2 20 265 https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/259/1892-01-01-The-Author-2-8.pdf dbd922fb812fc0c504ae6fa3a97d08c9 PDF Text Text ������������������������������ Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1892-01-01 Volume 2 Issue 8 Pages Page range in volume 225–254 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18920101 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin ^Ibe Hutbor. [The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. II.—No. 8.] JANUARY 1892 [Price Sixpence. CO NT TAGE Warnings "9 Notices "9 Misprint '1' The Cost of Production 333 American Copyright 233 Literary Criticism 333 Two Actions at Law— I.—Pinnock v. Chapman and Hall 333 II.—The Proprietor of a Magazine v. The Proprietor of a Country Paper 334 ENTS. PASI The Storyteller's Night aj4 Notes and News 334 Publishing on Commission 33K The Art of Fiction and the Authors of Antiquity 340 The Independent Theatre 343 Literary Rights 343 Death and the Lifeboat 344 Correspondence 34$ "At the Author's Head" 347 New Books and New Editions 350 EYRE AND SPOTTISWOODE. STATE TRIALS, Reports of. New Series. Vol. III., 1831—40. Published under the direction of the Slate Trials Committee. Edited by Jonx Macdonkll, M.A. io>. INVESTMENTS. A List of 1,600 British, Colonial and Foreign Securities dealt in upon tho London and Provincial Exchanges, giving tho highest and lowest prices of each particular Stock for each of the last twenty-two years, or from the time of the creation of such Stock, also tho price on 30th May, 1891, and the yield per cent, to the Investor. Compiled by G. Brown, is. bd. PUBLIC GENERAL ACTS, 1891. Red Cloth, 3*. Contains all tho Public Acts passed during the year, with Index, also Tables showing the effect of the year's Legislation, together with complete and classillod Lists of the Titles of all the Local and Private Acts passed during the Session. REVISED STATUTES. (Second Revised Edition.) Royal 8vo. Prepared under the direction of the Statute Law Revision Committee, and Edited by G. A. R. Fitzokrald, Esq. Vols. I. to IV. now ready, price 71. bd. each. FORECASTING BY MEANS OF WEATHER CHARTS, Principles of. By the Hon. RAi.rn Abkrcromiiy, F.R. Met. Soc. IS. METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS, Instructions in the use of. a«, bd. THE LITERATURE RELATING TO NEW ZEALAND. A Bibliography. Royal Svo. Cloth, is. bd. POLYNESIAN MYTHOLOGY AND ANCIENT TRA- DITIONAL HISTORY OF THE NEW ZEALAND RACE. By 8ir GEORGE Gret, K.C.B. Illustrate. Royal Svo. Cloth, $s. ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE MAORI. By John Wiiitk. Demy 8vo. Half Morocco. 4 vols. io». per vol. PLIOCENE DEPOSITS OF BRITAIN, THE. By Clkme.xt Reid, F.L.S., F.G S. Five Plates (48 cuts), s«. bd. LONDON AND NEIGHBOURHOOD: Guide to the Geology of. Bv William Whitaker, B.A. i». COPYRIGHT LAW REFORM: au Exposition of Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill. With Extracts from tho Reportof the Commission of 1878. and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lely, Esq., Barristcr-at-Law. is. bd. KF.W BULLETIN, 1890. Issued by the Director of Eew Gardens. 3*. iod. EEW BULLETIN, 1891. Monthly, ad. Appendices, id. each. Annual Subscription, including postage, 3s. yd. DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF MUSICAL INSTRU- MENTS recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition. Compiled by Capt. Day. Oxfordshire Light Infantry, under the orders of Col. SnAW-HBLLiER, Commandant Royal Military School of Music. Illustrated by a series of Twelve artistically executed Plates in Heliogravure, and with numerous Wood Engravings, a is. "Unique, as no earlier work exists in English dealing exhaus- tively with the same subject A very important con- tribution to tho history of orchestration."— Athentrum. PUBLIC RECORDS. A Guide to the Principal Classes of Documents preserved in the Public Record Office. By S. R. ScaRGILL-Bird, F.S.A. 7». "The value of such a work as Mr. Scargill-Bird's can scarcely bo over-rated."— Times. Monthly Lists of Parliamentary Papers upon Application. Quarterly Lists Post Free, »d. _ Miscellaneous List on Application. Every Assistance given to Correspondents; and Books not kept in stock obtained without delay. Remittance should accompany Order. GOVERNMENT AND GENERAL PURLISHERS. BYRE and SPOTTISWOODK, Her Majesty's Printers, tiast Harding Street, Uudon, K.l.  ## p. 226 (#630) ############################################ 226 AD VERTISEMENTS. MISS XI.. -V. QIX.L, TYPE-WRITING OFFICES, 6, Adam Street, Strand, W.C.. and 5, Air Street, Piccadilly, W. Authors' and Dramatists' Work a Specialty. All kinds of MSS. copied with care. Extra attention given to diilicult hand-writing and to papers or lectures on scientific subjects. Type-writing from dictation. Shorthand Notes taken and transcribed. FURTHER PARTICULARS ON APPLICATION. MISS -A.. JEt. LBKTTY, TYPE WRITING OFFICE, 165, QUEEN VICTOKIA STEEET. Highest Testimonials for all kinds of Work. Price List on Application. MRS. GILL, T Y P E - W It ITIN G OFFICE ST. PAUL'S CHAMBERS, 19, LUDGATE HILL, E.C. (ESTABLISHED 1883.) Authors' MSS. carefully copied from if. per 1,000 words. One additional copy (carbon) supplied free of charge. Instruction given in Pitman's System of Shorthand and in type- writing. References kindly permitted to Walter Besant, Esq. VICTORIA TYPE-WRITING OFFICE. (FRANCES A. COX.) 565, Mansion House Chambers; 11, Queen Victoria Street, E.C. Authors' MSS. carefully typed. Legal and General Copying. PROSPECTUS ON APPLICATION. AUTHORS.—The New York Bureau of Revision aids Authors in completing their books; gives competent and unbiassed criticism of Prose or Verse; and offers MSS. and proofs in the American Market. Address— Dr. TITUS MUNSON COAN, 20, West lith Street, Neiv York. TO LYRIC AUTHORS, LIBRETTISTS, Sc. ARLY in the New Year will be issued Monthly, One Penny, "The Lyric Author's Advertizer and Composer's Magazine," a Mart for Lyric writers, Librettists, and Composers. Entire Lyric Poems, or extracts, with the Author's name and the price attached, will be inserted as advertisements at a low charge, viz., 2S. per 100 words, and pro rata. No agency business undertaken. The Magazine will be posted free to all the well-known composers; and, it is hoped, will prove a boon to buyers and sellers. Address— THE CONDUCTOR, ASHMOBE BUSSAN, HOBSFOBTH, LEEDS. All applications relating to Advertisements in this Journal should be addressed to the Printers and Publishers, EYRE & SPOTTISWOODE, East Harding Street, Fetter Lane, London, E.C.  ## p. 227 (#631) ############################################ A D VER TISEMENTS. CJje J*wtetg of autfjors (finrorporatrtX PRESIDENT. The Right Hon. the LORD TENNYSOX, D.C.L. Sib Edwin Arnold, K.C.I.E. Alfred Austin. A. W. a Beckett. Robert Bateman. Sir Henry Bergne, K.C.M.G. Walter Besant. Augustine Birrei.l, M.P. R. I). Blackmore. Rev. Prof. Bonnet, F.R.S. Lord Brabourne. James Bryce, M.P. P. W. Clayden. Edward Clodd. W. Martin Conway. Marion Crawford. Oswald Chawfurd, C.M.G. The Earl Of Desart. COUNCIL. A. W. Dubourg. John Eric Erichben, F.R.S. Prof. Michael Foster, F.R.S. Herbert Gardner, M.P. Richard Garnett, LL.D. Edmund Gosse. H. Rider Haggard. Thomas Hardy. Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S. J. M. Lely. Rev. W. J. Loftie, F.S.A. F. Max Muller, LL.D. George Meredith. Herman C. Merivale. Rev. C. H. Middleton-Wakr, F.L.S. J. C. Parkinson. The Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart., LL.D. Walter Herries Pollock. A. G. Ross. George Augustus Sala. W. Baptiste Scoones. G. R. Sims. J. J. Stevenson. Jas. Sully. William Mot Thomas. H. D. Traill, D.C.L. The Right Hon. the Baron Henry de Worms, M.P., F.R.S. Edmund Yates. A. W. a Beckett. W. Martin Conway. Hon. Counsel—E. M. Underdown, Q.C. COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT. Chairman—Walter Besant. I Edmund Gosse. J. M. Lely. | H. Rider Haggard. | Sir Frederick Pollock. Solicitors—Messrs. Field, Roscoe, & Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. Secretary—S. Squire Sprigge. OFFICES. 4., Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C. A. G. Ross. PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1891 can l>e had on application to the Secretary. 2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members. 3. The Grievances of Authors. (The Lendenhall Press.) zs. The Report of three Meetings on the general subject of Literature and its defence, held at Willis's Rooms, March 1887. 4. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Cot.les, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 3s. 5. The History of the Societe des Gens de Lettres. By S. Squire Sprigge, Secretary to the Society, is. 6. The Cost Of Production. In tliis work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c, with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. 2s. 6d. Out of Print, New Edition now preparing. 7. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squire Sprigge. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society's offices, the various kinds of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Price 3s. Second Edition. 8. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill now before Parliament. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention, and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lely. Eyre and Spottiswoode is. 6d. Other works bearing on the Literary Profession will follow. vol. 11. P i  ## p. 228 (#632) ############################################ A D VER TISEMENTS. The " Swan" is a beautiful Gold Pen joined to a rubber reservoir to hold any kind of ink, which it supplies to the writing point in a continuous flow. It will hold enough ink for two days' constant work, or a week's ordinary writing, and can be refilled with as little trouble as to wind a watch. With the cover over the gold nib it is carried in the pocket like a pencil, to be used anywhere. A purchaser may try a pen a few days, and if by chance the writing point does not suit his hand, exchange it for another without charge, or have his money returned if wanted. There are various pints to select from, broad, medinrn, and fine, every handwriting can be suited, and the price of the entire instrument, with filler complete, post tree, is only 10s. 6d. MAfciE TOOO J. BAUD NtW V0«K fej%^ The Gold Pens in the "Swan" are Mabie, Todd, & Co.'s famous make. They are 14-carat tempered gold, very handsome, and positively unaffected by any kind of ink. They are, pointed with selected polished iridium. The " Encyclopedia Britannica" says:—"Iridium is a nearly white metal of high specific gravity, it is almost indestructible, and a beautifully polished surface can be obtained upon it." They will not penetrate the paper, and writer's cramp is unknown among users of Gold Pens. One will OUtwear 90 grOSS Of Steel pens. They are a perfect revelation to those who know nothing about Gold Pens. Dr. Olives Wendell Holmes has used one of Mabie, Todd, & Co.'s Gold Pens since 1857, and is using the same one (his " old friend ") to-day. Svdnky Gbumdy, Esq., says (referring to the Fountain Pen) :—" It is a vast improvement on every Stylograph." Moberly Bell, Esq., Manager, The Times, says (referring to the Fountain Pen) :—" One pen lasted me for six years." S. D. Waddy, Esq., Q.C., M.P., says (referring to the Fountain Pen) :—*' I have used them constantly for some years, and, as far ns I can remember, they have never failed me." -^^^3r3>-cf^ Send Postal Card for Free Illustrated List (containing interesting Testimonials from the Best People, who have used them for years) to— MABIE, TODD, & BARD,  ## p. 229 (#633) ############################################ ^Ibe Butbor* (The Organ of the Incorporated Soviety of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. II.—No. 8.] JANUARY i, 1892. [Price Sixpence. For the Opinions ex-pressed in papers that arc signed the Authors alone are responsible. WARNINGS. Readers of the Author are earnestly desired to make the following warnings as widely known as possible. They are based on the experience of six years' work upon the dangers to which literary property is exposed :— (l.) Never sign any agreement of which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part, unless an opportunity of proving the correctness of the figures is given them. (2.) Never enter into any correspondence with publishers, especially with advertising publishers, who are not recommended by experienced friends or by this Society. (3.) Never, on any account whatever, bind yourself down for future work to any one firm of publishers. (4.) Never accept any proposal of royalty without ascertaining exactly what the agreement gives to the author and what to the publisher. (5.) Never accept any pecuniary risk or respon- sibility whatever without advice. (6.) Never, when a MS. has been refused by resectable house.s, pay others, whatever promises they may put forward, for the production of the work. (7.) Never sign away American rights. Keep them. Refuse to sign an agreement con- taining a clause which reserves them for the publisher. If the publisher insists, take away the MS. and offer it to another. (8.) Never forget that, publishing is a business, like any other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy, charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with business men. Society's Offices:— 4, Portugal Street, Linxoln's Inn Fields. NOTICES. THE Committee have to announce with great regret the resignation of the secretary, Mr. S. Squire Sprigge. He finds himself unable to give his whole time to the Society, and the greatly increased work which has now to be done makes it necessary that the secretary should henceforth devote the whole of his time to that work. When Mr. Sprigge became secretary three years ago, the number of members was 25o. It has since trebled and the work has more than trebled. This rapid increase is, the Committee feel, largely due to the zeal and the intelligence which Mr. Sprigge has brought to the work. The kind of work is often of an extremely delicate nature; authors are not always in the right in their disputes; and, when they are, it is not always expedient to set things right by the immediate intervention of the lawyer; many disputes have been amicably arranged by Mr. Sprigge in interviews and by conversation; in such a position as that held for three years by Mr. Sprigge, enemies may be very easily made. It may be said of Mr. Sprigge that he has made very few, and of those few, some—the persons, namely, who live by dishonest practices—are of the kind whose enmity is an honour. Mr. Sprigge retires at the end of March. The Committee hope to appoint his successor before that date, in order that he may have a little time to learn the work.  ## p. 230 (#634) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. The Committee very seriously entreat members to sign no agreements without submitting them, confidentially, to the secretory. The points, how- ever, which are most to be kept in mind are, (i) what the author gives up—his copyright, his American rights, his rights of translation, and, in most cases, his control of his own property. (2.) "What consideration he gets for it. (3.) What the publisher proposes to reserve for himself. If a royalty is offered, the author must ascertain what that means, both in view of a limited and of a large sale. If he is to share in profits after the book has jmid its expenses, he must have it dis- tinctly laid down in the agreement that expenses mean actual expenses paid for production, and not a fancy charge, giving the other side a fraudulent profit at the outset. Also he must have something to say in the matter of advertisements, remembering that it is not an uncommon practice for the fraudu- lent publisher to charge what he pleases under this head, and to "spend the money" (!) on advertising in his own periodicals or trade lists. In other words, the Society earnestly and un- ceasingly exhorts those who write books to take as much care of their property in books as they do of their property in houses, and lands, and shares. It may be only a very small property, or it may be large—in either event let it be guarded as carefully as any other kind of property. There is no subject on which everybody is so willing and ready to write as on the subject of publishing, and there is no subject on which there prevails such extraordinary ignorance. This is because the figures of one side only have been accessible. Those of the other side have now been presented by this Society, and anyone can ascertain by the help of these figures, or by special appli- cation to the secretary, what these figures are, ami what they mean. To those who do know what this means and why they have been so carefully withheld, the ordinary article which treats of publishing is a thing which would be contemptible if it was not pitiful and mischievous. Let it be remembered tliat the Society has a mass of pub- lishers' accounts, printers' estimates, information from booksellers, bookbinders, printers, advertising agents, agreements and returns, which has never before been collected together, and could never be collected except by such a Society. It is hoped that members will consult the Secretary and use this knowledge freely in their own interests. It is also hoped that editors will recognise, the fact that no articles on publishing methods are worth the paper they an; written on unless the figures on both sides are attainable. The recent labour agitation in the bookbinding trade has resulted in the concession of an eight hours' day with higher wages to the workmen in the trade. As to the justice of the case we are not called upon to speak. The working of the result is that for ordinary binding an advance of "j\ per cent, will be made on bookbinders' charges to pub- lishers for books, and of 12 per cent, (perhaps) for magazines. In other words, bookbinders say, prac- tically, "we are already cut down as far as we can go. Somebody else must lx>ar this burden." Let us see what it means. The cost of binding an ordinary octavo volume ranges from ^d. to jd. An advance of 7 \ per cent, adds \d. on the 4c?., and ^d. on the jd. In case of any attempt being made to reduce royalties on the plea of this increase, these figures should be borne in mind. It is not, however, in books so much as in magaziues that the difference will be felt. If the 12 per cent, advance is made, it will make a difference to a sixpenny magazine, perhaps all the difference. Would the world be any the poorer if the sixpenny magazine became a shilling magazine? The New Review began at 6c?., was advanced to gd., and will immediately become is. So much the better for everybody. On November 1st the readers of the Author, and members of the Society, were invited to subscribe in order to present Mr. K. U. Johnson, Secretary of the International Copyright League. On December 1st the Committee announced that they had received enough money to carry out their intentions. A silver salver has been pur- chased, and will be sent to New York immediately. The subscription was limited in amount, so as to enlarge the number of those who might wish to join. Many who would have joined were prevented by the announcement that enough had been re- ceived. If we had wanted more money the list could have been extended indefinitely. We have lost one of our earliest members. Mr Egerton Warbnrton, one of the best known of. Cheshire squires, was a member of the society from the first. Without being a great author, he was well known as the writer of excellent hunting songs, and was at all times devoted to literature and literary pursuits. He yvas a gentleman of what is called the old school—of ancient descent—  ## p. 231 (#635) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 231 conservative, ami a churchman—indeed, he was one of the late Beresford Hope's friends—a good hunting man—with all the best traditions attaching to his class. Some years ago he instituted a May Queen ceremony. For twenty years he was afflicted with blindness. Another, and a more prominent member from the literary point of view, has been lost in Mr. W. G. Wills. If success proves greatness, he was a great dramatist. If prolific production means greatness, he was great. The time has not yet come for his work to be judged impartially as to its place in literature. Few will forget, who ever saw those pieces, "Oliver," and "Charles the First." He possessed the first and greatest gift for one who aspires to be a dramatist. He could hold his audience. He has been charged with the sadness of his pieces. They are lugubrious. It was, however, in the nature of the subject that they should be so. The man himself was far from being lugubrious. His muse was tearful, but his heart was light. "We have also to regret the loss of Mr. G. T. Bettany, who died of heart disease at Dulwich on December 2nd. He was born at Penzance in 185o, and, being intended for the medical profes- sion, entered Guy's Hospital in 1868. After graduating B.Sc. at London University with First Class Honours in Geology, he proceeded to Cam- bridge, where he took his B.A., coining out (bracketed Third) in the First Class of the Natural Science Tripos in a remarkable year, Professor H. N. Martin and the late Mr. Frank Balfour being respectively first and second. Air. Bettany lectured for some years at Newnham and Girton Colleges, and at Guy's Hospital, but ultimately decided to devote himself to literature. His chief works are "The Morphology of the Skull," which he wrote in collaboration with Professor W. K. Parker, P.B.S., "Eminent Doctors; their Lives and their Work," "Life of Darwin" (Great Writers' Series), "The World's Inhabitants," and "The World's Religions." At the time of his death he was writing a "History of Christianity," and a "History of Guy's Hospital," the latter in collaboration with his friend Dr. S. Weeks, F.R.S. Mr. Bettany was a contributor to the Times, the Atheneeum, the Contemporary Jfevieic, and " Dic- tionary of National Biography," and has, with only one or two exceptions, edited more books than any man living. The "Minerva Library of Famous Books," of which he was ihe originator and sole editor, is now generally admitted to 1h> the cheapest and most valuable series of cheap books in existence, and has attained an enormous sale, while his "Popular Library of Literary Treasures" was also the means of bringing much that is valuable within the reach of a very large public. The meaning, as between publisher and author, of the so-called "Royalty System "—where there is no system—was explained in the Author for November 18g t. Writers are entreated, in their own interests, to study the facts and figures there set forth. Communications intended for the Authors' Syndi- cate should be addressed to W. Morris Colles, the Honorary Secretary. Mr. Colles will issue a report on the financial side of the Syndicate, drawn by a firm of chartered accountants, at the beginning of the new year. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of this Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly understood that the Society does not, under any circumstances, under- take the publication of MSS. The official directions for the securing of American copyright by English authors were given in the Author for June 1891. Members are earnestly entreated to take the trouble of reading those directions. Members are earnestly requested to forwanl agreements to the Society for inspection before they sign them. Once signed, the mischief is generally irreparable.  ## p. 232 (#636) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. MISPRINT. The Author, December 1891, page 200, column 2, line 4 from bottom— For "Again, there are no periodicals," read, "Again, there are two periodicals." The passage, us quoted, is unintelligible. W. W. Skeat. *■■*■■* THE COST OF PRODUCTION. ANOTHER edition of this very useful little work is now ready. Those who possess the earlier editions will please note that since they were issued there has been a rise in compositors' wages, which, so far as London is concerned, will affect the item of composition, or setting-up, and press work, or machining, to the extent of about i5 per cent. It has not, we are assured, touched prices in Edinburgh. Those who consult the book should also bear in mind that our estimates are very liberal, so us to be on the safe side. A printer's bill is a very elastic thing, one that may be shortened as well as lengthened, in a most surprising manner. For in- stance, a certain piece of work required for the Authors' Syndicate, which began by costing 364'. a week, has now gone down to l5*., without the least alteration in length. And the other day the account of a book was sent in which showed the cost of production considerably less than the estimate in the Society's book. Nor is this the only occasion in which we have found the figures supplied to us to have been liberal ones. AMERICAN COPYRIGHT. I. IE annual meeting of the American Oopy- I right League, by the courtesy of the Executive Council of the Authors' Club, was held at the rooms of the Club, 19, West 24.th Street, on Friday afternoon, Nov. 20th, Dr. Edward Eggleston, third Vice-President, in the chair. On motion the meeting was adjourned to a date in December, to be determined by the Secretary, of which (hie notifica- tion will be given. At a preliminary meeting of the Executive Council of the Leagues some routine business was transacted, and a committee consisting of Mr. E. Stedmun, first Vice-President and acting President of the League, and Mr. 11. U. Johnson, Secretary, were appointed to draft resolutions on the death of James Russell Lowell, late President of the League, to be reported at the December meeting, which will also receive rejwrts, elect officers, and decide upon the future policy of the League. II. The following is important. It is an extract from a communication made to an English editor by an American house :— "In the case of the publisher of a magazine who uses matter which is also copyrighted in the United States, we think it very important that he should secure from the author in writing his or her autho- rity, not only to publish it in their magazine, but also his or her authority to export it, i.e., the said magazine to the United States; also to sell the same in the United States. This authority should \n: given in legal form, and signed in the presence of two witnesses, and copies of the authority should be sent over to us, so that in case questions should come up here we should have positive proof that the author had given his authority to import and sell the publication in the United States." The Associated Press of New York has been interviewing English publishers as to the working of the Copyright Law. As reported, the general opinion seems to be that none of the evils prophesied for the printing trade are likely to come to pass. Composition in America is twenty-five per cent, at least more than it is here. American authors are asking larger prices; literature which appeals to the million will undoubtedly be greatly affected by the Act; other literature, naturally, to a much less extent. The benefit to the author who commands a hearing in America will be enormous. An American' writes to remonstrate with an expression used in the Author. It described the. Copyright Law as a Printer's Protection Act. He points out that the printers are no more protected than they were before. This is quite true; the expression should not have been used. We regret that it was used.—Editor. ■ ♦•«■♦ LITERARY CRITICISM. IP literary criticism may be said to flourish among us at all, it certainly flourishes im- mensely, for it flows through the periodical press like a river that has burst its dykee. The  ## p. 233 (#637) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 233 quantity of it is prodigious, and it is a commodity of which, however the demand may be estimated, the supply will be sure to be, in any supposable extremity, the last thing to fail us. What strikes the observer above all, in such an affluence, is the unexpected proportion the discourse uttered bears to the objects discoursed of—the paucity of ex- amples, of illustrations and productions, and the deluge of doctrine, suspended in the void, the profusion of talk, and the poverty of experiment, of what one may call literary conduct. This, indeed, ceases to be an anomaly as soon as we look at the conditions of contemporary jour- nalism. Then we see that these conditions have engendered the practice of " reviewing "—a practice that, in general, has nothing in common with the art of criticism. Periodical literature is a huge open mouth which has to be fed—a vessel of immense capacity which has to be filled. It is like a regular train which starts at an advertised hour, but which is free to start only if every seat be occupied. The seats are many, the train is ponder- ously long, and hence the manufacture of dummies for the seasons when there are not passengers enough. A stuffed manikin is thrust into the empty seat, where it makes a creditable figure till the end of the journey. It looks sufficiently like a passenger, and you know it is not only when you perceive that it neither says anything nor gets out. The guard attends to it when the train is shunted, blows the cinders from its wooden face, and gives a different crook to its elbow, so that it may serve for another run. In this way, in a well-conducted periodical, the blocks of rcmplissage are the dummies of criticism —the recurrent, regulated billows in the ocean of talk. They have a reason for being, and the situation is simpler when we perceive it. It helps to explain the disproportion I just mentioned, as well, in many a case, as the quality of the particular discourse. It helps us to understand that the "organs of public opinion" must be no less copious than punctual, that publicity must main- tain its high standard, that ladies and gentlemen may turn an honest penny by the free expenditure of ink. Henby James (Philadelphia Paper). TWO ACTIONS AT LAW. I. Pinnock v. Chapman and Hall. THE same number of the Times—Wednesday, December 9th—contained two reports of cases, Iwth of the greatest importance. The first of these was Pinnock v. Chapman and Hall. This case VOL. II, was probably seen by all our readers, who have also read the comments upon it in most of the papers. Briefly, it was an action by a private person against a firm of publishers for an alleged libel contained in a certain book of stories. In this book the plaintiff stated that he had been introduced in such a manner as to make the identity impossible to be doubted, and in such a way as to convey charges affecting his honour. The defence set up was not that a novelist has the right to place any person he pleases under disguise, real or slight, but tliat the plaintiff was not intended. The judge, in summing up, put these two questions to the jury: (1) Did the author have the plaintiff in his mind and intend him when writing this story? (2) Was the tale so written that those knowing the plaintiff would reasonably infer that he was intended? If either question was answered in the affirmative, the jury would have to consider only the question of damages. The jury did find an affirmative reply to these questions and returned a verdict for the plaintiff with 200/. damages. The comments on the case mostly turned on the publisher's side of the question. Every- body asked how a publisher could protect him- self. Nobody seems to have perceived that it is perfectly simple to insert 11 clause in every agree- ment to the effect that the author is liable for any damages or costs in fighting an action for libel. Such a clause is inserted in some agreements, and it is one which no author could refuse to accept. With this clause, and with the additional pre- caution of a careful reader—in this case the reader was led to believe that the whole book was fiction —there should be little danger for the publisher. Of course, the author might be unable to pay the damages. On that point tin; publisher would take care to be informed beforehand. Some twenty years ago a similar case was brought. The offending author was reported at the time to have paid the damages inflicted on the firm out of his own pocket. If he did so his action was just and honourable. The real difficulty is the novelist's, not the pub- lisher's. Our whole gallery of fictitious characters is a gallery of portraits. There is not a novelist living or dead whose books are not filled with portraits drawn from the life. There is not a single book of any note in which there are not living characters, and for the most part characters well known and easy to be recognised. Fiction, like painting, must have models. It will be the beginning of the end for fiction when she ceases to draw from the life. Now, it is easy to get a model for the studio—but difficult—almost impossible—to get a model for the study. AVho would consent to sit for the Marquis of Steyne—for Major Pendennis—for Jos Sedley —for Blanche Amory—for Ralph Nickleby—for Squeers—^for the Egoist? These portraits have to Q  ## p. 234 (#638) ############################################ 234 THE AUTHOR. bo taken surreptitiously—a line here, ft line there— here the Kodak—there ft word of talk. They have to be drawn with selection and discrimination. Hitherto, none of these unwilling models have brought their unwillingness into court. All the world, perhaps, knew who was meant, but the subject pretended either not to know or not to care. Henceforth the novelist must l>e very careful. If he takes from his acquaintance a villain, a hypocrite, a sensualist, an egotist, a man selfish, voluptuous, vain, foolish, priggish, a hum- bug, a bully, a poseur—anything—he must be very careful so to disguise him that the model, though he may know, may have no legal cause for complaint. He may transform to his canvas the mental qualities of the model or the physical peculiarities or the conditions and facts of the model's life. But not all together. Thus, if his character adorn New York, transfer him to London; if he be mentally humpbacked transpose the hump to a person physically unlike the real man. The effect is not quite so happy as the bodily transfer of the whole man with all his surroundings, and the conditions which have made him what he is. But it is safer. The portrait of a dead man may, one supposes, be shown accurately without danger of legal'proceedings. In such a, case the painter need only fear the vengeance of able-bodied sons, brothers, or cousins. II. The Proprietor of a Magazine v. The Proprietor of a Country Paper. This case is also one of considerable importance, because it involves some definition of the right of a newspaper to copy or abridge work appearing in a magazine. The defendant admitted the pub- lication of an abridgment, but contended that he had acted in perfect good faith; that he had received a copy of the magazine containing the story, and that he had believed that he had the consent of the plaintiffs to publish the story. It does not appear, in fact, that the defendant did more than has been very often done by country papers. Yet it was necessary that the powers of a newspaper to reproduce magazine articles should be defined. There can be no doubt that the reproduction of papers or portions of papers from certain magazines may materially advance their popularity and increase their circulation, so that, to some extent, editors should be encouraged to reproduce them. But it is well to remember that the copyright belongs to the man who has bought it, and that copyright means the right to publish. There can be no harm done so long as editors recognise the necessity of getting permission to reproduce, and so long as that permission is freely granted, But it should not be asked, nor would it be granted, in the case of stories which form the most attractive part of most magazines. ♦■»■♦ THE STORYTELLER'S NIGHT. HERE is a hint for the Authors' Club. At the Aldiue Club, New York, they have a Storyteller's Night. Their last was on Thursday, December 17th. Mr. Frank Stockton took the chair. The storytellers were Mr. George Cable, M. Paul du Chail'lu, Mr. Charles Dudley Warner, Mr. W. Hamilton Gibsou, Mr. Will Carlines, and others. One after the other they stood up and told their stories, and sat down again. In one respect we cannot imitate the Aldine Club. Their dinner was not served till ten o'clock. Our ]>eople wouldn't stand that. Here is Mr. Charles Warner's story as reported in the Critic :— "There was once a robber in Cairo who fell from the second story of a house he was trying to enter, and broke his leg. He went to the Cadi aud complained. The man's window was badly made, and he wanted justice. The Cadi said that was reasonable, and he summoned the owner of the house. The owner confessed that the house was poorly built, but claimed that the eaqienter was to blame, and not he. This struck the Cadi as sound logic, aud he sent for the carpenter. 1 The charge is, alas, too true,' said the carpenter,' but the masonry was at fault and I couldn't fit a good window.' "So the Cadi, impressed with the reasonableness of the argument, sent for the mason. The mason pleaded guilty, but explained that a pretty girl in a blue gown had passed the building while he was at work, aud that his attention had been diverted from his duty. The Cadi thereupon demanded that the girl be brought before him. 'It is true,' she said, 'that I am pretty, but it's no fault of mine. If my gown attracted the mason, the dyer should be punished and not I.' 'Quite true,' said the Cadi,' send for the dyer.' The dyer was brought to the bar and pleaded guilty. That settled it. The Cadi told the robber to take the guilty- wretch to his hoiiBe and hang him from the door-sill, and the populace rejoiced that justice had been done. Hut pretty soon the crowd returned to the Cadi's house, com- plaining that the dyer was too long to be properly hanged from his door-sill. 'Oh, well,' said the Cadi, who by that time was suffering with ennui,' go find a short dyer aud hang him. Justice shall prevail.'" — NOTES AND NEWS. MB. Brander Matthews, a writer of distinction in the world of fiction, has just published (Longmans, " With my Friends "), a dainty volume of short stories idl written in collaljomtion.  ## p. 235 (#639) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 235 His literary partners are Mr. H. S. Bunner, Mr. Walter Pollock, Mr. George H. Jessop, and Mr. F. Anstey. All the stories are good, but the first and the third seem to nie especially good. There is an introduction in which Mr. Brander Matthews (without a collaborateur) treats of the art and mystery of collaboration. I think that this is the only essay ever written on the subject; that is to say, many have written about literary partners, but none 011 what is really meant by a literary partnership; how men may collaborate in literary work; what constitutes partnership; the advantages of such partnership; its dangers and disadvantages and limitations. The scanty limits of the Author do not permit a summary, however brief, of this valuable essay, nor do they permit certain comments which one would like to make. These must be reserved for another place. Mean- time I beg to recommend the book to all who write fiction, not only for its excellent stories but for this introductory essay. One point I note in this place. Mr. Brander Matthews claims for collaboration an educational value so far as concerns construction. "It succeeds," he says, "most abundantly where clearness is needed, where precision, skill, and logic are looked for, where we expect simplicity of motive, sharpness of outline, ingenuity of construction, and clearness of effect." Observe that these are all things which are absolutely essential to the success of a drama. It is, he thinks, because the habit of collaboration so much obtains in France that the constructive part of their work is generally so much better than with us. Now, in fiction as well as the drama, all these qualities are desirable. And a want of clearness in outline, a want of sharpness, is one of the most common faults in English fiction. If this could be removed by a little collaboration, let us collaborate. The reason why collaboration proves a remedy for this fault is, I apprehend, that the inventor of the fable—there can be two minds working upon it, but there can be but one inventor—is thus enabled to see his own idea projected upon another brain; he sees it as it is, not as he imagines it is; he sees it in the mind of another man. Why is it that the unsuccessful man of letters so often cannot understand his ill success? Mainly, perhaps, because he cannot really see his own work; he sees the vision of it in his own brain, and he cannot understand that he has not transferred it to the page. With a collaborateur he would have had to bring out every character, every incident, every name to be discussed, arranged, altered, and made presentable. Collaboration has many dangers and many difficulties. One would "ot recommend a young writer to collaborate, except for quite short things, first of all; to feel his way; to enter into no lasting engagements; and never, whatever disputes may afterwards happen, to claim more than a just half share in the work. Perhaps, after all, the best form of collaboration is that which has produced this volume. It is when two friends, in after-dinner talk, hit upon an idea, begin to turn it about, to see its possibilities, and in an hour's amusement actually to construct a story which cither of them can write down. Every great thought proves to have been antici- pated by somebody else. For instance, when wo talked of a school for novelists and of the possi- bility of teaching those capable of learning some- thing of the elements, just as rhetoric may be taught to one who wishes to know how to conduct an argument, we were quite ignorant that there was already in the field a Professor of the Art—a Literary Tutor—and that he had been in practice for many years. That is, however, the case. This gentleman edits a magazine—not one of those, apparently, which pander to the taste of the day and are read by such people as ourselves, because it is not on the bookstalls. Moreover, on application to the office we found it gone—the people knew not whither. The tuition is conducted by letter only. The fees are decidedly low—thirty shillings for three months and five guineas a year, and the tutor offers (at least he has offered to one editor) the splendid commission of half a guinea on every literary pupil obtained for him. He says in his prospectus that many of his former pupils have now "ascended several steps up the ladder of Fame." Now, in all departments of learning, the teacher must be able to show that he is able to do, himself, the thing that he teaches. Let us, therefore, beg all who think of getting such help as that proffered by this gentle- man, or others like him, ascertain that he has shown himself, by his own writings, a corn- latent guide. That one has never heard of him is not enough to make one refuse his services or to warn others against him. Let him prove his competence in the only way possible, by the pro- duction of his own work. If it is good work, there is a possibility that he may be able to teach. But that proved, the next question is whether the man 1* able to teach? Meanwhile, that offer of the half guinea commission does not, somehow, inspire one with confidence. A communication has been received from the advertiser in the Daily News whose proposal was commented on hi the last number of the Aut/ior (i 2  ## p. 236 (#640) ############################################ 236 THE AUTHOR. under the title of "A Now Departure." What he says is practically this—which one is quite ready to admit—that a literary agent, or middle- man, may be very useful for an author. It is quite true, and there are literary agents already in existence; the advertiser would do well to find out a good one and employ him. He must be very careful not to employ any- one not well recommended. He goes on to say that " not a quota "—what is that ?—of MSS. sub- mitted to publishers are ever read. My own experience is that MSS. are always read by pub- lishers. He therefore thinks that a literary agent would read them though the publisher will not. A literary agent would not read MSS.; he cannot possibly do so. Ho might, as publishers do, em- ploy a staff of readers, but he could not, personally, read MSS. Here then is advice for this adver- tiser. Withdraw your advertisement; apply to the society for advice; if you employ a literary agent you will have to pay him a great deid less than the 25 per cent, you foolishly offer to any shark who may be on the look out for prey. "It is a part of the literary gift," says a cor- respondent, "that authors should express their disagreements in the most disagreeable manner possible." Profound observation! It explains in one short sentence the whole of the history of authors and their quarrels. It also affords hope to the despondent. There may be a brighter future for literature, when its followers will cease to scratch and claw and revile and scarify each other. Manners will, some time or other, be taught. Thus the natural woman, when she disagrees with her friend, scratches, clapperclaws, and tears out hair. One has seen the natural woman so dis- playing her disagreement; the onlooker, at such a moment, thinks of authors with a sigh. But the blessings of civilisation are teaching the natural woman a better method; you may now walk about the streets for a twelvemonth without finding such a natural woman. In course of time we shall find our own profession educated up to the point of disagreeing with politeness. The Bludyers, how- ever, are a long-lived race. A correspondent in the St. James's Gazette writing on the old grievance—far more real for playwrights than for novelists—of the difficulty of getting a piece produced, he makes a practical suggestion. It is that the manager, like the publisher, shall have a reader or a staff of readers. Why not? He goes on, however, to suggest that the dramatist shall pay the reader himself. Why? The author does not pay the publisher's reader. He is part of tlie office. Why should not the manager pay his reader? But the circumstances are not quite similar. Editors of magazines and publishers must always l>e bringing out new things—every month for the magazines—every season for the book list. The manager only brings out a new thing when he is obliged. If he gave the world a new play every two months or so—as he could yvere it not for the present lavish expense of mounting and dressing—he would want a reader. As he looks for a run of twelve months at least, he does not; he prefers arranging for a new play with an old hand. Think of a new piece every month at the Lyceum, and another at the Haymarket, and another new piece at the Comedy, the Prince of Wales's, and all of them! In ten years we shoidd have such a company of dramatic authors in this country as was never before known. A successful play would not then be worth, as it is now, a small fortune; it would, as it should, be worth what a successful novel is worth, and no more. But that shoidd be quite enough to stimulate hundreds of active brains. And then the manager's reader would be a very useful person indeed. Mr. Andrew Lang's "Sign of the Ship" is always a thing to look for— it is one of the minor events of the month—though, like the delicacies of the Christmas season, he does not always agree with one. This month he contributes a few interesting statistics concerning novels. There have been, he says, 270 novels of the year, as recorded in a library catalogue. As a fact, there have been many more. A "student"—of fiction or of folk lore?—has kindly erased 254 from this catalogue, as not to he sent. Of these, about 24 had been read before; of those left on the list, twelve, at least, wore experi- mental. Of the whole 270, there were about forty that " a male human being might read." The rest, he says, yvere all for ladies. "Ah !" he cries, "that authors would not write, that publishers would not publish, that libraries would not buy, the common, mild, middle-class domestic novel any more!" If one were obliged to read them, one would certainly echo that sigh. But then, you see, one is not obliged—and one does not read them. In the same way as we pass a pastrycook's shop, and observe the masses of tarts, cakes, buns, chocolate, and confec- tions of jam, one might cry, "Ah! that pastrycooks would not make, that people would not buy, that children would not eat the common, mild, domestic biliousness any more!" Or, when one passes the fragrant fried fish-shop, one might equally ejacu- late, " Ah! that fryers would not fry, that sho[>s would not sell, that workgirls would not eat, this  ## p. 237 (#641) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 237 terrible, horrible, awful mess!" Or, again, when one goes to an exhibition of pictures, and sees the acres of wall space covered with feeble and conven- tional daubs, one might cry, "Ah! that painters would not paint, that exhibitions would not exhibit, that people would not buy these mild, domestic, middle-class conventional pictures any more!" Now, let us make out what case we can for the mild novel that nobody wants. In the first place, does it injure the circulation of the forty which the male human being can read? It may injure, to a very small extent, their circulating library circula- tion. That is to say, the latest work of the Eminent novelist may be bought by the hundred instead of the hundred and twenty, and readers are made to wait a little for him, because—it is rejK>rted—the small fry can be bought—" sorted out "—at a much lower price—sometimes at five shillings the three volumes. But at Smith's they will get, I l>elieve, any book that the subscriber asks for. If that is the case, then the Eminent one suffers not at all, however many domestic novels are produced. But readers always have the remedy in their own hands. They can send back, by return post, the rubbish which fills the box. Or, better still, they can select books for themselves, and return all those which 'are not in the list. As to the cheap edition—the one-volume edition—of course the mild domestic novel, which never gets to that edition at all, injures nol>ody. In fact, the whole 23oout of the 270 appear, flutter about for a month or two, and then vanish for ever. Their real end, which is pieces, comes to them after a few seasons in the seaside circulating library. Broadstairs, for instance, hath a noble, unique col- lection of the novels that nobody wants. Even little Llanfairfechan is not without this museum, though on a smaller scale. Again, there are many, very many, desperately dull houses in country towns and country villages where the ladies must, perforce, devote part of the day to reading. I hope we have long since passed the old fashioned stage of believing that one must read only with a view to improving the mind. Those ladies read with a view to getting out of their dullness—away from themselves. They therefore read novels. They read a novel in two days, or three at the most, say three a week. They therefore read a hundred and fifty in the year, or, leaving out eight weeks for amusement, travel, and other distractions, they read one hundred and thirty-two novels in the year. Now, if there were published none hut the forty readable by superior VOL. IT. man, these poor ladies would simply have nothing to read, nothing to talk about, nothing to distract them from the deadly petty gossip of the place, for about fort)- weeks in the year. Think—oh! think—What a calamity would l>e the suppression of the Two Hundred and Thirty! Again, let us acknowledge, for argument, the feebleness and the conventionality of the stuff. But it is intended for the distraction of minds not too strong at best, and, in their hours of relaxation, at their feeblest. Do these books harm anybody? Indeed, no, unless feebleness of writing injures the mentally weak. Do they lower, for those who read, their standard of purity, of nobility? No. These writers accept this standard to the best of their abilities, and, for the most part, maintain it. I do not profess to have read much of the work of this poor company of Two Hundred and Thirty, shiver- ing and trembling beneath the forefinger of scorn, but I believe that if they ventured to assail our morals, they would lx? instantly annihilated. There is an Eye—a watchful Eye—upon the morals of the novelist. In my own humble way, I have received remonstrances which revealed the existence of that Eye. Once—only once—I suffered—nay, encou- raged—a sailor to kiss a girl in a summer house— only a kiss, nothing more, but it was wrong—it was sinful, and I heard of it. "I thought," wrote the indignant moralist, " that your lxwks were safe reading for my daughter. Most providentially I looked into that one called 'The World went very- well then' before placing it in my child's hands. I can only say—may God grant you repentance and forgive you!" If this wholesome watchfulness is kept upon the male novelist, how much more upon the artist of the other sex! Again, there are about thirty or forty ladies who, by writing these domestic novels for other ladies, manage to make a little income, varying from fifty to a hundred pounds a year, bringing out one every year. The libraries take three or four hundred copies of each. The publishers make— say, a hundred pounds to a hundred and fifty pounds by each work. Are we to deprive these ladies of their income? It is of vital importance to them. If we have no pity on the poor ladies, shall we not find one tear for the innocent publisher? Or, if this company of Two Hundred and Thirty were annihilated, think what would happen to the R  ## p. 238 (#642) ############################################ 238 THE AUTHOR. young gentlemen who write papers for the thought- ful magazines on the Decay of Fiction! Magazines have got to be filled, as Mr. Henry James has pointed out. What so easy to write as an article on the Worthlessness of Modern Fiction! The editors like the subject. Anybody who can write at all, whether he knows anything about, fiction or not, whether he is capable, of writing or inventing the smallest anecdote, thinks he can write an article upon it. If we were to approach the editor with an article on the Fried Fish craving which seems so deplorably on the increase in certain cpiarters, he would not take it. I am sure he would not. But an article on novels? Why, he takes at least three every year, and sometimes more. And then there are the weekly reviews. The novels find employment in their pages for many eminent hands. And there are the daily papers. The reviewer of novels finds in their columns con- stant and remunerative occupation. And the writer of the literary letter. He has hardly anything to talk about but, novels and novelists. There is also the writer of the paragraphs—what would he do without his novelists? Indeed, when we think of the re- viewers alone, we shrink in terror from a measure of suppression which would abolish their chief source of income. "Strike," we hear them cry, " strike at church and constitution; abolish the House of Lords; suppress the House of Commons; but leave, oh! leave us this company of Two Hundred and Thirty." Put all together, the libraries, the publishers, the publishers' readers, the advertise- ment columns, the reviewers, the thoughtful young gentlemen of the Higher criticism who write on Decay, the printers, the lx>okbinders, the paper makers, the artists, and the authors, and consider what would be meant by abolishing this poor Company. No. Let us rather say," Go on—goon— ye Two Hundred and Thirty. Go on writing as long as the people go on reading. When some other amusement is found, as attractive, as ready to hand, as cheap as reading, perhaps there will be no longer any demand for you. When you cease to write, then we—your reviewers—cease to flourish. Go on. But we reserve, meantime, the right to scoff and sneer at you whenever there is nothing else to write about, and whether we read you, or whether we do not. Indeed, we never intend to read you. Your function, next to pleasing the girls who read you, is to furnish subject for contemptuous writing for those who do not read you." There is only one thing more to be said. Out of the Two Hundred and Thirty, at least eighty are authors who pay for the production of their books. And then, because the library catalogue by no means exhausts the list of new novels, there is probably another eighty or more also paid for by the authors which never even get into the libraries at all. Walter Besant. PUBLISHING ON COMMISSION. i. General Literature. 