> until the editors, out of the kindness of<br /> their hearts, bind themselves to pay within a<br /> certain time for MSS. Probably the end of this<br /> world will arrive before they do so.<br /> No, there are two paragraphs in your last copy<br /> of the Author which contain, I think, the key to<br /> the difficulty. Page 281 (under “Warnings and<br /> Advice”):<br /> “It is not generally understood that the author,<br /> as the vendor, has the absolute right of drafting<br /> the agreement upon whatever terms the transac-<br /> tion is to be carried out.”<br /> This is surely as true of the magazine article<br /> as of the book.<br /> Page 304 (under “Musical Publishing”) :<br /> “It is for the greatest (writers) composers to<br /> begin to insist upon more equitable terms.”<br /> To those whose papers are too well known, and<br /> too valuable, to be refused because “equitable<br /> terms ” are necessary to secure them we, the<br /> smaller fry, must look for help in this matter.<br /> Let them insist on a certain set of rules (as the<br /> rule) and editors will soon cease to take their<br /> own time to settle accounts, and learn the<br /> valuable lesson that “Short accounts make long<br /> friends.” R. L. I.<br /> II.—PARALLELISM.<br /> Mr. Langbridge&#039;s sort of “ Kubla Khan’’<br /> experience is one which, I fancy, a good many<br /> people can parallel, though whether one should<br /> be scrupulous “in tampering with the gift of a<br /> dream ” is a matter which I leave the Psychical<br /> Researchists to decide. It may not be unin-<br /> teresting to your readers to give the experiences<br /> of others who have dreamed poems or books or<br /> speeches and have just caught hold of the last<br /> line or last sentence as they awoke.<br /> Twice I have, on coming up to the surface of<br /> consciousness, finished, once a poem and once a<br /> sermon, out loud.<br /> The poem ended with the sonorous line<br /> And stemmed the torrent with a pervious prone;<br /> the sermon with<br /> Churches are the martello towers of religion.<br /> I have not “tampered with these dream-gifts,”<br /> and leave others to discover their literary or<br /> philosophic value !<br /> April 9. G. S. LAYARD,<br /> Lorraine Cottage,<br /> Great Malvern.<br /> III.-GoD AND THE ANT.<br /> May I ask Frederick Langbridge if he has ever<br /> published the sonnet he gives on p. 304 of the<br /> Author? If not, both he and Coulson Ker-<br /> nahan are “parallelists,” for I have seen exactly<br /> the same thought somewhere, though I cannot<br /> place it, and in extremely similar words to<br /> those which Mr. Langbridge uses. Or am I a<br /> “parallelist” also P ALAN OSCAR.<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 330 (#344) ############################################<br /> <br /> 33O<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> IV.--THE RIGHT, OR THE WRONG, To MUTIILATE<br /> A PAPER.<br /> It would be interesting to all writers who<br /> contribute papers to magazines to know certainly<br /> whether in so doing they render themselves liable<br /> to have their paper mutilated to suit editorial<br /> difficulties concerning space.<br /> It seems to me that, although an editor has the<br /> absolute right of refusing any paper, once he<br /> accepts it he binds himself to reproduce it as<br /> it stands, unless by special agreement with the<br /> author.<br /> Personally I have always held this ground, and<br /> am happy to say that in the course of fifteen<br /> years of very extensive work for many magazines<br /> I have only on two occasions had any cause for<br /> Complaint.<br /> I regret to have to say that one of these has oc-<br /> curred in the present year. Early in 1893 I offered<br /> an article to one of the illustrated magazines to<br /> which I have frequently contributed, and by which<br /> it was accepted, but publication delayed,<br /> About December, 1893, I prepared a very care-<br /> fully written account of the details of an event of<br /> which I was anxious to preserve a permanent<br /> record. As I had secured a good illustration, I<br /> offered it to the same magazine, which, as usual,<br /> welcomed it. Publication, however, was delayed,<br /> and only the following autumn were proofs sent<br /> to me. I corrected these most carefully, bringing<br /> the subject up to date. In December another<br /> copy of these proofs, not corrected, was sent to<br /> me, and I again corrected them, the editor<br /> expressing his regret at the prolonged delay in<br /> publication.<br /> The paper was announced as being in the<br /> February number, and various persons interested<br /> ordered copies, to find a dull, matter-of-fact<br /> article compressed into three pages, without<br /> illustration, upwards of twenty paragraphs having<br /> been cut out from ten distinct places, the result<br /> naturally being as bald as the letter of a hurried<br /> newspaper correspondent.