2. Medical Literature. OUR first impulse at the office of the Society of Authors, on hearing from an author that he intends to bring out a book at his own expense, is to dissuade him from his project, for it is our general experience that these undertaking* end in disappointment. Accordinglv, wo publish a warning every month, urging a young author never, never to pay for production. But although we make it a rule to dissuade young authors from publishing in this way, we have never lost sight of the fact that in certain special cases it may be fo the author's advantage to bear the cost of production himself. For instance, let us suppose that an author has n book for which a quick sale can bo expected in certain quarters, owing to bis own personal efforts or private; influence, or both. This is not a very rare state of affairs. His public is a ready-made one and does not require to be approached through any special channels, or with any publishing wiles. He is more or less in the position of a man who has a certain number of subscriptions guaranteed to him for his work; he am get at his public himself, am! does not want any assistance. Such a man hail l>etter publish upon commission. He runs no risk and his pecuniary returns will be greatest in this way. Take, again, the ease of an author whose chosen subject precludes him from ever achieving real popularity. His work may be a valuable contri- bution to literature of the highest kind, and a useful addition to the world's store of knowledge. There would be good grounds for recommending the owner of such a work to produce it at his own expense, but we should warn him of the probability that much of his money would be sunk, and that he would have to take out his reward in glory for ever. It is true that many such books are pub- lished from time to time at the cost of learnea societies, while a few are published on the time- honoured subscription method, but an author is not always so fortunate as to find either societies or individuals, who are ready to pay his printer's bill. It often happens that these books, thoroughly valuable work as they may be, are left to find their  ## p. 239 (#643) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 239 way to the public through the author or not nt all. If the author does not expect anything else, but is satisfied to lose money in making his name, and spreading the knowledge he has gained for the good of his fellow-man, it is most right that he should publish at his own expense. No one asks tliiit the author's reputation should be made at the expense of the publisher's purse. All the Society does in such eases is to say: "Publish by all means, but put yourself in honourable hands, so that you may not be cheated over the accounts, and do not anticipate large profits." But besides these classes of books there is another, where, the author's resolve to publish at his own expense can be justified by sensible and practical reasons, although the result may be a pecuniary loss to him. This is the position in the publication of certain medical books. All purely medical books may be said to belong to one of three classes :— (1.) Works of general medical reference. (2.) Books written in one of the popular series. (3.) Monographs on special medical subjects. To the first class belong the historic medical works. They generally remain the property of their publishers, though it is not unknown for the copyright to have been held by the author, editor, or compiler. There is a steady annual sale for these books to the, medical profession, to the general public, to students, and to hospital and general libraries; and the new editions, as they are issued, are brought up to date by the author, or, in case of his death, by the most fitting person whom the owner of the copyright can secure for the purpose. The price at which they are, sold is, as a rule, by no means a popular one, so that many of these books an'^aluable pecuniary properties. And this is very ^Jtting, for most of them are monuments of industry and research. The books of the second class—those written as parts of a scries—have the double value, to their author, always possessed by books written for a scries, i.e., they bring him in some money and Wime reputation. The author's name becomes widely known, for these books always sell largely. The good ones sell the bad ones, and the popular prices suit the purse of a great many people. Every copy of every book contains an advertisement of the rest of the series. Again, as it is widely believed— a very justifiable belief—that the best available men for the different subjects are always desired to write these series, the public spread of a doctor's name attached to one of the books is directly or indirectly so good for him, that the small fee received for writing the book is counterbalanced thereby. The pay and the fame should be, and doubtless are, self-compensating and self-arranging. The more the author was the favourably-known man in VOL. 11. connexion with his subject, the higher will be his price, and the less his desire or necessity for advertisement; the less known he is, the cheaper would he sell his work, and the more good would he expect to get from the publicity. Or it may be that a doctor is approached by the owner of one of these series, and is asked for a work on a special subject at a certain figure,* and is told that the sum named is the sum that is to be paid to all the authors of all the monographs. There is here no question of sticking out for a higher price. If the scientist wants the notoriety and the lucre he will exchange his brainwork for them. If he is not tempted, the proprietor will easily find some other person equally fitted for the task to undertake it at the suggested price. But it is of the third class, the monographs on special subjects, that we particularly wish to speak, l)ecause they appear to occupy a unique position in publishing. Most often the work is written by a man who is not yet widely known, in the hopes of becoming widely known. It is thus in a way an advertisement pure and simple, an expression, however, for which a few words of explanation will be necessary. But the first point to be noted is that it may l>e a very good book, and, as a matter of fact, it generally is a very good book. If mere excellence would sell a medical work, so that there should be a pecuniary profit upon it, many of these works would l>c worth more to the publishers than those written under contract. But, alas! mere excellence will not by itself achieve so desirable an object. For the public to which a purely medical book is sold is a very small one, though it be one, with whom excellence would have due weight. And here, of course, conies in the great difference between the publication on com- mission of the medical work, and the same proceeding, when applied to the ordinary novel. Both acts may be looked upon as an act of adver- tisement, but the novel addressed to a very large and uncritical public may sell to great jiecuniary advantage, although it be exceedingly bad, while the treatise, being of interest only to a small and thoughtful body, cannot ever realise a profit for its author, though it be an exceedingly good and valuable work. So far is this true, that we make bold to say that if Professor Koch's discovery had been a trustworthy or perhaps, it is more correct to .say a complete and conclusive piece of work, and he had embodied the results of his researches in a book, whoever published the book would have lost money by the transaction. Details of elaborate experiments, with figures, numbers, illustrations, * Fifty pounds down, and another fifty pounds towards the cost of illustration, is the offer made by the proprietor of one of these series to his authors. S  ## p. 240 (#644) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. foot-notes, side-note, and cross-references cannot be printed with the ease and cheapness characteristic of the production of a " yellow-back." And when the expensive book, containing within its pages priceless and authentic information as to one of the scourges of humanity is ready for sale, who is going to buy it? A suffering public—of course not. It is not written for them. If it were written for them it would not have been worth writing. The whole medical profession? Cer- tainly not. Doctors are not rich people, and those books cost so much to produce, that some sub- stantial price must be put upon them, while the practical use to the rank and file of the medical profession of an elaborate scientific monograph is very small. "Who buys the work, then? A few savants, a few professors, and a few libraries. But from these sources the knowledge contained in the work is disseminated in lectures, comments, re- views, and scientific articles, so that the book becomes broadly useful to an enormous public, who could have gained nothing, however, by buying it for them- selves. The good to the public is obtained, but—to put it flippantly—where does the author come in? This way, for there is no especial disinterested- ness about the medical author. Public recog- nition by his fellows as the author of a valuable work is a reward that may at any time prove as substantial to his pocket as it is grateful to his self-esteem. Upon such recognition follow appointments, upon appointments pupils, upon these lectureships, upon lectureships practices, and upon these legitimate notoriety, with its substantial results. This, of course, is the rosy future for the author of the medical book published upon com- mission. That it actually occurs often is not suggested, but some part of the programme is carried out in a fair proportion of eases. Com- paratively speaking, this sort of success is as often met with among medical authors, as is a large pecuniary success among the producers of fiction upon commission. In taking as an imaginary case a work by Koch, it may be said that here the author had previously obtained the very things which it is suggested are the medical author's sole reward. This is so. That case was selected merely to point out the unsalc- ability of medical books. If a work by a great man on a subject of world-wide urgency cannot pay its way, how can pecuniary profits be expected for the more specialistic work of a less known man? That is the question it was desired to raise. It is true there is no substantial reward to come to the von- great physician who writes a purely medical book. He is one of the authors who ha.s to take out his reward in fame. In this Society we have always insisted that literary property ought. to receive some tangible recognition, but there are cases when in the natural course of events this is not forthcoming. And this is so here. Let it l>e remembered, however, that in no very far-fetched way, the successful and distinguished physician cam be supposed to have been prepaid for his work. His practice and his appointments have made it possible for him to acquire the necessary information, and he owes it to his world-wide reputation that he should make his discoveries public. In speaking of "advertisement" it must he understood that no reproach is intended by the word. Such a medical book as we have referred to is only intended to justify its author's position, or enchance his reputation among his fellows. It is not an appeal to the public to come to him and be healed, and the Royal College of Physicians can be trusted to see that no one whose conduct seemed to be o[>en to this interpretation, attains to a position of professional authority, whatever may be his public repute. There are those who have chosen to rely upon public opinion only, and to these—still without reproach—the word advertisement applies in its full sense. THE ABT OF FICTION AND THE AUTHORS OF ANTIQUITY. THE majority of mankind have resolved to believe that there is no such thing as an "art of romance," and the novelist, in the opinion of the greater part of his fellow creatures, is merely a man who, being too idle, or, more likely, too great a fool to do anything else, wastes his time—probablv worth nothing—and pens, ink, and paper—which cost something—in writing at random "anything that comes into his head." Human lieings are slow to correct received opinions, and probably society must be left to enjoy this error, amongst, a great many others, for a very long time to come. Meanwhile the "scribbler" of "trashy novels," whilst turning over the pages of his masters, the great authors of all ages, observes with delight that the writers of antiquity were well acquainted with all the canons of his art. The classical authors were themselves guided by these same canons in the composition of their immortal works; their writings abound with allusions to them; and in works upon authorship, of a purely didactic kind, they expound these fundamental rules of construc- tion with all their familiar force and precision. Indeed, it would be easy to compile from Aristotle's Poetics and Horace's Epistle to the Pisones, a code of maxims comprehending almost all that the beginner in fiction has to learn, and a great  ## p. 241 (#645) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. deal more than writers long engaged upon this difficult art are always happy enough to be able to remember. Aspirants after literary or dramatic fame will scarcely find anywhere manuals of equal value for their guidance; and whilst consulting them may assure themselves that they are in the very best company. Anyone who pleases may convince himself that Fielding had been reading Aristotle's Poetics when he wrote the second chapter of the third book of Joseph Andrews, his first novel. But, to offer some evidence of an assertion that will certainly seem startling to a good many people. In the first place the authors of antiquity were fully convinced that the composition of any kind of "history "* was an art that could be taught, and ought to be learned. It seems odd that anyone can be found to dispute the fact, one who knew, and whom everyone knows, having written, pretty nearly two thousand years ago, Kgo nec stadium sine divite vena Nec rude quid possit video ingenium; altering sic Altera poscit opem res, et conjuntt amiee.f But what is talent and what is art, the majority do not concern themselves to discover, and, in consequence, starting from some vague misappre- hension of both, they easily arrive at all sorts of absurd conclusions. Lucian, however, in his interesting work "How History should be written" (chap. 33), deals with this very point at some length, and what he says is in substance this:— "The author should have these two principal tilings to start with, intelligence and descriptive power. The former is a thing that cannot be taught, a natural gift; but the power of description must be acquired by much exercise, and by continuous labour, and by emulation of the ancients. The former, then, is not a matter of art, and here there is no need of 'advice from me. For this little book of mine does not profess to make people clever and quick who are not so by nature. It would be a valuable book, or rather the most valuable of all books, if it could effect transmutations and transfor- mations of that sort But where then is the use of art and advice? Not to create abilities where they already exist, but to show the right way to use them So, pray, let no one look askance at me if I profess to have discovered an art in so great and difficult a matter. For I do not say that I can make an author of anyone you please; but that I can show a man, who is naturally intelligent, and who is well versed in literature, certain right ways by which he may more rapidly and more easily attain to a certain success." * Novels are histories. "We have properly enough entitled this our work a history." Fielding. "Tom Jones," book 2, chap. 1., and passim throughout the same work. t Horace. Ars poetica, 409. Now the distinction between ability and artistic power could hardly be better explained than in this passage. Again, in the forty-eighth chapter of the same work, Lucian insists upon the importance of working from a scenario, a matter about which even a great many authors are sceptical. Here is what W says:— "When the author has gathered all together, or the greater part, first of all he should weave a sort of memorandum, ami make a kind of corpus, without any adornments, or any joining together of the various parts. Afterwards, when he hits further introduced arrangement, he should add ornament, and then set forth his book, with art, and reflection, and finished style." But we may turn to a writer greater than Lucian. Aristotle's work on poetics brims with suggestions of the highest value. The only difficulty is to select one or two passages amidst so great an embarras des richesses. Aristotle addresses himself more particularly to the tragic dramatist and the epic poet; but as both of these must have a story, what he has to say about the " mythos " is equally useful to the novelist. And it is worth while to notice— considering some opinions that have been expressed in late years—that Aristotle sets the highest value upon the story. "The story," he says, "is the beginning, and, so to say, the soul of the tragedy."* Whilst in the twenty-fourth chapter of his work, he observes, "narrative art is above the others." This is the sort of remark that brings the heart of the " trashy novelist " into his mouth. But to return to the story. A story, Aristotle declares, should be "a whole and perfect action, having a certain length."! Next he explains what he means by "a whole "—something that has a beginning, and a middle, and an end. The beginning is that which does not of necessity result from something else. But after it something else naturally follows. The middle is that which both succeeds in consequence of something and leads to something else. And the end is that which naturally follows, "either of necessity or in all probability," but after which nothing further neces- sarily ensues. Therefore "those who would put stories together well, must neither begin acci- dentally anywhere nor end accidently anywhere." Aristotle is always brief to obscurity, but every writer who has discovered with Jean Paul Richter that, "es gibt in der ganzen entdeckten Welt keine verdammtere Arbeit als einen ersten Secktor zu schreiben," will feel that the Stagyrite is a friend in need in having, at any rate, something to say about where the story ought to begin. * Aristotle, Poetica. Chapter 5. t Aristotle, Poetica. Chapter 7.  ## p. 242 (#646) ############################################ 242 THE AUTHOR. Respecting length, Aristotle's rule is that the story should he of such a length that the whole may be conveniently carried in the memory. He considers that " taking into consideration the nature of the action related in the story, the longer tale, provided it be connectedly clear from end to end, will be the better. So that we may sav, giving a simple rule, that a sufficient length is that which affords room for the successive incidents which effect in some necessary or probable manner the change of the fortunes of the diameters from happy to sad or sad to happy."* And these great writers were practical. It is at this very point that Aristotle pauses to add that in the question of length the habits and requirements of the public must not lie overlooked. Aristotle must not detain us longer, for to leave Horace unquoted would not be pardonable. At the same time to adduce passages from the familiar "De arte pnetica" is almost an impertinence. Some interesting lines occur, however, in the second epistle of the second book, respecting the great art of " cutting " :— At qui legitimum cupiet fecisse poema, Cum tabulis animum censoris sumet honest!; Audebit, quscumque parum splendoris habebunt Kt sine ponders enint et honors indigna fercntur, Verba movere loco, quamvis invita reccdant Et versentur adhuc intra penetralia Vesta:; The novelist cannot exist who does not feel the force of the last two lines. How often the very passage that lias to be cut out, the incident, the morsel of word painting, the author's philosophic reflection is emphatically something "most un- willing to quit its place." How often it is some- thing that has dwelt by the hearth-fire of the author's thought, and has haunted his imagination from the day when he commenced his tale. But, "sed nunc non erat his locus," and the favourite passage must go. Which suggests another of Aristotle's maxims, "Whatsoever, whether introduced or not, makes no difference in the storv, is no part of the storv." Such are a few passages only out of works abounding with suggestive remarks of the greatest value. Anyone who will open them may find for himself paragraphs that will appear to him more helpful than the half-a-dozen brief extracts here offered. But these liave been selected as an evidence that the construction of a story was regarded as an art by the great writers of antiquity, and one whose principles they did not think unworthy of their serious attention. H. C. * Aristotle, l'oetica, Chapter 7. ♦<*•-* THE INDEPENDENT THEATRE. ONE of the most interesting examples of the intellectual activity of our time is the revived interest among the public in the present con- dition of the English Drama. An enthusiastic num- ber of gentlemen, following the example of Berlin and Paris, have lately banded themselves together, under the title of the Independent Theatres Society—a society whose motives have been much canvassed. If, from the point of view of subscrip- tions, there is much to be desired, they have a hard fighter in Mr. George Moore and an enthusiastic helmsman in Mr. G. T. Grein, to guide their ship through the waves of criticism. Among the many changes which they are anxious to bring about is the introduction, on the English stage, of the Literarv Drama. It is not the place here to dis- cuss the vexed question of actor and author and stage manager—the fitness of "ghosts" for public representation or the evils of the "star" system prevailing in England and America, and the supe- riority of the French conventions of the Comedie Francaise. Suffice it to say, that the Independent Theatre Society hold strong views on all these subjects. I shall confine myself to the Literary Drama, the possibilities of which Mr. H. D. Traill, in the December number of the New Review, has so skilfully criticised. The Inde- pendents have been abused and misrepresented, as founders of all new movements have been in the world's history. All the penalties of success promise to be theirs, and if they take themselves a little too seriously, it is a fault on the right side. They are accused, among other things, of trying to crush healthy English Drama by introducing Norwegian and French varieties. It should be remembered, however, that it was owing to the efforts of Mr. J. T. Grein that the "Profligate" and the " Middleman" were performed in Holland and Germany with great success. If I understand them aright, they are only anxious to expel provin- cialism from the stage, whether in Germany, England, or Holland, or any country. Their admirable performance of "Therese Baquin" is, perhaps, the best answer to their critics. In England, though there are many capable dramatists, many capable actors, and very comfortable theatres, and a public of moderate intelligence, there is, practically, no such thing as a " Literary Drama." There are hundreds of plays we are always glad to see, but, with the exception of Mr. Pinero's and Mr. Gilbert's, not many that we care to read. The poetical drama is dead, Mr. George Moore admits. Save a few instances, as the "White Pilgrim" of Mr. Hermann Merivale, and a few others, the modern poetical drama is a very gloomy affair. So that witnessing n modern play, we are unable to  ## p. 243 (#647) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 243 experience that pleasure which Shakes])eare or Moliere on the stage give to some people. We may be thrilled by dramatic situation, psychological analysis, tine acting, stage management (whether of the author or actor kind) but we do not feel the intellectual excitement that literature alone can give. In French or Norwegian plays, we do ex- perience this feeling, even when the dramas are not- poetical; so let us make the experiment in England. That is all the Independent Theatre ask. Surely it is not a very terrible request. They may be asking the impossible—asking too much of the drama—or, at any rate, of the English Drama. Perhaps they are. Mr. Traill is certainly of that opinion. It may be as absurd as asking art critics to tell us what they mean, or architects to build us houses that we can live in. Monstrous requests that no one in his senses would think of making. Still, it is an interesting experiment. And, after all, it is the duty of art to be unable to answer silly questions. However delightful it may be to witness the plays of Mr. Henry Arthur Jones and Mr. Pinero at our leading London houses, there are moments when at a second-rate theatre I am fain to believe that the only legitimate English Drama is the Drury Lane Pantomime, as interpreted by those incompar- able artists, Mr. Herbert Campbell and Mr. Harry Nicholls. To inquire for a moment into the objection to a Literary Drama. Mr. H. D. Traill does not meet the pioneers of the new drama with the stale old phrase of "Shakespeare is good enough for me," used by persons so thoroughly convinced of the merits of "Hamlet" as a play, that they would have dramatists imitating all Shakespeare's faults, even if they cannot approach him in merit. Mr. Traill points out how very few of Shakespeare's plays have survived the stage, and how when he is dramatic (very seldom, Mr. Traill thinks) he is never literary— in short, that as plays for the present requirements of the stage they are failures, because of their literary quality. This opinion the of one whose sympathies would lean rather towards literary excellence than dramatic achievement. And he continues, after exploding the hopes of returning to the conventions of Elizabethan and Greek dramas (owing to the altered conditions of the stage), to- show that "The School for Scandal" and "She stoops to conquer" are not played because they possess the imperishable quality of literary excellence, it is for the story, the situation, and the opportunity for the actors. And Mr. Tree, who has had'practical experience from the dramatic side, as Mr. Traill from the literary side, in his lecture to the Playgoers' Club, endorses every word. "The first duty of a player is that he should be actable, in fact, dramatic," said Mr. Tree, and again "by all means let the drama be literary, but first let it be dramatic. The drama has a literature of its own." Mr. Tree might have adopted Mr. Whistler's immortal principle, "That art is art. Mathematics are mathematics," by saying "Drama is drama and literature is literature." Mr. Tree's inimitable acting,and Messrs. Stevenson and Henley's brilliant dialogue did not make "Beau Austin " a good acting play, any more than his more wonderful impersonation of the " Village Priest," or Mr. Sydney Grundv's splendidly written adaptation make that drama anything but a silly caricature of a Sacrament in the Catholic Church. Yet the "Village Priest" was dramatic, "Beau Austin" was not. Both had the literary quality, and failed in spite of it, the other succeeded in spite of the violation of fuct and probability. So there is in reality as much reason on the side of Mr. Tree as there is rhyme on the side of the advocates of literary or poetic drama. There is only one unfair criticism of the Independents, and Hamlet's unfortunate remark about the mirror and nature cannot fairly be quoted against them, but rather for them. It may or may not be right to put the Whitcchapel murders on the stage, or to dramatize divorce proceedings, but to say "How unnatural!" is ridiculous. If the mirror is advocated, we must not blame it for reflecting unpleasant images. If Mr. Tree brings us nearer to the angels, the Independents can humble us by reminding us what we once were. Mr. Mathew Arnold rather contemplates the more ardent reformers when he said our drama was the most contemptible in Europe ; but that is hardly true at the present moment, and the future must be exciting even if is not literary; whether we are content with the Shakespearean past and the Pineroan present, as Mr. Tree bids us be, or go to Norway for subject, and to France for a convention with the Independent Theatre, or remain interested spectators of the scene with Mr. H. D. Traill in the pages of the New Review. L. F. ■ ♦•»■♦ ■ LITERARY RIGHTS. I. "\\J E have living minds who have done their WW duty to their own age and posterity. Such men complain not of the age, but of an anomalous injustice in the laws. They com- plain that authors are deprived of a perpetual property in the produce of their own labours, when all other persons enjoy it as an indefeasible and acknowledged right; and they ask, upon what principle, with what equity, or under what pre- tence of public good, they are subjected to this injurious enactments? Is it because their labour is so light, the endowments which are required for it  ## p. 244 (#648) ############################################ 244 THE AUTHOR. so common, the attainments so cheaply and easily acquired, and the present remuneration in all cases so adequate, so ample, and so certain? The Act is so curiously injurious in its operation that it bears with most hardship upon the best works. For l>ooks of great immediate popularity have their run, and come to a dead stop; the hardship is upon those which win their way slowly and difficultly, but keep the field at last. In such cases, when the copyright, as by the existing law departs from the author's family at his death, or at the end of 28 years from the first publication of every work (if he dies before the expiration of that term), his representatives are deprived of their property just as it would begin to prove a valuable inheritance. The last descendants of Milton died in poverty. The descendants of Shakspeare are living in poverty, and in the lowest condition of life. Is this just to these individuals? Is it grateful to the memory of those who are the pride and boast of their country? Is it honourable or becoming to us, as a nation, holding the name of Shaks[>eare and Milton in veneration? To have placed the descendants of Shakspeare and Milton in respect- ability and comfort, simple justice was all that was required; only that they should have possessed the perpetual copyright of their ancestor's works— only that they should not have been deprived of their proper inheritance. Believing, as I do, that if society continues to improve, no injustice will long be permitted to continue after it has been fairly exposed, and is clearly apprehended, I cannot but believe that a time must come, when the rights of literature will be acknowledged, and its wrongs redressed; and that those authors hereafter who shall deserve well of posterity, will have no cause to reproach themselves for having sacrificed the interests of their children when they disregarded the pursuit of fortune for themselves." SOUTHEY. If. "Fortune has rarely condescended to be the companion of genius; the dunce finds a hundred roads to her palace; there is but one open, and that a very indifferent one, for men of letters. Why should we not erect an asylum for venerable genius, as we do for the brave and helpless part of our citizens? When even fame will not protect the man of genius from famine, charity ought. Nor should such an act l>e considered as a debt incurred by the helpless member, but a tribute we pay to genius. Even in these enlightened times such have lived in obscurity, while their reputation was widely spread; and have perished in poverty, while their works were enriching the booksellers." D'Israeli. No artist recognises any standard of lxjauty, but that which is suggested by his own temperament. The artist seeks to realise in a certain material his immaterial idea of beauty, and thus to transform an idea with an ideal. This is the way an artist makes things. That is why an artist makes things. The artist has no other object in making things. Oscar Wh.de. (From a letter to the Pall Mall Gazette.) ■—■ — DEATH AND THE LIFEBOAT. From the German ofRvv. Otterlich. I stood without a ruined nave, Whose mossed and ivied luxury Was fed from many a circling grave: Below me lay a still dull sea. Then brightly grey the midnight grew; I felt a Spirit pass me by; Upon my cheek the breath he drew Fell ill a chill and lingering sigh. And straight the ivy overhead Dropped withering on the withering turf; And angrily the sea of lead Curled up to break in milky surf. For Death stood by the shattered fane, Stood on his thick-sewn ground—a King; His robes a shroud, his gems the train Of death-worms on it slumbering. What sound fulls on my shuddering ear? A suppliant shot from off the deep; Death laughs: his worms awake and rear A hissing crest and o'er him creep. Death turned, and with a jaunty trip Passed through the shrinking grass, to reach The sea, where on a mastless ship Plunged headlong towards the sucking beach. He came to the wave-smitten shore: Hearts brave for rescue were afloat: Is there not room for one heart more? Death stepped into the bobbing boat. I screamed. He heard and smiled reply Then touched the tiller with his hand; And lo! there lay before my eye A waste of waves, a strip of sand.  ## p. 245 (#649) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 245 CORRESPONDENCE. I. Reading Unions. WHILE reading in the last issue of the Author a paragraph on Reading Guilds, it occurred to me that a programme of a Heading Circle which we started a year or two ago might prove of interest. Rules. I. That the Society shall be called the " Sesame Reading Circle." II. That its aim shall be to promote, by the method of association, careful and thoughtful read- ing, and the study of good literature; to approach the subject under consideration in an inquiring spirit, and to avoid, as far as possible, all dogmatic opinions and personal expressions. III. The Circle shall consist of i3 members, one of whom shall be chosen as secretary. The execu- tive committee shall consist of three members, of which the secretary shall he one. IV. At the general meeting of the Circle the books to be studied during the next reading term sliall be chosen. To each member shall be allotted a work which he shall study, and upon which he shall write an essay during the first two months. The essays shall then be handed to the secretary, who will redistribute them. Each memher shall then read the book corresponding to the essay he has received, and appending a statement that he has perused both book and paper, he shall proceed to criticise the subject and add his comments thereon. A similar course shall be adopted at the end of each successive period of six weeks. Each period shall be understood to expire on the 14th, or the last day of the month, as the case may be. V. Each essay shall be retained by the writer of it, together with the critiques, at the end of the reading term. It shall be accessible to anv of the members. VI. If a member fail to read the allotted works on two occasions during the reading term without giving adequate reasons, he forfeits membership, and his place shall be filled by a new member chosen by the committee. VII. A business meeting shall be held at the end of the term. X. II. The Generosity of the Religious Society. In the December number of the Author there was a paragraph on the generosity of a religious society, and in the October number another on the honourable conduct of a religious society. By mistake the two paragraphs were supposed to refer to the same author. They were different authors. It is the same melancholy story, however, with both. The publishing company, under the guise of religion, buys up work for ten, twenty, thirty pounds, out of which it means to make hundreds, and knows that it will make hundreds. III. The Authobs' Club. I read the announcement of the projected "Authors' Club" with the warmest satisfaction. As is stated in the Author, the Athenteum is the only literary club pure and simple—though, perhaps, the word " simple" is scarcely the correct descrip- tion of that august institution—admittance to which by the ordinary literary man is as difficult as admit- tance to the Marlborough. In the November number of the Century are an article and illustra- tions describing the new Players' Club of New York, founded by Edwin Booth. We can scarcely hope to vie with the magnificence of this club, but I think we should endeavour to emulate its solid comfort. In addition to the usual dining, drawing, and smoking rooms there should be a cosy library in which the literary man from the country may find a corner—like those in the National Liberal— where he can, undisturbed, write his copy and correct his proofs. For the best of all reasons the tariff must not be an expensive one; and I would suggest, with all deference, that the country subscription should not be more than two guineas. If pictures are wanted for the walls, and they should be wanted, I am convinced that they would be readily offered either as loans or gifts, portraits of living and departed authors, scenes from their lives or works, would be forthcoming from many literary men who for years have l>een longing for some central spot in the great city in which they could feel "at home." If well-known men would, from time to time, recount their experiences or read papers on their calling so much the better. What is wanted is a comfortable, artistically arranged club, where the London author can meet and welcome his fellow laliourer from the country, and strengthen that union of hearts and brains which has too long been neglected by the profession which needs it more than any other.  ## p. 246 (#650) ############################################ 246 THE AUTHOR. In conclusion, may I express a hope that all the shares—it is, I believe, intended to make it a joint stock affair—will be held by literary men. If a man holds only one share of £1, £2, or £5, as the case may be, he must necessarily feel a personal interest in the venture, and it is this personal interest which will tend to make the club the success we all heartily wish it. c. o. IV. 'A member of the Society signing himself "Iota- Subseript" asks a question as to publishers' liabilities under certain cases. Will he Ik; kind enough to send his name? It is manifestly impossible to answer anonymous questions. V. The Bookman on Royalties. Sib, If words have any meaning, the Editor of the Bookman did, on his own showing, accept a very important statement that a royalty of a penny in the shilling yields as much to the author as to the publisher. There is not a word of correction or of contradiction. The note which he quoted does endorse the statement, because it does not contradict it. Your obedient servant, A Constant Reader. [Other communications have been received from readers, all to the same effect, and none contrary to this.—Editor.] VI. The Editor of the Bookman (Dr. Robertson Nicoll) sends the following communication. It does not touch the real point at issue, which was that he printed, without a word of correction or contradiction, the statement that a royalty of one penny in the shilling gives the author as much as it gives the publisher, and is a fair royalty. To the Editor of the Author. Sir,— A very few words will suffice in answer to your notes on my letter. 1. As you have printed my own words, I confi- dently leave it to your readers to decide whether I "advocated on a six-shilling book a profit of £75 to the author, and to the publisher of £3o5," or whether the statement was not as I styled it, and style it again, as gross a misrepresentation as can possibly be imagined. 2. We are all much indebted to you for formu- lating a system of publishing on royalties easily understood and remembered. It is stated in two propositions :— (1.) "Whether the book is a shilling lxx>k or a six-shilling book, the proportion is the same." That is, upon all books, irre- spective of their price and size, the same percentage should l>e paid as royalty. (2.) "Why should well-known writers receive more than beginners on a royalty?" That is, all writers, known or unknown, should receive the same percentage as royalty. (3.) The only point remaining to be settled is, what should be the percentage? Ob- viously, the highest royalty any writer is receiving. It remains therefore, to find out that, and the whole business of publishing is simpler than A.B.C. Whenever I receive the name and address of any publisher who conducts his business on these principles, or of any person willing to invest a shilling in any business so conducted, I am ready to discuss the matter. Of the extraordinary statement that thirty or so (!) is the average number of press copies, I say nothing. 3. I did not ask you who wrote the article on the Bookman. I asked by what right the author of the article used the words "As a society of lwokmen and bookwomen, we," <fcc. The answer is, By no right. No one has the slightest authority to pose as the spokesman of our society. More especially should such action be avoided when it is remembered that we do not elect our own com- mittee, that no opportunity is given us for private conference, and that our opinions are notoriously divergent on many points. By throwing the Author open for free discussion, some good might be done. I am, Sir, your obedient Servant, The Editor of the Bookman. Here are two or three simple notes :— 1. A royalty of a penny in the shilling applied to a six-shilling book does produce the astonishing result quoted in my notes. He who maintains that to be a fair royalty does advocate this astonishing result. 2. The proportion of a penny in the shilling is certainly the same applied to any lxx>k at any price. How can it be otherwise? 3. I certainly cannot understand why there should be one royalty for the widely popular and another for the less popular. I exclude the  ## p. 247 (#651) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 347 question of risk, because the publishers seldom take any risk. If of two books at the same price one sells ten thousand and the other two thousand, both authors should be paid in proportion to their circulation. 4. What percentage should be paid? Not neces- sarily what the highest-paid author receives, because an author may for special reasons receive special terms, but that percentage which may be adopted as just and fair both for author and publisher, fully recognizing the services of the latter and the rights of the former. No greater service can be rendered to literature than to further the adoption of such a plan. We hare paved the way for it by learning and publishing what has hitherto been concealed— viz., the cost of production and the profits of pub- lishers on the various systems of publication now current. 5. The number of press copies is about " thirty, or so." We do not, at this office, s]>eak of pub- lishers' methods as they might be, or as we imagine them to be, but as they are. "About thirty, or so," is a fair statement of the general practice in sending out books of serious literature—jicrhaps in little story books a greater liberality may be found worth while. For instance, there are nine London dailies; about a dozen weeklies, and about a dozen great provincial papers exhaust the list. People may send as many copies as they please, but it is the usual practice of the trade not to waste good lwoks on papers which have no weight. 6. No one has ever in the Author jwsed as the spokesman of the Society. But the writer of the notice which has so greatly exercised the editor of the Bookman is surely not pretending to be the spokesman of the Society when he used the simple and harmless words, " Asa Society of bookmen, and l>ookwomen, we would earnestly invite our new friend to consider that literature has many sides, that there are many readers, and many books and standards, and many ideals of excellence and of style." The " direct question " of the last number referred to notes signed by the writer. 7. What kind of " private conference " does the editor of the Bookman desire? He has made no proposal for any conference of members. Such a conference might be extremely interesting, and most useful, provided the meeting was conducted in the spirit of mutual courtesy and friendliness. 8. I, as the editor of the Author, have always thought the columns open for discussion. There is correspondence every month. Does not the inser- tions of Dr. NicolFs letters prove that the paper is o[X'n to discussion? But no more correspondence on this subject can be inserted. Walter Besant. "AT THE AUTHOR'S HEAD." MR. George Meredith's new volume of verso is called "Modern Love: a Reprint, to- gether with the Sage Enamoured ami the Honest Lady." Macmillau & Co. are the English publishers. Mr. Lecky's "History of England" is to be issued in a cheaper edition in monthly volumes (Longmans), twelve in number. Some of Mr. Andrew Lang's books are to be re-issued in a half-crown form. It is a great pity that the many admirers of this writer can only procure complete editions of his works by painfully toiling through publishers' lists. No writer of the day, unless it is Thomas Hardy, is so scattered. There is a library somewhere in a garden; the casement windows stand wide open; outside there are flowers of the old fashioned kinds,—gilliflowers, sweet william, ragged robin, bachelors' buttons, stocks, pinks, mignonette—each blooming in her season; the rose spray Haps in at the window; there are Japanese vases; the room is lined with books; the table is covered with books; there is no litter of books such as one finds in a place when a student is searching and investigating; in this library the lwoks are arranged neatly and in order; many of them are old and shabby, but not for that reason held in lesser honour. It is a silent library; the silence is like that which one feels in an ancient almshouse beside a busy road; outside, in the road, is the sound of hoofs and wheels; within is peace. In this library there is silence; outside, the bees hum and the birds sing, the branches rustle, the scythe mows down the grass; but their noise is best heard within. "My library," says the happy owner of this place, " is the identical library in which Christian Mentzelius was at work when he heard the male bookworm flap his wings and crow like a cock in calling to his mate. Come with me round the room. Let me show you some of my books. Nothing that a book lover likes so much as to show and talk about, as his books. Oh! I am no buyer of scarce books because they are scarce. Mine are here for read- ing. I will read bits of them to you if you like to sit an hour with me. Here are the works of George Wither. Do you know that poet? Here is Gerard's 'Herbal.' Do you know Lady Win- chelsea? Do you know Amasia? Do you know Christopher Smart? Sit down, my friend, and listen. The air that steals through the case- ment this hot afternoon is fragrant; that chair invites you to rest. So you shall listen and I will talk." Fortunately, the talk has been taken down.  ## p. 248 (#652) ############################################ 248 THE AUTHOR. and everybody can hear it, because it is on Mr. Heinemann's list, and he generously allows anyone to become the possessor of "Gossip in a Library" ■who pays the toll and uses the name of the author, Mr. Edmund Gosse, in such a way as to show that he can be trusted with the book, and that he has a feeling for a Library. In a more civilised world we shall liave to pass examinations before we are allowed to possess books of this kind or of that. Not only will ignorant persons have to surrender treasures of classical learning or of science, but literature itself will have its stages, and every man shall belong each to his own level, and shall have the books corresponding to his degree, but with the power of passing the examination for a higher degree. Mr. Robert Louis Stevenson and Mr. Rider Haggard will contribute the serials for the Illus- trated London News of 1892. There will also lie occasional short stories. The literary department of the paper shows a considerable increase in activity under the editorship of Mr. Clement Shorter. Mr. James Sully has nearly ready a new work on Psychology. It is said to aim at meeting the special wants of those who desire a more complete presentment of the results of the recent ramii'orm developments of the science than was possible in his earlier and more elementary work on the subject. The new treatise will be in two volumes, and will be published in January. Mr. "William Black has made arrangements with Sampson Low and Co. for an entirely new edition of his novels in twenty-five monthly volumes. The novels will be carefully revised by Mr. Black. The first to appear will be " A Daughter of Heth." A sister of Mr. Rudyard Kipling has joined the band of story tellers. May her brother's fortune and his genius be hers as well! The " Whitefriars Library of Wit and Humour" seems to attract good writers. With the names of Messrs. Andrew Lang, Arthur a Becket, Barry Pain, Justin McCarthy, and Walter Pollock already on the title page or promised, then; should be hardly any stronger series in the market. The lwok of the month is Austin Dobson's "Hogarth," a book as beautifully written as we have a right to expect of Mr. Dobson, and as beautifully got up and illustrated as the subject demands. Mrs. Cashel Hoey, the best translator living, has finished her version of Robida's "Centuries of Toilette" (Sampson Low and Co.). It is a book which all ladies who wish to understand anything more about dress than the fashion plate of the day- must certainly possess. Sir Edwin Arnold seems to have fairly " caught" the American public, if not the English as well, by his "Japonica" (London: Osgood and Mell- vaine). This is what the New York Critic savs of it:— "It is hard to decide between penman and draughtsman in praising this dainty work of art. Never before have we seen so happy a marriage of pen and brush. Of the author of 'The Light of Asia' we know, and know favourably, as an inter- preter of Japanese aesthetics; but, fascinating as are his word-pictures, we must award equal praise to the artist who has brought Japan before our eyes bv his wonderfully accurate and deeply svnqia- thetic drawings. With only ink, and no colours such as flush the sky and ocean, and all surfaces in Japan, or deepen in nook and shadow, Mr. Robert Blum has achieved wonders. As a lady may be handsome, and enthrall a man's heart bv her expression, even though her face lack colour, so Mr. Blum's pictures have the rich charm of repro- ducing Japan's witchery of form and grace. Sir Edwin is in his happiest vein and humour while discoursing of the country, the jwople, their ways, and their thoughts. To him Japan is the Land i>f Great Peace, gentle manners, pleasing thoughts, fair morals, and exquisite conceits. He seems a veritable child in exuberance of enjoyment, and has reached that land, so rarely entered by the middle aged, which is behind the looking-glass. A fascinating freak of geography and ethnology is this country to him, and no less fascinatingly freakish are its people. After hearing what all the literary, scientific, theological, and other critics say of them, this English knight of the pen is still the lover. 'My own opinion is,' he declares with that solid assurance which belongs to the lover who imagines his vision to be crystal, clear, and scienti- fically achromatic, 'that the central characteristic of the Japanese is self-respect, and that their patience, their fearlessness, their quietism, their resignation, and a large proportion of their other virtues, have root in this deep and universal quality.'" There are notable papers in the new volume of the " Dictionary of Biography," especially Dr. Gur- nett on Edward Irving, Mr. T. R. Gardiner on James I., Mr. Leslie Stephen on Lord Jeffrey, the Rev. William Hunt on King John, and Mr. Regi- nald Lane Poole on John of Salisbury.  ## p. 249 (#653) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 249 Just before his death, says the New York Critic, James Parton expressed his views on the earnings of authors in the following words: "An indus- trious writer, by a legitimate exercise of his calling, that is, never writing advertisements or trash for the snke of pay, can just exist, no more. By a compromise, not dishonourable, though exaspe- rating, he can average during the best years $7,000 to §8,000 a year. But no man should enter the literary life unless he has a fortune, or can live contentedly on $2,000 a year. The best way is to make a fortune first and write afterward." Mr. Henry Cresswell has in the press a new novel, in three volumes, entitled " Fairest of Three," which will be published by Messrs. Hurst and Blaekett this month. If this novel prove as clever and entertaining as " The Hermits of Crizebeck," considerable popularity may be foretold for it. "Lester the Loyalist:' is one of the most beautiful books we have seen for a long time. It was printed in Japan, in one of the styles pre- scribed by their etiquette for the printing of poetry. It was manufactured entirely by Japanese. The only difference is that the lines are printed horizontally, as in English, instead of vertically. The letterpress is a poem by Douglas Sladen, author of "Australian Lyrics," "The Spanish Armada," &c. It is called a "Romance on the Founding of Canada," and is in hexameter verse. The publishers are Griffith, Farran, and Co. In " Great Pan Lives" (London: Luzac and Co.) "Clelia" offers a paraphrase of Shakespeare's Sonnets, and proffers an answer to the question, "Who and what is the 'Lovely Boy' of the Sonnets?" The answer takes the form of a genealogy, beginning with "Beauty All," and ending with "Will Shakespeare." It is one more book added to the literature of the Sonnets, and may be left to those who have studied the subject. A "Winter Cruise in Summer Seas," by Charles G. Atchison (Sampson Low and Co.) is a chatty, pleasant book, descriptive of a voyage on board one of the Royal Mail Steam Packets to the Brazils, Buenos Ayres, and other places. Anyone who wants to take a holiday of two months, and does not know where and how to spend his time, will do well to study this book. Those who would like to spend a holiday of two months, but cannot get the leave or the money, would do well to read this book. The " Merchant's Children," by Eleanor Stred- der (T. Nelson and Sons), is a story for the young on life in China. It is a little book to be recommended. Mr. E. A. Reynolds Ball has written the article on Naples in Messrs. CasselPs magnificent fine art publication "The Picturesque Mediterranean," 2 vols., price £4 4*., which has recently been published. The latest addition to the " Adventure Series" is the story of the " Life and Exploits of Theodore Kolokotrones," the Greek hero. Tt is translated from the Greek by Mrs. Edmonds, author of "Greek Lays," &c. The translator has written an introduction and furnished explanatory notes. A preface has been added by M. Gennadius, Greek envoy to our Court. Messrs. Cassell & Co. will bring out in January a collection of Mr. Egerton Castle's shorter stories under the title of " La Bella and others." It is to be hoped that the volume will include "A Para- graph in the Globe," which appeared a few years ago in Remington's Christmas Annual, and was not only one of the best Christmas stories of its year, but one of the best of its kind in English. Our litera- ture is by no means rich in good short stories, though Mr. Louis Stevenson, Mr. Andrew Lang, Mr. Pollock and others have set us such admirable examples, and this one of Mr. Castle's was worthy of Balzac himself in his fantastic vein. Mr. Howells' daughter, Miss Mildred Howells, has entered the field of literature, as a poem in the November St. Nicholas shows. It is entitled "Romance," and conveys some of the fancies of young dreamers. Mr. G. A. Henty has written for the new volume of Young England a serial story of seafaring life in the last century, entitled "In the Grip of the Press Gang." The other serials which will appear in this magazine are "Beneath the Sur- face," by Sarah Tytler, and " The Golden Lion," a romance of Elizabethan days, by Robert Leighton, author of " the Pilots of Pomona."' "Charles Kingsley: the Story of his Life" is the title of an article to be contributed by Mr. Mackenzie Bell to an early number of the new series of the Welcome Hour. "Hypocrites," the serial story by Mr. Hugh Coleman Davidson, which is now appearing in Hearth and Home, will be published early in the new year by Messrs. Sampson Low & Co. It will be illustrated by Rene. Two very interesting papers on Burmese life and manners which have recently appeared in the Globe were written by Mr. Henry Charles Moore. They are chapters from a projwsed work on Burmah.  ## p. 250 (#654) ############################################ 250 THE AUTHOR. NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. Theology. Alexander, Wm., D.D., D.C.L. Verbum Crucis: being Ten Sermons on the Mystery and the Words of the Cross, to which are added some other sermons preached on public occasions. Preachers of the Age Series. Sampson Low. 3s. 6d. Beet, J. A., D.T). The Firm Foundation of the Christian Faith: a Handbook of Christian Evidences, for Sunday School Teachers. Wegleyan Methodist Sunday School Union, Ludgate Circus Buildings, E.C. is. Denney, Rev. James. The Epistles to the Thessalonians. Volume of the Expositor Bible. Hodder and Stough- ton. 7s. 6d. Duff, Archibald, M.A., LL.D. Old Testament Theology; or, the History of Hebrew Religion from the year 800 B.C. to 640 B.C. A. and C. Black. Ellicott, C. J., D.D. Christus Comprobator; or, the Testimony of Christ to the Old Testament. Seven addresses. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Fife, E. G., M.U. Analysis of Theology, Natural and Revealed: an Essay Contrasting the Pretensions of Religion aud Atheism to Scientific Truth. Williams and Norgate. Mabtineau, James. Home Prayers, with two services for public worship. Longmans. 3s. 6d. Maurice, F. D. Sermons preached in Lincoln's Inn Chapel. Vol. III. (of VI.). New edition. Mac- millan. 3s. 6d. Stannard, Rev. J. T. The Divine Humanity, and other Sermons. Edited by the Rev. John Hunter. Maclc- hose, Glasgow. Stanton, V. H., D.I). The Place of Authority in Matters of Religious Belief. Longmans. 6s. Vaughan, C. J., D.D. Sermons, preached in the Parish Church of Doucaster. New edition. Mac mil lan. 1 os. 6d. History and Biography. Adams, Henry. Historical Essays. Fisher Unwin. 7J. 6d. — History of the United States of America during the first Administration of James Madison. Volumes 5 and 6. G. P. Putnam's Sons. 9s. each. Broglie, Due de. Memoirs of the Prince de Tallyrand. Edited, with a preface and notes, by the. Translated by Mrs. Angus Hall. Volume IV., with a portrait. Griffith, Farran. Browning, Oscar, M.A. Dante, his Life and Writings, and Goethe, his Life and Writings. Volumes of the Dilettante Library, enlarged from articles in the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." Swan Sonnenschein. Clinch, George. Mayfair and Beigravia, being an Historical Account of the Parish of St. George, Han- over Square. With illustrations. True-love aud Shirley. 1 2s. Goulburn, E. M., M.D. John William Burgon, late Dean of Chichester: a Biography, with Extracts from his Letters and Early Journals. Two vols., with portraits. John Murray. 14s. Graham, P. Anderson. Nature in Books: Some Studies in Biography. Methuen and Co. The History of the Popes, from the Close of the Middle Ages. Drawn from the secret archives of the Vatican and other original sources, from the German of Dr. Ludwig Pastor, Professor of History in the University of Innsbruck. Edited by Frederick Ignatius Antrobus, of the Oratory, with an introduction by Cardinal Manning. Two vols. John Hodges, Agar Street, Charing Cross. 12s. "Jehu Junior." The " Vanity Fair " Album—a Show of Sovereigns, Statesmen, Judges, and Men of the Day, with biographical and critical notices by. Vol. 23. 1S91. Vanity Fair Office, 181, Strand. Lounsbury, T. R. Studies in Chaucer: His Life and Writings. 3 vols. Osgood, M'llvaine. 42s. Palmer, A. H. The Life and Letters of Samuel Palmer, painter and etcher. Written and edited by. Illus- trated. Seelcy. Puschman, Dr. Tiieodor. A History of Medical Educa- tion, from the most remote to the most recent times. Translated and edited by Evan H. Hare. H. K. Lewis. Gowcr Street. Selby, Charles. Events to be Remembered in the History of England. 28th edition, with additions. Crosby Lockwood. Stebbing, Wm., M.A. Sir Walter Ralegh: a Biography. With a frontispiece. Clarendon Press. 1 os. 6d. Symes, J. E., M.A. The French Revolution, 1789-1795. With map of France. University Extension Series. Methuen. 2s. 6d. Trebutien, G. S. Journal of Maurice de Guerin. With a Biographical and Literary Memoir by Sainte-Beuve. Translated from the 20th French edition by Jessie P. Frothiugham. Edited by Chatto and Windus. 2*. 6d. Waylen, James. The House of Cromwell and the Story of Dunkirk : a Genealogical History of the Descendants of the Protector, with Anecdotes aud Letters. Illus- trated with engravings, portraits, and plans. Eliot Stock. 1 os. bd. Wicksteed, P. H., M.A. Four lectures on Heiurik Ibsen, dealing chiefly with his Metrical Works. The Dilettante. Library. Swan Sonnenschein. Fiction. Black, William. A Daughter of Heth. New aud revised edition, with portrait and preface by the author. Sampson Low. 2s. 6d. Burnett, F. Hodgson. Children I have known, and Giovanni and the Other. Stories. Osgood, M'llvaine. 6s. Campbell, Sir G. The Romance of the Ruby. Illustrated. Beeton's Christmas Annual; containing also an original musical faroe by R. Andre. Ward, Lock, Bowden. Cardklla, G. A King's Daughter. A Novel. 3 vols. Swan Sonneschein. CoixODi. C. The Story of a Puppet: or, The Adventures of Pinocchio. Translated from the Italian by M. A. Murray. Illustrated. Fisher Unwin. is. 6d.  ## p. 251 (#655) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. Conan Doyle, A. A Study in Scarlet. A new edition, with illustrations by George Hutchinson. Ward, Lock, Bowden. 3s. 6d. Ccshino, Paul. Cut with His Own Diamond. A Novel in 3 vols. Blackwood. Dowlino, Richakd. A Baffling Quest. A Novel. 3 vols. Ward and Downey. Eckknstein, Lisa. The Little Princess and the Great Plot. Illustrated by Dudley Heath. And Tales from the Mabinogion. Kdited by Meta E. Williams. Vo- lumes of the Children's Library. Fisher Unwin. 2s. 6d. each. Fonblanque, Albany de. Jcdwood Justice. A Novel. 3 vols. Bentley. Francillon, R. E. Gods and Heroes: or, the Kingdom of Jupiter. Illustrated. Blackwood. Gray, Annabel. Through Rifted Clouds. A Novel in a vols. Eden, Remington. Green, F. G. Dean's Fairy Book. A Companion to the Doyle Fairy Book. With illustrations. Edited by. Dean, Fleet Street. Hardy, Thomas. Tess of the D'Urbervilles. 3 vols. Osgood, M'llvainc. 3is. 6d. Hocking, Silas K. For Light and Liberty. With original illustrations. F. Wanie. is. 6d. Humphreys, Jennett. Some Little Britons in Brittany: a Seaside Story. Sampson Low. 2S. 6d. Hutchinson, Horace G. Mr. Batter's Pedigree: or, Experiences of a Tenderfoot. Illustrated by George Hutchinson. Whitefriars Library. Henry. 3s. 6d. Hutchinson, Rev. H. N. The Story of the Hills: a Popular Account of Mountains and how they were made. Seeley. Jones, C. A. A Modern Red Riding Hood. Frederick Warne. 3s. 6d. Kennedy, Patrick. Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts. Collected and narrated by. Macmillan. 3s. 6d. Larder, Alfred. A Sinner's Sentence. 3 vols. Chatto and Windus. Lawrence, Boyle, and Cadett, Herbert. Fin-de- Siecle Stories. Biggs, Salisbury Court, Fleet Street. Paper covers, is. Leake, A. J. de Courcy. Ad Finem Esto Fidelis, and Scaffold or Ferry. Eden, Remington. Linton, W. J. The F'lower and the Star, and other Stories for Children. Written and illustrated by. Lawrence and Bullen. Lucas, Annie. Love's Victory: a tale of Dursley Mine. Home Words Office, Paternoster Square, is. 6d. Lynch, L. L. A Slender Clue: a Detective Story. Ward, Lock, Bowden. Martius, "I Will Repay." Eden Remington. Peard, Frances M. The Baroness. A Novel, 2 vols. Bentley and Son. The Abbot's Bridge. National Society's Deposi- tory. 3s. 6d. Pinkerton, T. A. A New Saint's Tragedy. A Novel. 2 vols. Swan Sonnenschein. Ritchie, Anne Thackeray. The Fairy Tales of Madame D'Aulnoy. Newly done into English, with an intro- duction by. Illustrated by Clinton Peters. Lawrence and Bullen. Stacpoole, W. H. The Three Boots. Dean, Fleet Street. Stock, Lady Gertrude. A Wasted Life and MairM. 3 vols. Hurst and Blackctt. Stoker, Bram. The Snake's Pass. New and cheaper edition. Sampson Low. 3s. 6d. Varty-Smith, A. A. Matthew Tindale. A Novel in 3 vols. Bentley. Verney, Lady. Essays and Tales. Simpkin, Marshall. Yorke, Curtis. A Romance of Modem London, a Novel. 3 vols. F. V. White. General Literature. Aitchison, C. C. A Winter Cruise in Summer Seas: a Two Months' Voyage to Buenos Aires and back. Illustrated with photographs and sketches. Sampson Low. Allen, Grant. Falling in Love: with other Essays on more Exact Branches of Science. A new edition. Smith, Elder. Bates, Fanny B. Between the Lights: Thoughts for the Quiet Hours. Arranged by. Third Edition. Burnet, Henrietta Street, Strand. Bell, Ernest, M.A. Handbook of Athletic Sports. Edited by. Vol. IV. Illustrated. George Bell. 3s.6rf. * Bishop, Mrs. Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan: in- cluding a Summer in the Upper Karum Region, and a Visit to the Nestorian Rajahs. 2 vols. With portrait, map, and illustrations. John Murray. 245. Bolton, S. K. Famous Artists. Nelson and Sons. Bonvalot, G. Across Thibet: being a translation of " De Paris au Tonkin a travers le Tibet inconnu." With illustrations from photographs taken by Prince Henry of Orleans, and map of route. Translated by C. B. Pitman. 2 vols. With illustrations. Cassell. 3is. Calmore, Alfred C. Practical Play-writing, and the Cost of Production. With an introduction by W. Davenport Adams. Arrowsmith. is. Christian, John. Behar Proverbs. Classified, arranged, and translated into English, with notes, appendix, and indexes. Kegan Paul. Cook, Charles. The Prisons of the World. With Stories of Crime, Criminals, and Convicts. With an intro- duction by C. H. Spurgeon. Second edition. Morgan and Scott, Paternoster Buildings. 2s. 6d. Corballis, J. H. Forty-five Years of Sport. Edited by Arthur T. Fisher, major, late 21st Hussars. Bentley. Dixon, Edward T. An Essay on Reasoning. Deighton Bell, Cambridge. Eardlet-Wilmot, Capt. S., R.N. The Development of Navies during the. last half century. With illustra- tions. Seeley. Earl, Ethel. Dinners in Miniature. Reprinted from the Queen. Chapman and Hall. zs. 6d.  ## p. 252 (#656) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. Elm hirst, Capt. P. (" Brooksby"). Foxhound, Forest, and Prairie. Illustrated, Eoutledge. Gambier-Parry, Major. The Combat with Suffering. John Murray. Paper covers. 3s. 6d. Gkli., Hon. Mrs. Lyttleton. The Cloud of Witness. A daily sequence of great thoughts from many minds, following the Christian seasons. With a prefatory note by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Cloth extra, 3s. 6d.: also an edition on Oxford India paper, cloth guilt, 6s. 6d. London, Henry Frowdc, Oxford Univer- sity Press Warehouse. Goosestep. Splay-feet Splashings in Divers Places. The Leadenhall Press. 3«. 6d. Gosse, Edmund. Gossip in a Library. William Heine- mann. js. 6d. Hamerton, Philip G. The Portfolio: an artistic periodi- cal. Edited by. Seeley. The Present State of the Fine Arts in France. With illustrations. Seeley. Ha/.ell's Annual for 1891—Revised to November 10, 1891. Seventh year of issue. Hazell, Watson, and Viney, Creed Lane, Ludgate Hill. Henderson, W. J. Preludes and Studies: Musical Themes of the day. Longmans. 6*. Hoffman, Prof. Home Gymnastics, for Youug and Old. With illustrations. Routledge. Howells, W. D. Venetian Life. With illustrations from original water colours. In 2 vols. Longmans. 21*. Irving, Washington. The Alhambra. 2 vols. Darro edition. G. P. Putnam's Sons. iSi. Junker, Dr. Wilhelm. Travels in Africa during the years 1879—1883. By. Translated from the German by A. H. Keane, F.R.G.S. Illustrated. Chapman and Hall. 2i«. Jusserand, J. J. English Wayfaring Life in the Middle Ages (14 Century). Translated from the French by Lucy Toulmin Smith. Illustrated. Fourth edition. Fisher Unwin. Kebbel, T. E. The Old and New English Country Life. Blackwood. Kennan, George. Siberia and the Exile System. 2 vols. Osgood, M'llvaine. 32s. Millican, Albert. Travels and Adventures of an Orchid Hunter. Illustrated. Cassell. 12s. 6d. Mitchell, Kate. The Gentlewoman's Book of Hygiene. Victoria Library. Henry. 6*. Morison, Jeanie. Of "Fifine at the Fair," "Christmas Day and Easter Ev<>," and other of Mr. Browning's Poems. Blackwood. Morris, W. B. Ireland and Saint Patrick. Bums and Oatcs. Mulhall, M. G. The Dictionary of Statistics. Rout- ledge. Neil, James, M.A. Pictured Palestine. With Illustra- tions. Nisbet, Berners Street. 7*. 6d. Norman, Henry. The Real Japan: Studies of Con- temporary Japanese Manners, Morals, Administration, and Politics. Fisher Unwin. 10*. 6d. Oliphant, F. R., B.A. Note of a Pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Blackwood. Oliphant, Mrs. Jerusalem: its History and Hope. With engravings from drawings by Hamilton Aide, and photographs by F. M. Good. Macmillan. 211. O'Reilly, Mrs. "Much Land to be Possessed," and other sketches. Vickers-Wood, Churton Street. Priestley, Eliza. Hygiene under Difficulties. Allmau, New Oxford Street, W.C. Prince, ^Elian. Of Joyous Garb. New edition. E. W. Allen, Ave Maria Lane. Pyle, Howard. Men of Iron. Illustrated. Osgood, M'llvaine. ys. Cd. Rees, J. D., CLE. The Duke of Clarence and Avondale in Southern India. With a Narrative of Elephant- catching in Mysore by G. P. Sanderson. With map, portraits, and illustrations. Kegan Paul. Rigby, Cuthbert. From Midsummer to Martinmas: a West Cumberland Idyl. With illustrations. George Allen, London and Orpington. Rodd, Rennell. The Customs and Lore of Modern Greece. With illustrations by Tristram Ellis. David Stott. Rubinstein, Anton. A Conversation on Music. Trans- lated for the author by Mrs. John P. Morgan. Augener. Paper covers. Sterne, Laurence. A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy. Illustrated by Stanley L. Wood. Aldine edition. Pickering and Chutto. 6s. Vinogradoff, Paul. Villaiiiage in England. Essays in English Mediieval History. Clarendon Press. 16s. Warren, Mrs. The Ladies' Treasury for 1891 : a House- hold Magazine. Edited by. Illustrated. Benirose, Old Bailey. Whittaker, T. P. Barker's Facts and Figures for the year 1892, with census and election supplements. Edited by F. Warne. 1*. Whittaker, Thomas. Brighter England and the Way to it. With frontispiece. Hodder and Stoughton. 3s. 6d. Educational. Alexandrow, F. A New Practical and Easy Method of Learning the Russian Language, after the system of Mathias Meissner. Sixth improved and corrected edition. Franz Thimm, Brook Street, W. Arnold Forster, H. O. This World of Ours. Intro- ductory Lessons to the Study of Geography. Illus- trated. Cassell. 3s. 6d. Beames, John. Grammar of the Bengali Language 1 Literary and Colloquial. Clarendon Press. 4*. 6d. Chambers's New Historical Readers. (1) English History Easy Stories (9<f.); (2) Simple Stories (9<f.); (3) Stories from Early History (is.); (4) Stories and Biographies (is. id.); (5) The Tudor Period (is. 4a1.); (6) The Stuart Period (is. 6d.); (7) The Hanoverian Period (is. 6<f.). W. and R. Chambers. Harrison, Jane E. Introductory Studies in Greek Art. With map and illustrations. Second edition. Fisher Unwin. 7s. 6d. Holmes, G. A. The Academic Manual of the Rudiments of Music. Weekes, Hanover Street, W. is.  ## p. 253 (#657) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 253 Holmes, G. A. Macmillan's History Headers: Stories and Tales from early English History. A reading book for Standard III. Macmillan. is. Palmer, E. Davidson. Manual of Voice-Training (with a complete course of exercises). Joseph Williams, Herners Street. Paper covers, zs. Ranken, George. The Federal Geography of British Australasia. With maps. Sampson Low. 'Royal Atlas of Modern Geography. Part II. W. and A. K. Johnson. Paper covers. Schofield, Dr. A. T. Physiology for Schools, in three stages. Stage I. Cassell. Cloth 61I., paper Sd. Scott-Keltie, J. The Worldwide Atlas of modern Geo- graphy, political and physical, with an introduction. W. and A. K. Johnson. 73. 6d. Smith, Charles, M.A. Arithmetic for Schools. Cam- bridge University Press. Smith, E. Singleton. Historica Prima r a class-book of English history for junior forms of schools. James Parker. Webb, H. J., Ph.D. Elementary Agriculture: a Text-book specially adapted to the requirements of the Science and Art Department and other elementary examinations. Longmans, is. 6d. Whitfield, E. fi., M.A. French Commercial Dialogues, with Notes for Advanced Pupils. Edited, after Thuni and Drucker, by. Hachette and Co. Poetry and the Drama. Dennis, G. R., and Dennis, John. The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope. A new edition in three volumes, revised by. With a Memoir by. 3 vols. Aldiue edition. George Bell. Dale, Philip, and Havilland, Cyril. Voices from Australia. Verses. Swan Sonnenschein. Foster, Will. The Fallen City and other Poems. Blackwood. Guinness, H. G., D.D. The City of the Seven Hills. A Poem. James Nisbet. 5*. Hughes, Thomas, Q.C. The Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell. With an Introduction by. Mac- millan. 75. 6d. Morris, William. Poems by the Way. Reeves and Turner. Powis, T. J. Poems. With Portrait. Kegan Paul. Quillinan, Edward. Poems. With a Memoir by William Johnston. Middleton, Old Mill Bridge", Ambleside. Paper covers. Sheila. Sketches from Nature. A Book of Verses. Kegan Paul. Spenser, Edmund. Daphuaida and other Poems. Cas- sell's National Library. Cloth, 6d. Law. Addison, C. G. A Treatise on the Law of Contracts. Ninth edition, by Horace Smith, Bencher of the Inner Temple, Metropolitan Magistrate, assisted by A. P. Perceval Keep, M.A., of the Midland Circuit. Stevens, Chancery Lane. Hamlyn, Clarence. A Manual of Theatrical Law, con- taining Chapters on Theatrical Licensing. Music, and Dancing generally, and on Dramatic Copyright. Of the Middle Temple. Waterlow. Haycraft, T. W. Law of Innkeepers and the Licensing Acts. Effingham Wilson. i». 6d. Lawrance, G. W. Precedents of Deeds of Arrangement between Debtors and their Creditors. Fourth edition. By H. A. Smith, M.A., LL.B., of the Middle Temple. Stevens, Chancery Lane. 7*. 6d. Palmer, F. B. The Shareholders' and Directors' Legal Companion. Twelfth edition. Stevens, Chancery Lane. is. 6d. Tyssen, Amherst D., D.C.L. The New Law of Charitable Bequests: being an Account of the Mortmain and Charitable Uses Act, 1891. Clowes. Paper covers. 1*. 6d. Science. Althaus, J., M.D. The Pathology and Prevention of Influenza. Longmans, is. Ball, Sir Robert. The Cause of an Ice Age. "Modern Science" Series. Edited by Sir John Lubbock, M.P. Kegan Paul. Dutton, Thomas. Indigestion Clearly Explained, Treated, and Dieted, with Special Remarks on Gout, Rheuma- tism, and Obesity, and Chapter on Rearing of Infants. H. Kimpton, High Holborn, W.C. Kennedy, S. The Cancer Controversy: Mattei v. the Knife. With Epitome of Mattei Treatment of Cancer and General Diseases. David Stott. is. net. Scientific Mysteries: a Collection of Simple and Effec- tive Experiments Illustrating Chemical, Physical, and Optical Wonders. Chemist mid Dniygist, Cannon Street, E.G. is. Scott, Alexander. An Introduction to Chemical Theory. A. and C. Black. Parliamentary Papers. Returns of Local Taxation in Ireland for the year 1890. 5d. Irish Land Commission. Return of Judicial Rents fixed during July. is. Reports from Her Majesty's Consuls respecting the Working of Cargoes on Sundays in Foreign Ports. Part II. America. i\d. Historical Manuscripts Commission. 12th Report. Appendix, Part V.—The MSS. of the Duke of Rutland, K.G., preserved at Belvoir Castle. Vol. II. {is.). Navy.—Seagoing War Ships return (Jrf.). Return relating to Postmen's Pay in 188S and as fixed in August, 1891 (.2d.). Returns relating to all Authorised Gas Undertakings in the United Kingdom, belonging to Local Authorities for the year ended March 25, 1891 (4-d.), and other than those of Local Authorities for the year ended December 3i, 1890, S{d. Turkey. No. 6 (1891). Further correspon- dence respecting Affairs in the East. 6d. 46th Annual Report of the Board of Supervision for the Relief of the Poor and of Public Health in Scotland, 1890-91, is. id.; Return as to Drunkenness in Scotland during 1890, id.; Census of Ireland, Part 1., Vol. I., Province of Leinster, No. 12, County of Wicklow, gd. Report to the Board of Trade on the Relation of Wages in Certain Industries to the Cost of Production, u. yd. Kyre and Spottiswoode.  ## p. 254 (#658) ############################################ 254 A D VER TI SEME NTS. ELECTROTYPES OF ENGRAVINGS FOR SALE. THE attention of Authors, Publishers, an<l others is directed to the large and varied Collection of Engravings in the possession of Cassfll and Company, Limited, from which they offer Electros for Sale. The Collection embraces every class of subject — History, Topography, Natural History, Scientific, Figure Subjects, &c, Ac., produced by the best Artists and Engravers. Call and examine this Collection, or apply for specimens, giving full particulars of the subjects and sizes required to— CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED, LA BELLE SAUVAGE, LUDGATE HILL, E.C. HOW SHALL I WRITE MY MANUSCRIPT? —oaaoooaaa . THE old-fashioned way was by quill or steel pen; the modern way is by a Typewriter. If you adopt the modern way, then the success of the change depends upon the Typewriter you select. And, remember, there is a great difference in Typewriters. Correct theory, substantial construction, and mechanical details rendered perfect by unlimited expenditure and three years' practical experience. Ease Of Management, Durability, VISIBLE WRITING, Perfect Writing, Automatic Line Spacing, Automatic Inking, Duplicate Keyboard, we among the qualities which make every owner of a BAR-LOCK MODERN STANDARD TYPEWRITER So content and satisfied. We want you to have a BAR-LOCK on Free Trial for a week—you will not want to use a pen again. We supply them for Cash or by 12 Monthly Payments of £1 ig*., or 24 of £1 is. 8</. The BAR-LOCK was awarded the only Gold Medal at Edinburgh, 1890, and Jamaica, 1891. It is used by the Sub-editor of the Times and many London and Provincial Papers. It is also in use at the offices of the Morning Post, St. Step/ten's Review, the Star, the Manchester Guardian, the Western Morning News, the Plymouth Mercury, &c, &c. Illustrated Catalogue sent Post Free on Application to— THE TYPEWRITER COMPANY, LTD. LONDON: 12 & 14, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, E.C. MANCHESTER: 45, Market Street. LIVERPOOL: 1, South John Street. GLASGOW: 22, Renfield Street. IiOKDOK: Printed by Etke and Spottibwoode, Printers to the Queen's most Excellent Majeity. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 02 Issue 08 (January 1892) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 02 Issue 08 (January 1892) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015031017927&amp;view=1up&amp;seq=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015031017927</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1892-01-01-The-Author-2-8 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/260/1892-02-01-The-Author-2-9.pdf 8a3dc447aadd45ab15d1cdb5cf0eaa74 PDF Text Text ���������������������������������������� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1892-02-01 Volume 2 Issue 9 Pages Page range in volume 255–294 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18920201 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin ^Ibe Hutbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. II.—No. 9.] FEBRUARY i, 1892. [Price Sixpence. CONTENTS. PAGB • 'SI • »57 Warnings Notices , On Literary Property— I.—Author and Editor 359 II.—An Instructive Caso 259 III. —American Rights 260 IV. —The Literary Fraud 360 V.—Sale of Copyright 261 VI.—Return of MSB 161 VII.—A new Device 262 Gossip in a Library. By Edmund Gosse 362 A Hint for British Museum Readers 364 The Day shall Como 264 Notes from Paris 365 Like the Authors ..366 A Magnificent Story 368 Notes and News. By Walter Besant 369 "Eric and Robert" 373 Criticism and Fiction 374 Oxford, and the English School 376 To Busy Men in Good Positions 377 Burns and Scottish Poetry 377 Periodical Lists of Continental Books 378 Correspondence— I.—Illustration jg, II.—The new American Society 383 III.—Press copies 383 IV—The Mild Domestic Novel .'38, V.-How? VI.—Gerald Massey js| From the Papers— I.—Modem Poets , 33, II.—Names and Work ."384 III.—Copyright in Lectures asj IV.—A New Terror 385 V.—Literature and the State ag< VI.—The Commonest Delusions 386 "At the Author's Head" a86 New Books and New Editions 288 EYRE AND SPOTTISWOODE. STATE TRIALS, Reports of. New Series. Vol. III., 1831—40. Published under the direction of the State Trials Committee. Edited by Jons Macdohell, M.A. 10*. INVESTMENTS. A List of 1,600 British, Colonial and Foreign Securities dealt in upon the London and Provincial Exchanges, giving the highest and lowest prices of each particular Stock for each of the last twenty-two years, or from the time of the creation of such Stock, also the price onjoth May, i89i,and the yield percent, to the Investor. Compiled by G. Brown. i». 6d. PUBLIC GENERAL ACTS, 1891. Red Cloth, 3*. Contains all the Public Acts passed during the year, with Index, also Tables showing the effect of the year's IiCgislation, together with complete and classified Lists of the Titles of all the Local and Private Acts passed during the Session. REVISED STATUTES. (Second Revised Edition.) Royal 8vo. Prepared under the direction of the Statute I*w Revision Committeo. and Edited by G. A. R. Fitzgerald, Esq. Vols. I. to IV. now ready, price 7». M. each. FORECASTING BY MEANS OF WEATHER CHARTS, Principles of. By the Hon. Ralph Abercromby, F.R. Met. METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS, Instructions in the use of. 3t. bd. THE LITERATURE RELATING TO NEW ZEALAND. A Bibliography. Royal 8vo. Cloth, «. bd. POLYNESIAN MYTHOLOGY AND ANCIENT TRA- DITIONAL HISTORY OP THE NEW ZEALAND RACE. By Sir George Grey, K.C.B. Illustrated. Royal 8vo. Cloth, s». ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE MAORI. By John White. Demy8vo. Half Morocco. 4 vols, ica.jpervol. PLIOCENE DEPOSITS OF BRITAIN, THE. By ('1 I'M km Re-ID, F.L.8.. F.G.S. Five Plates (48 cuts), s». bd. LONDON AND NEIGHBOURHOOD: Guide to the Geology of. Bv William Whitakbb, B.A. is. COPYRIGHT LAW REFORM: an Exposition of Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill. With Extracts from the Reportof the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lely, Esq., Barrister-at-Law. i». bd. KEVV BULLETIN, 1890. Gardens, it. tod. KEW BULLETIN, Issued by the Director of Kew Monthly, 2d. Appendices, 2d. each. Annual Subscription, including postage, j*. ad DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF MUSICAL INSTRU- MENTS recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition Compiled by Capt. Day, Oxfordshire Light Infantry, under the orders of Col. Shaw-Hellikb, Commandant Roval Military School of Music. Illustrated by a series of Twelve artisticallv executed Plates in Heliogravure, and with numerous Wood Engravings. 31J. "Unique, as no earlier work exists in English dealing exhaus- tively with the same subject A very important con- tribution to the history of orchestration."—Athenaum. PUBLIC RECORDS. A Guide to the Principal Classes of Documents preserved in the Public Record Office. Bv S R Scarcill-Bibd. F.S.A. is. 'The value of such a work as Mr. Scargill-Bird's can scarcely be er-rated."— Times. Monthly Lists of Parliamentary Papers upon Application. Quarterly Lists Post Free, id. . Miscellaneous List on Application. Every Assistance given to Correspondents; and Books not kept in stock obtained without delay. Remittance should accompany Order. GOVERNMENT AND GENERAL PUBLISHERS. EYRE and SPOTTISHOODE, Hrr Majesty's Printers, East Harding Street, London, E.C.  ## p. 256 (#660) ############################################ 256 ADVERTISEMENTS. The " Swan" is a beautiful Gold Pen joined to a rubber reservoir to hold any kind of ink, which it supplies to the writing point in a continuous flow. It will hold enough ink for two days' constant work, or a week's ordinary writing, and can be refilled with as little trouble as to wind a watch. With the cover over the gold nib it is carried in the pocket like a pencil, to be used anywhere. A purchaser may try a pen a few days, and if by chance the writing point does not suit his hand, exchange it for another without charge, or have his money returned if wanted. There are various points to select from, broad, medinm, and fine, every handwriting can be snited, and the price of the entire instrument, with filler complete, post tree, is only 10s. 6d. The Gold Pens in the "Swan" are Mabie, Todd, & Co.'s famous make. They are 14-carat tempered gold, very handsome, and positively unaffected by any kind of ink. They are pointed with selected polished iridium. The " Eucyclopajdia Britannica" says:—"Iridium is a nearly white metal of high specific gravity, it is almost indestructible, and a beautifully polished surface can be obtained upon it." They will not penetrate the paper, and writer's cramp is unknown among users of Gold Pens. One will Outwear 90 grOSS Of Steel pens. They are a perfect revelation to those who know nothing about Gold Pens. Da. Oliver Wendell Holmes has used one of Mabie, Todd, & Co.'s Gold Pens since 1857, and is using the same one (his " old friend ") to-day. Sydney Grundy, Esq., says (referring to the Fountain Pen) :—" It is a vast improvement on every Stylograph." Moberly Bell, Esq., Manager, The Times, says (referring to the Fountain Pen) :—" One pen lasted me for six years." S. D. Waddy, Esq., Q.C., M.P., says (referring to the Fountain Pen) :—" I have used' them constantly for some years, and, as far as I can remember, they have never failed me." Send Postal Card for Free Illustrated List (containing interesting Testimonials from the Best People, who have used them for years) to— MABIE, TODD, & BARD, S3, OHEAPSIDB, LOKTDOKT.  ## p. 257 (#661) ############################################ ^Ibe H u t b o t\ {The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. II.—No. 9.] FEBRUARY 1, 1892. [Price Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed the Authors alone are responsible. WARNINGS. Readers of the Author are earnestly desired to make the following warnings as widely known as possible." They are based on the experience of six years' work upon the dangers to which literary property is exposed :— (1.) Never sign any agreement of which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part, unless an opportunity of proving the correctness of the figures is given them. (2.) Never enter into any correspondence with publishers, especially with advertising publishers, who are not recommended by experienced friends or by this Society. (3.) Never, on any account whatever, bind yourself down for future work to any one firm of publishers. (4.) Never accept any proposal of royalty without ascertaining exactly what the agreement gives to the author and what to the publisher. (5.) Never accept any pecuniary risk or respon- sibility whatever without advice. (6.) Never, when a MS. has been refused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises they may put forward, for the production of the work. (7.) Never sign away American rights. Keep them. Refuse to sign an agreement con- taining a clause which reserves them for the publisher. If the publisher insists, take away the MS. and offer it to another. VOL. 11. (8.) Never forget that publishing is a business, like any other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy, charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with business men. Society's Offices:— 4, Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields. ■ NOTICES. THE Annual Report of the Society has been delayed for the universal reason of universal delay—the influenza stops the way. The accounts could not be drawn up for the auditor. As soon as possible this will now be done, and the Report will then be issued. The First Report of the Authors' Syndicate, which is a branch, though an independent branch, of the Society, will be issued at the same time as the Report of the Society. It will be found to show a vigorous and a promising record of the first year's work. On Thursday, January 28th, the Committee pro- ceeded to elect a secretary in place of Mr. S. S. Sprigge, resigned. Their choice fell upon Mr. G. Herbert Thring, M.A., formerly of Hertford College, Oxford. Mr. Thring is a son of the late head master of Uppingham. He is a passed solicitor, and is not unacquainted with the work of the Society. He enters upon his duties at the end of March. The Committee desire to express their thanks to the gentlemen who offered their services. That the post should have attracted candidates of such marked ability is a gratifying proof of the position now held by the Society. T 2  ## p. 258 (#662) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. Cardinal Manning was one of the first Vice- Presidents of the Society of Authors. He attended at several of the earlier meetings, and always took a lively interest in the welfare of the Society. It was, indeed, the adhesion of men such as our illus- trious President, the Cardinal, and others, men whose position commanded respect, which gave the Society at the outset a claim to attention which a mere gathering of well-known literary men might have failed to command. Such is the situation of literature in this country. In America, on the other hand, a gathering of literary men would command the most widespread and the most respectful attention. Our readers will be sorry to learn that for the last two months Mr. R. U. Johnson, the secretary of the Copyright League in New York, has been dangerously ill with typhoid fever. Mr. Johnson is still unable to write or communicate in any way with his English friends, and it is even believed that he is still unaware of the gift which the authors of this country have presented to him. We are happy to say, however, that as we go to press we receive from Mr. Gilder, the Editor of the Century Maga- zine, a telegram, which states that Mr. Johnson is now convalescent, and is believed to be out of all danger. Mr. Rudyard Kipling has been elected a member of the Council. An American Society of Authors has been founded. Its President is Mr. Richard H. Clarke, LL.D., its Executive Council consists of the Rev. Dr. Alfred H. Moment, Rev. Edward P. Ingersoll, Mr. J. Fairfax McLaughlin, and Mr. C. B. Lewis. Its secretary is Mrs. Katherine Hodges. The prospectus begins with an extract from a letter written by Mr. G. W. Smalley to the New York Tribune, a copy of which has already appeared in this journal. The five points which are put forward as the objects of the Association are as follows :— 1. To promote acquaintance and sociality among authors. 2. To secure a clear understanding of the position and rights of authors in literary property. 3. To furnish information as to copyright laws, methods of publishing and form of contract. 4. To assist authors in gaining accurate in- formation as to the true value of their productions, and, when necessary, to secure that value. 5. To endeavour to elevate American literature. We do not know yet how the Association has l>een taken up in the way of membership; we have invited the committee to forward news as to their progress. We wish them every possible success, and we hope to publish from time to time reports of a triumphal inarch. At the Committee meeting of January 2 8th the following resolution was unanimously passed: "That this Committee welcome with great satis- faction the foundation of the American Society of Authors, and that the secretary is instructed to furnish all information and help in its power to the sister Association." The meaning, as between publisher and author, of the so-called "Royalty System "—where there is no system—was explained in the Author for November 1891. Writers are entreated, in their own interests, to study the facts and figures there set forth. Communications intended for the Authors' Syndi- cate should be addressed to W. Morris Colles, the Honorary Secretary. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of this Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly understood that the Society does not, under any circumstances, under- take the publication of MSS. The official directions for the securing of American copyright by English authors were given in the Author for June 1891. Members are earnestly entreated to take the trouble of reading those directions. Members are earnestly requested to forward agreements to the Society for inspection before they sign them. Once signed, the mischief is generally irreparable.  ## p. 259 (#663) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 259 ON LITERARY PROPERTY. I. Authok and Editor. WITHIN what period has an author a right to have unused manuscript returned to him? Has he any right to have it returned to him at all? If it should be lost, has he any right to compensation? These are questions as difficult as they are important. To return an exactly accurate reply to them is impossible, but an endeavour must be made to return an approxi- mately correct one. And, first, a wide distinction must be drawn between cases subject to special agreement and cases not so subject. In a large number of magazines the editor prints in each issue the terms on which he is prepared to receive manuscript, intimating that "he cannot undertake to return rejected communications," or the like. Out of the four corners of such agreements there is no escape, but they should be clearly printed and easily to find. They are, as a rule, however, not only clumsily worded, but incomplete. For instance, they do not state the latest day at which manu- script must be sent in order to ensure insertion in the next issue of a montldy magazine. It is believed that the 8th of each mouth is almost universally the latest day. Numerous contributions being strictly topical, all authors should be put on their guard on this point, and thus saved much useless " writing up to date." It is submitted that all topical contributions which arrive after this fatal 8 th should be returned to the author forthwith. But how about contributions not topical? It is notorious that some editors will keep such for many months, and, perhaps, eventually allow them to be wasted. On this point I confidently submit that no editor has a right to retain manuscript on the chance that room may eventually be found for it. As for corrected proofs which after all do not appear, or what is called "over matter," the right of the author to be paid for such is, or should be, beyond dispute. But where there is no notification in a magazine as to terms on which contributions may be sent, what are the relations between publisher and contributor? Some would say that the publisher solicits manuscript from all the world, and is bound to have all manuscript attended to, and either accepted or returned. It is greatly doubted whether this view will hold water, aud in 1884 the late Mr. Justice Williams, in an action brought unsuccessfully against Sir Augustus (then Mr.) Harris by a dramatic author for compensation for a lost play, laid down the law in terms which show that he did not share such a view, and non-suited the dramatic author. All things considered, and especially looking (1) to the excess of the supply of contributions over the demand for them, and (2) to the great risk of the same subject being selected for treatment by many more contributors than one, authors should surely either not contri- bute at all to magazines containing no special notifications as to handling of manuscript, or else make such terms for themselves by special agreement. A word as to remuneration. Whether rightly or wrongly, no magazine throughout the civilised world has as yet publicly notified any fixed scale. It need hardly be pointed out that the author has a right to be paid for each contribution accord- ing to its value—unless, indeed, the contribution be put in the form of a letter, when it is supposed that merely to insert is sufficiently to remunerate— and that a "scale pay," though in nine cases out of ten it ought to be accepted as fair, is not conclusively adequate. Much less would a publisher have any ground to stand upon who, after inserting a contribution, should venture to tell an uathor that the magazine is being run gratuitously. Such treatment should l>e met forthwith by a writ for the amount claimed. So much for magazines. Now for books. Here there can be no special agreement by public notifi- cation, but there is always opportunity for an author to make a special agreement when delivering his manuscript for consideration by the reader. What form should this special agreement take? So varying are the subjects and the sizes of manuscripts that of course no general rule can be laid down. It would perhaps, however, be reasonable to stipulate for a limit of three months' detention of manuscript in all ordinary cases. But why should not the Authors' Society draw up a sort of scale for publishers to agree to? And why should not a reasonable demurrage become payable by publisher to author after a reasonable period of detention? And why should not an author submit copies of the same manuscript, or offers to write on the same subject, simultaneously to several publishers, with the view of closing with the highest bidder for his work? II. An Instructive Case. A.B. is one of those pcisons who are wholly unfitted either by education, or by special study, or by natural powers, or by acquired powers, to write a single word for the furtherance or help or solace of his fellow creatures.  ## p. 260 (#664) ############################################ 260 THE AUTHOR. He is also one of those persons who become possessed of a single idea, generally a wrong idea, based upon misunderstanding, and impossible for anyone to conceive or to cherish who had any real knowledge of any subjects with which it may be concerned. Some of these persons write letters to the papers; now and then the letters get inserted. Then they are happy and look for the conversion of the world to their own opinions. Less frequently they write a book. A.B. wrote a book. It was a long and dreary MS. on an absurd and ridiculous subject; a book which any publisher with the least regard for literature would, without hesitation, refuse; a book which nobody would buy ; a book which ought never to have been published. Having written his book, A.B. sent it to pub- lishers. The extent of the travels of that MS. is unknown. At last a firm offered to publish it for him if he would pay the whole cost. So far, the only objection to the proceedings is that the book should never have seen the light. They appended an estimate. The printing, machinery, and paper, they said, would cost, for 750 copies, so much. They would recommend adver- tising to the extent of so much. The binding of 25o copies—to begin with—would cost so much. They also stated that they should charge a publishing fee and a commission on sales. The author accepted the terms without question or examination. The book came out and the accounts came in. The printing, machinery, and paper, set down according to the estimate which the author had accepted, was about £3o more than they cost. The binding was set down at a quarter more than it cost. The advertisements "in papers, lists, and cir- culars" were charged double the stipulated sum. No details were rendered, and it is clear from the wording that a good part of the money had been charged for advertising in the firm's own lists. The " publishing fee" was not forgotten. There were next to no returns. In other words, this firm took up a perfectly worthless book, knowing that it was perfectly worthless, in order to make out of it (1) a trifling publishing fee, (2) a trifling commission, and (3) the by no means trifling sum of £5o or £60 by fraud. This was not a little unknown firm: it was a large firm which advertises a long list. In the face of one single fact, such as the above, is there not ample justification for the existence of this Society? Should not the knowledge that the Society has dozens of such cases in its possession prompt all authors to ask its assistance, if only to be kept out of the hands of such a firm as this? III. The Value of American Rights. This is the day for warning authors—it is done very seriously by the disinterested brethren who manage literary affairs—not to expect too much from American rights. Let us not expect too much; let us wait and watch; meantime, we will keep these American rights, whatever they are worth, in our own hands, and not let the dis- interested brother have them at all. An article on the subject in an American journal states that most authors—all those who are not yet in a position to dictate their conditions—are compelled to accept a ten per cent, royalty. A few, he says, can command a twenty per cent, royalty. Now, we have not yet got behind those figures; we do not quite know what they mean, in America, to publisher as well as to author. Therefore, let us for the present say nothing, but make the best arrangement possible. The cost of production and of advertising does not, it is said, follow the same law of proportion to the price as in this country. The writer who is quoted gives us, however, one or two useful pieces of information. A work by a tolerably well-known writer which sells 3,ooo copies does well. Often a publisher is satisfied with a sale of 2,000 copies. At a fifteen per cent, royalty on a price of one dollar and a half, the author would get, on a sale of 3,ooo copies, the sum of £i35. In this country, on the same sale of a 6s. book, and with the same rate of royalty, the publisher would net about £2 70, that is to say, publisher: author :: 2 : 1 on that scale. On a larger sale it may become a pro- portion of 3:i. The American writer goes on to say that he numbers among his friends two well-known and successful writers, whose income from literature is not equal to that of an ordinary clerk in a prosperous business house. IV. The Literahy Fraud. "What protection has an editor against the man who sends him old and stolen papers as his own? None, except the police court; and it is really wonderful, considering the impunity with which the thing may generally be done, that it is not done oftener. In the States, it appears, the trick is much more common than here. The Harpers are reported to be resolved upon ferreting out and  ## p. 261 (#665) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. bringing to justice this class of offenders. There is more than one way of trickery. A man may stoal a paper from an old, or translate one from a foreign, magazine, and pass it off as his own. This, one imagines, is what is commonly done. If an obscure magazine is chosen, the chances of detection are very slight. Of course, if a man stole from old numbers of the Cornhill, or Temple Bar, he would be found out at once. Another plan is for a writer to offer an editor work done, sold, and published years before. A third is to sell the same thing to two or more different magazines. The exposure of the criminal's name is something, but in this, as in every other infringement of literary property, the courts of law are the only real preventive. V. The Sale op Copyright. If a man sells his copyright to a publisher, can the publisher do what he likes with the manu- scripts? I hear everyone say at once—certainly. Softly! Can he mutilate the work? Surely that might be to the author's detriment. Can he burn it? That also might damage the author. For an author is paid in two ways—by money and bv repute. If he is only to obtain his money pay- ments, they should be proportionately large where he is going to be done out of his fame. The matter is one for legal exposition, which is invited. The case is put in the form of a story in this paper. VI. The Return of MSS. The following notices have been extracted from the January numbers of the magazines mentioned, and if aspiring contributors would read them they would spare themselves a great deal of disappoint- ment. A large number are silent as to their practice with regard to the return of manuscripts, and in a still larger number of cases their bark is worse than their bite. Among these must be included the Quarterly Review, Edinburgh Review, Con- temporary Review, Blackwood's Magazine, and Cornhill Magazine :— The Law Quarterly Review: "It seems convenient to repeat, in a conspicuous place, that it is not desirable to send manuscript on approval without previous communication with the Editor, except in very special circum- stances; and that the Editor, except as afore- said, cannot be in any way answerable for manuscripts so sent. The Editor cannot undertake the return or safe custody of manuscripts sent to him with- out previous communication." The Nineteenth Century: "The Editor of the Nineteenth Century cannot undertake to return unaccepted manuscripts." The National Review: "Correspondents are requested to write their name and address on their manuscripts. Post- age stamps must be sent at the same time if they wish their manuscripts to be returned in case of rejection." The New Review: "The Editor of this Review does not undertake to return any manuscripts." The Fortnightly Review: "The Editor of this Review cannot undertake to return any manuscripts." Temple Bar: "Every manuscript should bear the name and ad- dress of the writer (not necessarily for publica- tion) and be accompanied by postage stamps for its return in ease of non-acceptance. Every care will be taken, but the Editor and publishers cannot be responsible for accidental loss, &e. « # • # Poetry. From the large number of pieces received every month, it is impossible to return them. A copy should be kept, as rejected pieces are destroyed." Longmans' Magazine: "A stamped addressed envelope should accom- pany the manuscript if the writer wishes it to be returned in case of non-acceptance. The Editor can in no case hold himself responsible for accidental loss." Macmillan's Magazine: "Every manuscript should bear the name and address of the writer, and be accompanied by the necessary postage stamps for its return in case of non-acceptance. Every endeavour will be made to send back unaccepted articles, but the Editor cannot guarantee their safe return. There is no rule in this magazine entitling a contributor to the publication of his signature. This and all other kindred matters rest solely on the Editor's discretion." "We shall give further editorial announcements next month.  ## p. 262 (#666) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. VII. A New Device. "The wily publisher has lately adopted a new device for fleecing his secular victim that may be recommended to the notice of the Author. The wretch has taken to sending the author all the unfavourable reviews that appear of his immortal work, and suppressing the favourable ones. The result is, or is expected to be, that the author supposes his work to be a failure, and, when the time of submitting accounts arrives, either expects no cheque or is delighted with one of a most modest amount." The above is from the Athenceum (Jan. 2, 1892). The adjective "wily " affixed to the word "publisher" probably means that the whole paragraph is an elaborate joke. "Secular victim" is a good phrase—also part of the recondite and cryptic joke. If it is not a joke, then somebody has been deliberately thieving, and ought to be tried in a criminal court. But when was it expected that a publisher should collect and send to an author all the notices of his book? Authors in their younger days have sometimes favourable notices sent them by their publisher to promote confidence, and always have unfavourable notices sent them—to promote despondency—by private friends. One would like to know more about the origin of this paragraph. It looks as if it had teen communicated by some publisher who had been rashly accused of the thing by a suspicious author. If not that, then it is the suspicion, probably unfounded by examination into the facts, of a suspicious author, communicated by him to the Athenceum. If that is so, his remedy is easy. He has only to send a chartered accountant to audit that publisher's accounts. If the publisher is an honest man he cannot possibly refuse. If he does refuse, there is another step possible, and very easy, which will overrule that refusal. GOSSIP IN A. LIBRARY. "Dbvden's Fables. "Fables, Ancient and Modern. Translated into verse from Homer, Ovid, Boccace, and Chaucer. With original Poems. By Mr. Dryden. London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, within Gray's Inn Gate, nea t Gray's Inn Lane. MDCC." This is an elephant among books, and makes us sigh as we lift it. At the close of the seventeenth century the British public grew more and more to address the poets in the words of Armado in Love's Labour's Lost: "Devise, wit; write, pen; for I am for whole volumes in folio." Until that time these grandiose forms, properly dedicated to the theologians and the philosophers, had been com- monly eschewed by the poets until they came to collect in a final shape their works (" that is to say, their plays"). The volumes in which the famous lyrical poets of the middle of the century made their appearance were delightfully exiguous. A young dreamer of dreams might carry his Lovelace or his Crashaw next to his heart without any fatal injury to the elegance of his doublet; the first edition of Waller, slipped into the pocket of his cloak, would add nothing appreciable to its weight. But, as the century closed, books of verse became steadily taller, and, above all, there came in this taste for folios. It was the enterprise of Jacob Tonson that first encouraged this latter fancy. One of his earliest ventures, as a young man of five and twenty, had been Dryden's Absolom and Achitophel, which he brought out, in defiance of all precedent, as a thin stitched folio pamphlet. He was immediately imitated, and this form, incon- venient as it seems to us, became the one generally chosen for the first appearance of occasional poetry. But among the enormous books of verse with which the century closes the one before us was the hugest, as it was the last. It was published, it is believed, in the month of November 1699, and therefore less than six months before the death of Dryden. The noble poet, worn out at last in his unequal struggle with misfortune, succumbed at length to a cluster of ailments which had tormented him all through the winter. His surgeon offered him the chance of prolonged life if he would submit to an operation, but Dryden refused. He told Mr. Hobbes, as Ward reports in his London Spy, "that he was an old man, and had not long to live by course of nature, and there- fore did not care to part with one limb, at such an age, to preserve an uncomfortable life on the rest." And so, on the 1 st of May, 1700, he died, calmly and resignedly, "taking of his friends," says one of those who were with him, "so tender and obliging a farewell as none but he himself could have expressed." This tall folio, then, possesses a singular interest as the final message of this great poet to the world in which he had fought, and laboured, and fallen, and persevered, for seventy arduous years, the last crop from this gnarled and broken but still richly fruitful tree. If the Fables showed signs of a mental decay responding to the physical, they would still awaken our interest and demand our respect. In those days a gigantic book of this kind was not rapidly worked off nor readily circulated. If, indeed, certain copies were subscribed in November, it must have been nearer Easter before some country clients of Tonson received the ponderous packet. Life went upon leisurely wheels in rural places then, and many a fine lady and lettered squire may have  ## p. 263 (#667) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 263 seen the ominous paragraph in the Postboy: —" John Dryden, Esq., the famous poet, lies a- dying,"—before they had mastered the contents of their last purchase. All their lives through such readers would have awaited the utterances of the one great writer of the age with the same certainty with which they awaited the changes of the seasons. That winter would follow autumn seemed not more inevitable than that Mr. Dryden would oblige the town, as he had obliged it since the earliest memories of man, with an ode or a satire, a tragedy or a translation. And now he "lies a-dying!" With what zest, with what melancholy eagerness, would they turn to his new volume. Nor would there be any possibility of disappoint- ment to a reader of that day. To compare the pleasure given by this folio to its immediate readers, we have to think of the reception proposed for the second Childe Harold or for the Idyls of the King. In spite of the insolence of his controversial opponents, Dryden was now to the world at large what Byron was in 1816, or Tennyson in 1864, that is to say, a writer intimately in sympathy with his public, of uncontested mastery, perfectly sure to provide exactly what his readers would wish to receive. The only doubt admissible was, whether disease of body and old age had reduced the creative and executive gifts. A glance at the folio would remove this fear. Never had Dryden written, in his own way, with a more brilliant force; never had his powers of narration been so pictorial, his artistic resources so completely under his control. Never till now had he shown what fire was hidden under the lids of those " sleepy eyes." The? chorus of critical praise rang out louder and clearer than ever before, and the laurels weighed down the weary body as it passed to its long sleep between the dust of Chaucer and of Cowley. The impression produced by this particular volume was not destined to be ephemeral. A hundred years after its publication, one of its most important sections could still be placed by so influential a critic as George Ellis " on the very topmost shelf of English poetry." Later still, Mr. Saintsbury has called the Fables "the most brilliantly successful of all Dryden's poetical experiments." It is therefore here, if anywhere, that we may attempt to solve the question why the admitted masterpiece of one who is acknowledged to Ik? one of the greatest of the English poets, is no longer widely read or enthusiastically enjoyed. I know no problem more difficult to solve, none more embarrassing to our critical pretensions. It is of no use to affirm that the Fables are enjoyed as much as The Fairy Queen, let us say, or as Prometheus Unbound, because? it is matter of common experience that this is not so. It is of i VOL. 11, equally little use to affirm that, therefore, Dryden must be a poet of a rank inferior to Spenser or Shelley, because it is easily demonstrable that he is quite as prominent a figure as either in our literary history. Let us, first of all, see what this volume really contains, a feat not to be achieved, even in Mr. Saintsbury's splendid (but alas! unfinished) resuscitation of Sir Walter, except in the original issue. The edition of 1700 consists of a prose dedication, a long critical preface, a poem addressed to the Duchess of Ormonde, a paraphrase from Chaucer, an Epistle to John Dryden of Chester- ton, a translation from Ovid, a paraphrase from Boccaccio, three more pieces out of Ovid, the first Iwok of the "Iliad," successive paraphrases from Chaucer, Boeeaeeio, Ovid, and Chaucer again, the ode called " Alexander's Feast," five more pieces of Ovid and Chaucer, an original poem to the memory of a Fair Maiden Lady, and a paraphrase from Boccaccio, all since distributed to various chambers in the complicated works of John Dryden. Of all these, one, and one alone, is familiar to every educated person, the " Alexander's Feast." Most literary men luive read or know they ought to have read the poem to the Duchess of Ormonde, and, of the paraphrases, " Palamon and Arcite," " Theodore and Honoria," and " Cymon and Iphigenia." The rest is familiar only to those few who read every- thing in the English literature of the past. Let us quote a passage from what lies outside the selected pieces I have named. Here is a description of a delicate young girl, who died at the very threshold of her life :— So faultless was the frame, as if the whole Had been an emanation of the soul, Which her own inward symmetry revealed, And like a picture shown, in glass annealed j Or like the sun eclipsed, with shaded light, Too piercing, else, to be sustained by sight. Kach thought was visible that rolled within, As through a crystal case the figured hours are seen j And heaven did this transparent veil provide, Because she hail no guilty thoughts to hide. Here is a courtly and cordial piece of compli- ment :— No porter guards the passage of your door, To admit the wealthy, and exclude the poor; For God, who gives the richos, gave the heart, To sanctify the whole, by giving part; Heaven, who foresaw the will, the means has wrought, And to the second son a blessing brought; The first-begotten had his father's share, But you, like Jacob, are Rebecca's heir. Each of these passages suffers by excision, for Dryden's beauties are those of sustained substance and extended form, so that to judge his poetry by a fragment is almost like trying to appreciate a marble Venus by examining one of her broken lingers. Yet which of the essential qualities of U  ## p. 264 (#668) ############################################ 264 THE AUTHOR. poetry is missing even in these brief quotations? Here are elevation of thought, felicity of expression, life approached from the dignified and imaginative side, versification that is as strong and as buoyant as a wave. What is wanted? The wilful modern reader says,—the charm of Spenser and of Shelley. What the particular charm is which seems lacking, not merely in Drydcn, but to a still greater degree in Pope, is, I think, mainly a technical one. It is not romantic subject, for nothing in English poetry is more romantic than "Theodore andHonoria"; it is not sweetness of verse-music, for the whole of this huge folio is ringing with a sober and majestic melody. It is rather the lack of preciousness in the details, the wide sweeps of the brush precluding all minute foreground work, the absence of pre-Raphaclite touches, which disappoint us in this manly body of poctrv. Wc expect, in our age, to have the entire canvas covered with delicate handicraft, and we find that where the painting poets of the Eliza- bethan age succeed their pictures have the same peculiarity. In Dryden's age a great effect was sought for, a poetical bravura, bold sweeping lines of narrative. It was expected that poetry should be seen from a distance, not pored over with a lens, as we treat our favourites. Doubtless our con- ception of the art gives us a more varied and a more vivid pleasure, but a perusal of this folio, Dryden's farewell gift to his country, may serve to remind us that the other, the simpler, plainer art also exists. Our taste should be catholic, and to those who would insist on our preferring one style to another, and putting Marlowe in a class above Drydcn, we may reply— "Kach heaven's alternate beauty well displays." Edmund Gosse. A HINT FOR BRITISH MUSEUM READERS. ON the 13th of July last, a register, open to the public, was placed in the hall just at the entrance of the Reading Room of the Dibliotheque Nationale in Paris, the object of which is explained in the following notice placed against the wall beside the register: "Conforme- ment an desir cxprime par des lecteurs, le present registre est mis a leur disposition pour l'inscription des deinandes on des offres de collaboration (re- cherches, copies, dessins, etc.) portant sur les collections de la Bibliotheqne Nationale. L'ad- ministration demeure absolument ctnmgere mix indications contemiei dans ce registre." Up to the present date (January 6) 109 pages of the register have been filled, or an average of nearly four entries per day, the nature and variety of which are quite interesting. It is to be noted that nearly all the entries are by ladies and gentle- men who seek literary employment, not by i>ersoiis in search of assistants. There are a few investi- gators in foreign countries who sent their names to lie entered for the purpose of finding co-workers, chiefly for gathering statistics. The numl>er of languages in which researches are proposed to be made, or lessons given, is astonishing. Let . me quote a few specimens of the entries, namely :— Demande recherches historiqnes, scientifiques, et techniques .... recherches en tons genres, transcriptions, documents de la noblesse, etc. . a faire des copies et a mettre des manuscrits au net .... a se mettre en rapport avec personnes s'occupant de la question juive . a faire traductions de russe en francnis, lecons et copies .... des travaux qnelconqiies (prix ties doux) .... s'oecupe de recherches heraldique .... desire donner des lecons d'anglais .... voyagerait avec une faniille on une. personne senle .... preceptorat on emploi de secretaire .... offre de vendre le manuscrit d'un roman .... collabomteiir avec petit capital pour fonder un journal .... place ile comptable .... ecritnres diverses . a changer conversation de francais contre conversation d'allemand .... place de redac- teur .... lemons de coniptabilite .... lecons de violin et de piano .... apprentisage d'un metier artistique .... place de gerant . . . . place de garde champetre. The supply in all these fields of labour is enor- mously greater than the demand. Would such a condition be materially different in the British Museum—in England, where education is not so free as in France? I doubt that there would l>e much difference. The fact is that we live in an age of research, and that the business is vastly overdone. An age of research is followed by a period of destruction, and the question of the XXth Century is, Can we utilize the results of our researches for the purpose of saving civilization from collapse? C. S. THE DAY SHALL COME. The day shall come—surely as time rolls by— When true strong souls to heights of God will reach— Aye, kiss His feet and hearken to His speech, The distance vanquished between earth and sky; As they draw nigh to Him, will He draw nigh  ## p. 265 (#669) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 265 To them, and bend His face a little down That glory from His eyes their beads may crown, Their hearts may strengthen to sueh tension high, But sometimes, too, I think that now and then, (Leaving some garment, lest they lonely cry, For them to hold, so, peaceful, childlike lie) God will withdraw a little from these men; And in far reaches out of ken and sight Will live awhile in awful lonely light. Sidney Caxton. NOTES PROM PARIS. ICALLED at Dr. Blanche's this afternoon to hear the latest news of Guy de Maupassant. He is only allowed to see very few people, amongst these being his publisher, M. Ollendorff, who visits him every day. De Maupassant, I was glad to hear, is very much better. His wound is healed, and he is very much calmer. A dav or two ago he expressed a desire to resume the writing of his novel, so tragically interrupted, but yielded to the advice that it would be better for him, as for the work, to rest a little longer. He is, hovever, allowed to write letters to his friends, anil one, which I saw yesterday, certainly showed no signs of having been penned by a man whose intellect is in any way deranged. His new novel "La Debacle " is killing Emilo Zola. Usually delighting in his work, he is loud in complaint at the enormity of his task. "I do not think that I would ever have begun it, had I known. . ." he said to me. Still he is making progress, and is now well on with the second part of the book, which, composed of eight chapters, is entirely taken up with a description of the battle of Sedan. He hopes to have it finished by the end of April. I called on Zola the other day on a very dis- agreeable errand. It was to ask him to put Ins autograph in a birthday book. This book belonged to a friend who is an ardent collector of autographs, and also a great admirer of the chief of the naturalist school. To oblige my friend I did what I would not have done for myself. Still, I did not care to face M. Zola with the request. I feared an "Et tu, Brute," but sent up, as ambassador, a note in which I explained my purpose. Zola came running downstairs, cordial as usual, and had me up to his study. "Have you the instrument of torture with you ?" he asked. Then opposite April 2nd, wrote his laborious signature. "I hate giving autographs," he said, "when the request reeks of coininereiality. I am constantly receiving circulars, chiefly from America, but never answer them." That birthday book contained the last signature Victor Hugo ever wrote. I obtained it a few davs before his death. It was pathetically feeble and illegible. An amiable eccentric is travelling in the south of France as Paul Bourget. He has allowed himself to be interviewed several times on various literary subjects. Bourget published a letter putting people on their guard against him, as it was thought he might be a swindler. But it appears all that he seeks to obtain by his false pretences is the satisfaction of vanity. He pays his bills anil behaves properly. Bourget ought to seek him out. He should be worth analysing. The last meeting of the Societe des Gens de Lettres was held on Sunday, the 17th, at the Hotel Conti- nental. Two hundred and ten members attended. M. Zola presided. The meeting was a lively one. It was divided as to the question whether the old system of admitting members on the rejwrt of a rapporteur, elected by the committee, should lie maintained, or whether Article 5 should be modified so that in future the claims of every would-be member should 1« examined by a special committee of three, who, after writing three several reports, should elect a rapporteur to make a final report on the admissi- bility of the candidate. The old system was main- tained by a large majority. The next meeting will be held on the 3oth of the month. I have seen M. Rodin's rough model of the statue of Balzac, which is to be erected in Paris by public subscription. It premises a remarkable work of art. Balzac is represented in the monkish dressing-gown which he used to wear when writing, and which, it will be remembered, was always kept spotlessly white. The face is an excellent likeness, and the pose bespeaks the wonderful vitality and energy of the Goliath of the pen. Rodin is staking his great reputation on this work. Is " avid " English? It is an adjective that I should often have had a use for, but the dictionaries ignored it. Of late I have seen it frequently used, as recently as last Sunday by a man of no less U 2  ## p. 266 (#670) ############################################ 266 THE AUTHOR. authority than T. P. O'Connor in one of his masterly reviews in the Sunday Sun; and I am anxious to know quo warranto. In France the Academy settles the y randes and the yetites entrees of words into the national vocabulary: in Germany the Kaiser decides in these matters, but who or what in England? Is the Englishman inde|>endent, of an official Word-Mint, or is it coining to invent words? There are many words which, like "avid," seem tout indiques, and I am curious whether a writer incurs n charge of lesS- lanyuc in introducing them as occasion warrants. Oscar Wilde's " Salome " is to be produced at the Theatre d'Art here next month. It is in one act and in prose, a highly poetical dramatization of the story of John the Baptist. Oscar Wilde wrote in French from the beginning. It is very much ad- mired by those who have read it, and the production of a French play of considerable literal')' pretension is being eagerly looked forward to by artistic Paris. Robert H. Shehakd. Paris, January 20th, 1892. ♦■>•-♦ LIKE THE AUTHORS, or A REFORMED PROFESSION. "TTTATT a minute," said the man at the table, VV looking up. "Sit down. Take a pipe. * T I shall not be long." His visitor took a chair—there were only two in the garret—and sat down. It was a cold day in January, but there was no tire. The man writing at the table had a rug wrapped round his legs. The furniture was scanty and shabby. Presently the writing man collected his papers, numbered them, and looked over the last two or three pages in his hand. "There !" he cried, "It is finished, and now I think that old humbug Sir George will sit up and look round about." "Oh! they are all made to sit up every week," said the other wearily. "What good does it do?" "I've shown that he knows no law; I've shown that he never did know any law; that his eloquence is twopenny froth; that he is a hack and a . . . ." "That will do. You have written one of the usual beastly things, I suppose. What good will it do if it is true? Besides, you know that it isn't true, or only half true. He is what circum- stances have made him." "It will mean a few guineas in my pocket to begin with." "And to end with. Nobody will think anything the better of you, or any the worse of Sir George, for your article, or a dozen articles like it. Never a number of any magazine comes out in which there is not some article by » clever young fellow like yourself"—the speaker was at least eight-and-t went v, and his friend was perhaps three years younger—" 011 the Decay of the Legal Profession. The magazines must be filled somehow. Formerly it was the Decay of Literature, and the pipers were filled by the young men who wanted to show their superiority bv down-crving favourite authors. I was looking the other day at some magazines of 1892. How- stale and dull they were—the articles written by the men of the Higher Criticism, as they called themselves! And how dead and forgotten are the writers of those papers! I think people got tired of the thing, if they ever liked it, which one cannot believe. Fortunately the reform of the professions and the destruction of our old corporations set us free to abuse each other. Well, we have got our liberty, and the result . . . ." He looked about the emptv garret. His eye fell upon the empty fireplace and his friend's shabby coat. He stopped and sighed. "Yes," cried the other hotly, "we have our liberty and we use it. What? Why should we remain in silence when such a humbug as old Sir George keeps all the business to himself? Humbug or not he is fifty years of age; it is time for him lo retire in favour of the younger men." "Quite so. Envy of success; jealousy of age; but Sir George is a great advocate; juries think so." "What do juries know altout law? But you are always carping at things as they are. I don't believe they were ever any better. Why should not barristers, physicians, preachers—everybody— criticise each other just as literary men have always done?" "Rather, why should authors have been allowed to set the evil example of knifing each other? Bemeinber that the best men—even the second- rate men—have seldom, if ever, done it. The personal abuse, the misrepresentations, the envious sneers that went on under the name of literary criticism, all this was done by men who notoriously had created or invented nothing, and were jealous of the men who had. The pipers which filled up the monthly magazines fifty years ago with lamen- tations 011 the Decay of Art and Literature were not the work of the craftsmen, but of the men who wished to be taken as critics. Their papers were sometimes accepted by editors because they could be had for the asking and at a prettv low figure, and because they filled up his paper. Nolwdy  ## p. 267 (#671) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. wanted them; nobody read them; they hud no influence; the things they cried down went on flourishing just the same. Nobody whs hurt by them, except the profession of letters. That was very much hurt, I suppose; it was made contemp- tible as far as it. can be made contemptible. What could the world, as then constituted, when pro- fessions were guilds, think of a calling in which every man's hand was turned against his neighbour, and abuse, depreciation, envy, and spitefulness were suffered without rebuke or power of remedy, except action for libel?" "By which you would infer that we our- selves" "Let us see. Fifty years ago the profession of the law was a closely guarded corporation. Those who belonged to it were governed by laws; if they broke those laws they were liable to be disbarred. For instance, they could not canvass, tout, adver- tise, or beg for work; tliey could not bargain with solicitors; they could not haggle and be beaten down; they could not sue for fees; they could not attack each other, as authors did—and as von do—had your grandfather written that paper in your hands he would have been most certainly disbarred. In fact, fifty years ago a barrister was, before all, a gentleman, according to the good old meaning of the word." "Whatever has happened, we have our liberty. Freedom before all!" "Freedom? Look out of window. Who is that great fat man swelling along like a turkey cock? A rich solicitor, is he not? He is to us what the publisher was to the author. He lavs the money; he gives out the work; he pays us. Formerly he paid ns at rates fixed by ourselves. We sat here and the work came to us. Now his chambers— that man has got a whole set of stairs in Stone Buildings—are besieged by barristers waiting to receive the work, begging for it, humbly receiving what he will give, hoping for his generosity. "Look at that fellow taking off his hat in the court. He is a great lawyer—a great scholar— a man of immense powers. Yet he has to take off his hat to the solicitor who has got the money, and he has to so himself to the man's chambers to ask for work." "Our liberty—Our liberty "—said the other man more feebly. "Your liberty! stuff and rubbish! wc had your liberty and we threw it away ; we were indepen- dent, and we made ourselves slaves. We imitated the authors—we cut the painter and east the boat adrift. Lil>erty is only to be achieved by combina- tion. As authors were fifty years ago, afraid of publishers, dependent on their so-called 'gene- rosity,' snarling at each other, so are we now, because we have destroyed our corporation. That splendid great hall, over there; it is used, you know very well, by the solicitors for their banquets —they sometimes ask us to sit down with them— it was ours once; the library next to the hall—ours —but we threw all away when we destroyed our corporation. As for the physicians, you know what they are now—think of what they were fifty years ago. •' Do you mean to say that we are not to speak the truth when a humbug ." "My dear fellow, reflect. Why should you speak the truth? How do you know that it is the truth? Have you shown that you could do any l>etter? Have you shown that you can do anything at all? Who constituted you a judge? Why should (he world accept your verdict? How much envy is there in this paper that you have written, and how much pure love of justice and yearning after excellence? How much knowledge of law—principles of criti- cism—do you show in this article of yours?" The other hung his head. "They all do it," he said; "my dear fellow, I should starve if it were not for the chance of making a little money this way." "Well, it is a bad way. In the old times, before the men and women of letters saw a way to combine, and to regidate the former license, the same kind of talk went on about criticism and the pricking of wind bags. Every little prig who offered his precious contribution was allowed to pad out the pages of the magazines with the newest jargon al>out Art, and with his crude and impudent judgment on men he never even took the trouble to read. They were just like you, my dear l>oy. They had never been tried; nobody knew whether they could do anything or not. Mostly they could do nothing. Mostly they no more had the critical than the creative faculty. In fact, the former is much the rarer of the two. And they were mostly consumed with spite and envy. Just like you, my dear lwy. Now you have got your knife into Sir George. That was the way the would-be man of letters generally began. You do not tell us, you sec, because you do not know, what you would do if you were in Sir George's place. He has to convince the jury; to please his employer the solicitor; to win his case. What is the use of saying that he knows no law? He has to win his case. What is the use of saying that he plays to the gallery? He has to win his case." "Is there to Ik' no criticism at all, then?" "Let us distinguish. A man in practice desires the favourable judgment of his employers, the solicitors. That is all the criticism he wishes, Most of your criticism is directed, and intended, to prejudice him in the eyes of his employers, Next, he desires to be thought a persuader cf  ## p. 268 (#672) ############################################ 268 THE AUTHOR. juries. If the world accepts Lim as such, he is, to a certain extent, independent of the solicitors, because they must employ him. Therefore a great part of your criticism is intended to prejudice him in the eyes of the; world. If a man is jwpular von deride the -world for liking him—just us the unsuccessful and the. untried writer used to do. You invent a thousand reasons why the world should despise him. But there is only one reason— envy. You want to take his place. That is, while you are young. At your present age you hate the men who have got on, because you wish to be in their place. When you grow old you will hate them worse, because you have failed to get on. That is about the sum of vour criticism, my dear friend." The other man did not reply. There was no reply possible, because it was all true. "When all is said," the speaker continued, "wo remain the slaves of the solicitors; we belong to the men who have money and can give out the work; we have to take what they choose to dole out we have no protection against them. They have cut our fees down to vanishing point; they have found out a thousand ways to rob us and beat us down. If we grumble they put on men like yourself, my dear Jack, hard up, envious, and j>erhaps incompetent— which is not like yourself—to call attention to our sordid and money grubbing spirit when we ought to be contented with the honour and the. glory of the spouting. These hacks talk about the dignity of the profession, and ask if law is to be measured by the guineas it will bring in. We are in rags, and our miseries and our helplessness bring upon us the contempt of the world. Why, men are ashamed to call themselves barristers, just as they were formerly ashamed to call themselves authors, l>ecause they were so helpless, and so poor, and so very much sat upon and robbed!" "There are too many of us," said the other. "Yes, we have abolished examinations, you see. Well—we live in garrets, like this j solicitors live in stately clubs; they have robbed us of all the good things that used to be ours. They are now Chancellors, Law Officers, Judges, Masters, Re- corders—everything. Why? Because, for the sake of the miserable freedom which you prize so much —the power of hating and deriding and abusing each other, we have given up the independence which was ours by combination and ours by disci- pline." There was a step on the stair and a knock at the door. A man marched in with his hat on, fussy and important. "Messrs. Vellum and Sheepshanks," he said, pulling out a bundle of papers, " Mr. Sheepshanks sends compliments and brief. You must call to- morrow morning at u.3o, when he will see you. Case set down for hearing. Documents in the case. Junior counsel, brief endorsed four-and-six. With you, Sir George. Here you are—want your money- down, I suppose, like all of 'em. Got sixpence change?" He threw the papers and the silver on the table and marched out again, slamming the door behind him. "There!" cried the young lawyer, jumping up, "My chance has come at last." "It used to come, fifty years ago, with a little more respect to counsel. And the fee! Four-and-six! Good Heavens! To what are we reduced? Well, it may be your chance. Meantime, this precious article! Will you add one more name to the long list of envious and malignant articles written by the young and the unsuccessful against their elders and their betters? "Let me keep it," he said. "If the case leads to others I will tear it up. If not . . . ." "And as for me," said the other, " I shall go on with the impossible task of trying to persuade this scattered company of barristers to unite, to associate once more, and to return to the old order. The older men cannot; it is too late for them. They have been too long accustomed to fight, every man for his own hand. They cannot understand the independence of the former order; senility to solicitors is in their blood; they have grown up to think it the finest thing in the world to slate and scarify each other. But with the young men it may be different. Jack, tear up this filthy rag," —he chucked the article into the empty fireplace— "and join me. Let us work together, let us try to restore the Inns of Court, let us try to bring back the old order, the old discipline, and the former independence." A MAGNIFICENT STORY.* EVERYONE has been reading "Tess of the D'Urbervilles," and Mr. Hardy's splendidly pathetic story has cominanded the outspoken praise of all competent to judge of its merits. It is a curious comment upon the attitude of the English reader—for this, of course, dictates the attitude of the editor who caters for him--that it should have been thought expedient to mutilate this perfectly restrained and delicate book in its original production lest it should give offence. To us it seems that if blind people will walk ulwut, they must take the chance of bruising their shins * Tess of the D'Urbervilles, a pure woman, faithfully presented by Thoma9 Hardy. 3 vols. Osgood, Mcllvnine, & Co.  ## p. 269 (#673) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. ngiiinst stumbling blocks. The world is to the clear-eyed. "Teas of the D'Urbervilles" is the faithful pre- sentation of a pure woman. This is on the title page, where it was easy to put it—the printer could have done it—but it is also in the text, where not another living writer could have put it, under the difficulties which Mr. Hardy has created for himself, that he might move us to admiration by overcoming them. For Tess is twice a guilty lover. As a child she is deceived by a man, and as a woman she is sacrificed to circumstances, but throughout her terrible story there is no doubt whatever that she loathes the sin that has lost her, that she is an absolutely pure woman faithfully presented. She starts as a healthy hoyden, soon to be a dishonoured mother, and she ends on the gallows, the mad murderess of her paramour, but from end to end she shows no trace of levity, no smear of sensuality. There is but one passionate time for her—her brief life as a bride. The story depends wholly upon the method of its telling. Throughout her misery Tess is always within a few feet of happiness, throughout her sin she is always within a few feet of virtue. She walks to her doom along one of two parallel piths. The other, separated from her by only a little hedge, would conduct her to happiness. She never sees over the hedge. Her first lover would have married her had she "resisted him longer. Her mother placed her in his power, and ignorance completed her ruin. But she is not ruined for ever. She lives down her fault. She is betrothed to the man she loves. Surely now she is on the other path! No. The man who married her would have lived out a life of happiness with her, if she had told him all her story before their marriage, or told him nothing afterwards. Her mother prevented the first course, her honour prevented the second, and at once she is back on her path of sorrow. She could have kept her husband by her side if she had put out her seductive powers. Her delicacy prevented her from doing this, so his delicacy urged him to desert her. She has one more chance. Her husband's parents would have helped her had she appealed to them. She starts to do so, and a trivial accident prevents her from accomplishing her purpose. Once again she was on the path to happiness, and once again she is forced away to her allotted track. The pretty generosity of Marian and Izz Huett might have saved her, but it was not to be. With complete fidelity to his conception of the girl and to his knowledge of life, the author hurries her to her doom. She has never known how near she has been to happiness. Tragedy is not the caterwauling of a Princess in a burlesque castle, and sensation is not a question of undiscovered crime. For those who can understand it this book is most tragic and most sensational, but it is not a book for house- maids. Tess is a very simple creature. She luis very little reasoning power and no religious convictions whatever. Therefore, stayed neither from within nor from without, she easily falls a victim to cir- cumstances, and her cruel fate becomes logical. But she is a pure woman. Mr. Hardy justifies his title by his book. Read it and see that the book justifies our title. It is a magnificent story. »■«■♦ NOTES AND NEWS. NO English paper, so far as I have seen, has noticed the very remarkable case brought before the Sydney Court, under Sir Frederick Darley, a few weeks ago. It was in the New York Nation that I saw the note upon it, which will be found in another part of this paper. A certain firm of Australian publishers had brought out a book called "Australian Men of Mark." The judge ruled that all contracts entered into on account of the book should be null and void, because it did not contain biographies of men really remarkable, but only of local importance. The Nation calls attention to certain dangers rising out of such a judgment. Others may be suggested. Thus, "Claribel: a Romance of the Day." (3 vols. Washington Jones. 1892.) What is to prevent a judge from ruling that the publisher is not bound to give the author any of the royalties stipulated for on the ground that there is nothing romantic in the book at all? Again, what is to prevent a judge from ruling that the publisher of a periodical called Noble Thoughts is not entitled to claim his rights because the Thoughts, in the opinion of the judge, are not all Noble, or that he who guides Little-Bits can enforce no claim )>ecause the "Bits " are not " Little," or that the Spectator does not spec tale and therefore has no rights? What with the decision in the Piunock case and this of the Sydney judge the law, as regards both author and publisher, is becoming confused and miscellaneous. The foundation of the American Society of Authors should prove an event of the highest importance to American literature. Elsewhere will be seen a longer notice of this event. It is hoped tliat they may follow our leading in certain particulars, viz., in the accumulation of all the facts  ## p. 270 (#674) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. connected with the management of literary property, the reform of the law as regards literary property, the creation of jealousy and suspicion as regards literary property. It is also hoped that they will show us an example in public spirit, clearness of action and union. Not to move too quickly, but to he always moving, has been our aim. There are some who think we do not move quickly enough. There are others who cry out to us that we are moving far too quickly. It. is neither helpless crying nor a wrathful strike that is wanted; it is steady increasing education and creation of public opinion, and the publication of the actual facts. There is one point in which I hope that the new American Society may be distinguished over our own. I hope that we shall hear that the whole body of honourable publishers have joined in support of the Society. In this country they have not. Partly, of course, it is the difference between a trade and a profession, that the former is not careful and jealous about its name and honour, and the latter is. What a barrister cannot do if he wishes to remain a barrister is well known. What a publisher can do and remain a publisher should be by this time very well known to our readers. Yet one might have expected that personal considerations, self-respect, dignity, even self-interest, should have caused those publishers who have given these hostages to fortune would have pressed forward to the support of an association whose principal object is the protection of property against those who live by pillage of that property. The case of the State and men of letters has been summed up by Mr. Earl Hodgson in the National Review. The spirit of the paper we cannot but commend. To begin with, Mr. Hodgson treats the question of the exclusion of literature from national recognition quite seriously, which is the first thing wanted j in fact, it is the only thing wanted. That the question is serious is the one tiling asked for. The proper answer will follow Very naturally. Mr. Hodgson, however, goes wrong at the outset by asking whether there is among literary men such a desire for titles that the Patronage Secretary of the Treasury would be "justified in ignoring the custom that the brewing interest has a practical monopoly of new peerages." And he points to the fact that men of letters have not come forward to complain that they have not received the titles which are freely given to everybody else. How should a man complain almut himself? It would make him on the spot ridiculous for ever. Even I, from my humble corner, when I began to speak on the subject, did so in the full knowledge of the cheap sneer that woidd certainly follow. A man of letters, asked if he would like a title— asked if he considers the withholding of national recognition from literature a scandal—must put the question aside or fence with it. Can a poet write in reply that he ought to have been a K.C.B. long ago? Of course he cannot. Mr. Lecky expressed this very well when he said that it is hardly for literary men to take the initiative in asking for distinctions. Most of the objections advanced by men of letters take the form of fear that the wrong men would be distinguished. But that objection applies to all professions. Some, as Lord Selborne, write the conventional talk about the "greatest honour of literary men is the power they exercise over the minds of men "—a phrase which may be used of lawyers, artists!, engineers, physicians, architects—all the liberal professions. Lord Selborne, observe, docs not object to the conferring of distinction upon lawyers. The only serious objection hitherto advanced is that literature should have a special order of distinction, and at present there is none. Certainly one would not wish that literary men should be knighted—a distinction pour rire when we consider the men who arc thus decorated. What, then, is Mr. Hodgson's solution of the question? He says that the answer is only matter of time. No class will ever have titular distinctions conferred upon its prominent members merely l>ecause it demands recognition. Yet it is inevitable that the distinctions will come to men of letters by-and-byc. There is to be, at last, a selection from the old and, to me, familiar pages of the Athenian Oracle. Mr. John Underbill has made the selection; Mr. Walter Scott will publish it. The book is simply invaluable to everyone who wishes to study the mind of the middle class at the beginning of tlic last century. The thing cannot Ihj found anywhere else in its entirety. Some of it is in Pepys. If we had the whole of Pepys without any omissions, we should doubtless find a great deal more, because Pepys was not at the outset in the very l>cst society. "For my own part," he writes, " I never did think my own family anything considerable- There is some of it in Defoe, but then Defoe was « strong self-contained man, whose ideas were very far in advance of his friends. Besides, Defoe was a Bohemian, and Defoe was a Dissenter. There W none of it in Tom Brown and Ned Ward, for the bourgeois mind has always been rojmtablc *D" decorous, if dull. There is very little of it i» Essayists, because Addison & Co., though 'hey might sit beside the smug cit at the coffee-house,  ## p. 271 (#675) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 27 r did not go homo with him and sit with his wife and daughters. The Athenian Oracle, with its succes- sor, the British Apollo, is the only place where the middle mind stands revealed. "God save the mark!" What does it mean? The words are now used at random; as often as not they mean nothing, unless it is a mild depreciation. "He calls himself a poet—Ciod save the mark!" There has been a little talk in the New York Nation on the origin of the phrase. It occurs, with its identical "God bless the mark !", four times in Shakespeare. It has been conjectured to refer to the mark in archery, or to the cross instead of signature. But the explanation explains nothing. Now, one of the four places is in Itomeo and Juliet, where the Nurse says: "I saw the wound, I saw it with mine eyes—God save the mark !