<br /> Supposing that the editor must have been<br /> suffering from influenza, and that some stranger<br /> was responsible for this discourtesy, I wrote<br /> asking for an explanation, and, receiving none,<br /> I wrote again more strongly, requesting the<br /> return of the paper and illustrations sent in 1893.<br /> To which the editor replies: “He is glad to<br /> be able to repudiate entirely the charge of dis-<br /> courtesy—a charge which would with more justice<br /> be brought against a contributor who demands<br /> an apology for the absolutely necessary abridg-<br /> ment which every editor is fully entitled to make<br /> in any article sent to him for publication.”<br /> Is he P. That is just the question. Does every<br /> contributor to a magazine lay himself open to<br /> find his most careful work mutilated in this<br /> barbarous manner, and then presented to the<br /> public with his (or her) signature at the end of<br /> it P I hope not. But when an editor who has<br /> printed perhaps a dozen of my papers verbatim<br /> suddenly deals thus with one—and, strangely<br /> enough, the only one of the whole lot which was<br /> really of consequence—where does security lie?<br /> On my requesting the return of the article<br /> accepted two years ago, it was sent with some<br /> minor illustrations. I wrote back stating that<br /> two large paintings had not been sent. To this<br /> the editor replies that they had been photo-<br /> graphed and returned to me by parcel post about<br /> the end of December, and that he is not respon-<br /> sible for accidental loss.<br /> That is to say, they were despatched in the<br /> busiest week of the year without any notice or<br /> any subsequent inquiry as to their receipt not<br /> having been acknowledged. This seems to me<br /> another point which ought to be clearly defined.<br /> When illustrations or MSS. are returned by parcel<br /> post, ought not an intimation to that effect to be<br /> sent by ordinary post? A general business agree-<br /> ment on these points would be satisfactory. C.<br /> W.—MINOR POETs.<br /> Your correspondent of April, “Mary Augusta<br /> Salmond,” is probably unaware that when a<br /> minor poet publishes a volume of verses, he does<br /> so almost invariably at his own risk. In any<br /> case, the chances of profit accruing to himself<br /> from such a source are infinitesimal.<br /> Again, there are few, if any, periodicals that<br /> will pay for a poem in lyrical form.<br /> For these reasons, it is rarely indeed that the<br /> writer of the words of a song, however popular it<br /> may become, makes anything beyond his fee for<br /> the musical copyright. Therefore, whilst heartily<br /> agreeing with Mrs. Salmond on other points, I<br /> must, in the interest of brother minor poets, point<br /> out that, though the price paid for the copyright<br /> may be considered a fairly adequate return for a<br /> mere drawing-room or schoolroom song, in the<br /> case of a ballad or more important work being<br /> taken up by a public singer it is not so, and<br /> some arrangement should in justice be made by<br /> which the poet would have a share, however small,<br /> in the performing rights of his work, as well as<br /> the composer, singer, and publisher. The words<br /> are manifestly the raison d&#039;être of the composi-<br /> tion. HELEN MARION BURNSIDE.<br /> VI.-A CoINCIDENCE.<br /> May I ask for a few lines of your space?<br /> In the Times of March 29 last I read: “The<br /> monologue is less an English than a French off-<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 331 (#345) ############################################<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> 33 I<br /> shoot of the drama, but it would soon cease to be<br /> so were many such pretty sketches or dramatic<br /> episodes written as that produced last night by<br /> Mr. Henry Hamilton under the title of ‘For-<br /> tune’s Fool.” An unhappy lover in his<br /> lonely chambers bewails the fate that has snatched<br /> away from him the woman of his dreams. *<br /> Life has no more charm for Philip Challoner,<br /> and, after evoking all his sweetest souvenirs by<br /> reading her letters, and, seated at the piano,<br /> singing her favourite song, he swallows a dose of<br /> poison. The postman knocks, and the<br /> doomed man takes from the letter-box two letters,<br /> one informing him that he is heir to a fortune,<br /> the other from the lady herself, declaring her<br /> inability to live without him, and her resolution<br /> to marry him at all hazards. As he dies, a dis-<br /> creet knock at the door announces the lady’s<br /> arrival, whereupon the curtain falls.” The omis-<br /> sions indicated are not material, and, with one<br /> exception, the above account very closely renders<br /> the course of the monologue acted by Mr. Lewis<br /> Waller. The exception—I attended at the Hay-<br /> market Theatre on April 5—lay in the fact that,<br /> not two letters, so far as I myself could gather, but<br /> only one, the second of the two noted above, was<br /> delivered by the postman, and received by the<br /> lover—too late.<br /> A short story entitled “Arsenic” appeared in<br /> Beecham&#039;s Christmas Annual (Messrs. F. J.