— here on his manly breast." She touches her own breast while she speaks. The writer in the Nation, Mr. W. Hand Browne, thus comments on the passage and the phrase: "We know that in superstitions times men believed that they lived in a perpetual beleagnerment of malignant powers or demons, always on the watch to harm them in body or soul; and a careless act, word, or gesture might give a disastrous opening. Against such mishaps Christians were taught that the handiest prophylactic was the sign of the cross, which put all demons at once to flight. So I con- ceive that when the Nurse touches her breast she makes a cross upon it—' God save (he mark!' being equivalent to 'God protect from harm the place I now cross'; and this custom I surmise to have given origin to the phrase. As the English gave up the habit of crossing themselves, the original significance was gradually forgotten, until the phrase was used much as writers and speakers of the present day occasionally use it, without any idea of what it means or what they mean by it. "A curious passage in Petronius seems to support this view, and indeed gave me the notion of this explanation. Trimalchio is telling a story of witches veiling around a house in which a youth lias just died. One of the family, a bold Cappa- docian, draws his sword, rushes out of the house, 'et mulierem, tanquam hoc loco (salrum sit quod tango), medium trajecit.' Here Trimalchio evi- dently touches his own or his neighbour's body to indicate the spot where the witch was pierced, and uses at the same time a protective, or avermucine, formula to avert possible mischief." In another page will be found part of an address by Mr. Andrew Lang on Burns and Scottish poetry, filled with patriotic pride in the great and vol. n noble literature that is purely Scottish, on which nobody can—or does—speak so well as Mr. Lang himself. But is it the case, as he thinks, that the age is not " ending in song "? Only yesterday we were all asking each other where was the poet under forty? It had become a commonplace to lament that poetry attracts no longer the keener spirits. One worries through a good many commonplaces in the course of this pilgrimage; they are born; they live; they die. Sometimes they are nearly true, and die only when the conditions change; sometimes they are only half true; sometimes they present a small fraction of the truth. The history of the commonplace has yet to be written. Of this one commonplace, at least, I hope we shall hear no more. Mr. Traill, himself a poet of no mean repute, has shattered it. He enumerates sixty poets—real poets—to whom the title cannot be refused; sixty, not including himself, purposely omitted, the author of "Ioniea," Dr. W. C. Bennett, and Mr. Gerald Massey, accidentally omitted. There is going to be a fresh outburst of song, if I read the signs aright. They are the signs of serious attempt of serious reception, of awakening love for verse, of improved form. In America, if study and practice and perseverance can make poets, there ought to be many poets already. Mr. Howells, the parochial, I believe, claims all the leading poets of the age for his own parish. This is an age which, I venture to think, will end with the warbling of multitudinous songsters. The whole world will be a tuneful choir, and each bosky grove will be melodious. Whether there will be any great poet among them all, 1 know not; but I am fond of listening to songs, and I shall listen with the greatest pleasure. We may expect before long a great invasion of American literature. It must come, in fact, unless the American papers are far more kindly to their writers than our own. The invasion will, I suppose, ruin us all. Who can stand up against such writers as Paul Hamilton Hayne, "greatest of all southern poets," Celia Thaxter, J. T. Turbridge, Mrs. Helen Hunt Jackson, Mrs. Henson, Miss Edith Thomas, and Miss Helen Gray Cone, of whom we read that they have very often surpassed the remaining lines of Sappho, Danske Dandridge, "the West Virginia poetess," Miss Malt Crim, the "new southern novelist," Lafcndio Ilearn, and others who are revealed to us in the pages of the American journals? Seriously, how- ever, there is a great, a vast, increase in the United States of literary endeavour of all kinds, and they are attempting excellence with a newly born, but much fuller, recognition of form and style than we see in this country. If study and perseverance can X  ## p. 272 (#676) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. make poets, novelists, and dramatists, then will the United States speedily lead the way; the whole country, from highest to lowest, is full of respect for literary achievement; there is the stimulus of the highest national honours—such as the representation of the Republic at the courts of St. James's and Berlin; there are, available for literary art of every kind, inexhaustible materials within their own frontiers; it seems to me almost safe to prophecy an outburst before long of genius in the United States such as we ourselves have not seen since the time of Elizabeth. All the conditions are favourable—encouragement, honour, ambition, study, confidence, materials— everything is there waiting for natural aptitude or genius, and this will not be long before it shows itself in a full and flowing Hood. The book of the month—i.e., the book which lias attracted the greatest interest, during the month —is undoubtedly Mrs. Humphrey Ward's "David Grieve." There will be great diversity of opinion as to the place in literature which this work will occupy. Meantime, apart from opinions as to the development of mind here portrayed, there can be no doubt that the judgment of the Times, in reviewing the work, was sound when it pronounced the novel to l>e impressive. No other adjective could so completely sum up the book. One would like—this has nothing to do with the worth of the book—that the people who talk so glibly .about writing to a three-volume length on the assumption that all three-volume novels are of the same length, would kindly consider this three-volume novel as to length. It is very nearly twice as long as the ordinary novel. Of course the cry about Procrustean length belongs to that prattling bird the parrot, but it is seldom that its absurdity is so readily noted as here. Walteb Bksant. ERIC AND ROBERT, OR REVENGE IS SWEET. ILIKE these old titles. Out on your "Some Ideas and their Exegesis," a plague on your "Developmental Evidences," your "From Prig to Prime Minister," your "From Bookmaker to Bishop." Under such a title as I have chosen all can guess what sort of story they may expect. Eric and Robert were at school together. They were neighbours at home, and so far friends at school, that they walked together and talked to- gether more than a little, although they did not like each other much. I knew them both, and it always seemed to me that they kept up consider- able semblance of friendship, and some of its practice, because each distrusted the other; but I may have wronged them, and |K>ssibly they were a.s fond of each other as school friends usually are. This, at least, was notorious—they were desperately jealous of each other. And circumstances gave them cause, for circumstances constantly pitted them against each other. Robert, the son of an officer in Her Majesty's Army, would occasionally adopt a condescending tone towards Erie, the son of a solicitor. Eric, the sou of a thriving business- man, would at times show an obtrusive symjiathy for Robert, the son of an impecunious half-pay major. When Eric got a scholarship, for which Robert had competed, Robert congratulated him with a long face. When Robert was selected to represent their school at cricket, in the place that Eric had confidently expected for himself, Eric's interest in the national game waned, and he took to lawn-tennis. Both entered the same University, but availing themselves of the increased liberties of college life, they took different courses and saw little of each other. And this was the easier that they had but few common friends. If a man knew Eric he somehow did not care to meet Robert. If a man was on confidential terms with Robert he would get an impression that Eric was rather a person to be avoided. But they remained "Eric" and "Robert"' to each other. The University worked changes upon them. Eric grew idle, but read promiscuously, and adopted a didactic and critical tone. Robert grew diligent and became bitten with Orientalism. The result of this was to make him the only examinee in certain unpronounceable dialects, while it took seven savants to examine him. With a not unnatural generosity they awarded him a first-class in the tripos. It was about this period in their lives that the affair with Edith took place. I can say but little about it, for I know but little. Probably Edith would have married Robert, if Eric had not interfered. Probably she would have then married Eric, if Robert had shown a proper dignity and taken his refusal as final. He continued, as Eric said, to pester the girl. Now, she was a peaceful lass, and for the sake of peace she married the local brewer. With a University career and the regulation love affair brought to their definite conclusions, each young man felt that the business of life was now before him. Robert took pupils in the Cashmere dialects and began to make a reputation for himself as a Numismatist. His Oriental studies bad  ## p. 273 (#677) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 273 infused a certain enthusiasm into a school-boy trick of coin-collecting, and had thrown over it a glamour of classic learning. At two or three public sides he gave the highest prices on record. From the newspaper notoriety which he thus acquired to public recognition as an expert in his subject was but a short step. Next came rumours of his for- tunate bargains. The British Museum cut Robert's own records, by giving him more for certain coveted bits of metal than he had given himself. Then the museums of New York and Melbourne followed suit, and in course of time he acquired a second reputation, as big as the first, by the sales from his collection. He was chosen with acclaim the Librarian and Curator of the New Institute of a northern town, became a serious candidate for election to the Royal Society, and was believed to be writing an exhaustive book on the enthralling hobby that he had made his own, and lifted into the position of a science. Meanwhile, Eric had also fallen upon his legs. Shortly after leaving college he had entered a well- known publishing firm, and as time went on he became the presiding genius of the business. He was very modern. He republished certain Eliza- bethans' poetry in numbered copies on hand-made paper. He ran a serious magazine, entitled " The Mirror of Contemporary Thought," to which he obtained contributions from an archbishop, a prize- lighter, and Mr. Gladstone. Of course he had his series. It was called the Victorian series, and consisted of little manuals stuffed with home-truths about the Great People of the reign. It had a certain vogue, chiefly among the little people of the reign, but that is a very respectable public to appeal to. Soon after the establishment of " The Mirror of Contemporary Thought," there were hints in various literary periodicals that the coming book of re- search—a book from which amusement and artistic pleasure were to be derived as well as mere infor- mation—was Robert's Manual of Numismatics. With an impartial spirit, hardly to be too highly commended in these log-rolling days, Erie lent the pages of his review to Mr. Mortimer Watson, who essayed, firstly, to dispose of Numismatics as a science for ever, and, secondly, to indicate that Robert's Numismatics presented that foolish science in a more contemptible light than it had ever pre- viously appeared. Mr. Watson was thorough and his work was very creditable, for he only had three little stray articles from Robert's pen and a few annotated catalogues to guide him to his conclu- sions, but those who read the article could scarcely fail to see that Robert was a vicious, ignorant, and pretentious man. Eric said in more quarters than one that he was deeply sorry that Robert should have been exposed. It was about this time that Eric came on for election at Robert's club. Robert was so busy in the matter, that more might have been expected from his efforts in behalf of his old friend, than actually came of them. Eric was not elected; and Robert said in more quarters than one that he was deeply sorry that Eric should not have been more fortunate. To his inner self each owned that he hated the other. The position between them would have been clearer to all of us, had not Robert's appointment kept him far from London. As they never met, a formal agreement not to meet seemed superfluous to both. Yet, oddly to say, at the very time when it seemed most clear to us all that they could never pretend to friendship again, business brought about a rapproehement. Eric wrote to Robert and asked him if he would give him the publication of the book, allusion to which lind appeared in the papers. He would like so much to publish it, he said, iirstly because he felt sure that it would be a good book, one—not to make too great a pretence to disin- terestedness—that would bring him in a certain amount of money; and, secondly, because he wished to dissociate himself for ever from Mr. Mortimer Watson's vile attack on Robert. "Why should not Robert," he asked, "run up to town, dine, and talk the matter over?" So they dined and they talked, and they jHirtcd dissatisfied with each other. For Robert had been exacting; of this there could be no shadow of doubt. He had also been exasperating. He had spoken of his book as the only work that had ever l>een done on the subject that could be worthy of serious consideration. He boasted that it would not only open to him the exclusive portals of the Royal Society, but that it would cause him to be quoted as a pioneer in Numismatic circles for ever. "It has taken me ten years to write, sir, and two more to illustrate," said he, banging the table, "but it will pay me with ten lifetimes of fame. The book is unique." Eric listened to these gasconnades without interrupting. The next day- lie made Robert an offer for his book. It was accepted. It was boundlessly generous—at any rate by comparison with the offers that had been made by other publishers. The brief conditions were that Robert was to deliver the MS. by a certain date, and that he was to assign absolutely ami for ever all his rights in the book to Eric, in return for a thousand pounds. • * • • On the morning of the day upon which the MS. was to be delivered Robert received a letter from Eric, laudably anxious to keep his share of the contract, reminding him that the work was due and hoping that Robert would bring the original illustrations, and leave their reproduction to him, X 2  ## p. 274 (#678) ############################################ 274 THE AUTHOR. as he could make bettor arrangements for their reproduction than the author. "Fidgetty fool!" said Robert, who had already tied up the illustrations, and into whose mind no idea of interfering in the details of publication had ever entered. "Fidgetty fool !" he repeated. Suddenly a thought occurred to him that made him shiver. "Oh! that's it, is it? That's why you pay a thousand pounds," said he, and sitting down he telegraphed to Eric that the work could not be ready for a day or two. He spent those days, assisted by his pupils, in making rough imi- tations and tracings of all the original illustrations in his work, while he sent the text to be type- written. Two more days saw him in London, with a parcel in each hand, one containing the original illustrations and the type-written text, the other the rough imitations of the. pictures and the original MS. The first parcel he left with a well-known publisher, asking for an appointment later on in the day, and the second he took with him to Eric. Eric was very white, and received him affectionately. Kobert spoke in friendly tone, but, with the greed of authors, suggested business, putting his parcel on Eric's desk. "I am quite ready for you," said that excellent publisher, " Here is the agreement for your signat lire, assigning to me all your rights in your work, on consideration of my giving you a thousand pounds, and here is a cheque for that sum." Robert looked at the cheque. "When shall you bring the book out?" he asked. Eric had in the meantime untied the parcel, and was running his eye hastily over the MS. He seemed satisfied with the perusal. "I can tell you at once what I am going to do with it," he said, " but I wish first to put it in safety," and he walked into a little room behind the ollice, carrying the precious MS. "This is a joke," said Robert, and, staid Orient- alist as he was, he actually capered. And then there was the sound of fire-irons from Eric's retreat, whereat he capered again, and with more nbandon. Eric came back in two or three minutes and his face was now a vivid crimson. "As I have bought your book right-out," he said, " of course I can do what I like with it." "Of course," said Robert. "Well," said Eric, " I have paid you, and I have burnt your book." Said Robert, "You've burnt the work of my life?" Then he added, after a moment's silence, "Aren't you afraid that I shall kill you?" "No," said Eric, putting his hand in the drawer of his desk, whence a click immediately proceeded. "Melodrama ?" said Robert. "Oh no! Tragedy," said Eric, " It's loaded." "I suppose you really have burnt it," said Robert. "I hope so," said Erie. "Are you sorry ?" said Robert, looking at the cheque. "Not in the least," said Eric. "Then there's nothing more to be said?" "Nothing." Robert cashed the cheque. He then went to the publishers with whom he had left the other parcel. "Print it regardless of expense," he said. <: I am prepared to spend a thousand pounds, if necessary, on its production and advertisement." * • * • Six weeks afterwards the book appeared, and in a short preface Robert bore eloquent testimony to the generosity of Eric, who had crowned a life- long affection by an act of splendid munificence, in making a noble contribution to the cost of his old friend's work. Eric wrote a letter to the publishers, threatening to take proceedings to restrain them from publishing the book, but Robert pointed out that he had better, for the sake of his own reputation, keep quite quiet. "About the burning of the thing," he said, "I don't know that people would think so much. After all, many would say it was only a MS., meaning that it was only two shillings' worth of paper. And many more would consider your malice so ingenious, so mediaeval, so pic- turesque, that they would almost forgive it, even though the author did not. What no one would ever forgive you, if the matter came out, is the fact that you were fooled. My dear old schoolfellow, my open-handed patron, dry up." And, as the reporters say, proceedings then terminated. O. J. *~~-+ "CRITICISM AND FICTION." THIS little book, written by Mr. W. D. Howells, and published in London by Messrs. Osgood and Co., seems to have received much less attention from the English papers than it deserves. For to sum up, at the outset, it is a book helpful to the novelist of everv age and of every degree; it is suggestive, en- couraging, kindly; it is full of wise saws; it is admirably written, and abounds with unexpected happinesses in phrase and word. For English readers, however, everything that Mr. Howells  ## p. 275 (#679) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 2/5 writes is marred l>y that anti-English warp of his mind which amounts to an actual craze. He belongs to the irreconcileablcs; his ancestors kicked ours out of America after we had spent immense treasures and thousands of lives in making their home secure from foreign invasion; he, with the other American irreconcileables, can never forgive us for the benefits we conferred upon his forefathers and for the gratitude with which these benefits were repaid. Consequently, he cannot allow any good thing, whether in literature or in anything else, to England or Englishmen. Then he is afflicted with a most pestilent self-consciousness, which compels him to be perpetually measuring himself, or some immortal genius of his own country, with Thackeray and Dickens. Indeed, when you have cut down Thackeray by a head and shoulders and deprived Dickens of his legs, Mr. Howells and tliat other immortal do really stand much about the same height with these two Britons. In this little volume, for instance, the English writer is continually spoken of with open or veiled contempt, while Mr. Howells's warm heart and real admiration are reserved for that world-widely known lady, Mrs. Rose Terry Cooke, who "now carries the art of story telling to its highest" (page 169), or to that other illustrious favourite of the Muses, Miss Jewett, whose sketches are "perfectly satisfying." For this singular feature in Mr. Howells's criticism, and for one or two other points, which need not be pointed out here, a writer of his own country—one of those whom he has not measured beside Thackeray—compared Mr. Howells, as u critic, to a socialist in a dress coat, pretending that he did not know the taste of beer. It is, besides, a parochial method, and must make people on the other side laugh, while it makes ]>eoplc on this side a little irritated and a great deal contemptuous. It is unfortunate when such a form of madness is allowed to appear in such a book as the one before us. We all have our weaknesses and our crazes. These cannot be helped; but when they would injure the quality of work, they should be kept carefully apart and bestowed upon some other piece of work. Now, in a well-known case—a leading case—quoted by a tenth-rate writer named Charles Dickens—far, far below Rose Terry Cooke, and not to be compared with Miss Jewett—there was a man who used to get mixed al>out Charles the Blessed Martyr. It was arranged by his friends that this man should keep two desks whenever he sat down to write; one for his thoughts concerning King Charles, the other for the work in hand. This settled, he got on very well indeed. If Mr. Howells had only kept two desks, one for England, English institutions, and English literature, and the other for his own prope r work, how delightful this book might have l>een! For instance, that little passage on page 125 clearly belongs to the other desk :— "There can belittle question that many refine- ments of thought and spirit which every American is sensible of in the fiction of this continent, are necessarily lost upon our good kin beyond seas, whose thumb-fingered apprehension requires some- thing gross and palpable for its assurance of reality. This is not their fault, and I am not sure that it is wholly their misfortune: they are made so as not to miss what they do not find, and they are simply content without those subtleties of life and character which it gives us so keen a pleasure to have noted in literature. If they perceive them at all it is as something vague and diaphanous, something that filmilv wavers before their sense and teases them, much as the beings of an invisible world might mock one of our material frame by intimations of their presence. It is with reason, therefore, on the part of an Englishman, that Mr. Henley complains of our fiction as a shadow-land, though we find more and more in it the faithful report of our life, its motives and emotions, and all the comparatively etherealizcd passions and ideals that influence it." This little trouble about Charles the Martyr apart, the book is as good a treatise on the Art of Fiction as has ever appeared; written in a perfectly clear style by a man who knows what he means. There is nothing woolly in his utterances. He lets us see clearly what he means. He is intelligible. The young novelist could do nothing better than to buy and study the book. Beneath the parochial view there is wisdom and there is guidance. The author has forgotten the index and the table of contents, so that, though the work is divided into chapters, which are not even headed, there is nothing to guide the reader. This is a singular omission for so practised a hand. Let us justify our appreciation of this little work by two or three extracts—for our limited space— perhaps as much as should be taken from so small a volume. What is Guxirs. "In fact, the whole belief in 'genius' seems to me rather a mischievous superstition, and if not mischievous always, still always a superstition. From the account of those who talk about it, 'genius' appears to be the attribute of a sort of very potent and admirable prodigy, which God has created out of the common for the astonishment and confusion of the rest of us poor human beings. But do they really believe it? Do they mean anything more or less than the Mastery which comes to any man according to his powers and diligence in any direction? If not, why not have an end of the superstition which has caused our  ## p. 276 (#680) ############################################ 2j6 THE AUTHOR. race to go on so long writing and reading of the difference between talent and genius? It is within the memory of middle-aged men that the Maelstrom existed in the belief of the geographers, but we now get on perfectly well without it; and why should we still suffer under the notion of 'genius,' which keeps so many ]>oor little authorlings trem- bling in question whether thev have it, or have onlv 'talent'?" On Standards. "If I were authorised to address any word directly to our novelists, I should say, Do not trouble yourselves about standards or ideals, but try to be faithful and natural: remember that there is no greatness, no beauty, which does not come from truth to your own knowledge of tilings; and keep on working, even if yoiu- work is not long remembered." Fiction, Present and Future. "Fiction is now a finer art than it has ever been hitherto, and more nearly meets the requirements of the infallible standard. I have hopes of real usefulness in it, because it is at last building on the only sure foundation; but I am by no means certain that it will be the ultimate literary form, or will remain as important as we believe it is destined to become. Oi: the contrary, it is quite imaginable that when the great mass of readers, now sunk in the foolish joys of mere fable, shall be lifted to an interest in the meaning of things through the faithful portrayal of life in fiction, then fiction the most faithful may be superseded by a still more faithful form of contemporaneous history." ♦■»■♦ — OXFOED AND THE ENGLISH SCHOOL. (From an article by Mr. F. York Powell in the Educational Review, by permission of the Editor.) MP HE Hebdomadal Council (which alone lias I the power of initiating University legislation at Oxford) has rejected, by a division of 10 to 9 the proposal to introduce a "statute" for the establishment of a final school of English language and literature. The University has, by this extraordinary decision, been prevented from discussing and deciding a question of the utmost importance. Yet the memorial which Council was thus replying to was one of the most weighty that has been before it for years—no less than 108 persons, comprising nearly every Master of Arts interested in or really qualified to give an opinion u]K)ii the brandies of knowledge for which thev desired to secure the ad- vantages of University patronage and organisation. No reason was given by Council for the rejection of the memorial, and naturally, because the memorial was rejected bv a combination of persons for various reasons and very different motives. It will be remembered that on a big division of 94 to 94. in Convocation, the regular Parliament of the University only a few months ago, the casting vote alone decided against a final school of modern language and literature. According, therefore, to all constitutional ideas, the present denial of discus- sion to a project neither so ambitions nor so novel as a complete modern literature and language school can onlv be regarded as a cunning, but not very credit- able, attempt to burke a measure which would mast probably have been carried had the University assembly been allowed to vote iqioii it. The real opposition comes from two bodies of persons who believe that their interests are at stake, and who will therefore fight bitterly. The first an' those who think the beloved "college system" will be compromised by the demands for instruction which can onlv be met by the creation of fresh college lecturers (to which course, for various reasons, they are opposed), or by allowing their pupils to go to University officials for instruction— a natural proceeding one would have thought, but a proceeding they very cordially dislike. The boarding-school interest, as it has been called, is therefore against the new school. Their companions are persons to whom the college is less important, but to whom the very name of philology is a word of fear. They detest a science thev wot not of; thev are too old or too obstinate to look into the matter for themselves; but they are firmly persuaded that philology spells ruin, and that the proposed school for English literature and language would be nothing more than a mask for the insidious advances of new gram- marians and phoneticians upon an ancient and respectable University. This race of opponents will die out, and that before long; their number lessens rapidly every year. Next come the eccentric people who vote against a school of literature because "you can't examine in literature," and therefore, in order to prevent people trying the experiment, cast out the whole project. Of course, most of the very people who use this argument are examining every year in Greek and llonian literature without difficulty. We may leave them to be converted by facts (as they possibly will be), or to persist in their Partingtonian position. Lastly, among the opponents of the teaching of English at Oxford comes that well-known and  ## p. 277 (#681) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. Z77 not unloved type, the Oxford paradoxist. When lie says literature is such a beautiful thing that he cannot vote for encouraging anyone to learn or teach English literature, that it is really too beautiful for use, one knows he will probably go home contentedly to his college and lecture on Homer or Euripides or Lucretius or Juvenal, who have managed to survive some centuries of hard use in .schools and places where they teach. The paradoxist is, at least, amusing and disinterested. To sum up the situation. It is the wrongly called "college interest" and the foes of philology that really stop the way at Oxford. Their opposi- tion must be counted upon and fought down. This need not take very long. A final school of English language and literature is needed by teachers of all grades and by learners of nil classes in this country. The University needs it as much as any place in England. A reasonable demand supported both inside ami outside the University must soon be granted. ♦•»•♦ TO "BUSY MEN IN GOOD POSITIONS." THERE is si bookseller, librarian, and pub- lisher, who seems, if the slang may be pardoned, to "have got a soft thing on." Tbc following remarks will not, it is hoped, spoil his market. An eminent and popular novelist, a really eminent novelist, and a really popular novelist, whose work is valuable as well as good, received a request from this gentleman that he would do a tiny volume for him. The subject mentioned was one on which the novelist had special knowledge, and this, as the publisher allowed, had dictated tlie choice of author. A most reasonable dictation! Fifteen guineas were offered for 2,5oo words. A most reasonable proposal! And a specimen "tiny volume" was enclosed. Undoubtedly this volume was tiny, and so was the type in which it was printed. In fact, it contained 25,ooo words instead of 2,5oo. The novelist wrote to ask for an explanation. Was the wage offered for the larger number of words contained in the "tiny volume," or for the smaller number of words suggested in the letter? The publisher allowed that it was the larger amount that he required, "and the copyright for his little series." The novelist in expressing his inability to comply with the publisher's request, took the opportunity to point out that it was hardly a compliment to him to have l>een selected as a specialist upon a subject, and then invited to work for six weeks or more at the rate of seven and six- pence a day or less. He also pointed out that, in his opinion, if cheap books could not be produced without sweating the author, they had better not be produced at all. The publisher was hurt. He answered and said that all he wanted was a sketchy thing that could have been put clown in a week. But, O man of business, why apply to a good workman if you wanted bad work? He also said that half the number of words mentioned would have satisfied him. But, again, O man of business, why enclose a s|>ecimen of work, if you do not want an article similar to the specimen? And in justification of his proposal, and in repudiation of the author's remark aliout sweating, he said "the sum I offer is double what I was asked for by the specialist who wrote my other stories .... he is a busy man in a good position." Now, a word of adv ice to this "busy man in a good position" on the chance that it may catch his eye, and the advice applies to all who, ignorant of the value of their work, or con- temptuous of its money returns, accept the first mean offer that is made to them. Quadruple your price. Why divert proper pay from those who want it? Why put money in the publisher's pocket which he ought not to have? If you want to give money away, why not take from the publisher your legitimate pay, so that you may dictate for yourself the direction in which your alms shall go? Of money, Sir, you may lje indifferent, but you should not be indifferent to the power of doing good. BURNS AND SCOTTISH POETRY, "nPHEY were not a people of one poet only, I though that was an impression which some tried to give to the world. They neglected Lindsay and Dunbar. If using poetry for school- books were not the best way to disgust children with poetry, he could wisli that Dunbar and Lindsay were read in Scottish schools as Chaucer was used in English education. The ballads might certainly be so read, for nothing could spoil 'Kinmont Willie ' and 'Jamie Tclfer of the Fair Dodhead.' There was not such a body of ballad poetry so noble, so pathetic, so spirited, so weird in any lan- guage in the world As for the songs— humorous, amorous, Jacobite—songs by ladies who, perhaps, sang only once; by peasants whose names are forgotten, but whose strains are immortal, be did not think it was too characteristic to Bay that no country, except perhaps France and England in  ## p. 278 (#682) ############################################ 27S THE AUTHOR. the Elizabethan age, bad their equals. They might make a Scottish anthology which, considering that they had but five, centuries to choose from, and the Greeks had near 2,000, would rival that of Greece—would be the golden treasury of the North. They bad but to listen a moment, in this din of an age which was not ending in songs, and they beard those sweet, piercing, and melancholy notes from the dead years, eclioes of the horns blown in raids and reivings; echoes of the shep- herd's pipe, of the wedding festival, of the dirge and (lie lament; minstrel Burns grieving for— 'Many a place in evil case, 'Where bhthc folk kenned no sorrow; 'Of Humes that dwelt in Leader braes, 'And Scotts that dwelt in Yarrow.' Tradition wailing for— _' The flowers o1 the forest arc a'wede awa'.' As to the greatest of till, it was needless to speak. In the Odyssey the returned wanderer tells one of bis people that be was come, and 'no other Odysseus will come again for ever.' No other Homer, no other Shakespeare, they might have said, would come again, but both came together in Walter Scott. Verily they were not a people of one lonely poet, though in one Nature combined many of the voices of the past, much of the music of the future, in the good, the generous, the tender, the kindly, the homely, the impassioned Burns, the brightest of our lyrists, the most human of our satirists, the most perfervid of the perfervid Scots. They sometimes lamented that be fell on evil days and evil tongues, they regretted his narrow fortunes, thev blushed for till the reward that bis country gave him. But the Maker and the Master of poets knew best, perhaps, what was fitting, and, had Burns not been lwrn to labour and poverty, be could not have been the poet of poverty and labour. As to his later profession, in the life of Mr. Joseph Train—himself a writer of verse spirited and sincere—they learned how happy and bow bene- ficent, how valuable to letters and to society the life of a Galloway ganger might be. Had Burns been living to-day, would the world that lay around him have been so lit to inspire him with song? The mirth, the sport, the tradition are 'a'wede nwaY London would inevitably have sucked him into its dingy and disastrous Corrievreckan. He would have buttered at the. door of the theatre, be might have scribbled articles for the Press and drunk in Fleet Street, and contributed verses to the magazines. His magnificent genius would luivo licen frittered away in the struggle for life. He was not happy; no man with bis passionate nature could be happy; few men of genius, indeed, have been happy, 'even as mortals count happiness.' They might not be more miserable than others, but oue heard more of it. Whoever represents hu- manity, as Burns represents it, whoever was to utter its voice, as Burns utters it, must know its sufferings in his own heart, and endure them in bis own life. Some bear them belter, as Virgil— 'For gently comes the world to those 'That are cast in gentle mould.' Some carry them more fiercely, as Burns, but endure them all must, who would utter their com- plaint. In the Scottish phrase they were not there as 'doon-heartit loons' to 'make a poor mouth' over Burns, nor greatly to blame the world for its treatment of him. He bad received what lie would have valued more than wealth, or ease, or inglorious life: lie had added renown to the country lie. loved, anil for himself had gained that immortal garland, which was not to lie run for without dust and sweat."—From an Address by Mr. Andrew Lang, reported by the Times of January 26th, 1892. PERIODICAL LISTS OF NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS PUBLISHED ON THE CONTINENT. THE Author has from its commencement contained a monthly list of English "New Books and New Editions," and if the writer of these lines may judge from bis own experience, this list must have been found convenient and helpful, in different ways, by a great many authors, who will not need to be here reminded how useful the catalogue of "New Books mid New Editions" has on occasions proved, or how much labour of searching it lias sometimes saved them. The nim of the present article is to inform those authors who, having found this English list of use, would like to be provided with a similar periodical register of new publications in such European languages as they may happen to read, where they may procure regular periodical announcements of new books and new editions published in most of the countries of the continent. A word, in parenthesis, 011 the use of biblio- graphies and carefully compiled catalogues. The great assistance afforded by such publications to workers in every department of literature is so well understood by all who have served their apprentice- ship to letters, that experienced authors will probably consider any allusion to the subject superfluous. The case, however, is not quite the same with begin- ners. The literary tyro is generally ceasing to be a tyro when be wakes up to a consciousness of the enormous number of books that have, been already written and are at the present moment being  ## p. 279 (#683) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 279 written, and when ho realises that what other people are writing is n matter of importance to everyone who writes. Then he hegins to see that bibliographies and catalogues are indispensable to some, guides for many, and useful to all. No scientific work can l>e done without the assistance of bibliographies; no solid acquaintance with the belles-lettres of any language can exist apart from them. They save the beginner from undertaking work that has been already done. They discover to those engaged in increasing the sum of human knowledge the firm foundations already laid, upon Which others may securely build. They keep the busy contemporary author informed of all that is going on in the wide world of letters around him. This last service is especially performed by such periodical lists as appear in each number of the Author, anil in the works about to be mentioned below, and it is therefore hoped that the information here offered may be found of service to many. If it l>e found so, the following list may appear again, augmented, the compiler trusts, in a manner that will render the record less imperfect than it now necessarily is, in consequence of the small literary enterprise at present existing in many parts of the continent. In offering this list of periodical announcements of continental publications to the readers of the Author, the compiler begs to call their attention to the following points. The catalogues and bibliographies here enume- rated are not all of the same character. Some arc official publications, sonic trade circulars of various booksellers' unions, some simply announce- ments of new books sent out by leading houses for the convenience of their customers. Some are much more trustworthy than others. Some mention every publication that has appeared within a given period, so far as that is possible. Others record only the, books thought likely to be popular. The list is sadly imperfect. A good deal of trouble has been taken to obtain as far as possible bibliographies of each country, and the list is as complete as it has been found possible to make it. Unfortunately, several countries and several modern literatures have, at the present date, no regular {K>riodical announcements of new publications. This incidentally throws some interesting light upon the present literary activity and inactivity of certain countries. Thus Wallachia has a brave little monthly "catalogue" of new publications, Portugal none, ltussia and Poland have good monthly lists, and Bohemian books appear in the Austrian Booksellers' Correspondence. Put regular announcements of works in the other Slavonic languages are, just at present, lacking. Both the Slovansky Katalog, which contained all Slavonic literatures except Itussian, and the quarterly Anzeiger fitr Slavische IJtemtur, which contained works in all the Slavonic languages, have ceased to appear. Something that would take their place is a desideratum with Slavonic scholars. The literatures of the most unini]>ortant European languages, whose few publications are carefully recorded in learned periodicals, supported by scholars interested in special studies, are in better case than the literatures of Portugal, Servia, and Bulgaria. It has seemed, as a general rule, best to give the titles and addresses in the language of the periodical, and the rest of the information in English. In some cases a few notes, in square brackets, have been added, conveying information which appeared useful but was not contained in the periodical itself. The prices named arc those announced as the prices of the periodicals at the places of publication. Many mention a second higher price charged abroad or in the provinces. But in any case the purchaser in London will expect to \my considerably more. In the case of gratuitously circulated cata- logues too much reliance must not be placed upon receiving them, even when the postage is lor wan led. Most of the catalogues here named may l>e seen at Mr. D. Nutt's, 270, Strand. Bound volumes (not current numbers) of those marked * will be found in the British Museum Beading Boom. Press BB.B. Continental Literature in General. Monthly list of new books published in Germany, France, England, America, Italy, Spain, Scandi- navia, Bussia, and other countries. London : David Nutt, 270, Strand. [Annual subscription, is. A catalogue of selected works of a very handy sort. It may be fairly said to contain all recent foreign books of any real and general importance.] Scandinavia. Nordisk Boghandletertidende. Editor: E. Jes- persen. Published by the " Boghandlerforeningen." Copenhagen. Quarterly subscription, y5 ore [equal al>out lod. Published every Friday. Con- tains Danish, Norse, and Swedish publications]. Germany. Allgemeine Bibliographic fiir Deutschlaud. A weekly catalogue of all novelties in the German l>ook trade. Leipzic: J. C. Hinricbs. [Animal subscription, 7 marks 5o.]  ## p. 280 (#684) ############################################ z8o THE AUTHOR. Monutlickes Verzeichniss der Neuigkeiten und Fortsetzungen des Deutschen Buchhandels. [Same publisher. The contents are the .same as those of the " Allgemeine Bibliographic," but alphabetically arranged under authors' names. This catalogue is supplied only to subscribers to the "Borsenblatt fiir den Deutschen Buchlmndel."] Vierteljahrs-Catalog aller neuen Erscheinungen im Felde der Literatur in Deutschland. Wissen- schaftlich geordnct. [Same publishers. A quar- terly compendium of the contents of the "Allge- meine Bibliographic" Annual subscription, 9 marks.] •Verzeichniss der neu erschienen und neuauf- gelegten Biicher, Landkarten, etc. [Same pub- lishers. Appears half-yearly, and contains a Subject Index, as well as complete bibliography of the German publications of the previous .six months. Price of the volume (bound) varies; about 6 marks.] The following bibliography may also b? found useful to scholars :— Bibliographischer Monatsbericht iiber neu crschieuene Schul-und Universitiitsschriftcn. (Dissertationen. — Programmabhandlongen. — Habilitationsschriften, etc.) Leipsic. Gustav Fock, publisher. [Appears monthly. Annual subscription, 2 marks. Contains Classical Philology and Antiquities, Orientalia, Theology, Philosophy, Educational works, History and cognate subjects, Law, Political Economy,' Medi- cine, Natural Sciences, Exact Sciences, Chemistry.] Holland. Nederlandsche Bibliographic. Catalogue of new books, maps, etc. published in the Netherland and its foreign possessions. The Hague. Mart in us Nijhoff, publisher. [Apj>ears monthly. Annual subscription, 1 florin.] Belgium. ♦Bibliographic de Belgique. Journal officiel de la librarie paraissant le ier et le i5 de chaqne inois. A. Manceaux, editeur. Bue des Trois-Tetes, 12, Bruxelles. Abonnement annuel 4 francs. [Contains French, Flemish, and "Walloon publi- cations. An annual index of authors' names.] .France. Bibliographic de la France Journal general de l'imprimerie et de la librairie. Publid sur les Documents fournis jwir le Ministere de l'Intericur. Paraissant tous les Samedis. Au Cercle de la librairie, boulevard Saint Germain, 117. Paris. Abonnement: un an, 20 francs. [Annual indexes. Alphabetical index of titles. Alphabetical index of authors. Alphabetical index of new periodicals. "Table systematique," arranged under subject headings. This publication is the queen of periodical bibliographies.] Catalogue mensuel de la Librairie Francaise. Publisher, K. Nilsson. 8, Rue d'Alger. Paris. [Api>ears monthly and contains the principal works published in France, and in the French language in other countries. Annual subscription, 2 francs 5o. An alphabetical list of authors is published at the end of the year. Price, 2 francs.] Switzerland. •Bibliographic et chronique litteraire de la Suisse. Parait un fois par inois. Editeur, H. Georg. Bale. Prix par an, 4 francs. [Contains French, German, and Italian publications, and has a short annual index of authors' names.] Italy. •Giornale della Libreria della tipografia e delle urti e Industrie aflini. Published by the Associa- zionc Tipografico-Libraria Italiana. Milan. Via S. Giuseppe. No. 5. Published every Sunday. Annual subscription, 6 lire = 6 francs. The Bibliographia Italiana is published every fortnight, and not sold separately, but with the above journal. Annual subscription, 20 lire = 20 francs. [Two indexes every six months; one, alphabetical, of authors' names; the other arranged under subject- headings.] Novita della Letteratura Italiana. Published monthly by Ubrico Hocpli. Milan. Galleria De- Cristoforis, Nos. 59-63. These catalogues are distributed gratuitously to customers. Spain. •Bolctin de. la Libreria. Published monthly by M. Murillo. Madrid. Calle de Alcala, No. 7. Annual subscription, 20 reales = about 5 francs. [Two annual indexes: one of new works; authors' names, and titles of books alphabetically arranged together: the other of old works, similarly arranged.] Austria. Oesterreichisch-ungarische Buchhaudler-Corre- Rpondenz. Editor, A. Einsle. Published every Saturday. Vienna. Bieinergasse, No. 11. Annual subscription, 8 florins =16 marks. [Contains German, Bohemian, and Slovakian publications.]  ## p. 281 (#685) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 281 Hungary. Corvina. Organ of the Hungarian Booksellers' Union. Published on the 10th, 20th, and 3oth of every month. Editor, Aigner Lajos. Proprietors, The Hungarian Booksellers' Union. A Magyar Konyvkereskedok egylete. Budapest. Zsibarus Ulca, No. 1. [No price mentioned; appears to Ik? circulated amongst members of the union and their customers.] Wallaciiia. Catnlogu Mensual al Librfiriei Romaue. Pub- lished by Sosecu & Co. Bucharest. Calea Victoriel. No. 21. This catalogue is distributed gratuitously to customers. Russia. HnHXBbia IIoboctii. A monthly extract from the "Literary Messenger." Published by K. L. Rikker, St. Petersburg. Nevsky Prospect. No. 14. [Annual subscription, about 2s.? This catalogue contains Russian and Ruthenian = Little Russian publications. It is unique in mentioning in every case the number of copies constituting the edition.] Poland. Przewodnik Bibliograficzny. Published on the 1st of each month by G. Gebethner, Cracow. Annual subscription, 1 florin 25 cents. Greece. hi^XtoyfoupiKw AcXtuv. Published monthly by G. Kasdones. Athens. Bi/3Xiott&>X€i<>v tij$ 'Eor/af. Distributed gratis. [Contains, besides bibliography, occasional scraps of literary intelligence. Recent numbers have failed to reach Loudon, and the publication may, perhaps, have been abruptly discontinued.] As the publications above mentioned will be of use principally to students of foreign languages the following most valuable bibliography of all philo- logical and linguistic publications of all countries may be mentioned by way of conclusion. •Bibliotheea Philologica oder vierteljiihrliche systematisch geordnete Ucbersicht der auf dein Gebiete der gesainmten Philologie in Deutschlaud und dem Auslande neu erschieneuen Schrifteu und Zeitschriften-Aufsiitze. Herausgegeben von August Blau. Dr. phil. Giittingen. Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht. Annual subscription, 5 marks. [British Museum Reading Room. BB.T. c. 6.] Henry Cresswei.l. CORRESPONDENCE. 1. Illustration. To the Editor of the Author. Sir, It has been suggested that the observations you permitted me to make in the November number of the Author, on the "misuse of processes," would have been more practical if I had given any examples from lx>oks lately published. To do this at all thoroughly would take up too much space, and lead too far into technicalities. But it may be interesting, and useful, to take from the shelves of an editor's room two small books waiting for review; one with the fascinating title of " The Stream of Pleasure," the other " The Blue Poetry Book," by Andrew Lang. The illus- trations to "The Stream of Pleasure" are by that well-known artist Mr. Joseph Pennell, and are reproduced, for the most part, by mechanical (photo- relief) processes. They are interesting in a high degree as showing how an artist of great ability and experience can go wrong. I know of no book published last year in which so many drawings have been injured in reproduction. (See pages 72 and gg as examples in two different methods, tone and line, of "how not to do it,"—given a clever artist and the adjuncts of good paper and printing); and yet, if there is one man who should l>e able to show the way to draw for reproduction, it is the author of Pen and Pencil! All this is very hard upon the makers of "process" blocks. Turn from "The Stream of Pleasure" to "The Blue Poetry Book," illustrated by Mr. Lance- lot Speed, an artist whose work, from a purely artistic point of view, cannot be compared to that of Mr. Pennell, but who has a knowledge of technique,—and of the possibilities and limitations of the art of drawing for " process,"—equal, if not superior to, anyone in England. Some of your readers—artists, publishers or reviewers—may be "surprised to learn," on turning over the pages of "The Blue Poetry Book," that all the illustrations are reproduced by the same cheap processes as the line drawings in Mr. Pennell's lxx>k, and the latter artist's Russian drawings in the Illustrated London News of December 12th! I could quote other instances, but the above may serve. The serious side, as it seems to me, is not so much the mystification of reviewers as to methods of illustration, as the misleading and disheartening effect on students when they see the work of experts going so very wrong. I am, yours faithfully, Henry Blackburn. 123, Victoria Street, Westminster, 12th January i8g2.  ## p. 282 (#686) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. n. The New American Society. A correspondent writes to us concerning tliis new Society. "Our Association is growing in a surprising degree in the face of opposition arising, on the one hand, from persons whose self-interest is jeopardized, and, on the other, from a class too timid or cowardly or supine to demand a right. In addition to these two there is, perhaps, a third force operative against the progress of the measure; but combined, or singly, they will not prevail. "In this country, favourable to swift growth, conditions are auspicious to advancement, if there is this resolution to advance; and there is swift response to appeal for fair play, if that appeal is loud and broad enough to reach the people. "Already our Society has vice-presidents and auxiliaries in almost every State and territory of the United States, and will soon have them in all. It is not true that publishers who rob authors are rare in this country; on the contrary, they are so many that it may be said that the honourable men in the business are the exception, not the rule. Heretofore every whisper of this condition was carefully suppressed. The knowledge of it once diffused, it is greatly mitigated, if not abolished, in America, for it is against the spirit of the nation— the whole nation—to favour a wholesale pitiful thieving of that kind after it has been thoroughly made known Our Society will do a grcflt work. It is bound to demand nothing but the right." III. Press Copies. A correspondent calls attention to the fact that popular religious books as well as little story books are sometimes sent about broadcast to the papers. And another suggests that educational books are sent out in large numbers. Both statements are, doubtless, quite true. My own statement is also quite true. When one speaks of serious literature one does not exactly mean little story books or popular religious works. The "Lux Mundi," for instance, would not be sent out broadcast, but to a small and carefully chosen list of papers. As for educational books, they are sent out in large numbers, not to the papers, but to head masters. Sonic publishers are getting very chary of their books. I know a ease in which one book only—it was by a well-known author—was sent for review. It was to the Times. And the publisher always said that the absence of any other notice made no difference whatever to the book. W. B. IV. A Plea fob the Mild Domestic Novel. The feminine reading public owes the Author a debt for gently protesting against Mr. Andrew Lang's desire to witness a massacre of that poor innocent, " the common, mild, middle class domestic novel." If Mr. Lang's wish were carried out, lamentation and weeping would certainly lie heard in the land. I myself do not read the mild domestic novel, but I know many women who do, and I believe it is a mistake to suppose that " ladies in these cases are apt to let the supply regulate the demand." In what way is a taste for the mild domestic novel more reprehensible or regretable than a taste for the shilling shockers and three volume thrillers, which try to make up by wild improbability of scene and incident for slipshod writing and vacuous silliness? Is the mild domestic novel inferior in workmanship or good sense to the society novel flavoured with a little "sport," which delights the soul of the ordinary male novel reader? The ladies who make from fifty to a hundred pounds a year by supplying the mild domestic article—they have no monopoly of the trade, and gentlemen compete with them—deserve congratulation rather than reprobation, and when that happy day comes when the publisher no longer "sweats" the author, their incomes will increase astonishingly. Mr. Lang is frankly contemptuous of the femi- nine reading public, towards which Mr. Besant shows himself kindly condescending. We note the kindness, but the condescension also. Yet both these gentlemen owe a heavy debt of gratitude to "the ladies." Could they make inquiries they would probably find out that for every male reader they have ten female ones, or should 1 say twenty? The novelist or writer of literary essays who estranged tin; feminine reading public would indeed find his "occupation gone." Is the literary taste of the average (non-literary) Englishwoman less critical or at all inferior to that of the ordinary (non-literary) Englishman? I believe it to be on tin? whole superior. One wonders what Mr. Lang would projiose to give us in the place of the " common, mild, middle- class domestic novel," and there are indications which lead one to suppose that he would substitute unlimited "adventure stories," and the works of Dumas jiere. Well, thousands of Englishwomen have doubtless taken pleasure in " Treasure Island" and also in "Solomon's Mines," but a woman's taste for what are, strictly speaking, " boy's books" usually dies out before she is far on in her teens. A taste for Dumas should be cultivated early, and his works are not often to be found in girl's schoolrooms. The pai»cr covered volumes of the forcigu library are a more tempting substitute.  ## p. 283 (#687) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. The writer of this letter takes refuge alike from the mild domestic novel and the tale of the wild and wonderful in foreign fiction, which she believes to be quite harmless to her personally, but which certainly is not mild. But should those Indies in "deperately dull houses" of whom Mr. Besant speaks so feelingly (plenty of desperately dull houses, by the way, may l)e found in London), take to reading one hundred and thirty French novels a year, she would hesitate to regard the change as an improvement, and so she imagines would Mr. Lang. S. P. [I hope that the condescension attributed to me by the author of this letter was not observed in my remarks by any other reader.—W.B.] V. HOW? "I, myself, and I think a great many others would be very glad to get some information on two points which have always interested me. 1 want to know how a book gets read, that is, in what way the general public living all over the world gets to hear of a book, and is stimulated to read it? Next, I want to know how a book gets sold, that is to say, who buys the book, and how it is supplied? In the old days there were booksellers' shops. These exist still, but in number and importance quite out of proportion to the vast increase of the book trade. The Author is always insisting that we should learn all we can about the management of our property. Here is a branch of the management about which I, for one, know nothing." A Member. VI. Gerald Massey. "In the list of minor poets enumerated the other day by Mr. Traill, I observe a very curious omission. The name of Gerald Massey is not among them. Surely this is accidental. Gerald Massey's verse has been so long before the world, he has so many fine qualities, and so many admirers, that a list of living poets is incomplete without his name. The same may be said for Dr. W. C. Bennett." T. FROM THE PAPERS. I. Modern Poets. THERE are plenty of facts which warn us how difficult it is to generalise safely about lite- rature, and especially about poetry. At pre- sent we live under high pressure, as Mr. Lang, like so many other critics, has reminded us. We live among railways and telegraphs, and under conditions of instantaneous communication which enormously increase what Sir Arthur Helps used to call social pressure. Nothing less favourable to poetry, as the world used to believe, could be imagined; and yet we have around us a volume <Jf good poetical production greater, perhaps, than England ever saw before. Perhaps we have no Burns, but we have a crowd of excellent writers of verse, the least of whom would have been thought much of had he lived in Burns's day and written as he writes now. A critic in one of the recent magazines has taken the trouble to enu- merate quite sixty English writers of the present day, to whom, without any great indulgence, the name "poet" may be applied. There are major and minor among them, of course, and we may safely cut out half as not really important. But, even so, that leaves a larger numl>er than were ever to be found before producing work of that quality. Some of the names arc obvious, and every constant reader of poetry endeavours to keep up with whatever conies from the hand of our three chief poets—idas ! they were five before Browning and Matthew Arnold died. But beyond this small circle, how many writers of pure vein there are! How perfect are some lyrics of Stevenson; how noble the l>est order of Coventry Patmore; how tender and gracious the muse of Aubrey de Vere; how finished is Robert Bridges; how gem- like are the "vignettes" of Austin Dobson; how original, under their borrowed form, are the "ballades" of Mr. Lang himself! It may be that the highest poetry, which grows from seeds that are sown no one knows how, or when, or where, is best developed in a less crowded and less com- petitive society than ours; but it would at least appear that the mnnysidedness of modern life anil the width of modern culture bring their compen- sations with them. The greatest poet, whose home is "the general heart of men," may, perhaps, Ixdong only to a simpler world; though the question cannot be solved till either a Burns arises in modern London or till the world comes to an end. But, on the other hand, it does not seem probable that of literary poets, charming, elegant,  ## p. 284 (#688) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. and masters of their craft, there will ever cease to l>e a copious supply.—From the Times, January 26th, 1892. II. Names and Wokk. A wail comes from New England. The true literary worker, says he who waileth, is pushed aside to make room for the millionaire, the society woman, actresses, English lords and ladies, and "asinine royalties." He goes on to explain that the English nobilities have the pleasure of paying for their productions, which nobody buys or reads. In that case the English nobilities cannot do any injury to American or English litterateurs. We, therefore, on our side are blameless in this matter. Again, as we on this side do not read the feeble lwoks produced by American millionaires, we are not harmed by them. In fact, I am quite certain that l)oth here and across the water the production of feeble books, whether written by well-known people or not, does no harm either to literature or to men of letters. They are produced; they fall; they die; they are forgotten; they are more ephemeral than the day's paper, which does get read and produces its effect; and as nobody buys feeble books the true worker is not hurt. I have never been able to feel any sympathy with wratli— which seems to me simulated—over harmless little blocks of paper in guise of books. Let them be printed; they make work and jmiv for publishers, printers, paper-makers, book-binders, and adver- tising columns. And nol>odv reads them; and nobody is a bit the worse for them, except the author, who pays. However, this American writer, Mr. W. B. Harte {New England Magazine), seems to think he has a real grievance, and this is what he says. His remarks about certain noble English authors are omitted, not so much because they are uncom- plimentary as because they are superfluous. "We are told by the publishers that to-day is the day of 'big things' in literature. The ordinary old-fashioned means of achieving success are no longer adequate. This means book-making, not writing. The ' big things ' are books by men who have become famous or notorious—more often the latter—in finance, in politics, or on the turf, whose names, publishers say, attract the attention and pique the curiosity of the public. It is not big things by big literary men, but little things by men with big names, and usually an amazing illiteracy. "The late Admiral Porter's novels found pub- lishers because he was Admiral Porter, and for no other reason, William Waldorf Aster is a novelist too, and of course, being the head of the Astor family, he experiences no difficulty in finding a publisher, and perhaps less difficulty in obtaining the highest praise in the press. If James G. Blaine could 1x3 persuaded to write a novel, and draw his hero sitting before his own mirror, he would probably realise a million dollars for it. All the world would like to know what Mr. Blaine thinks of Mr. Blaine. Chauneey M. Depew, I am told, was offered a salary of one hundred thousand dollars a year for five years, if he would write editorials for one of the big newspapers. He probably thought his stock of old stories would not last as long as the contract demanded. He de- clined the offer. Senator Ingalls is credited with having refused two offers—one of ten thousand dollars a year, and another of twenty-five thousand dollars a year, to furnish three editorials a month to one of the leading periodicals of the country. This is probably a fish story, for it is said that Mr. Ingalls lives principally u]>on his literary work, now that he is not busy at Washington, and a man that lives by literary work would not be likely to refuse twenty-five thousand dollars a year for thirty-six flimsy editorials. There are other rumours that Mr. Thomas Piatt and Mr. Thomas B. Heed, and Mrs. Harrison, the President's wife, are also pes- tered with invitations to l>ecome literary lights. Mrs. P. T. Barnum has already made her debut in literature, and a startling debut it was. In Boston, every woman you meet in society has written at least one novel, and in New York the per-centage is abcut every other woman." III. Copyright in Lectures. THE forthcoming volume of hitherto unpub- lished lectures by Carlyle "On Successive Periods of European Culture" appears likely to give rise to some rather subtle questions of literary property. Practically the " Lectures Copy- right Act, 1835," has been a dead letter owing to its vexatious conditions. Where the lecture, how- ever, has not been given to the world, save by word of mouth, equity has been more kind, and Lord Eldon, in Abernethy's case, and Mr. Justice Kay, in the case of Nichols v. Pitman, eight or nine, years ago, laid it down that, whether the lecture had been committed by the lecturer to writing before delivery or not, a member of the audience would have no right to publish it for profit from shorthand notes. The contents of the forthcoming volume seem to have been obtained in this way when the lectures were delivered in 1838 at an institution near Portraan Square. Possibly they  ## p. 285 (#689) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. were read by Carlyle from an existing manuscript, in which case the right of his personal represen- tatives to restrain publication would be unques- tionable. It is possible, on the other hand, that they were mere orations that were never committed by the author to wiling either before or after delivery, in which case there would be nothing wherewith to compare the forthcoming book on the question of infringement. It is a curious feature in the case that if the representatives of the reporter, who was probably the only pei^on who took these lectures down, cannot be restrained, they will, though they are neither the author nor the assignees of the author, virtually have secured a copyright in the book running for forty-two years; because though the original source may have been open to all, one man may not copy another man's report. These are the lectures of which Leigh Hunt said that it seemed "as if some Puritan had come to life again, liberalised by German philosophy and his own intense reflections and experience j" but a Scotch gentleman, who was also present, was only moved to exclaim, "Can any living man point to a single practical passage in these lectures? and if not, what is Mr. Carlyle himself but a phantom ?"— Dally News, January 6th, 1892. IV. A New Tkerob. Again does English law come forward with a decision calculated to develop the bump of caution in publishers. A firm in Sydney issued a sub" scription work in two volumes, entitled "Aus- tralian Men of Mark." A certain subscriber declined to take the books, on the ground that his own biography did not appear therein, although the promise had been made him that it should so appear. The publishers brought suit to compel performance of contract, but the Chief Justice of New South Wales, Sir Frederick Darley, threw them out of court. His decision took a wider range than the contention of the defendant that a private understanding had been violated, and was based upon the broad ground that the contents of the book did not correspond to its title. He declared that the biographies it contained were of merely local celebrities, who had no right to lie considered as Australian men of mark. In view of this fact, the Chief Justice decided not only that the defendant should be acquitted, but that, in general, all contracts entered into on account of the book were null and void. This certainly adds a new difficulty to the traditional ones of an author in choosing a title for his writings. Of what avail to select a taking name, when it may only result in a prosecution for obtaining money under false pretences? Particularly ominous is this decision for the publishers of such works as "The Best Books" or "The Greatest Thing in the World." A buyer with a different standard of judgment from the author's may hereafter throw such books back on the publishers with a demand for a refund. The principle must apply to sub-titles also, and this suggests tin; danger of appending "a poem" or "a farce " to an otherwise legally unobjectionable title.—The Nation (New York), January 7, 1892. V. Literature and the State. "He has l>een loudly blamed for his insensibility to literary merit; so far, at least, as such sensibility is shown by distribution of the funds and patronage of the Crown. We do not know what were his principles as to such matters, for during his 20 years of government he was, though assailed by Mathias and Montagu, never taken to task in Parliament on that subject. This fact, while it deprived us of his explanation, throws so remark- able a light on contemporary opinion as possibly to illnstrate his own. If he was convinced that literature, like war, thrived l>est upon subsidy, he was culpable indeed. But it Ls conceivably possible that he may have thought differently. He may have lielieved that money does not brace but relax the energies of literature; that more Miltons have remained mute and inglorious under the suffocation of wealth than under the frosts of penury; that, in a word, half the best literature of the world has been produced by duns. Pension- less poetry may at least bear comparison with that which has flourished upon bounties. Under the chill rays of Pitt, we had Burns, Wordsworth, Cowper, Southey, Scott, Coleridge, Canning, Cralle, Joanna Baillie, Rogers; and even under the tropical effusion of twelve hundred a year, dispensed in heat-drops of fifty or a hundred pounds apiece, we have had nothing conspicuously superior. It is not easy at any rate to cite the names of many eminent men of letters who have received material assistance from the State since the time of Pitt, Hook, and Moore had reason even to curse the ill-judged bounty of their country, and yet they were provided with lucrative offices. Nothing, Pitt may have thought, is so difficult as for a Parliamentary Government to encourage literature. It may begin by encouraging a Shakespeare, but it is far more likely to discover a Pye. You start with a genius and end with a job."  ## p. 286 (#690) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. The above is from Lord Rosebcrv's "Pitt." It is a jMissage wortli reading. But the author is not probably aware that all sueeessive Governments have followed the example of Pitt in his insensibility to literary claims. It is true that they get every year £1,200 for literature, science, and art, but as they always give it away to widows and daughters of men in the Army, Navy, and Civil Services, literature remains where it was in the days of Pitt. VI. The Commonest Delusions. Beginners in literature nurse one delusion with singular persistence. Next to the confidence that they have in their own genius, the strongest basis of all their hopes of success is the imaginary" friend at court," whose interposition in their behalf is one day to launch them into the full tide of fame and fortune. The most pathetic part of every well-established writer's experience is connected with the letters he receives from ambitious young people, who fancy that all they need is a note of recommendation. The covert meaning of these letters is that the beginner has extraordinary talent, against which all the editors have studiously set their faces. Of course, such a theory is known to be preposterous by every competent writer who easts a glance back over the road by which he lias come to success in his profession. No amount of friendly recom- mendation can advance the interests of an aspirant for literary rewards. The editor cares not a lig for any man's "influence"; the publisher depends upon his well-paid literary advisers. This is so, and it is right tliat it is so. The vision of a " friend at court" is at best a dishonest vision. The writer who indulges it loses self-respect with every glance, every thought, every calculation connected with it. A friend at court is a lobbyist, who is to work the writer's manuscripts into the favour of editor or publisher by means of a powerful influence not inherent in the manuscript itself. In the first place, the man or woman who would accept any success in literary life, save that com- pelled by the intrinsic value of art and thought, could never feel a clear right to what is highest and best in that life. Doubtless young persons whose imaginations have become inflamed by literary ambition do not fully realise the shame of contem- plating any means of forcing accomplishment save simple desert. From America. ■ "AT THE AUTHOR'S HEAD." Who wrote the poem called "The Children," ascribed to Charles Dickens? Mr. Douglas Sladen sends an interesting note on the subject to the Atherueum of January 16. When in New York in i88g he was introduced by Mr. E. C. Stedman to Mr. Charles M. Dickinson as the real author of the ]K)em. In his book called "Younger American Poets," Mr. Sladen has included the }>oem with the name of Mr. Dickinson as author, on that gentle- man's own authority. He then received a letter from a lady in Australia stating that the real author of the poem was a certain man named Zachariah Sutcliffe, who died in Melbourne in 1891. This Sutclifte, the lady stated, possessed an auto- graph letter from Charles Dickens, thanking him for sending a copy of the poem, and expressing admiration of it. Where is that autograph letter, and what can Mr. Dickinson tell us of the circumstances attendant upon the birth of the poem? Mr. Justin Huntly McCarthy has in the press a volume of Selections from Hattz. The book will be published by Nutt. Mr. Eugene Field in the Chicago News attacks those who use the word wended. He says there, is no such word. "Infinitive, To wend; \ti\si, went." Yes, but there is nothing to exclude the other form of the past. One would rather sin with Scott than be correct with Mr. Eugene Field. A lady of San Francisco, Mrs. Flora Haines Longhead, has begun the publication of her novels, with the simple assistance of a bookseller. John Ituskin has long done the same thing with his works. There is no reason at all why, with some simple machinery of an agent or salesman, authors of standing should not imitate this example. Is the time ripe for such a step? That it will be taken before long no one who can read the temper and spirit of the times can possibly doubt. Mr. Joseph Hatton has in the press a volume of reminiscences called "Cigarette Papers." Mr. Hatton's experience has been so wide and varied that the work ought to be most interesting. It is when such a book as Mackail's " Epigrams from the Ci reek Anthology" (Longmans) appears that we regret not having space to give for such a review as would do justice to a volume produced by a scholar for scholars. When our members are numbered by the thousand instead of by the hundred, the Author will be able to do justice to such books as these—rare and few and far between.  ## p. 287 (#691) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 287 Mr. Brander Matthews has published (Chatto and Windus) in London his "Dramatic Essays of Charles Lamb." There is an introductory essay of his own which is well worthy of the subject. Mr. Matthews is one of the very few English speaking writers who can speak about the theatre and thinjr* dramatic. A pamphlet entitled, " Intemperance: its Causes and Remedies," by Mr. W. Beatty-Kingston, is about to be published by Messrs. Routledgc & Co. Mr. C. J. Wills has in the press "His Sister's Hand," a novel in three volumes, to be published in January, and, to be published in March, "In and about Bohemia," a collection of short stories. The publishers of both books are Messrs. Griffith and Farran. Professor Middleton has in the press :— 1. "The Lewis collection of Engraved Gems," with an introductory essay. One vol., 8vo. Clay and Sons, Cambridge. 2. "The Remains of Ancient Rome." Two vols., 8vo. A. and C. Black, London. (This month.) 3. "The Art and Technique of Illuminated MSS." One vol., large 8vo. Cambridge University Press. (In press.) Mr. Thomas Macquoid's new novel is to be published by Messrs. Innes & Co. It will be in two volumes. The title is "Maisie Derrick," and the work will be ready shortly. The Clarendon Press will shortly issue a thin quarto volume, containing twelve facsimiles of pages of important Old English MSS., from the Ninth to the Fifteenth Century, accompanied by transcriptions and a palasogrophical introduction by Professor Skeat. This is, in some degree, a new departure. There is no reason why reproductions from old manuscripts should not become familiar to all who care for them. A little monthly journal—the youngest and the smallest—has been sent to me. It contains, on four pages, nothing at all but songs written for music. The writers of these songs pay so much for insertion of their productions, which are classified under the heads of Nautical, Amatory, Martial—is it without meaning that the love songs stand between the Nautical and the Martial, between the Sailor and the Soldier?—Sacred, Pathetic, Humourous, and Tragic. Each poet affixes the price of his verses for the information of the happy composer who may secure them. In the Humourous, one remarks, we do not excel. The Editor promises to post the paper to as many composers as he can find. Why not? The verses are not a bit worse than most of those which form our popular ditties. The rhymes are our dear old familiar ones: The wavelet gleams and the maiden dreams: the Pilgrim sings his Song of Faith and the Matin Bell awakes: the reaper touches his brow and angels bear him home: when the lilies bloom again, my love, when the lilies bloom again. For thou art the star of night, and I am a shadow apart, longing for one ray of light to gladden the shade of my heart. Let us wish every success to the song writers. Perhaps they have got their chance at last. Vol. V. of "Bible True from the Beginning," by the Rev. E. Gough, B.A., is just issued. It deals with early portions of the Gospels. Mr. M. Powis Bale's book on Steam Pumps and Pumping (Crosby Lockwood and Son) is going into a second edition. It will be ready early this month. Mr. Charles T. C. James's new novel, entitled "Holy Wedlock," will appear almost immediately in a single volume (Ward and Downey). A fourth edition of "Nature's Fairyland," by Mr. H. W. L. Worsley-Benison (Elliot Stock,5*.), has been issued. The following books, by Miss Seliua Gaye, have been recently published by T. Nelson and Sons: "Dickie Winton, or Between Gate and Front Door," "All's Well that Ends Well," being a reprint of "A Storm in a Tea-cup," "Ilka, the Captive Maiden, and other Stories from Hungarian History." Mr. Robert Louis Stevenson has in the press a volume of Essays, which will be published by Messrs. Chatto and Windus next month. We learn from the Athenaum that Mr. Steven- son has also ready a volume on Samoa, and the novel written in collaboration with Mr. Lloyd Osborn, which has l>een running in Scribner. Mr. Walter Besant will bring out in April, in volume form (Chatto and Windus), the papers which he has contributed to Harpers' Magazine during the last nine months on London. The papers, which had to be cut down to meet the limited space of the magazine, will be published as they were 'written, with additions. Mr. John Underbill has in the press (Walter Scott & Co.), a selection from the Athenian Oracle. There will be an introductory essay by Mr. Underhill, and a letter by Mr. Walter Besant.  ## p. 288 (#692) ############################################ 288 THE AUTHOR. Mr. Wilfred Meynell has in press a monograph on Cardinal Manning. No one is more fitted for the task, if long friendship can constitute fitness. When an author arrives at the dignity of being the subject of critical essays and a bibliography, it is a sign that there is not much left between him- self and the top of the tree. This is the case with Mr. Thomas Hardy. The first number of the Albemarle is pre- mising. To say that some of the articles are good because they are short may sound hardly com- plimentary, but it is the case. For example, the head master of Haileybury's little essay makes us all understand the Greek question at schools. We may agree, or we may not, with his answer, but at any rate we know what the question is. And that, we take it, is a distinct advance for most of us. Mr. Oscar Browning's article on the Primrose League is witty and pretty, and Miss Mabel Robinson's Storicule—to poach from Punch—is a very clever and pathetic sketch. One of the later volumes of the Pseudonym Library, " Some Emotions and a Moral," by John Oliver Hobbes, has just fallen into my hands. It is a brilliant little book! There is no story —that is to say, not much—but it is brilliant. And who is John Oliver Hobbes? You swear first that it is a man, and next, from a touch, a word, a way of presentment, that it is a woman, but you can never be quite certain which it may be. The writing is so good that it suggests the influence of many summers and much experience; yet I think the author is young. There is a curious sort of contempt for all that so many frail mortals find fascinating, running through the whole story, and this, I think, is more likely to have sprung from early cleverness than from later disillusion. But, I repeat, a brilliant little book! FOR DISPOSAL. Two £5o shares in a well-known leading Review. Apply to J.N., care of Secretary. NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. Theology. Alexander, Wm., D.D. The Leading Ideas of the Gospels. Macmillan. 6s. Alford, B. H. Nutford Place Sermoni. Preached in St. Luke's Church by. David Stott. Bird, Rev. J. J. L. The Homilist. A Magazine for all who are engaged in preaching, teaching, or studying the Word of God. Edited by. Volume LXII. Houlston, Paternoster Buildings, E.G. 7s. 6d. Bevan, A. A., M.A. A short Commentary on the Book of Daniel, for the use of Students. At the Cambridge University Press. Brooke, Kev. S. A. "Short Sermons." Macmillan and Co. 6s. Church, Dean. Village Sermons preached at Whatley by the late. Macmillan. 6s. Hughes, Rev. H. Price. Ethical Christianity: A Series of Sermons. "Preachers of the Age " Series. With Portrait. Sampson Low. 3s. 6<f. Hugh-Games, Vex. Archdeacon. The One Book. A Treatise on the unique character of the Bible. Hunt, Paternoster Row. 3*. 6<f. 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Embossed in the Braille type by the British and Foreign Blind Association, Cambridge Square, Hyde Park. Anderson, Capt. L. Among Typhoons and Pirate Craft. With illustrations. Chapman and Hall. 5s. Bailey, Welleslet C. The Lepers of our Indian Empire; a Visit to them in 1890-91. J. F. Shaw, Paternoster Row.  ## p. 290 (#694) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. Bastable, C. F., LL.D. The Commerce of Nations. Methuen & Co. is. 6d. Beerbohm Tbke, H. Some Interesting Fallacies of the Modern Stage. An Address delivered at St. James's Hall. William Heinemann. 6d. Browne, Sir Thomas. Heligio Medici, and other Essays. Edited, with an introduction, by D. Lloyd Boberts, M.D., F.E.C.P. The Stott Library. David Stott. Burdett, Henry C. Hospitals and Asylums of the World: their Origin, History, Construction, Administration, Management, and Legislation. In 4 vols. Vol. I., Asylums—History and Administration; Vol. II., Asylums Construction, with plans and bibliography. Churchill, New Burlington Street, W. 4/. 10s. Defok, Daniel. Kohinson Crusoe. Cheap illustrated edition. Griffith, Farran. Paper covers. 6d. Denning, David. The Art and Craft of Cabinet-making. With illustrations. Whittaker, White Hart Street. 5*. Ehrenfechteb, C. A. Technical Study in the Art of Pianoforte-playing (Deppe's principles). With illus- trations. Beeves, Fleet Street. FiTzoEBALD, Percy. The Art of Acting. Swan Sonncn- schein & Co. Gatehouse, T. E. The Strange History of a Dynamo. Alabaster, Gatehouse & Co., Paternoster Bow. 1*. Grekn, J. L. The Old Yeomen of England and Small Holdings in Land. Marlborough, Old Bailey. Paper covers. Hailstone, H. The Clergy List, 1892. Edited by. Kelly, Great Queen Street, W.C. Hasluck, P. N. Milling Machines and Processes. With engravings. Crosby Lockwood. Heoderwick, T. C. H. The Parliamentary Election Manual. Stevens, Chancery Lane. 7*. 6d. Howe, W. F. Classified Directory to the Metropolitan Charities for 1892. Seventeenth annual edition. Longmans, is. Jenktns, C. Carlyon. Hard Life in the Colonies, and other experiences by sea and land. Now first printed. Compiled from private letters by. Illustrated. Ad- venture Series. Fisher Unwin. 5s. Johnson, V. E., B.A. Egyptian Science, from the Monu- ments and Ancient Books, treated as a general intro- duction to the History of Science. Griffin, Farran & Co. 3s. 6d. The Journal ok the Boyal Agricultural Society ok England. Third scries. Vol. II., Part IV., No. VIII. John Murray. Paper covers. 3s. 6d. Keene, H. G. The Literature of France. University Extension Manuals series. John Murray. 3». Keene, J. Boddely. Power and Force, Spiritual and Natural, their discreted differences, mutual inter- relation, and specific atmospheres. Fisher LTnwin. 3s. 6d. Laveleye, M. Kmilk de. Letters from Italy. Translated by Mrs. Thorpe and revised by the author. Popular edition. Fisher Unwin. 3s. 6d. Lean, Lt.-Col. Francis. The Boyal Navy List, January 1892. Witherby & Co. 7s. 6d, Lloyd, W. W. P. and O. Pencillings. Published for the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company by Day and Son, Berners Street, W. Losing, G. B., M.D. A Year in Portugal, 1889-90. G. P. Putnam's Sous. Marshall, Mrs. A. B. Larger Cookery Book of Extra Becipes. Dedicated to Princess Christian. With portrait and illustrations. Simpkin, Marshall. Meredith, George. The Tragic Comedians. A study in a well known story. New edition. With introductory note on Ferdinand Lassalle by Clement Shorter. Ward, Lock, Bowden. 6». Mill, H. K., D.Sc. The Bealm of Nature, an Outline of Physiography. With mai>s and illustrations. Uni- versity Extension Manual Series. John Murray. Ocean Steamships: a Popular Account of their Construc- tion, Development, Management, and Appliances. By F. E. Chadwick, U.S.N., J. D. J. Kellev, U.S.N., Kidgely Hunt, U.S.N., J. H. Gould, W. H! Kideiug, and A. E. Seaton. With illustrations. John Murray. 12s. Ochorowicz, Db. J. Mental Suggestion. With a preface by Charles Bichet. Translated from the French by J. T. Fitzgerald, M.A. Gay and Bird, King William Street, W.C. 10s. 6d. Payne, A. G. Vegetarian Cookery: a Manual of Cheap and Wholesome Diet. Cassell. is. 6d. Beeves, Edward. Homeward Bound, after 3o years. A Colonist's Impressions of New Zealand, Australia, Tangier, and Spain. Illustrated. Swan Sonnenscheiu & Co. Boss, Bonald. The Deformed Transformed. Chapman and Hall. 3s. 6d. Bussell, Henry. The Kuiu of the Soudan: Cause, Effect, and Bemedy. A Resume of Events, 1883-1891. Assisted by William Gattie. With maps and illustra- tions. Sampson Low. Bussell, Stuart A. Electric Light Cables, and the Dis- tribution of Electricity. With illustrations. Volume of the Specialist Series. Whittaker. Bussell, T. B. Last Year: the Events of 1891, with a Chronological Table, Obituary, and Appendix. With portraits and maps. Foxwell, Temple Chambers, is. Stables, Gobdon, M.D., B.N. The Girl's Own Book of Health and Beauty. Jarrold, Paternoster Buildings. 2s. 6d. Stuart, Villiers. Adventures Amidst the Equatorial Forests and Rivers of South America; also in the West Indies and the Wilds of Florida; to which is added "Jamaica Revisited." With illustrations and maps. John Murray. Skating. By J. M. Heathcote and C. G. Tebbutt. Figure Skating. By T. Maxwell Witham. With Contri- butions on Curling (the Rev. John Kerr), Tobogganing (Ormond Hake), Ice-sailing (Henry A. Buck), Bandy (C. G. Tebbutt). Illustrated by C. Whymper and Captain B. M. Alexander, and from photographs. Volume of the Badminton Library. Longmans. 10s. 6d. Stepniak, S., and W. Westaxl. lu Two Moods. From the Bussian of Korolenko. Ward and Downey. Taylor, J. Traill. The Optics of Photography and Photographic Lenses. Illustrated. Whittaker. 3s. 6d Tollemache, Beatrix. Grison's Incidents in Olden Times. Percival & Co. 2s. 6rf.  ## p. 291 (#695) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. Toller, T. Nortiicote. An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. Based on the Manuscript Collections of the late Joseph Bosworth, D.D., F.li.S. Edited and enlarged by. Part IV., Section i. Clarendon Press. 8*. 6rf. Tyndall, John1, FJ5.A. New Fragments. Longmans. 104. 6ll. Vkee, Aubrey de. The Legends of Saint Patrick. Cassell's National Library. Cloth. 6d. Wardle, Thomas. Tussur Silk, a paper read at the Society of Arts on May 14th, 1891, by. Trounce, Gough Square, Fleet Street. West, B. B. Half Hours with the Millionaires. Arranged and edited by. Longmans. 6». Educational. Babtholomew, J. G. The Globe Hand Atlas. Nelson, Paternoster Row. 2s. 6d. FitKAM, W., LL.D. Elements of Agriculture: a Text-book, prepared under the authority of the Royal Agricultural Society of England by. John Murray. 2s. 6d. Gabdineb, S. R. A Student's History of England. Vol. III., 1689-1885. Longmans. 4*. A Student's History of England; from the earliest times to 1885. Complete in 1 volume, with illustrations and index. Longmans, izs. Gawthrop. A Manual of Practical Instruction in the Art of Brass Repousse for Amateurs. Artificer in brass and iron. Illustrated. Sutton, Drowley, Ludgate Hill. Paper covers, is. Harrison-, W. Jkromk. Guides to the Science and Art Department Examinations in Magnetism and Electri- city, and answers to questions, 1883-91. Blackie, Old Bailey. Paper covers. Manual of Horticulture and Agriculture, 1891. Published by Kelway and Son, Langport, Somerset. Paper covers. i.t. Half's Rapid Road to Spanish. Parts I. and II. Second edition, revised and enlarged. George Philip, Fleet Street. 5s. each. Sullt, James, M.A. The Human Mind: a Text-book of Psychology, 2 vols. Longmans. 21s. Tobbend, J. A Comparative Grammar of the South African Bantu Languages. Kegan Paul. Poetry and the Drama. Bell, Mrs. Hugh. Nursery Comedies. Twelve tiny plays for children. Longmans, is. 6d. Bbadshaw, John. The Poetical Works of John Milton. Kdited by. 2 vols. Aldine Kdition. George Bell, u. 6d. each. Butler, A. Gray. Harold: a Drama in Four Acts, and other Poems. Henry Frowde, Oxford University Press Warehouse. 5s. Cooksox, Lt.-Col. Fife. A Dream of Other Days: a Romantic Poem. Kegan Panl. Davidson, John. In a Music Hall, and other Poems. Ward and Downey. Dobson, Austin. Poems and Plays of Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by. J. M. Dent and Co. Lang, Andrew. Selected Poems of Robert Bums, with an introduction by. Kegan Paul. Lovat, Lady. Seeds and Sheaves: Thoughts for Incur- ables. With prefatory verses by Aubrey de Vere. Kegan Paul. Matthews, Brander. The Dramatic Essays of Charles Lamb. Edited, with an introduction and notes by. Chatto and Windus. Scully, W. C. Poems. Fisher Unwin. Siiarpe-Younos, Ella. Khartoum: a Lyrical Drama in five acts. Published at San Remo. Paper covers. Sinclair, May. Essays in Verse. Kegan Paul. Tynan, Katharine. Ballads and Lyrics. Kegan Paul. Yolande. The Church's Seasons, and other Verses. Longmans. 4s. 6d. Science. E. H. A New Departure in Astronomy: the Revolution of the Solar System. Chapman and Hall. Paper covers. 2*. Wagner, Rudolf von. Manual of Chemical Technology. Translated and Edited by William Crookes, F.R.S., from the 13th German edition as remodelled by Dr. F. Fischer. With illustrations. Churchill. 32». Waite, A. E. The Occult Sciences: a compendium of transcendental doctrine and experiment. Kegan Paul. Parliamentary Papers. Calendar of the Department of Science and Art for 1892, is. 6d.; Return as to Hours of Closing in Scotland, id. j Return—County Boroughs (Rates and Receipts from Local Taxation Account), $d.; Return (in part) as to Alien Immigration during December, \d.; Return as to the National Debt, 3d. The Annual Local Taxation Returns, 1889-90; Part II., $\d. List of Parliamentary Papers for sale, with prices and postage affixed, 1890-91. Kyre and Spottiswoode.  ## p. 292 (#696) ############################################ ADVERTISEMENTS. THE AUTHORS' SYNDICATE. THIS Association is established for the purpose of syndicating or selling the serial rights of authors in magazines, journals, and newspapers. It has now been at work for more than a year, and has transacted a very satisfactory amount of business during this period. It has also entered upon a great number of engagements for the future. The following points are submitted for consideration :— 1. The management is voluntary and unpaid. No one makes any profit out of the Syndicate, except the authors who use its services. 2. The commission charged on the amounts received covers the expenses of clerks, travellers, rent, and printing. As work increases this may be still further reduced. 3. Only the serial rights are sold for the author. He receives his volume rights and copyright. 4. The Syndicate has an American agent. 5. The Syndicate will only work for members of the Society. 6. Its offices are on the same floor as those of the Society, and its assistance and advice are always at the service of the Society. 7. Authors are warned that no syndicating is possible for them until they have already attained a certain amount of popularity. 8. The Syndicate acts as agent in every kind of literary property. W. MORRIS COLLES, Honorary Secretary. 4, Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields.  ## p. 293 (#697) ############################################ ADVERTISEMENTS. 293 Cfje i?wtetg of gutfiors (EncorporatrtO- PRESIDENT. Thk Right Hon. the LORD TENNYSON, D.C.L. Sie Edwin Arnold, K.C.I.E. Alfbkd Austin. A. W. k Beckett. Robert Bateman. Sir Henry Berone, K.C.M.G. Walter Besant. Augustine Birrell, M.P. R. D. Blackmore. Rev. Prof. Bonnet, F.R.S. Lord Brabourne. James Bryce, M.P. P. W. Clayden. Edward Clodd. Hon. John Collier. W. Martin Conway. Marion Crawford. Oswald Crawfurd, C.M.G. COUNCIL. The Earl of Desart. A. W. Dubouro. John Eric Erichsen, F.R.S. Prof. Michael Foster, F.R.S. Herbert Gardner, M.P. Richard Garnett, LL.D. Edmund Gosse. H. Rider Haggard. Thomas Hardy. Rudyard Kipling. Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S. J. M. Lely. Rev. W. J. Loftie, F.S.A. F. Max Muller, LL.D. George Meredith. Herman C. Merivale. Rev. C. H. Middleton-Wake, F.L.S. Hon. Counsel—E. M. Underdown, Q.C. J. C. Parkinson. The Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart., LL.D. Walter Herriks Pollock. A. G. Ross. George Augustus Sala. W. Baptiste Scoones. G. R. Sims. J. J. Stevenson. Jas. Sully. William Moy Thomas. H. D. Traill, D.C.L. Baron Hknby de Worms, M.P., F.R.S. Edmund Yates. A. W. a Beckett. Hon. John Collier. COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT. Chairman—Walter Besant. I W. Martin Conway. 1 H. Rider Haggard. I Sir Frederick Pollock. I Edmund Gosse. | J. M. Lely. | A. G. Ross. Solicitors—Messrs. Field, Roscoe, & Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. Secretary—S. Squire Sprigge. OFFICES. 4, Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C. PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1891 can be had on application to the Secretary. 2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members. 3. The Grievances Of Authors. (The Leadenhall Pres9.) 2s. The Report of three Meetings on the general subject of Literature and its defence, held at Willis's Rooms, March 1887. 4. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Colles, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 3*. 5. The ffistOiy of the Societe des Gens de Lettres. By S. Squire Sprigge, Secretary to the Society. I*. 6. The Cost Of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c, with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, q5, Strand, W.C. 2*. 6d. 7. The Various Methods Of Publication. By S. Squire Sprigge. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society's offices, the various kinds of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3*. 8. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord MonkswelPs Copyright Bill now before Parliament. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lely. Eyre and Spottiswoode. i*. 6d.  ## p. 294 (#698) ############################################ 394 AD VERTISEMENTS. MISS IFt. GILL, MRS. GILL, TYPE-WRITING OFFICES, 6, Adam Street, Strand, W.C., and 5, Air Street, Piccadilly, W. TYPE-WEITIHQ OFFICE, ST, PAUL'S CHAMBERS, 19, LUDGATE HILL, E.C. (ESTABLISHED 1883.) Authors' and Dramatists' Work a Specialty. All kinds of MSS. copied with care. Extra attention given to difficult hand-writing and to papers or lectures on scientific subjects. Type-writing from dictation. Shorthand Notes taken and transcribed. Authors' MSS. carefully copied from is. per j,ooo words. One additional copy (carbon) supplied free of charge. Instruction given in Pitman's System of Shorthand and in type- writing. References kindly permitted to Walter Besant, Esq. FUETHER PARTICULARS ON APPLICATION. MISSES E. & S. ALLEN, MISS PATTEN, TYPE AND SHORTHAND WRITERS. TYPIST, 44, Oakley Street Plats, Chelsea, S.W. TRANSLATIONS and Scientific Work a Special Feature. Authors' MSS. Carefully Transcribed. References 39, Lombaud Street, E.C. KINDLY PERMITTED TO GEORGE AUGUSTUS SaLA, Esq. Office No. 59 (close to Lift). Particulars on Application. AUTHORS.—The New York Bureau of Revision aids Authors in completing their books; gives competent and unbiassed criticism of Prose or Verse; and offers MSS. and proofs in the American Market. Address— Dr. TITUS MUNSON COAN, 20, West Uth Street, Neiv York. TOE ORIGINAL AUTHORS' AGENCY. Established 1879. Proprietor, Mr. A. M. BURGHES, 1, PaternOSter ROW. Tlic interests of Authors capably represented. Proposed agreements and estimates examined on behalf of Authors. MS. placed with Publishers. Transfers carefully conducted. Twenty-five years' practical experience in all kinds of publishing and book producing. Consultation free. Terms and testimonials from leading Authors on application to Mr. A. M. Burghes, Authors' Agent, i, Paternoster Row. It Makes Writing Easy. Leave the drudgery of the Pen—Soiled Fingers—Blotted and Obscure Manuscript, to those who prefer darkness to light. Quick, up-to-date writers use The Bar-Lock Type-Writer. Why Easiest Managed; Soonest Learned; Most Durable; Writing Always Visible; does best work, and never gets out of repair. Chosen, by Royal Warrant, Type-Writer to the Queen. Only gold medals—Edinburgh (1890) and Jamaica (1891) Exhibitions; is used in principal Government Depart- ments, and greatest number of English business houses. We send interesting supply of further information free. THE TYPE-WRITER COMPANY, LIMITED, IS & w, Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C. ; 25. Market Street, Manchester; i, South John Street, Liverpool 22, Renlield Street, Glasgow; 35. Charles Street, Bradford. London: Printed by Etke and SroTTiswooDE, Printers to the Queen's most Excellent Majesty. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 02 Issue 09 (February 1892) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 02 Issue 09 (February 1892) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015031017927&amp;view=1up&amp;seq=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015031017927</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1892-02-01-The-Author-2-9 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/261/1892-03-01-The-Author-2-10.pdf e105fde168b241125d5d64ab4bdec94a PDF Text Text ������������������������������������������������ Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1892-03-01 Volume 2 Issue 10 Pages Page range in volume 295–342 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18920301 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin ZIbe Hutbot\ (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. II.—No. io.] MARCH i, 1892. [Price Sixpence. CO NT PAGE Warnings »" Notices J97 Literary Property— I.—Registration 300 II.—Transfer of Books 3°' Swindells v. Morgan and Others— I.—Report of the Case 3°i II.—On the Case 3°' The Output—Past and Present 3°3 Notes from Paris 3°4 An Old Pirate Song. By C. G. Lcland 3°* Titles of Honour 3<>7 Red Clover 3°8 A Fine Plav 3°9 Notes and News. Bv Walter Besant 3" Men and Women of tho Time—1788 3'3 The Dance of Death 3"S Without a Publisher 3'5 Scott on the Art of Fiction 3"s ENTS. International Copyright— I.—Annual Meeting of the Copyright League .. ..311 II.—Canada and the United States 3» Author and Editor 3" The Letter H. By William Westall 3*4 Correspondence— I— Mr. Traill's List of Poets 3»S II.—Useful Books i'S From the Papers— I.—" One who knew Him" I'S II—Mr. Edmund Gosse on Reading S'b III. —On Literary Collaboration. By Waltor Besant .. jj» IV. —The Critic 3»8 V.—Do Publishers read MSS. submitted? 3*9 VI.—Arc Women Creative 33° VII —An American on American Literature 33' VIII.—Swindells v. Morgan and Tomkins 33» "At the Author's Head" 33» New Books and New Editions • ■ 33S EYRE AND SPOTTISWOODE. INVESTMENTS. A List of 1,600 British, Colonial, and Foreign Securities, with the highest and lowest prices quoted for the last twenty-two years. 2a. bd. "A useful work of reference."—Money. PHILOSOPHICAL NOTES ON BOTANICAL SUB- JECTS. By E. Bonavia, M.D., Brigade-Surgeon, I.M.D. With 160 Illustration'*, as. bd. BEAL ARMY RKFORM, THE ESSENTIAL FOUNDA- TION OF. By Igkotus. bd. MY GARDENER (Illustrated). By H. W. Ward, Head Gardener to the Right Hon. the Earl of Radnor, Longford Castle. Salisbury. M. bd. "The book is replete with valuable cultural notes indispensable to the millions who are now turning to gardening as a source of pleasure and profit."— Gardener's Chronicle. STATE TRIALS, Reports of. New Series. Vol. III., 1831—40. Published under the direction of the State Trials Committee. Edited by Joitx Macdoneli,, M.A. 101. PUBLIC GENERAL ACTS, 1891. Red Cloth, 3*. Contains all the Public Acts passed during the year, with Index, also Tables showing the clft'ot of the year's Legislation, toget her with complete and classified Lists of the Titles of all the Local and Private Acts passed during the Session. REVISED STATUTES. (Second Revised Edition.) Royal 8vo. Prepared under the direction of the Statute Law Revision Committee, and Edited by G. A. R. Fitzgerald, Esq. Vols. I. to IV. now ready, price 7». bd. each. FORECASTING BY MEANS OF WEATHER CHARTS, Principles of. By the Hon. Ralph Aberckohby, F.R. Met. HoC. 23. Monthly Lists of Parliamentary Papers upon Miscellaneous Lis Every Assistance given to Correspondents; and METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS, Instructions in the use of. at. td. THE LITERATURE RELATING TO NEW ZEALAND. A Bibliography. Roval Rvo. Cloth, is. bd. POLYNESIAN MYTHOLOGY AND ANCIENT TRA- DITIONAL HISTORY OF THE NEW ZEALAND RACK. BvSirGKOROKGKEY.K.C.B. Illustrated. Koyal 8vo. Cloth, j». COPYRIGHT LAW REFORM: an Exposition of Lord Monkswcll's Copyright Bill. With Extracts from tho Report of the Commission of 1878. and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lely, Esq., Barrister-at-Law. is. bd. KEW BULLETIN, 1891. Issued by the Director of Kew Gardens, ys. (Ready shortly.) KEW BULLETIN, 1892. Monthly, 2d. Appendices, 2d. each. Annual Subscription, including postage, 3*. qd. DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF MUSICAL INSTRU- MENTS recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition. Compiled by Capt. Day. Oxfordshire Light Infantry, under the orders of Col. SnAW-llELLIEE, Commandant Royal Military School of Music. Illustrated by a series of Twelve artistically executed Plates in Heliogravure, and with numerous Wood Engravings, hi, "Unique, as no earlier work exists in English dealing exhaus- tively with the same subject A very important con- tribution to the history of orchestration."—Atheneeum. PUBLIC RECORDS. A Guide to the Principal Classes of Documents preserved in tho Public Record Office. By S. R. Scargill-Bibd, F.S.A. is. £ "The value of such a work as Mr. Scargill-Bird's can scarcely be over-rated."—Times. Application. Quarterly Lists Post Free, arf. t on Application. Books not kept in stock obtained without delay. GOVERNMENT AND GENERAL PU11MSHERS. EYRE and SPOTTISWOODE, Ber Majesty's Printers, East Harding Street, London, E.C.  ## p. 296 (#700) ############################################ 2g6 ADVERTISEMENTS. %\yt &ockty of 9utI)ors (EncorporatrtD, PRESIDENT. The Eight Hon. the LORD TENNYSON, D.C.L. Sir Edwin Arnold, K.C.l.E. Alfred Austin. A. W. A Beckett. Robert Bateman. Sir Henry Bergne, K.C.M.G. Walter Besant. Augustine Birrell, M.P. R. D. Blackmore. Rev. Prop. Bonnet, F.R.S. Lord Brabourne. James Beyce, M.P. P. W. Clayden. Edward Clodd. Hon. John Collier. W. Martin Conway. Marion Crawford. Oswald Crawfurd, C.M.G. COUNCIL. The Earl of Desart. A. W. Dubourg. John Eric Erichsen, F.R.S. Prof. Michael Foster, F.R.S. Herbert Gardner, M.P. RicnARD Garnett, LL.D. Edmund Gos.se. H. Rider Haggard. Thomas Hardy. Rudyard Kipling. Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S. J. M. Lely. Rev. W. J. Loftie, F.S.A. F. Max Muller, LL.D. George Meredith. Herman C. Merivale. Rev. C. H. Middleton-Wake, F.L.S. Hon. Counsel—E. M. Underdown, Q.C. Pembroke and J. C. Parkinson. The Earl of Montgomery. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart., LL.D. Walter Berries Pollock. A. G. Ross. George Augustus Sala. W. Baptiste Scoones. G. R. Sims. J. J. Stevenson. Jas. Sully. William Moy Thomas. H. D. Traill, D.C.L. Baron Henry de Worms, M.P., F.R.S. Edmund Yates. A. W. a Beckett. Hon. John Collier. W. Martin Conway. Edmund Gosse. H. Rider Haggard. J. M. Lely. COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT. Chairman—Walter Besant. I Sm Frederick Pollock. | A. G. Ross. Solicitors—Messrs. Field, Roscoe, & Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. Secretary—S. Squire Sprigge. OFFICES. 4, Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C. PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1891 can be had on application to the Secretary. 2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members. 3. The Grievances Of Authors. (The Leadenhall Press.) 2*. The Keport of three Meetings on the general subject of Literature and its defence, held at "Willis's Eooms, March 1887. 4. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Coixes, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, g5, Strand, W.C.) 3*. 5. The History of the Societe des Gens de Lettres. By S. Squire Sprigge, Secretary to the Society, is. 6. The Cost Of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c, with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, q5, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. 7. The Various Methods Of Publication. By S. Squire SrRiGGE. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society's offices, the various kinds of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3s. 8. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord MonkswelFs Copyright Bill now before Parliament. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lelt. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1*. 6d.  ## p. 297 (#701) ############################################ ^Ibe B u t b o t\ (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. II.—No. io.] MARCH i, 1892. [Price Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. WARNINGS. Readers of the Author are earnestly desired to make the following warnings as widely known as possible. They are based on the experience of six years' work upon the dangers to which literary property is exposed:— (1.) Never sign any agreement of which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part, until you have proved the figures. (2.) Never enter into any correspondence with publishers, especially with those who advertise for MSS., who are not recom- mended by experienced friends or by this Society. (3.) Never, on any account whatever, bind yourself down for future work to any one firm of publishers. (4.) Never accept any proposal of royalty until you have ascertained exactly what the agreement gives kto the author and what to the publisher. (5.) Never accept any pecuniary risk or respon- sibility whatever without advice. (6.) Never, when a MS. has been refused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises they may put forward, for the production of the work. (7.) Never sign away American rights. Keep them. Refuse to sign an agreement con- taining a clause which reserves them for the publisher. If the publisher insists, take away the MS. and offer it to another. vol. n. (8.) Keep some control over the advertisements by clause in the agreement. If you arc yourself ignorant of the subject, make the Society your agent. (9.) Never forget that publishing is a business, like any other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy, charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with business men. Society's Offices:— 4, Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields. NOTICES. THE Americans have committed a very graceful and complimentary action. They have allowed the piece of plate presented by the Society to Mr. R. U. Johnson, Secretary of the American Copyright League, to be admitted to free entry on importation. We submitted the case to Mr. Rol>ert Lincoln, the American Minister, who kindly pro- mised us his good offices in the matter, with the result that a copy of the following letter from Mr. Spaulding, the Acting Secretary of the Treasury, Washington, to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Blaine, has been forwarded to us. It will be observed that this is only the second concession of the kind made by the States. "Sir, "I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 13th instant, enclosing, for the consideration of this Dejwirtmeut, a De- spatch, No. 587, from the Minister of the United States at London, inquiring whether a piece of silver plate, to be presented by the Incorporated Society of Authors of Great Britain to Robert U. Johnson, Esq., Secretary of the American Copy- right League, as a testimonial of recognition of Y 2  ## p. 298 (#702) ############################################ 298 THE AUTHOR. the services of himself and his Society in the esta- blishment of the International Copyright Law now existing, can be admitted to free entry on importation. "In reply, I have to state that, under date of 5th May 1887, free entry was authorised for certain vases imported for presentation as testimonials to members of the American Committee who super- intended the installation of the Bartholdi Statue of 'Liberty enlightening the World,' and that, in accordance with the practice of admitting to free entry, under paragraph 648 of the Tariff Act, cups and plate as prizes and trophies, it would seem tliat the piece of plate in question would be exempt from duty on importation. "Respectfully yours, "O. J. Spaulding, "Acting Secretary." "To the Hon. F. G. Blaine." The following letter appeared in the Times of February 24th:— Sir, To-day is the birthday of James Russell Lowell, and I understand that a commemorative ceremony is being performed in his honour at his native place. It has occurred to me that English- men might be glad to show their respect for a man who was one of the most eminent writers in the common language of England and America, and who, as Minister in this country, did so much to promote goodwill between the two nations. A monument is erected in Westminster Abbey to Lowell's friend and fellow-countryman, Long- fellow. It seems to me that it would not be out of place to give in some similar way a proof of our national regard for Lowell himself. If anyone who agrees with this would communi- cate with me, I should be very glad to co-operate in taking the necessary steps for giving effect to the proposal. Yours, <fcc. Leslie Stephen. 