<br /> Lambert and Co., Temple-chambers and Bouverie-<br /> street) for 1889. The contributors to the number<br /> included Joseph Hatton, James Greenwood,<br /> Fergus Hume, Florence Marryat, and Manville<br /> Fenn, and I was informed that at the price—viz.,<br /> one penny—more than 400,000 copies had been<br /> sold. “Arsenic ’’ purports to be the narrative of<br /> a man who, committing suicide by means of that<br /> poison, writes of his ruin and his hopelessness,<br /> and watches for the gradual symptoms as long as<br /> he can hold the pen. In this way he is made to<br /> tell the story; and between the lines the reader<br /> should discern a tale of feminine infidelity which<br /> the writer, the deserted husband, does not suspect.<br /> He evokes his sweetest souvenirs. These, how-<br /> ever, are not associated with a wealthy person<br /> whom he loves apparently in vain, but with his<br /> little dead child, upon the slenderness of whose<br /> resemblance to her mother he seems to dwell with<br /> gratification—all such gratification as may be left<br /> to him in his last hour. He becomes delirious;<br /> he dies. The next morning the postman knocks<br /> at his door with a registered letter. The post-<br /> man&#039;s comment, “It’s the unexpected, voyez-vous,<br /> that happens,” forms the last word.<br /> “Arsenic ’’ was contributed to the number in<br /> question by myself; and it bore my name. The<br /> differences of treatment in the two cases are<br /> obvious, but it has been pointed out to me that a<br /> republication of the story, with some others,<br /> might expose me to an unfounded charge of<br /> plagiarism. My sole object, therefore, now, is to<br /> beg, Sir, for an opportunity of stating in your<br /> columns that the appearance of my little story<br /> “Arsenic’’ did not follow, but preceded, and by<br /> about five years, the production of Mr. Hamilton’s<br /> monologue “Fortune&#039;s Fool.” H. F. WooD.<br /> 3, Rue de Miromesnil, Paris, April 17.<br /> [The resemblance is worth noting. It is also<br /> worth noting that Mr. Wood does not suggest any<br /> kind of plagiarism. Such a situation—the<br /> unfortunate suicide just when everything was<br /> coming right—is one likely to suggest itself to<br /> any imaginative writer.—ED.]<br /> VII.-‘‘JANE | ?”<br /> In the last of Mr. R. Sherard’s interesting<br /> letters from Paris, he says that the finding in<br /> “Moll Flanders ” a passage similar to one in<br /> “Jane Eyre&#039; has led him to think less as a<br /> work of art of the latter powerful and most<br /> common of stories, and, though he does not say<br /> this, it has certainly led him to think less of,<br /> Charlotte Bronté as a woman.<br /> For “when asked,” he writes, “how she<br /> came to think of so striking a scene (the hearing<br /> by Jane of blind Rochester&#039;s far-away cry for<br /> her), she wsed to drape herself in some mystery<br /> ğı and reply, ‘ I wrote it because it is true,”<br /> leaving one to imagine that this was a thing of her<br /> own experience”—surely, if Mr. Sherard’s ex-<br /> planation be the right one, a mean and unworthy<br /> subterfuge, and one altogether at variance with<br /> the character we know of honest, single-minded<br /> Charlotte. 3.<br /> That the dire need of some loved one in distress<br /> —the cry across the gulf of separation of one<br /> human soul to another in sympathy—may make<br /> itself heard in some plane of emotional conscious-<br /> ness normally latent is a truth too vital to have<br /> confined itself to the recognition of Defoe alone.<br /> For my own part, that little note of Mr. Sherard&#039;s<br /> confirms a conviction I have always had—viz.,<br /> that the love of Jane for Rochester is the story of<br /> some unrecorded love in Charlotte Brontë&#039;s own<br /> life. -<br /> I have never read the passage in question<br /> without having been strongly impressed with the<br /> sense that that cry for “Jane ! Jane ! Jane!” had<br /> at some time or another entered, iron-like, into the<br /> writer’s own soul.<br /> The intense and passionate tenderness por-<br /> trayed—the love tearing itself up by its bleeding<br /> human roots in order that its ideal shall not<br /> suffer—is too vivid to have taken origin wholly in<br /> <br /> <br /> ## p. 332 (#346) ############################################<br /> <br /> 332<br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> fancy. The writer interprets a passion she<br /> knows—a thing as different from mere delinea-<br /> tion of a passion she knows about as genius is<br /> from talent. In “Jane Eyre’ Charlotte Brontë<br /> has interpreted, perhaps more truly and touch-<br /> ingly than any other. writer, a woman&#039;s love—<br /> intense, sincere, high-minded, yet all the while<br /> tenderly human.<br /> I greatly doubt that Defoe had anything to<br /> teach her. ARABELLA KENEALY.<br /> VIII.-AMERICAN DELAYs.<br /> I began to write a novel a year last October.