12, Hyde Park Gate, S.W., Feb. 22nd. This proposal should be supported by every member of our Society, not only because Lowell was one of the most eminent writers of the century, but also because he fought manfully and all his life long for the cause of International Copyright, and because he was, in a very especial sense, the friend of this Society, whose aims he cordially approved and whose growth he always watched with interest. It is hoped that every member will hold himself in readiness to support Mr. Leslie Stephen in the promotion of this monument. The Authors' Club has now passed from the preliminary stage to that of actual existence. The Club is to be founded upon a Limited Joint Stock Company, already established and registered, the possession of a single share in which will serve in lieu of entrance fee. The shares in the Company- are limited to 600 of £5 each, of which it is not anticipated tliat more than £3 will ever be called up, and the shares will be allotted upon application in the usual form by the directors. The Company is not a commercial one, its Directors will receive 110 fees, and all profits will accrue to the Club. When the first 600 shares are applied for and allotted, the election of members will be according to usual club-land law, by proposer, seconder, payment of entrance fee and election by the general committee; the shareholding members, therefore, will possess an advantage over ordinary members. The annual subscription is fixed at four guineas, and the entrance fee at ten guineas; the usual facilities and remissions being extended to country members. The number of members is fixed at 600; and the Club house will be as near that centre of the civilised world, Piccadilly Circus, as possible. A great many names of men at once eminent (and clubbable) in every branch of letters—scientific, informatory, or recreative—and in the ranks of the higher journalism, are already upon the list of the general committee of the Club. Its first Directors are Lord Monkswell, Mr. Walter Besant, Mr. H. Tedder (the secretary and librarian of the "Athenanini "), and Mr. Oswald Crawfurd, C.M.G. (Chairman). The qualifications for membership are that a man should be a British subject, or a citizen of the United States; an author, in the widest acceptance of the term; a contributor to a leading periodical; or a journalist of established position. It will be gathered from these lines that the main objects of the Authors' Club are: first, the union of authors as such, which makes the Club a natural outcome and offshoot of the Society, and (2) the consolidation of literary interests of all kinds. Application for shares can be made to the Company's linkers, Messrs. Barclay and Co., No. 1, Pall Mall, or to the Chairman, who may also be applied to for any general information at the temporary office of the Authors' Club, Queen Anne's Mansions, S.W. An advertisement has appeared in several of our papers, dated from New York, inviting MSS., and promising a circulation of hundreds of thousands. The Secretary answered the advertisement, asking what machinery the advertiser possessed by which he could insure so enormous a circulation. A reply has been received in which the advertiser states that he is editor and proprietor of an illustrated American paper, whose subscription list numbers  ## p. 299 (#703) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 299 200,000, and which has 3o branch establishments in the principal cities of ihe Union. The circu- lation promised is the publication of the works accepted by this advertiser in the pages of his magazine. Nothing is said as to the price paid to authors, but those who think of answering the advertisement would do well to submit a question on this point before parting with their perhaps valuable American rights. The advertiser affects surprise at being asked to give references and explanations. Does he really believe that we should advise authors to despatch MSS. to a foreigner in a foreign country, solely on a vague promise made in an advertisement? One has not been accustomed to attribute to American men of business this guileless innocence. Our advice, which we repeat, is to get the business arrangements placed on a satisfactory footing before sending out the MS. A case was recently tried before one of the inferior courts, in which it was held by the judge that the publishers had no right in sending in an account, based upon a share of profits, to charge for "production" more than the sums actually expended by them. The publishers attempted to justify charges which gave them a profit on items forming cost of production on the wording of the agreement signed by the author, but the judge held that this did not justify the charges, and he was evidently of opinion that for a publisher to entitle himself to a profit on the cost of production in such cases he must clearly stipulate for it beforehand. It was hoped that the publishers would appeal to a higher court, but this they have not done. Meantime the decision is a step in the right direction. We have the notes and report of the case. The chief weapon of offence in the return of accounts is the item of advertisements. The pub- lisher advertises in his own magazine if he has one, by exchanges for nothing with other maga- zines, or, if he does not exchange, he pays and expects a return of the same kind. He charges for inserting the book in his circulars and lists. He charges, in fact, what he pleases, and advertises what he pleases, and as often as he pleases, in organs which cost him nothing. In this way he can, and often does, sweep the whole profits of a tolerably successful book into his own pockets. This is done every day; it is the commonest, the most specious, and the most impudent form of swamping profits. Of course, the pretence set up is that the sale was entirely due to the publisher's own organ and the advertisement in it. For instance, an author, some time ago, re- ceived an account in which a considerable sum was charged for advertising. He went to the publishers and informed them that he would pay for none but advertisements for which they would produce vouchers. They sent an amended bill for a sum less than one-eighth the original charge! The meaning, as between publisher and author, of the so-called "Royalty System "—where there is no system—was explained in the Author for November 1891. Writers are entreated, in their own interests, to study the facts and figures there set forth. Communications intended for the Authors' Syndi- cate should be addressed to W. Morris Colles, the Honorary Secretary. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of this Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly understood that the Society does not, under any circumstances, under- take the publication of MSS. The official directions for the securing of American copyright by English authors were given in the Author for June 1891. Members are earnestly entreated to take the trouble of reading those directions. Members are earnestly requested to forward agreements to the Society for inspection before they sign them. Once signed, the mischief is generally irreparable. A correspondent writes to ask for information as to the "loss" of copyright. A few elementary points arc, therefore, advanced. Copyright is the right to copy or reproduce. It must not be parted with, except for a consideration fair and reasonable. Most publishers' agreements contain a clause which  ## p. 300 (#704) ############################################ 3°° THE AUTHOR. assigns to thorn the copyright. It is called some- times by its own name, sometimes it is called the right to first and all subsequent editions, some- times it is called the right to produce future editions at cheaper prices, should the publisher think fit. Then follows the consideration for which the author is asked to surrender his property. Writers who sign this agreement in too many cases do not even know what they are giving or selling, and in some instances are too inexperienced in business matters to understand plain English. Let them before signing any agreement ask themselves these questions: 1. Does the agreement assign the copyriglit to the publishers? 2. If no, for what consideration? 3. What does that consideration leave to the publishers on the sale of the first and all subsequent editions? LITERARY PROPERTY. i. Begistration. (From the Law Quarterly Review.) BEITISH subjects will be well advised not to publish foreign literary or artistic works in England because they cannot find them registered at Stationer's Hall, or to defend actions for piracy because the plaintiff was not registered at Stationer's Hall before the issue of the writ, in reliance on the judgment of Stirling J. in Fishburn v. Hollingshead ('91, 2 Ch. 371) cited without dissent in the last number of the Law Quarterly Review, at p. 3oi. In that case Stirling J. un- doubtedly expressed an opinion that the foreign author of a painting could not sue in England without registering under the English Copyright Acts; but this opinion was clearly obiter, as the learned judge also decided that the work before him was properly registered in England. It has since been doubted by Smith and Grantham J J. in the argument in Moul v. Groenings, 'g 1, 2 Q.B. 443 (though the doubt is not reported), and Judge Martineau has felt himself justified by that doubt in declining to follow it in the case of Moul v. Devonshire Park Co. {Law Times Paper, Sept. 19th, 1891). The point is one of great importance, as, if Stirling J. is right, the British Legislature has failed to carry out the intention of the Berne Con- vention, which was that an author who complies with the formalities required by law in the country where he first publishes his work should thereby obtain copyright in the foreign countries, parties to the Convention, without also having to comply with the formalities in each of such countries (Article 11 of Berne Convention). This benefits the British author equally with the foreigner; the only person aggrieved is the pirate, and the great feature of the Berne Convention is that for the first time it treats copying other people's work as at the risk of the copyist, instead of impeding the author by technical restraints. The Copyright Statutes on the point are, as the Law Quarterly Review observed, an "ungodly jumble," but the point admits of being shortly- stated. 1. The Act of 1842 (5 & 6 Vict. c. 45, § 24) required registration of copyright as a condition for bringing an action for its infringment. 2. The International Act of 1844 (7 Viet. c. 12, § 19), provided that copyright in a work first published out of Her Majesty's dominions should only be obtained under the provisions of that Act; and provided that the Queen might by Order in Council confer on authors of countries named therein the same benefits as they would have under the English Copyright Acts. The Act further required (§ 6) every such foreign author to comply with certain formalities of registration, differing from those of the Act of 1842, as a condition of obtaining the benefit of the Act of 1844. Pausing here for a moment, it has never been suggested that a foreign author before 1886 ought to register both under the Act of 1844 and under the Act of 1842, though it might be argued that as the benefits of the English Acts were conditional to English subjects on their registering under those Acts, a foreigner taking the same benefits as an Englishman must also register under the English Acts. 3. The Art Copyright Act of 1862 (25 & 26 Vict. c. 68, § 12) included the provisions of the International Act of 1844, while providing that English authors of paintings, &c, must register at Stationer's Hall, and that any proprietor should not be entitled to the Ixmefit of the Act until registered, and could not sue for anything done before registration. Tho Act of 1844 had included provisions for tho registration of works of art. 4. The International Copyright Act of 1886 (49 & 5o Vict. c. 33, § 4) provided that when any Order in Council was made by Her Majesty under the International Copyright Acts, the provisions of those Acts as to the registry and delivery of copies of works should not apply to works under the Order in Council, except so far as provided by the order. 5. The Order in Council of November 28th, 1887, made under this Act, contains no provision as to registration and delivery of copies, and incorporates  ## p. 301 (#705) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 301 the Berne Convention of September 5th, 1887, which in Articles 2 and 11 appears to show an intention that the "accomplishment of the conditions and formalities prescribed by law in the country of origin of the work" shall give an author copyright throughout the countries of the Convention. It seems fairly clear, therefore, that the provisions of the International Copyright Acts as to registry and delivery of copies do not apply to foreign works, by reason of section 4 of the Act of 1886. But it is suggested that, as the foreign authors take the same benefits as they would have had under the English Acts, they are liable to register and deliver copies under the English Acts. But if this were so, foreign authors before the Act of 1886 would have been liable to register both under the English and the International Acts, and, still worse, to deliver copies both under the English and Inter- national Acts; and authors of foreign books at the present time are liable to deliver five copies to certain libraries as an English author is. This consequence is so startling, and, as regards the practice before the Act of 1886, so contrary to the facts, as almost to prove its error. But it would seem clear that the provisions of the International Act of 1844. supersede instead of supplementing the provisions of the English Acts of 1842 and 1862; and that the effect of the Act of 1844 being in its turn superseded by the Act of 1886, is not to revive the old provisions, but to leave the foreign author to register in his own country, obtaining thereby copyright under the Convention throughout the countries under the Convention. And apart from the construction of statutes, the hardship would appear to be if Mr. Justice Stirling's decision is right. Under the Art Copyright Acts an author cannot sue for infringements which have preceded registration; registration is to that extent a condition of the right as well as of the remedy. It is said that there is a hardship on the "innocent copyist," who has had no notice of copyright. I may be permitted to doubt the existence of the "innocent copyist," whom I have not'yet met in my experience of copyright cases. I have met the tradesman who desires to get his wares cheap, without too scrupulous inquiry as to the cause of their cheapness, and in many cases with direct knowledge that he is copying someone who he thinks has omitted to technically protect his rights, but I do not feel much sympathy with him. In any case this class of person will be well advised not to place too much reliance on Fishburn v. Hollingshead, '91, 2 Ch. 371. T. E. S. II. Transfer of Books. TO YOUNG PUBLISHING FIRMS or others commencing a publishing business. —A firm of publishers, having more MSS. of novels in their possession than they can for some time publish, are ready to part with the contracts relating to several MSS. by good authors. Some of these are already in the press and almost ready for publication. Some of the MSS. are subject, on publication, to a royalty, others have been paid for in full. This is an admirable opportunity for a young firm who want to start with a good lot of publications without any loss of time. For parti- culars apply by letter to ... . Address and Inquiry Office, The Times Office, E.C." The above advertisement appeared in the Times of February 24th, 1892. We have always been of opinion that a contract by one author with one publisher, except in the case of sale, could not be passed on to another publisher without the author's consent. For instance, in a royalty agreement, it is with out; certain publisher that the author makes his contract, not -with all or any publishers, good or bad. This, however, is a question for lawyers, to whom we intend to submit the case. SWINDELLS v. MORGAN AND OTHERS. The Report of the Case. (Before Mr. Justice Grantham and a Common Jury.) fl^HIS action was brought under somewhat 1 peculiar circumstances. The plaintiff, James Swindells, sued William James Morgan, Joseph Sydney Tomkins, the City of London Publishing Company, and the Authors' Alliance (Limited) for the return of some literary MS., and also damages for their detention, fie further sought to recover £40, which he had paid on account of nn intended publication. The Authors' Alliance entered no appearance to the action, but certain pleas were raised by the other defendants. Mr. Bethune was for the plaintiff; the defen- dants did not appear personally, nor were they represented. In opening the case Mr. Bethune said the plaintiff claimed the return of the MS. of "Ballads and Poems," and a drama called "Charles I.," which he had delivered for publication. The  ## p. 302 (#706) ############################################ SQ2 THE AUTHOR. plaintiff was about fifty years of age, and he was employed at Manchester in the position of ware- houseman. Notwithstanding this, however, he succeeded in educating himself, and he had written various works which had appeared in Manchester local papers. In June 1885, he received a com- munication from Messrs. Morgan and Tomkins, which was headed "City of London Publishing Company, in succession to the Charing Cross Publishing Company." This document said that they would be glad to receive MS., and would offer special facilities for publication. The learned counsel said that Messrs. Morgan and Tomkins were two men who had for years been defrauding unhappy authors. Mr. Justice Grantham said that as the defendants did not appear, the matter need not be gone into at length. Mr. Bethune answered that he would not be long, but as the jury would have to assess damages, he should have to inform them of some of the circumstances. These men had from time to time registered limited companies for a short period, and one limited company was succeeded by another. In the meantime, they sent out circulars like the one in this case, and then, when they got MS. for publi- cation, they said that there was a favourable report from their reader, and they asked that money should be sent on account of publication. The money having been sent them, the poor author never heard any more of the matter. Such authors were generally poor, and, therefore, their case was a particularly cruel one. Having got Mr. Swindell's MS., they suggested that he should get his friends to subscribe for copies of his works, and he did in fact get from Lord Selborne, Lord Derby, and others very kind letters, which he, in his turn, sent to the defendants; and he also sent them £40, which he had received in subscriptions from his friends. Now he was in the unfortunate position that he could not produce his book, for he had not the MS. He could not return his friends their money, and, his name being Swindells, he had had a most uncomfortable of it, and he therefore came to the jury for redress. In 1884, Messrs. Morgan and Tomkins were in possession of premises in Friar Street. They traded under the name of a company, and they said that whatever they did was as servants of the City of London Publishing Company. He (Mr. Bethune), however, said that the company was Messrs. Morgan and Tomkins only, and he should ask for an order against them for the return of the MS. The learned counsel said that he would refer to some of the correspondence which had passed. Mr. Justice Grantham: There was no necessity for reading those letters to show that they were swindlers, for the nature of the claim had been shown, and the defendants did not appear. Mr. James Swindells, the plaintiff, was then called. He said that he was a warehousemen at Manchester, his wages were 24*. a week, and he had a wife and family. In June i885, he sent the MS. of " Ballads and Poems " and " Charles I." to the defendants. He did this because he had received a letter from them. He had not had that MS. back again. He collected money by sub- scriptions, as he was to find £40 on account of the risk of publication. He mooted the matter to his friends, and they liberally subscribed to the extent of £40. Lord Derby subscribed £5, and the late Mr. Peacocke, M.P. Mr. Justice Grantham: You need not tell us all that. Witness continued: He remitted £40 in various sums to the publishing company, and from that time to this he had not had his £40 nor his MS. back. He got receipts for all the money he sent, except for the amount of a postal order for 25$. sent in 1887. Mr. Justice Grantham said that the jury had heard the case. It certainly was a very bad one, and he had no doubt that it was not the first time that unfortunate authors had been robbed in this way, and particularly those who were poor. Of course, the plaintiff was entitled to have back his £40, and he would advise the jury to give him a considerable sum in addition. It was impossible to know the value of these MSS.; but the defendants were not here, and they would be justified in estimating them at the highest price possible, to mark their view of the conduct of the defendants in not giving them back. The jury at once gave a verdict for the plaintiff for £5oo. In reply to questions of the learned judge, the jury said they found that the plaintiff was entitled to the return of the £40, and that if the MSS. were returned, the defendants should pay £200 for the detention. If they were not returned, their verdict would be for £460, in addition to the £40. Judgment was entered accordingly. — Daily News. II. On the Case. The case Swindells v. Morgan and Tomkins, tried before Mr. Justice Grantham, on February 17th, 1892, has, one hopes, effectually disposed of these gentlemen. The case, which we have copied from the report in the Daily Telegraph of February 18th, is one the particulars of which had already been brought before the Society. It  ## p. 303 (#707) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. was the old, old story; money paid in advance for the production of a book; manuscript for- warded; the book not produced; the money kept; and the manuscript not returned. The verdict of the jury was simple, for the plain- tiff, with 40/. for retention of manuscript, and damages, 200/., with costs. One fears that the money will not be paid, but the defendants will be effectually blown upon. There was, in fact, no defence at all, and the parties did not appear in court. We have been for six years calling atten- tion to the bogus publishers, of whom the man Morgan was eminently a representative. The Charing Cross Publishing Company, the City of London Publishing Company, the Authors' Alli- ance, and the International Society of Literature, Science, and Art, were four of the attempts of Morgan to catch the inexperienced author. His method, however, was always the same. It has been exposed over and over again in the columns of Truth. Only a month ago, on January 3oth, the editor of Truth exposed his last attempt, the so-called " Society of Literature, Science, and Art." This, says Truth, is a " bogus learned society, the promoters of which obtain fees averaging from two to fifteen guineas, by offering people ' membership' and 'fellowship,' with privilege (!) of writing 'M.S.L.' or 'F.S.L.' after their names. These payments are obtained by the pretence that a 'Council' of the ' Society' has passed a resolution, pursuant to which the invitation is sent. . . . The promoter and moving spirit of the 'Inter- national Society of Literature, Science, and Art' is one W. J. Morgan, who has appointed himself 'Curator ' and a member of the Executive Council. . . . He now carries on business as a publisher under the name of James Longman & Co., in an office opening out of that of the 'International Society'." It is a constant subject of amazement to watch the ease with which the author is deluded. The silly sheep is a miracle of wisdom compared with him. A swindler advertises; the author jumps at the chance; he sends his manuscript; he sends his money; he asks nobody's opinion or advice; he believes implicity whatever is told him; he trusts his property to a perfect stranger in the blindest confidence. In no other business, in no other relations of life, would he be such a fool. Would he lend his gold watch to a stranger met in the crowd? Woidd he lend that stranger a ten pound note? It is exactly the same thing. The man Morgan is is only one of many. There was another man who stole manuscripts and money in exactly the same way; there was a man who pretended to belong to a very well-known London firm; he went off to America with waggon loads of manuscripts; there VOL. 11. are people who are advertising for manuscripts at this moment with the same intention. They will go on advertising and catching their victims. The would-be author's desire to see himself in print overrides everything; his reason; his prudence; even such exposures as those of Truth; even such revelations as those of this action in the High Court of Justice. Morgan will die a rich man; very likely a member of a west end club. THE OUTPUT-PAST AND PRESENT. BETWEEN the years 1700 and 1756 the pro- duction of books from the London Press, according to Charles Knight, amounted in all to 5,280 new works. That is to say, to an average of 94 books for every year. There were not wanting those who held up their hands in astonishment at this prodigious annual increase to literature. Now, in the first half of the eighteenth century, it is quite certain that none of the country gentry bought books, that in the country towns there were no bookshops, that the great mass of the country clergy were careless of new literature, and that the only place, outside London, where new books could be procured were the university and the cathedral towns. Johnson's father, we know, was a bookseller of Litchfield, a cathedral town, and he used to attend markets and fairs at country towns with a bookstall. Among other places, at Birmingham, already an important town. For how many readers were these ninety new books issued? The population of England and Wales was then about six millions. Deducting children, rustics, working men, and those who, like the country squire, confined their reading to books on farriery and the like, we shall certainly not be far wrong in estimating the number at half a million. Consequently there was, roughly, a new book for every 0,000 readers. This, however, does not mean 5,ooo readers for every new book. Between the years 1792 and 1802, there were issued 4,096 new works, or an average of 372 every year. The population of England and Wales was then ten millions, with a greatly in- creased proportion of readers, say two millions in all, so that we had then a new book every year for every 4,000 readers. Between 1802 and 1827, there was an average of 588 new books every year. The population at the latter date, without counting Ireland, was four- teen millions. Education was greatly extended, and, not including children, there were probably six million readers, or a new book to every 10,000 readers. But, among these so-called readers, there Z  ## p. 304 (#708) ############################################ 3°4 THE AUTHOR. were many who never read anything at all, except the newspapers. Perhaps, however, children ought not to be excluded, because the branch of children's books, which was only commenced towards Un- close of the last century, had already assumed considerable proportions. In the year i8gr, according to the Publishers' Circular, the number of books issued was 5,706. The population of the British Islands is now 08,000,000, of whom all, or nearly all, can read. That is to say, there is now issued, every year, one new book for every 6,000 readers. But of course we ought to deduct young children and all those rustics and poor people who never read a book at all. Let us deduct ten millions. There remain 28,000,000, and, according to the estimate, a new book is provided every year for every 5,ooo readers. Surely that does not represent any extra- ordinary eagerness for new literature. The modern 'output of books, which seems so enormous when it is written down in its thousands, comes, briefly, to this. From 1700 to 1756, there was every year one book for every 5,ooo readers; from 1792 to 1802, there was every year one book for every 4,000 readers; from 1802 to 1827, there was every year one book for every 10,000 readers; and there is now every year one book for every 5,ooo readers. So that, taking these islands alone, there is no greater literary activity in pro- portion, and, as shown by the production of literature, than there was nearly two hundred years ago. But there are other considerations which very greatly lessen the proportional output. Those who every year.deplore the enormous production of books take a narrow parochial view of English literature. They cannot get beyond Fleet Street, daily journal and weekly review land, club land. They can under- stand, perhaps, something of the vastness of London itself, but of the vastness of Lancashire, Yorkshire, Durham—the crowded north—they understand nothing. Nor do they gauge the demands of the millions who are now demanding books. And if they cannot take in the needs of their own country, how can they understand those of the Empire? Australia, New Zealand, India, Burmah, South Africa, Ceylon, the far East, the West Indian Islands—and where there is a great market for new books as well as old. Again, beyond the Atlantic, there are sixty millions who read our books as we read theirs. Shall we try to grasp these things? If we can succeed, only partly, to understand how great is the area covered by the English language, how enormous is the demand for books, how the area occupied by readers becomes every year greater, how thickly populated, better educated, so that the demand is increasing by leaps and bounds, and yearly more and more, we shall then begin to understand the influence, the power, the force, of that thrice fortunate man who succeeds in being listened to by the whole of the English speaking race at once. Other things, too, will become more plain to us, of which the first is the necessity of using every effort to make the calling of literature independent, and to maintain that independence. NOTES FROM PARIS. IN my last I recorded that the next meeting of the Societe des Gens de Lettres was to be held on the 3ist ultimo. So it had been arranged. But on the 3ist not sufficient men of letters put in an appearance at the Hotel Conti- nental to constitute a quorum, and the meeting had to be postponed. Emile Zola, the president, did not like this, and on returning home sat down and wrote personally to each one of the hundreds of members of the Society present in Paris, urging him to attend. The result was that the meeting which was held yesterday was very well attended indeed, and a quantity of business being got through before the men of letters se]>arated. Con- sidering the amount of writing Zola has to do, it was simply heroic of him to write all those letters, but Zola takes his presidency of the Society in earnest, and is thorough in this work as in all he undertakes. Maupassant's state continues as it was. This is bad, and, to a certain extent, justifies the evil rumours that are afloat. In mental maladies the stationary state is as bad as retrogression. I am afraid from what I have heard from the very best sources that, as a writer at least, we may speak of de Maupassant in the past. What a pity for literature! Some weeks ago I noticed in an American paper a foolish paragraph anent Jules Verne, in which" the writer professed to describe the life of this remarkable novelist. Amongst other things a description of Mr. Verne's cabinet de trarail was given which was as imaginative as all the rest. Verne was described as working surrounded by electrical instruments and other scientific para- phernalia. I have a particular joy in watching the canard's flight, and that particular canard winged its way across the columns of quite a number of papers. The last I saw of it was in the columns of the Sunday Sun. As a matter of fact,  ## p. 305 (#709) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. Jules Verne does all his writing in a small bedroom at the top of his house in Amiens. The room contains a lx'd, a table, and a chnir, and a couch, as bare as room well can be. Neatness is the characteristic. The paper on the table is methodi- cally arranged. There is no waste-paper basket. Verne writes very deliberately and rarely erases. When not at home he spends his time at the Literary and Scientific Institute of Amiens city, where he reads up the scientific facts that he requires for his stories. We read in the Author, month by month, a good deal about the sweating of authors by publishers. I suppose all of us have in our day been so ex- ploited. I can remember receiving from the proprietors of a well-established London magazine a cheque for one guinea for a story of seven thousand words, the said proprietors being rated very high amongst London publishers. But the sweating of authors by brother authors seems to me a very much worse affair, and I am cognizant of numerous cases of it. There is something particularly hor- rible about Ishmael turning on a brother Ishmael, but he does do it. Here in Paris there are many reputed authors who employ hacks to do their work for them. I know of a feuilleton that appeared not long ago in the Petit Journal, which was signed by one of the best names in the literary market. The presumed author received fifteen hundred pounds for this story. Every line of it, however, was written by an unfortunate youth, who was promised eighty pounds for his work. That was some time ago. Up to the present he has received in small sums about a third of what was promised him. Occasionally the reputed man of letters gives him a five-franc piece towards the balance. I know of many similar cases in England also. Madame Marinoni, the wife of Marinoni, the well-known inventor and director of the Petit Journal, reads all the manuscripts sent in for publication in feuilleton in the Petit Journal, and, what is more, enjoys doing it. It is she who selects the stories for that publication. They are the making of the paper. The Petit Journal publishes two concurrently, and there is no literary work better paid. A fairly well-known writer gets about lod. a line for a serial in this paper. It is to the interest taken in its fiction columns that the immense success of the paper is due. Renan's " Souvenirs" is the book of the month. Everybody is reading it. As a contribution to philosophy it is a decided failure, but the writing is beyond praise. The people, however, for whom Ecnan specially writes consider the philosophy very pretty indeed, and, accordingly, all are satisfied. Zola's " La Debacle" is appearing in feuilleton in the Vie Populaire, although the author has not finished more than two-thirds of the book. The reason of tliis is that serial rights in case of such an author are of considerable value. For the French publication, for instance, Zola gets a thou- sand pounds. Had he waited till April, when he expects to have finished the manuscript, before authorising the publication in serial form, the publication of the book in volume form would have had to be delayed until long after the Grand Prix. Now no book issued after the Grand Prix in Paris has anything like the sale that a book issued earlier in the season obtains. Zola is a good business man, and, though he spends money lavishly, has always about 15,ooo francs to his credit at Char- pentier's. Daudet, on the other hand, has always an account on the wrong side with the same publishers. Doctor Jacques Bertillon, the statistician, is bringing out a table of statistics, or rather a statis- tical map, to show what books are read and in what pro]x>rtions, at the Paris municipal free libraries. Books are lent out at these libraries or may be read in the libraries themselves. In one year the public of these libraries borrowed 1,115,800 books to read at home, and read 161,636 books in the library reading-rooms. More than half the books read were novels, Zola being most asked for, indeed there are always eight or nine people waiting for every volume by this author. Verne comes next. Sue and Dumas continue very popular. George Sand is little wanted, and Balzac, our master, the father of us all, is but rarely asked for. Poetry, and notably that of Victor Hugo, is a great deal read. Geographical works and travel come third in popular demand, and then science and the arts. Women, however, never ask for any books belonging to either category. Historical works come fifth, musical books sixth, and last of all books in and on foreign languages. The demand for the latter is very small indeed. Oscar Wilde has numerous friends in Paris, and the delight at the great success he has obtained with his new play at the St. James's is universal Z 2  ## p. 306 (#710) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. in Paris. His "Salome" promises to be equally successful, and a run is assured on the translation of the "Portrait of Dorian Gray," which is being undertaken by a leading man of letters of this city. Tons les succes, alors. Some years ago, a Mr. Jogand, writing as Leo Taxil, made himself vastly notorious as the author of a number of grossly blasphemous anti-clerical and irreligious works. The time came, however, when Mr. Jogand, otherwise Leo Taxil, recognised the error of his ways and became as fervent a son of the Holy Church as he had one time been a rebel against it. Rome opened her arms to the penitent sinner, and Leo Taxil, destroying all the anti-clerical and irreligious books he had written, put his really fluent pen at the service of the Church. His blasphemies and cure-baiting lite- rature had, however, an excellent market value, and in spite of the author's interdiction, a firm of publishers, Messrs. Letouzey and Ane, who had published for him while a heretic, considered it good business to go on issuing his books and brochures, interdiction or not . . . Leo Taxil sued them for the fraud, not for profit, but with a view to stopping them from publishing works which, by his later lights, he saw as unclean things ... A few days before the trial came on at the Ninth Chamber of Correctional Police, the publishers offered to "square" the matter with a sum of sixty thousand francs (£2,400), but this Leo Taxil refused, and ordered the prosecution to proceed. The verdict of the court was in the favour of the publishers, who have got off scot-free. This judgment has been condemned by every paper in Paris as a piece of sheer nonsense, and Leo Taxil has appealed, determined to carry his case before the jury of the Paris Assize Court. It is more than probable that the Assize jury will reverse the illogical judgment of the police court magis- trates. The hearing of the appeal is being anxiously looked for by all interested in letters in Paris. RoBEBT H. ShEBABD. Paris, February 23rd. The following is the brief report given in the Intransigeant:— Tribdnatjx. Auteurs et Editeurs. Le proces intente aux editeurs Letouzey et Ane par M. Jogand, l'auteur de divers ouvrages clericaux, s'est terinine bier par un jugement qui le deboute. L'auteur reprochait aux editeurs d'avoir, sans le prevenir, tire de ses livres plusieurs editions dont ils ne lui avaient pas tenu compte. Une enquete judiciaire et une expertise etablirent le bien-fonde de ses reclamations, et les editeurs qui, lors des premieres plaintes de l'ecrivain, lui cepondaieut qu'il etait leur debiteur d'une centaine de francs, lui offrirent, a, la veille de l'audienco 60,000 francs, pour se desister. Apres de longs debats, malgre les aveux et les offres des prevenus, la neuvieme chambre a declare qu'il n'y avait pas lieu d'accueillir la demande du plaignant, attendu que les mensonges, Paugmen- tation frauduleuse des benefices, la dissimulation des tirages ne constituent pas, de la part d'editeurs, le delit d'abus de confiance. Voila qui serait rassurant pour les hommes de lettres, si la cour confirmait cette jurisprudence absolument insensee.—Intransigeant. AN OLD PIEATE SONG. INHERE is a quaint legend of the Church of Saint Aleswill super mare—I do not swear to the name—that after it had utterly vanished from the face of the earth, an entei prising young rector restored it in all its entirety, whole- ness, plenitude, integrity, yea, and even in all its antiquity, out of the remnants of the "restoration" of three churches in the neighbourhood—on the principle by which ingenious men in America often construct a "bank note" out of three, leaving four—which process, as it paid largely at little risk, was before the modern era of entire greenbacks, a sure dependence for "a world of honest fellows who get their living by stealing and cheating." On the method employed by the young rector of Saint Aleswill and the American financiers referred to, I have put together the fragments of song gathered from three separate sources, making thereof a new one. But whether these fragments were originally portions of one and the same ballad, or whether the ballad in question is like some Chinese plays, or Spenser's "Faerie Queene," an endless series of parts, which like a polypus are continually dismembering and uniting, I cannot swear, aflirm, or declare. An American ex-sailor, who gave me a few of the verses, called it a mutineer's song, adding that if an officer should hear a man sing it, the vocalist would be sure of receiving 26 lashes with a rope's end, by way of reward. This was all long ago, when slavers, who were all pirates on occasion, swarmed in New York city, glorying in their  ## p. 307 (#711) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. calling, and no man made them afraid, and Senor Guare/. had his offices there for "the Guinea traffic" in bozalcs, or "sacks of charcoal," i.e., negroes; and the United States Marshal (whom I remember as one of the keenest and "spryest" little men whom I ever met), was wont to go on board the slavers, and accept their hospitality, and aid them to get away in safety, his sworn duty being to intercept them. Let it be remembered to the credit of Abraham Lincoln that his very first act on coming to power was to break up this infernal nest of Guarez & Co.; in fact, he hung one of the gang. In those days I knew many men who had been slavers, and they are not all dead as yet. There were, of course, among the English- speaking seamen who were in " the ebony trade," songs, some perhaps which had come down from the days of the Buccaneers, and I believe that some of the verses which I here give are of this antiquity. But to the lyric. The reader of Scott's " Pirate" will recognise the opening verse: Hold Itohin Rover Said to his crew, Up with the Mack flag, Ami down witli the blue. Up with the black boy All men to show: And over the water And off let us go! A man-of-war he hailed us "Come under my lee!" "See you damned," said the pirate, "For I'd rather sink at sea. In the blue water, Far out and free, Cruising down on the shore By the coast of Bar-ba-rce!" We met the Flyiug Dutchman, To windward he came. His hull was all of hell-fire, His sails were all of flame, Fire in the maintop, Fire on the bow. Fire on the gun-deck. Fire down below. Four and twenty dead men, Those were the crew, The devil in the bowsprit Fiddled as she flew. We gave her n gun shot Kight in the dip. Puff, like a candle, Out went the ship! We met a gallant vessel A sailing on the sea; For mercy, for mercy, For mercy she did plea, But the mercy we gave her We sank her in the sea; Cruising down on the shore By the coast of Barbarcc. Four and twenty Spaniards Mighty men of rank With their scfioras Had to walk the plank, Over the gunwale Into the sea; Cruising down on the shore By the coast of Burbaree. Oh, devil take the captain! And devil take the ship! And devil take the cargo! And devil take the trip! And devil take the first mate! And devil take the call! And devil take the doctor! And devil take 'cm all. Over the quarter. Over the rail, Into the water Dead as a nail, Flung like a biscuit Hot as a coal Where the sharks may take the body. And the devil take the soul! Truly not a song for the piano, or for young ladies; indeed, there are not many men who can understand the grim and terrible, yet intense relish with which these ditties of the devil were sung in the olden time. Yet there is a scent as of cold salt water in them—a rocking of the vessel in the waves in their metre, and a fierce ml gleam as of sunset lasting into the black night perceptible in the scenes which they recall. Should any of my renders be able to give any further information as to, or contribute additional verses to, or show what the ballads were from which these fragments came, I—and perhaps the. Editor as well—be very much obliged for the information supplied. Charles Godfrey Leland. Florence, February 5th, 1892. TITLES OF HONOUR. ISHOULD like to say very shortly why I agree with Mr. Lang rather than with Mr. Besant in the matter of conferring titles, orders, or other official State honours on the sole ground of literary or artistic merit. First, we have already the honorary degrees of our universities. Is it likely that any corresponding honours given by the State would l>e as highly esteemed, or more wisely conferred? Next, the proper object of official honour in this country, it seems to me, is official service, public service in the strict sense. Of the value of such services the State (that is, in the concrete, the head  ## p. 308 (#712) ############################################ 308 THE AUTHOR. of the department concerned) is or ought to be not only a competent, but the most competent judge. In so far as literary and artistic institutions are under State direction or control (as the National Gallery, the Theatre Francais) this principle applies to persons who serve the State as directors or officers of such institutions, but not farther or otherwise. General literary or artistic reputation, on the other hand, must depend in the long run on the general opinion of persons of knowledge and taste; an opinion which often is not settled for a genera- tion or more. I see no reason to think that an official judgment in these matters would l>e specially competent, or even free from danger of being incompetent. I am quite aware that the existing distribution of official honours could be reduced only with difficulty, if at all, to uniform principles, and that it does not invariably give satisfaction. This, I think, rather strengthens my argument. Also my purpose is to suggest what I believe to be the true general rule, not to deny that exception may fitly be made in singular cases. That of Lord Tennyson will occur to every reader. To discuss how far it is really exceptional would involve careful consideration of the relation of the peerage to other "titles of honour," and would exceed both the Author's space and my time. F. Foixock. My own case, as I endeavoured to set it forth, was, if I may state it once more, as follows :— 1. The service rendered to the State by the poet, the dramatist, the historian, the novelist, the essayist, is service as real and as impor- tant as the service of a great general, a statesman, or a great lawyer. 2. It is right and fitting that the State should recognize all kinds of State service with the same kind of distinction and honour. 3. The stock arguments against granting distinc- tions to art and letters—as, that distin- guished authors should be satisfied with the reward of their own success—apply equally against granting distinctions to any other profession. For instance, what could pos- sibly be a greater honour in itself than the winning of a great victory? Yet no one says that we should tell the successful general to be content with that honour. 4. The exclusion of any branch of the higher work of the world from national honour lowers that branch in the eyes of the general mass of the nation. The exclusion of literature tends to make literature in the eyes of the nation contemptible. To the official eye, everything that is excluded from national distinction is contemptible. As, for example, when five years ago, on the occasion of the greatest national function of the century, not a single man or woman of letters was invited to be present, as such. 5. The most formidable objection is that raised above by Sir Frederick Pollock, among others. It is the danger that the official judgment would prove, in art and letters especially, incompetent. Is it not incom- petent in other branches? But the in- competence of officials in the way of literary distinction would very soon be challenged and remedied, because the whole question of titles and their bestowal will be raised and discussed, as soon as the literary class becomes concerned with it. At present, nobody ever discusses the subject, and the most ridiculous persons receive the national distinctions without a protest. 6. In short, my case is that to exclude literature from the national distinctions means either that such distinctions are worthless, nnd not to be desired by any class; or that the production of worthy literature is not a special service to the State. W. B. BED CLOVER. Call me new born thy worshipper, sweet flower, Soft laughter of the meadows! I have seen Thy pink spheres shake away the dewy screen From night's caress to greet the dawn's glad hour. I feel the rich wTeight of thy blossoms cower When wild winds sweep across the wastes of green, Startling the bees, who, restful wings a-sheeu, Steal thy sweet riches for their queen's bright dower. Thou seem'st to all pure things allied, and so Thy blossoms touched no stranger when they lay So proudly 'neath that rose-tipped chin of hers. For she, though bred in cities, yet doth know The finer thoughts of nature. Her soul stirs To greet thee as thine own to greet the day. Habkiet Monroe.—New York Critic.  ## p. 309 (#713) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 3°9 A PINE PLAY. HAS a dramatist done his duty towards the public, when he tells a good story in such a way as to thoroughly interest and amuse his audience? Some persons think so, and as one of those who do, I venture to congratulate Mr. Oscar Wilde upon having done his duty, though so commonplace and middle-class a performance as duty-doing may appear to this brilliant and para- doxical author a poorish subject for congratulation. "Lady Windermere's Fan" is brilliantly and audaciously funny—upon that everybody seems agreed—but certain objections have been urged against the story :—that it is improbable, that it is old, that it is told the wrong way, and so on. Here is the story:—Lord Windermere in attempt- ing to help Mrs. Erlynne, his wife's dishonoured mother, back into good society, manages so indis- creetly that he is considered by society to be the lady's protector. The audience, like society, is kept in ignorance of this lady's relationship to Lady Windermere. Lady Windermere is told that her husband is devoted to an adventuress, and the husband, at the same moment, insists that the woman in question shall receive a card to his wife's ball. This she will not send. Her standard of morals is a very high one, and her ideal is the mother whom she believes to have l>een deail for twenty years. Lord Windermere sends the card himself, and his wife declares that when Mrs. Erlynne is announced, she will strike her across the face with her fan. And so the curtain comes down oti a capital first act. In the second act, Mrs. Erlynne appears at the ball, to the malicious astonishment of Lady Windermere's guests, all of whom believe that she is playing the part of the complacent wife, in spite of her claims to the before- mentioned high standard. The blow is not struck, for Lady Windermere's courage fails her. But enraged at the public insult which she con- ceives to have been put upon her, she flies, on impulse, from her home to a man, whose dishonourable proposals she had put aside a few minutes earlier. The curtain rises for the third time upon the two women in the rooms of the would-be seducer, for Mrs. Erlynne has followed her daughter with the intention of persuading her to return to Lord Windermere. Just as Mrs. Erlynne's appeals have their proper effect upon Lady Windermere's heart, steps are heard outside the chamber and a party of men enter, among whom is Lord Windermere. Mrs. Erlynne takes refuge in an inner room, and Lady Windermere hides in the window-alcove behind the curtains. But Lady Windermere leaves her fan on the sofa. It is found. Lord Winder- mere demands from his host an explanation, threatening to search the place if it is not a satisfactory one. Mrs. Erlynne appears from the bedroom and owns to having brought the fan by mistake, and while all the men are absorbed in Mrs. Erlynne's confession, Lady Windermere escapes from the room unnoticed. Her reputation is saved, and Mrs. Erlynne's chances of returning into society—so frail and so carefully built up—are disposed of at once. Curtain, upon a very strong situation. In the fourth act we have a sort of reverse of the opening position. Lady Winder- mere, who knows that Mrs. Erlynne's act has saved her reputation, wants to see her again in order to thank her, but cannot of course say why. Lord Windermere, who believes that Mrs. Erlynne is a disgraceful woman, will not hear of his wife seeing her, but also cannot explain why, or reconcile his refusal with his expressed wishes of the night before. Mrs. Erlynne gets them out of the dilemma. She comes to say that she is leaving England for ever. She does not reveal herself to her daughter, and exacts from Lord Windermere that he also will respect her secret. _ The last curtain falls on the announcement that she is going to marry an unintelligent and amiable nobleman, to whom she has " explained everything." Such is Mr. Oscar Wilde's story, and there is much in it which, thus baldly put, stamps it as rather improbable. Now it must be admitted that even in the play all the improbabilities do not dis- appear. Lady Windermere is willing to "exchange in a trice the lilies and languors" for "the roses and raptures," but the reasons for her conversion —impulse and pique—are not quite convincing. The fact that the villain was inefficient, and thus rendered particularly unpersuasive, must not, how- ever, be counted as a fault to the story. Again, society's ignorance of Mrs. Erlynne's real identity, and Lady Windermere's ignorance of her mother's existence, are both a little difficult to believe in. Still the story is not wholly improbable; it only has that amount of improbability which stage representation has made a necessary factor in story-telling for dra- matic purposes. All plays that are truly interesting have a more or less improbable story, or have a story in which more or less improbable incidents occur. The skill of the dramatist is shown in making these improbabilities of no particular account in his story, or in hiding them behind the strong interest which he creates in his characters. In reality probability has as little to do with making a play good as has morality. An immoral play can never be a good play, because it can never give general pleasure. It is outside the limitations which the necessity of giving general pleasure imposes. The very skilful man can say more than the clumsy man, but each  ## p. 310 (#714) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. alike is bounded by respect for his audience's self- respect. It is the same with probability. A splendid story-teller can bo improbable, because the last thing that the fascinated recipient cares about, when listening to what his author has to say, is how far the incidents could really have happened. He believes in the impossible, because it is pre- sented to him as the inevitable, and all he wants to know is—what is going to happen next. If he finds that he is pulled up in his stride to consider the probability of the story, he is irritated with the author, and he is right to be so. It means that the story has been too big for the author, who has been unable to create illusion. There is no difficulty of this sort in Mr. "Wilde's case, and thus probability does not matter at all. Many people have said that it is an old story, and it seems to have suggested several French origins to several critics. But in almost every case the novel or play suggested was a different one, so that the story may be said to be one whose central idea has always been floating about among the dra- matically-minded. Mr. Oscar Wilde, to his im- mense credit, appears to have used a complication which previously had struck Messrs. Balzac, Dumas, Augier, and Sardou (among others) as good. It is to his credit, because the new treatment is dis- tinguished, adequate, and personal. He treats the theme of the erring mother and innocent daughter most delicately and reasonably. Although the characters are so superior to sentiment, and although Mr. Wilde has devised so happily cynical an end to the story, cynicism never forces mother and daughter into any position where the daughter is forced to act towards her unknown mother in a way that the audience might find horrible. The author would be the first person, we are sure, to admit that he has not made the theme his own because he has treated it from one point of view. He has only added one to the difficulties of the next dramatist who attempts to treat of the subject, by subjecting all successors to a comparison with another brilliant treatment. It would be as reason- able to say that Mr. Hardy might write no more strong bucolic stories, because of the wide circula- tion of " Ruth," as to try to prevent dramatists from treating of unrevealed mothers because " Odette" was a popular play. With regard to the way the story is told, Mr. Wilde originally decided that he would not reveal the identity of Mrs. Erlynne until the last act, and at its brilliant reception on the first night the story was played in that way and seemed to us quite intelligible. Neither Lord Windermere or Mrs. Erlynne would have acted exactly as they did, had not the connexion between them been what it was. "If I am a good story-teller," said the author, "deduce from the behaviour of my characters what relations they must bear to each other." This, however, though a sensible attitude, is against the critical canons, which demand that the audience should not be asked to reason. Your audience, says the unwritten law, must know what the motives of action are, so that they may judge of the way in which the resulting actions are rendered. To me it seems that cither method is quite capable of being the right method, and that, as in the amount of improbability that can be made to look probable, the personality of the author decides the question. If early in his story the author can show such good sense and reasoning power, that his listeners can trust him not to be making his characters say and do things without a reason, then he is right to keep the secret back, and the pleasure of gradually guessing the motive will be added to the pleasure of hearing the story. If, on the other hand, the author excels more in showing how a thing is done than why it is done, he must not leave his public in doubt about anything. Mr. Wilde now takes the audience into his entire confidence in the first act, which seems to me to be a concession to the sluggish, although it is in accord with generally expressed opinion. Having settled to one's own satisfaction that the story is probable enough and new enough, because the author's skill and individuality of treatment have made it both, it remains only to add that the dialogue must have been a revelation to most present—to all, in fact, who had not read "The Decay of Lying." No such witty dialogue has been heard on our stage for many a long year. Paradox and epigram followed each other thick and fast. Too thick and too fast; but what a pardonable mistake! In "Lady Windermere's Fan," Mr. Oscar Wilde has given us a strong and dramatic story, and has set it in brilliantly witty words. I hope—and believe—that his play will meet with its deserts. O. J. —■ NOTES AND NEWS. IHAVE religiously published a mass of corre- spondence on the treatment of contributors by editors. At the same time, I think that many of the complaints against editors are ground- less. It is a great pity that, when contributions arc invited, editors should not show every conside- ration to those who respond. In the high class magazines and papers, I am sure that they do. In my own case I have frequently, in old times, received my papers back, but never without courtesy. Further, I am bound to say, that when time had passed and I could read the MS. in cold blood, I always approved of the decision of the  ## p. 311 (#715) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. editor. Next, one must consider the frightful mass of ImuI work that is every day submitted to an editor. I do not think it is possible for any editor to read all that is sent him. The most he can do is to select, according to subject, and after reading the first page or two, a few for more careful consider- ation. I was once shown a pile of MSS. covering half the wall of a room. "Have you," I asked the editor, " read all these things?" He sighed wearily—"But," I urged, "there must be some beautiful work in this heap." "There may be," he replied, with another weary, weary sigh," " Would you like to sit down and pick out the beautiful work?" In fact, every magazine ought to have a large staff of readers—some of the great American magazines have. It is the only way to insure the reading of MSS. If every magazine cannot afford it, then, as Mr. Justice Stareleigh observed, every magazine ought to be able to afford it. The over- worked editor, with the best goodwill in the world, cannot possibly without assistance read all that is heaped upon his table. I have often wondered what has become of that mass of MSS. which I saw on the occasion referred to. The journal is now extinct, and the MSS.