<br /> By the following March it was in a publisher&#039;s<br /> hands, and by the end of May my agreement<br /> with an English firm was signed. In the mean-<br /> time a friend in the States arranged with an<br /> American firm to copyright the story there. The<br /> American contract was signed by me in September<br /> last. The book is not yet out, and my English<br /> publishers write that they cannot get the<br /> Americans to fix any positive date. It will be<br /> said I should have insisted upon a certain time<br /> in my agreements. To this I reply that I am<br /> not a “known” author, and, considering myself<br /> fortunate in having received fair offers from two<br /> well-established publishers, I was satisfied to<br /> trust them, especially as the making of any such<br /> decided arrangement would have entailed much<br /> delay in signing contracts, and endless correspon-<br /> dence. Moreover, the book is one whose value<br /> depends greatly on an early appearance—a fact,<br /> I thought, obvious to any press reader, and<br /> which my London publishers recognised. They<br /> wanted to get it out last season, and advertised<br /> it in their autumn announcements.<br /> Here, then, is a “frightful example” for English<br /> writers and publishers. My novel would have<br /> been published six months ago, or earlier, had it<br /> not been for the American copyright. Are we to<br /> have the same trouble with Canada?<br /> By the way, has the Authors&#039; Syndicate agents<br /> in the States ? And, if not, would it not be<br /> possible to establish a branch there? We newly-<br /> hatched ones are so ignorant<br /> NEW COMER.<br /> IX. —OUR ExTRAVAGANT DINNER.<br /> Mild private protests availing nothing, here,<br /> with your permission, a public one. Is the annual<br /> dinner intended for all the members of the<br /> Society, or only the more wealthy P. If all, then<br /> why guinea tickets P Cannot we have the pleasure<br /> of meeting one another once a year without an<br /> unnecessary, in many cases prohibitive, tax P<br /> Public dinners are always indifferent, and a satis-<br /> fying meal can be obtained for a quarter of this<br /> tax. I was well (as the place goes) and sufficiently<br /> fed the other day for just that sum. The occasion<br /> also a club dinner, and at the same restaurant.<br /> We are not gluttons, but come to the dinner less<br /> to devour our half-guinea&#039;s worth than to meet<br /> one another and hear the speeches and uphold the<br /> Society. Why, again, must those who do not<br /> drink wine pay for it—even those who are wine<br /> bibbers not choosing their wine, but having that<br /> which is given them P<br /> The cost of the dinner is equal to the cost of<br /> one year&#039;s subscription to the Society; the satis-<br /> faction transient, and the benefits nil. I feel so<br /> disgusted with this extravagance I contemplate<br /> resigning. Those who have the management of<br /> the dinner should consider all the members, and<br /> not merely their own particular tastes and means.<br /> I believe this grumble will be echoed by many<br /> members of the Society, particularly those living<br /> outside London, who to come to the dinner incur<br /> the additional cost of about a sovereign for bed,<br /> breakfast, and railway fare. This sort of thing is<br /> all very well for wealthy publishers, but not for<br /> those like<br /> A Dw ELLER IN RURAL GRUB STREET.<br /> P.S. Grumble No. 2.--Why should we waste<br /> Our money in advertising the dinner and the list of<br /> big and medium guns who are going to be present<br /> at it P Every member receives the notice privately,<br /> and we do not invite the public to come in their<br /> thousands, so the money seems absolutely thrown<br /> away. The publication of such a list of names is,<br /> I venture to assert, in questionable taste.<br /> A. D. IN R. G. S.<br /> [Perhaps an answer to the “grumble’” may be<br /> found in the following considerations: (1) The<br /> “tax * is not demanded of members; no one need<br /> pay it who does not choose. (2) Public dinners<br /> are expected to have a certain amount of show.<br /> (3) The dinner is a public occasion at which the<br /> Society shows to the world something of its im-<br /> portance. (4) The wine question and the charge<br /> of wine to those who do not drink it is one of<br /> practical management. The issue of cheaper<br /> tickets without wine has been tried, and proved<br /> unworkable for various reasons. (5) The adver-<br /> tisement of the stewards is the best advertisement<br /> we can have of the Society itself. To these con-<br /> siderations it may be added that frequent sugges-<br /> tions have been made to hold a conversazione or a<br /> series of lectures or readings, at which the Society<br /> may gather without payment. It is to be hoped<br /> that some practical suggestions may be brought<br /> before the committee. Perhaps the evening might<br /> take the form of a private dinner among ourselves<br /> at very moderate cost, without advertisement or<br /> publicity.—ED.]https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/276/1895-05-01-The-Author-5-12.pdfpublications, The Author