—where are they? Where are they? What becomes of the immense piles of MSS. which are refused and not sent back? It is sad to think of these brilliant works of genius going back to the paper mills. -**— - In another part of the paper will be found a passage, quoted from the Pall Mull Gazette, on the reading of MSS. by publishers. The story told is not pleasant reading, especially to myself, localise I am one of those who have always main- tained that publishers do read MSS. I do so, first, arguing from the fitness of things, because it is their interest to read everything .submitted; second, because with all the publishers—not a few —who have talked to me about the conduct of their business, I have found them anxious not to let a good chance slip out of their hands; thirdly, l>ecause I have known men who read and advise for publishers, and I have known them to be men of honour, who would not take pay for work scamped; and, lastly, because; I have myself read MSS. and advised, and I declare honestly that I always did read them and gave the best advice in my power. Of course I do not speak of so-called publishers who, whenever a MS. is sent in, write back to say, in stereotyped terms, that" their reader has reported so favourably of the work that they are prepared to offer the following favourable terms, viz., the author to pay half the cost of production" —naming rather more than the whole cost—and so on—and so on. The last passage in the extract that we print (see page 33o) furnishes VOL. II. another illustration of my reiterated assertion that publishers very seldom incur any risk at all. Hence it is becoming increasingly difficult for a new writer to make a beginning. Of course there are masses of MSS. which can be dismissed by the most conscientious reader at once, after reading the first ten pages, and without the least hesitation. On page 3o6 there will be found a very astonish- ing case. A firm of Parisian publishers named Letouzey and Ane, deliberately falsified their figures to prevent paying royalties. When proceedings were commenced they offered to pay 2,400/. down, if the complaint would be withdrawn. The police court ruled that though the publishers had robbed the author in this wholesale way, their acts do not legally constitute the crime of "abuse of confidence." What a very remarkable law must be that which obtains in France! And what a very remarkable confirmation of the justice of our claim that authors have a full right to have accounts audited! How does a book get read? The question is asked in the February Author (p. 282). The correspondent explains that he wants to know in what way the general public, living all over the world, gets to hear of a book, and is stimulated to read it. Formerly, he says, there were the book- sellers' shops, but these have certainly not increased in proportion to the vast increase of the book trade. That is very true: booksellers have gone down instead of up. In the old days the country book- seller had all the new books on his counter; he was often a person held in great esteem for his reading anil his knowledge, especially in Cathedral towns. But there is now one shop which has in- creased and multiplied, and spread itself until it has well nigh swallowed up all the rest. This is the rail- way bookstall. Look at the great Iwokstall at the Great Western, for instance; or at any important station on that line, Swindon, Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth. All day long the buying goes on; before every train goes out; from morning until evening. And this at all the stations over the whole country. That is the principal way in which books are sold in the country. Who tells the people what to buy? Partly, the Sidesman; partly, the name of the author; partly, the advertisements; partly, the reviews; partly, the title of the book; partly, the subjects. The great mass of readers do not read reviews, they are moved by some of the other considerations referred to above. And, perhaps, more than all, by that whisper, which, directly a book attracts attention, runs like light- ning over the whole country. In the train, in the A a  ## p. 312 (#716) ############################################ 312 THE AUTHOR. omnibus, at dinner, wherever people meet and talk, a book is recommended and at onee ordered, if only of the library. How to attract that attention? Well, the only known way—the only way yet discovered—is to present attractive work. The questioner goes on to ask how the publisher sells his books? Some do not. There is the greatest possible difference between publishers in this respect. Some seem not to know how to sell books at all. Some sell their books rapidly and easily. The difference is so great, that in some cases we have deliberately sent authors to publishers whose agreements we know to be unfair and one- sided, because, in spite of this fact, the author will do better with them than with other houses where they will give him a better agreement. As to the methods of sale, they have travellers for town and country; they get their books subscribed at Smith's and Mudie's; they get them taken for the .stalls; they have them sent to India and the colonies; they advertise them; they send out copies to the press; they print their, titles in their lists and circulars; they watch the press notices. Some publishers are also very elastic in their prices, and, to make a deal, will often lower the price very materially. This fact must be borne in mind when the question of equitable royalties is considered. And it must be remembered that while a careless publisher or an incompetent publisher may grievously damage a book, not the most zealous publisher in the world can make the world buy what. the Avorld does not want. We were talking of literary collections. We discussed the hunter after first editions, the collector of rare books because they are rare, the haunter of book auctions, the man who eagerly turns over "all this lot at fourpence," the man who has stories of how he picked up a rare bargain, and the man who buys and keeps books which he thinks will become valuable. Thus, "Payne's translation of Villon," and Burton's " Arabian Nights," have been bought and kept on the chance of the price going up. Again, as any second-hand catalogue shows, there are the first editions of Louis Stevenson and Andrew Lang, at the present moment first favourites with the collectors of new first editions. Then there are the collectors of books about places and people. I could name one man who has all the Wordsworth editions; another a nearly exhaustive collection of books on Coleridge. I have myself a goodly lot of books on London; another man has n great collection of books connected with the navy. All these belong to the serious—the literary —collections. There are again the autograph collectors, whose name is legion, and whose im- pudence is colossal. Then there are the lighter and more frivolous collections. Of these then- are endless varieties. Ami here the other man came out strong. One man, he said, lias col- lected election squibs for the last three or four general elections. Another collects penny song- sters; another, halfpenny ballads; another, shilling shockers; another, chap books; another—'who must have a library as big as a barn—dramatic- posters. "But the cream of the fancy collections," he concluded, " is the most curious and the most valuable, to wit. a collection of those editions of contemporary plays, so familiar to the dramatic world, which are ' printed as manuscript, not pub- lished.'" They invariably differ from the copy deposited with the Lord Chamberlain (or with whomsoever they be deposited now), for that copy represents the play as about to be performed, these its shape after it lias gone through the fire of the "first night," and has been invariably modified somewhat by experience, or in conformance with public taste. The copies, printed to save the labour of type-writing " parts " and copies for prompters, are distributed only among performers and persons closely connected with the theatre, and not only are they not to be bought, but the authors guard them very jealously. A man who could collect them would have collected about as uncollectable a species of literature as exists. And he must make haste. If the copyright laws once make the printing and publishing of plays safe—these un- published "printed as manuscript " curiosities will disappear. Here is a bibliographical description of the edition of the popular farcical comedy "Jane " :— Jane: a farce in three acts. By Harry Nichols and W. Lestocq. First played at. the Comedy Theatre, London, 18th December l8qo. David Allen and Son, Belfast. [No date," 16" [?].] Printed as manuscript. Not published, and not for sale. The book is printed on one side of the paper only, recto. Title page, characters, and a diagram of scenery form three separate leaves inserted before sig. A. Only there is no sig. A, the first sheet being without signature. Then follows sigs. B, C, D, in 16" of, I think double-post; but the book has been ait. After sigs. D, one leaf is inserted without signature. Our correspondent, C. S. Oakley, shows how a book mav, by taking a vast deal of trouble, be introduced to the public without a publisher at all. It is true that it would be at a disad vantage to begin with, but it is possible that, in the case of a fairly successful book, the author might really do better for himself by dispensing  ## p. 313 (#717) ############################################ THE A UTHOR. with an agent, Ruskin tried it, with the result that he has created a publisher. A lady in Cali- fornia, however, well known as an effective story- teller, has started a venture of her own. She brings out a monthly magazine containing one story of her own, and nothing else, every month. The enterprise has begun with what promises to be an action at law. A paper in one of the Eastern States has deliberately stolen the work of her first number. Meantime, the experiment seems to be attracting a good deal of attention in literary America. The lady's name is Flora Haines Longhead; her stories are called the Gold Dust Series. I was asked last December by Mr. Archibald Grove to give hiin a paper for the Neio Review on literary collaboration. I took as my text an essay written by Mr. Brander Matthews, introductory to his new collection of collaborated stories. In another part of this journal will be found the conclusion of my little paper. But I very particularly invite all who contemplate col- laboration to read that essay by Mr. Matthews, and, in order to do so, to get his book. Mean- time, it is right to own that the experience of some men makes rather against than for collaboration. I have myself been exceptionally and greatly for- tunate in my own ventures into the field of collabo- ration. But all are not so fortunate?. I have known examples where the work has been simply ruined through the partners being either unsuited to each other or ignorant of the proper methods of colla- boration. In any case let the partnership be tentative at first, and, if successful, let it be carried on from book to book. But the best collaboration, as I have endeavoured to point out, is that gained by talking a thing over. If I were younger I would make a most valuable little library by cutting out all the really good articles from the magazines and all the really good short stories. There is, on an average, one article in every month's pile which one woidd like to keep, and one or two stories every month which one would like to cut out of the magazines and the collections. For instance, I should cut out, for this month, Dr. Benjamin Ward Richardson's paper in Longman's on the "Mastery of Pain," as an article whose subject goes straight to every- one's heart, while the story which it tells is of extraordinary interest. Then there is Frederick Anstey's little story in his new book of collected tales, called "Shut Out," which I recommend to those youthful critics who arc always informing the world that we cannot write short stories. And there is, perhaps—I am not sure whether it would last—Andrew Lang's nightmare in the same number of Longman's. The author of an excellent little story called the "History of a Failure," which appeared in the pages of Longman's—say, rather shone in the pages of Longman's—last October, is going to be repro- duced in volume form by the same publisher. The book will be entitled "The History of a Failure and other stories, by E. Chilton." I have not the honour of E. Chilton's acquaintance, but if the other stories are on the same level with the first, the book ought to receive the warmest of welcomes. Walter Besant. ♦■»■♦ MEN AND WOMEN OF THE TIME-1788. IT is called a catalogue of "Celebrated authors now living." There are 472 of them—actually 472, in the deadest period of English letters! The catalogue contains a complete list of their publications with "occasional strictures." Such a catalogue in these days enumerates the works with- out the strictures, and, indeed, presents features of suspected autobiography. It is in these occasional remarks that the interest of the volume chiefly consists, though it is also interesting to note how long the memory of many indifferent writers may survive, and how generous are the bounds of limited immortality. The animus of some of the remarks upon, and the space assigned to, certain persons, now utterly forgotten, shows that there were then, as there are now, some who made as much noise as they possibly could, hoping that people would mistake noise for prophecy. For instance, who now remembers Stephen Addington, D.I).? He lived, however, and he talked; and he must have been greatly pleased to find himself described in the following remarkable terms: "With specious abili- ties, he is reported to have carefully modelled those abilities to the meridian of a coterie of canting old women, and has published several pious pamphlets full of grace and edification. He is also concerned in a presbyterian hotbed for the instruction of grown gentlemen in all sciences in the course of a twelve month." Again, John Andrews, LL.D., is said to be an author of moderate abilities, who appears to have taken some pains for the improve- ment of mankind. Again, one Miles Andrews is A a 2  ## p. 314 (#718) ############################################ 3'4 THE AUTHOR. said to have produced plays, " each of which has taken its station in the region of mediocrity." Charles Anstcy's "New Bath Guide" is spoken of as "that exquisite poem "—but. t hen the use or custom of adjectives varies. Of Samuel Ayscough, assis- tant librarian to the British Museum, who made catalogues and indexes, it is cruelly written : " Per- formances of this sort have their use, though they should happen, as in the present instance, to be extremely incorrect." Mrs. Brooke is "a female writer of very distinguished merit." Up to that year in her distinguished career she had published a tragedy, three novels, and a farce,besides translat ions. Now, unless Mrs. Brooke was a personal friend of the compiler of this catalogue, the praise l)cstowcd upon her shows that she was a woman with a following of disciples. Is there any single person now living who has read a work by Mrs. Brooke? One name, which we omit, because it would be cruel to quote it, is given in connexion with a "tragedy never performed." Heavens! If "Men of the Time" of 1892 were to include authors of plays never performed, novels never published, poems declined with thanks, how rich and splendid would be the literary army of the day! Of "Geoffrey Gambado" we have all heard, but who knows its author's "most admired drawing," called Lord's Day Evening Amusements? It is, however, pleasing to learn that his wife "is much admired for her personal charms and mental accomplishments." In the career of General Buvgoyne, again, we all remember a most unfor- tunate day at Saratoga, but do we remember that this gallantly incapable officer was also incapable in other directions, especially in playwriting? Of Frances Burney it is sadly stated that since her appointment as keeper of the robes, "the hours of this celebrated genius have been chiefly occupied in the folding of muslins." Here is a somewhat cold reception to the first of (then) living poets. "Burns, Robert, a ploughman in the, county of Ayr, in the kingdom of Scotland. His poems were published in the year 1787." George Canning "is a young gentleman of the kingdom of Ireland, late of Eton College. He was the most approved writer in a periodical called the Microcosm." Of Clarkson, we learn that his efforts against slavery dated from a prize essay gained at Cambridge in the year 1780. William Cooke is the "author of the 'Life of Doctor .Johnson,' which appeared about three days after his death, and has very worthily been bound up with a jest book." William Cowper "has taken a turn to Methodism, is of a serious and melancholy humour, and spends his whole time in rural retirement. His works are poetical . . . they are greatly deformed and obscured by the total neglect of method. He is best known by a kind of rhyming romance, entitled John Gilpin's Journey to Edmon- ton, which is the most indifferent of all his per- formances." Lady Craven is a person of extreme grace and vivacity in private life, who has successfully transferred these qualities to paper. Among her productions is one which ought not 1o be forgotten, if only on account of its title, "The History of the Baron Kinkvervankotsdarspruken- gotchderns." Thomas Day is the author of a work of "more reputation than merit," called "Sandford and Merton." Of Catherine Macaulav, the historian, we are told that her style is "loose, incoherent, and ungrammatical," and that "her present husband is said to entertain such a fondness for money as to oblige her to live without a servant, and to officiate himself in the character of cook and chambermaid." Of Samuel Horsley, D.D., Bishop of St. David's, "Dr. Horsley married his maid- servant, and is editor of the 'Principia of Sir Isaac Newton,' "—the two events being considered equally remarkable. Of Hannah More, we learn, after the examination of her works, that she has lately been celebrated for her animated patronage, and still more animated quarrel, with Mrs. Anne Yearsley, the "poetical milkwoman." What were the circumstances of this historic quarrel? Anne Newry, whom we seem to have forgotten, is harshly called "one of the mob of writers who have lately undertaken to produce books for the instruction of children." Of John Nichols, whose "Collection of Poems" is now rather rare, it is said that his characteristic qualities are "industry without taste, and the faculty of col- lecting a vast quantity of materials without discrimination." Here is a sad episode in the life of a man of genius. It occurred to O'Keefe, actor, dramatist, and poet. He had to leave the Dublin stage and his native country owing to "the accident of having demolished his wife's nose in a fit of jealousy." Was there ever a more untoward event in the history of a poet? Mrs. Thrale is treated kindly. She "had long borne with the moroseness and petulance of Johnson for the sake of his great respectable qualities, but her second marriage occasioned an open and violent rupture between them, and produced several angry and ill-bred letters from her former preceptor." John Potter—a clergyman—wrote "luscious" novels—he is now rightly punished for his lusciousncss by oblivion. Pratt—without a Christian name—a bookseller of Bath, who called himself Courtney Mchnoth, Esquire— that a bookseller should dare to call himself Esquire!—wrote a quantity of books, and, says the catalogue sarcastically, "there are people now living who believe that they possess a degree of , merit "! Of one Stockdale, who wrote sermons and poems, it is said that "lie is  ## p. 315 (#719) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 3lS paradoxical without being ingenious, even without the faculty of invention; and lie possesses the true poetic melancholy without one of poetic imagination." Of another clergyman we are told that he wrote a tragedy which he could not get acted; he therefore engaged a company of actors himself and produced it. The work " is reported to have produced all the effects of a genuine comedy." And of yet another clergyman it is said that " his writings are not good prose, because they are tagged witli rhymes; and they are not good poetry, because they are cold, insipid, pleonastic, and prosaical." Mrs. Trimmer—our own, our pro- verbially admired Trimmer!—is said to be "a devout lady who dedicates her slender talents "— slender !—" to the instructing from the press of the rising generation. Her works are a Sacred History, in four volumes, 121110, and a spelling book, price sixpence." She was fated to do even greater things. One Waldron published an edition of Hen Jon- son's " Sad Shepherd." He "appears by no means deficient in that sort of industry which leads a man to peruse all such writers a3 were never read." Poor Ben Jonson! Of Horace Walpole, that great authority on manners, it is actually said that "an acute and refined sensibility is not the strong side of Mr. Walpole's character." It will be seen that even so far back as the year 1788, authors had acquired the elements of the art of saying extremely disagreeable things about each other, in fact, those very things which were well understood to be the most disagreeable. It must also bo acknowledged that the "occasional strictures " of this critic are for the most part well deserved. It is difficult to ascer- tain what amount of vogue had been obtained by the writers whom he ridicules or censures, but in every age there are reputations undeserved and popularities ephemeral. And it must also be acknowledged that this list, which does not contain half-a-dozen names worth preserving, does yet contain a great number—a surprisingly great number—of mediocre writers whose names, and even their works, have somehow survived to the present day. ♦■»■» — THE DANCE OP DEATH! Shrouded in white, ami with dishevelled hair A strange wild dance the awesome woman flung Atween the ebon coffins lying there, While a weird ditty to herself she sung:— "' The Dance of Death t' 'Twas thus she said, That's the Donee for me! Flouting round the coffined dead Softly, silently." A tiny silver lamp, a niche within, Upon the Dancer threw a sickly gleam, Showing the features of this child of sin; And still she chanted ou as in a dream :— "The Dance of Death amid the dead! That's the Dance for me! Gliding round the coffin head, Softly, silently." 3. From out the depths of night her spectral bird, The ghostly owl did send its chilling cry; No other sound in that dim vault was heard, Save the poor maniac's ghastly monody :— "The Dance of Death amid the dead! That's the Dance for me 1 Floating round the coffin head, Softly, silently." F. B. Doveton. — - WITHOUT A PUBLISHER? MANY years ago Mr. Herbert Spencer pointed out "that in the present state of the evolu- tion of society it would be perfectly possible, if people would only help themselves and look at things as they are, for an author to do without a publisher. But if we try to examine the manner in which publishers probably arose, we may take for granted, I think, that originally the author did so, and that the gradual differentiation of the publisher was simply a natural working of the law of distribution of labour. When a man had written a book he set about to get it printed, and the man who printed it also had a shop where it was sold. And since he made terms with the writers who came to him he gradually became a publisher; and the publisher, as publisher, became differentiated from the bookseller and the printer by the growth of trade. But in those days (and in the next two sentences I go back to the substance of what Mr. Spencer has said) travelling was difficult, and advertisement was difficult, and distribution was dillieult, and without the occult machinery of the middleman it was impossible for the writer to obtain a market. Railways, newspapers, the penny post and the telegraph have created n different order of things, but the writing man has been the last person to perceive it practically. He still insists on employing a very expensive middleman to do things which, in very many instances, he would be perfectly capable of doing himself. First of all, let us take the case of a perfectly unknown author, and let us suppose him to liavs written a political or social pamphlet, such as would naturally be sold in paper covers at a shilling. He  ## p. 316 (#720) ############################################ 316 THE A UTHOR. may have a well-founded belief in the usefulness of his ideas. If he takes this pamphlet to a dozen publishers in succession, he will meet with the reply that it is not in their line, and that nothing but a notorious name on the cover could make any- body ask for it. He may send it to reviews, but, unless it is trimmed to catch more than one breeze it will come back to him.* Again, supposing a publisher to take it on commission ; he may furnish (as a sine qua non) an estimate which more than covers the actual expense, and may insist on 750 copies being printed, though having a shrewd suspicion that not more than 5o will ever be wanted, and most of these for presentation. Furthermore, he may just conceivably fail in interest in the matter after the cheque has been paid. But if the aspiring writer went to a printer and asked for the price of so much printed matter in paper covers, and at the outside of 5o copies, and paid his bill, which would be but a trifling sum, he could then insert in two newspapers the announcement that such and such a pamphlet coidd be obtained at such and such a private house on payment of one shilling by the passer by, or of one shilling and twopence to include postage paid. Not much response would come to this, but what came would be all profit to the writer. Meanwhile, he would simply go and ask at certain journals' offices that the thing be noticed; asking no unworthy favour, be it remarked, but making an honest request, as an honest traveller might leave samples of his goods with a country firm. If there were anything in the book some favourable notice would very likely come, and all the money returns would be profit. With the profit the wise author would slightly increase his machinery, as by leaving it with certain booksellers on commission, or nego- tiating directly with W. H. Smith & Co. to place it on every bookstall. He would have parted with no right, and profit would probably come to any man who was originally justified in his under- taking. Next, let us take the case of an established and successful author. He, of course, can do as he likes; he is really entirely independent of his publisher. The immense occult machinery of the publisher, of course, offers him great advantages; but are they not too dearly bought? No one really knows this in its entirety but the publishers themselves. What may be called shrewd sus- picions point to the conclusion that they are. The successful author would, of course, have to appoint an agent, and the being such an agent would grow- up into a trade, but employing one man who was his servant and private secretary, and making * I make this statement on the supposition that the name nf the author is not eminent. always his bargain with his printer, there is little, doubt he could make immense savings on the pub- lishing system. I admit that what I say operates less in favour of well-got-up pretty-looking books, especially those in which illustration plays a part, and more in favour of books in which the subject- matter is all in all. But this again is a con- summation devoutly to be wished, and the market is at the moment perhaps over-flooded with publi- cations in which secondary accessories really determine the sale. However, the case of the unknown author is really the more important of the two; and the matter to be insisted on in his case is, the advantage of beginning with nothing more than that which vou actually want. If you are forced to commence by paving for 750 copies, there is a strong proba- bility that you will be asked to take back about 707 copies as waste paper at the end of 18 months, and an incidental advantage to the publisher of the insistence on at least this number, has been that the general estimate can be made more impenetrable. But if a man goes himself to the printer and asks the price of 5o copies, and sells them himself, he has no unnecessary expenses for a problematical result. In this way he makes the thing pay itself. The next time he goes to his printer he can almost pay him out of results. And then pure profit (or almost pure) begins to set in. An analogy may be suggested in the case of a private tutor, who is asked to pay t,ooo/. for a connexion, but who has a belief in himself and declines. What does he do? He sits down in a single room next door to the man who wishes to be bought out; he knows that one or two privately know his worth, that pupil will bring pupil, and that the small actual profit will pay for gradual increase of accommodation. This illustrates that side of the difficulty which touches on expense. The question of distribution is illustrated by what often happens in the case of ladies who live in the country and want to sell flowers. They advertise that by sending a shilling or two shillings to a certain address, the sender will receive in return small boxes of early flowers. The senders of money finding that the flowers honourably arrive tell their friends, and profit ensues. Meanwhile experience grows to tin1 flower- producer; and the mingled experience and profit then justify a small shop at the west end. Courage and limitation of actual expenses come to repay themselves. All this is thrown out for the benefit of any untried author who believes in himself; and it is thought that such people exist. But there is a way in which all this affects the Authors' Society. The Authors' Society has an office, it has a few clerks, and most of all it employs its readers men very competent to give opinions as to what has merit in it among manuscripts  ## p. 317 (#721) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 3*7 submitted. Merit in itself I mean, apart from commercial value from the publisher's view of the probable existing demand. The Society may feel called upon to recommend the authors of such manuscripts to publish at their own expense, ami may even suggest their having the courage, to be their own distributors. But these authors may lack the means for the initial expenses, and they may on o'her grounds be unwilling. There is no reason why the Authors' Society should not say to these men, "We recommend you to be your own pub- lishers, and you should see your own printers immediately; but you may refer the public to this tifjiec by your advertisements. We will undertake the storage and the details of distribution, and our charges will be only sufficient to recoup expenses of distribution and management. It is obvious that this privilege will only be given to the deserving; that is, to those only of whose manuscripts the Society's readers shall have so reported as to cause the Society to say that they are people entitled on public grounds to a fair hearing. The Society therefore says to them that if they should be refused by publishers, or if they prefer to brave the market in their own way, they do so with the great advantage of bearing to this extent the imprimatur of the Society, and the growing know- ledge on the part of the public that this imprimatur will be extended only to those whose manuscripts seem in their several ways excellent, independently of any existing demand in particular directions to the exclusion of other directions equally good in themselves, will cause probably a larger number of manuscripts to be submitted to them. Now, as the charge for reading will be given partly to the reader and partly to the Society, the Society will itself profit by its public-spirited effort. But the subject does not stop here. The moment the Society has assumed this position, another aspect of the matter shows itself, and this is the most important aspect perhaps of all. There are certain matters of intellectual development in which it is good for competent people to create an artificial market. At least Chantrcy thought so in matters of pictorial or sculptured art, for he left a sum out of what he had gained by his genius to enable his successors to buy what they felt to be good, and felt that it was unlikely that the public would buy. He wished that a painter who paints his best, independently of the market, should feel that he had the chance of one purchaser, namely, a body which contained the best opinion on art obtainable, and that this body, by purchasing his work for the nation, should give him a position he could not otherwise obtain. In literature, of course, there could be no question of purchasing for the nation. Nevertheless it might be good not so much to create an artificial market, because in literature only the public can ultimately decide that, as to give those a chance of a hearing to whom the chances of the market would probably deny it, therefore the Authors' Society should at once be taking steps towards setting aside a sinking fund, which should become the nucleus of a capital destined to act the part of the Chantrey Bequest. This could be done in various ways:—(1.) To begin with, authors who hud in this way been helped to publish might be compelled to make it part of the bargain that they should set aside a per-centage out of the first year's or two years' profits of their aided work towards such a fund, or that they should contribute their three guineas or so, directly the aided work hail yielded them more than a certain sum of profit. So a schoolmaster who has obtained a place through an agent is compelled to pay commission on the first year's salary. (2.) Members of the Authors' Society who are well off, or those generally interested in literature, should be asked to contri- bute a guinea a year to the fund. (3.) Men who have really made money by literature, or who love literature on inde|>endeut grounds and have wealth, should be invited to larger subscriptions, or to leave sums in their will to such a fund. (4..) This matter is more important to literature than an Authors' Club, because all authors who have vitality will feel that to mix with the general world is more important to them than to mix with authors. Walter Scott in an authors' club would have only partially enjoyed himself. But the Authors' Club will have many advantages in giving solidarity to those who use the pen, and it can be made to sub- serve this very point. Great luxury of residence and style would be out of place in an authors' club, and therefore by a self-denying ordinance a per-centage of all actual profit on the ultimate working of the club might be set aside for the fund, and thus well-to-do authors would be com- piled, unconsciously as regards many of them, to help the possible coming man, and to secure an independent position to really worthy effort as against the prevailing market of the hour. I think I am not wrong in saying that the Burlington Fine Arts Club has published engravings, and so the Authors' Club, independently of the formal examination of manuscripts, might be the means of discovering where to assist. This capital, when obtained, would be intended to be drawn upon that the Society might contribute to, or [jay all, the expenses of the first book published by an author, or of his first book on an unpopular subject, and it might be accompanied by a stipulation that where the profits were considerable the expenses should be repaid. The policy of such a stipulation woidd be matter for consideration. The use of the fund might apply to poems or novels as well as to any other form of literature. But, as  ## p. 318 (#722) ############################################ 3*8 THE AUTHOR. an instance of the way in which considerations of the market may hamper the publication of what might he beneficial in itself, 1 will instance that only the other day I heard of this. An essay dealing with social improvement, which was thought to have some strong points, had been offered to a publisher. This essay criticised prevailing senti- ments, both social and political, which have their probable foundation in religion. The answer given by the publisher was that it was useless to put such a book on the market, unless it bore on its title- page the name of an F.It.S. or a bishop. Now, it is obvious that if a well-directed attack on such sentiments was to come it would be more likely to come from one who had not yet attained the dignity of F.R.S., and certainly it would be more likely not to come from a bishop. This subject is not wholly alien to that of the miserable little pensions to survivors which are fought for, as a piteous spectacle for the world, when men who have done service in literature die. Personally, I am inclined to deprecate any State patronage of literature, and I think it is of very doubtful advantage that authors should ever use this fund to take the place of the State in this matter; yet, if they thought otherwise, there would, in what I suggest, be the nucleus of a fund for doing so. The actors provide for the weaker brethren; and they at least show authors that a body of men can value themselves, and not come to the State for aid. My remarks amount to this, that I propose a trades' union for authors; and indeed it is high time that they had one, for it is a profession that is essentially weak in the individual members of it, except in the two or three who have "arrived" and more than arrived. And having used the word trades' union, I may add that there is no reason why the Authors' Society should not do yet one or two things more. There is no reason why they should not fight actions. The law of "mainte- nance" is formidable on paper. One of its sources may have been a fear lest the poor should combine. But in so far as it still exists it may be defeated, and it is not dishonourable to defeat it. Pub- lishers, in so far as they are a hostile bod}-, should be made to feel that they have to fight the whole purse of the society over agreements, or the absence of them. Again, there is no reason why it should not be an entirely honourable and moderate loan office. There is no creature who is more in need of it than the honourable man with ideas, that cannot be put upon the market in a moment. 1 mention this because, of course, such a development is entirely dependent upon the creation of the suggested fund. I will illustrate this idea first of all by one of the best known passages in literary history, which the pencil of Frith has made familiar to many whom a charming book would not appeal to. It happened to a shiftless person, and literature has escaped from Bohemia; but without Bohemian ways, many a man could fairly ask for a loan on work accomplished, at the present day. When Goldsmith or Goldsmith's landlady sent round for Johnson, Johnson found the com- pleted " Vicar of Wakefield " as an existing asset. His quick eye saw there was money in it in io minutes. But what was he to do? A loan would have been accompanied by exorbitances and delays unimaginable. Moreover at that day it would not have been entertained. Nor woidd it now, by the publishers, except, on terms which are equitably unfair. Johnson was obliged to sell out- and-out; and nothing but his authority and unselfishness could have obtained the 6o/. that he did obtain. But an Authors' Society, with a reading staff, a lawyer, and a cash fund, could have given Goldsmith a few pounds at the moment, which would not have tempted him to invite the land- lady to drink, could have subsidized him with a few more pounds when matters had been examined, and could have retained for him his full interest in a remunerative work. There are no few men here and there who could satisfy an Authors' Society of the existence of accumulated material of a certain value, and when credentials of character and intention had been obtained, they could be sub- sidized in such a way as to enable them to continue useful work without distressing sacrifices. Five per cent., and the payment of necessary investiga- tions, is all the Society would ask. They would oidy be doing what a solicitor will do for land. There must be a slightly greater risk, for literature is intangible. This slightly greater risk can be measured in a practical way by lenders whose aims are public ones, and who have no private ends to serve. C. S. Oakley. — OBSERVATIONS ON "THE TALE-TELLING AET" IN SIR WALTER SCOTT'S INTRODUCTIONS TO THE "WAVERLEY NOVELS." - —- fl^HE aim of the following paper is to collect f together the scattered hints and observations on "the tale-telling art" that occur in the various "Introductions," "Introductory Epistles," "Prefaces," and "Advertisements," which Sir Walter Scott at one time or another prefixed to the different editions of the "Waverley Novels." The number of such hints and remarks is not small.  ## p. 319 (#723) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 3*9 But they lie almostperdus in this heap of prefatory essays of various kinds. Students of Scott are, of course, well aware of their existence. Prefaces, however, are things which a great many people— including some authors, who certainly ought to know better—do not read. "Whilst even, in the case of those who do read them, the casual and frequently almost accidental manner in which some of the most pregnant and most valuable of these observations arc introduced renders it easy to over- look their importance, and difficult to remember them. Respecting their value there cannot be too opinions. They represent conclusions about fiction, and about the writing of fiction, to which one of our greatest novelists had been led by his own experience. And it will be readily admitted that, if anyone ever lived competent to speak with authority on such matters, it was "the Wizard of the North." His various Introductions are also included in all copyright editions of the " Waverley Novels "—books that ought to be in every English house—and everyone will, therefore, be in a position to compare the extracts here presented with the context in which Sir Walter Scott himself offered them to the world, and to supplement the contents of these brief articles with his own reading; and observation. It maybe well, first of all, to remark that two of Sir Walter Scott's introductions contain much more information respecting his views on the art of fiction than any others. These two are the " Intro- ductory Epistle, Captain Clutterbuek to the Rev. Dr. Dryasdust," prefixed to "The Fortunes of Nigel," and the "Introduction to the Monastery." In the former, as everyone will remember, the imaginary Captain Clutterbuek relates how, having called upon his bookseller in Edinburgh, he chanced to penetrate into a certain "labyrinth of small dark rooms," and at last, all unexpectedly, came upon the "Eidolon of the Author of Waverley." The "Vision" bade him be seated, and then he and the author of Waverley discussed various topics, including the "Waverley Novels," (he captain stating a good many of his own views about these works pretty freely, and the author making reply. The Introduction to "The Monas- tery," is of on entirely different character. In it Sir Walter Scott himself relates how the romance was by degrees built up from his first conception of a motif, adding, as he goes on, a considerable number of criticisms upon the work, which, as he plainly says in another place, he considers "some- thing very like a failure." (Introduction to "The Abbott.'') There is so much in both these intro- ductions that defies quotation, that (though extracts from them will Ikj given l>elow) the reader win; desires to see what kind of lesson Sir Walter Scott's prefaces have to teach, cannot do better than give both of them a careful perusal from end to end. Every line of the Introduction to "The Monastery" (though Sir Walter Scott did consider the tale "something very like a failure ") will be read with interest, revealing, as it does, the whole genesis of the romance, and offering a fuller and more elaborate criticism of the author's own work than any other of his Introductions. In the second place it is self-evident that the greatest lesson of all to be learned from Sir Walter Scott's prefaces is how a legend, a ballad, or a simple tale is converted into a long romance. It is not necessary here to point out how large a propor- tion of Sir Walter Scott's novels are built upon a foundation of this sort. But every reader who has perused the simple narrative as given by Sir Walter Scott in his Introduction, and the romance he has constructed out of it, must have reflected upon how vast a treasure of legend and ballad, and piquant tale, historical and domestic, still exists untouched, whilst a cry is being raised that all the stories have been told, and whilst some authors are casting about them anxiously for any kind of new theme. How the lesson of Sir Walter Scott's example is to be taken to heart, how the magical transforma- tion of a tale of a couple of pages into a romance of some i3o,ooo words (that is about the length of "The Bride of Lammermoor") should be effected, it is not for the writer of these lines to say. But this is evidently one of the biggest lessons which the author's introductions and the "Waverley Novels" themselves, taken together, have to teach. In the various prefaces preceding the tales, and in the notes added at their conclusion, the reader is put into possession of the artist's studies. In the novel itself he has the completed work. No one will be so foolish as to suppose that, because he has both set before him, he will be able to rival the magic with which Sir Walter Scott changed the one into the other. Neither, on the other hand, can anyone be so obtuse as not at once to perceive that in this open presentment of the tale and of its elements, a great master is offering lessons of price- less value. If it is pardonable to offer (very diffidently) an opinion respecting which tales might be first studied in this way with the greatest advan- tage, perhaps "Guy Mannering," "The Bride of Lammermoor," and "The Heart of Midlothian" might be selected. Or should "Kenilworth" be preferred to "Guy Mannering," because, in the case of the latter, Sir Walter Scott broke away from his original design? Only the very fact of his having broken away from that original design, and his reason for so doing, and what he substituted in its place, seem all to be pints of the lesson his work offers. He tells us :— "The author of 'Waverley' had imagined a possibility of framing an interesting and, perhaps,  ## p. 320 (#724) ############################################ 3 20 THE AUTHOR. not unedifying tale out of the incidents of the life of a doomed individual, whose efforts at good and virtuous conduct were to be for ever disappointed by the intervention, as it were, of some malevolent being, and who was at last to come off victorious from the fearful struggle." But he adds below— "It appeared, on mature consideration, that Astrology, though its influence was once received and admitted by Bacon himself, does not now retain influence over the general mind sufficient even to constitute the mainspring of a romance. Besides, it occurred that to do justice to such a subject would have required not only more talent, than the author could be conscious of possessing, but also involved doctrines and discussions of a nature too serious for his purpose, and for the character of his narrative." But, to continue, Sir Walter Scott does not leave us altogether without information respecting how the conversion of a short story into a long one was effected by himself. Many hints, which must be read in their proper context, are scattered amongst his prefaces and notes, and something more general is said in the "Prefatory Letter: Dr. Dryasdust to Captain Clutterbuck," preceding "Peveril of the Peak." "A poor fellow like myself, weary with ran- sacking his own barren and bounded imagination, looks out for some general subject in the huge and boundless field of history, which holds forth examples of every kind—lights on some personage, or some combination of circumstances, or some striking trait of manners which he thinks may be advantageously used as the basis of fictitious narrative—bedizens it with such colouring as his skill suggests—ornaments it with such romantic circumstances as may heighten the general effect—invests it with such shades of character as will best contrast it with each other, and thinks perhaps he has done some service to the public if he can present to them a lively fictitious picture, for which the original anecdote or circum- stance . . . only furnished a slight sketch." To proceed next to particulars. First of all, the people who think that fiction is an art have Sir Walter Scott on their side. In the "General Preface to the ' Waverley Novels '" he calls this art the "craft of romance writing," and in " The Introduction to the Betrothed," "the tale-telling art." Whilst in his imaginary conversation with Captain Clutterbuck in the '' Introductory Epistle" preceding the "Fortunes of Nigel," already men- tioned, the captain having quoted " Tom Jones" as a novel that satisfies the highest conceptions of a romance, the author of "Waverley" replies, "True, and perhaps ' Amelia' also. Fielding had high notions of the dignity of an art which he may be considered as having founded." This immediately suggests the question—what constitutes a good novel? We find these replies :— "To describe manners minutely ... to arrange an artificial and combined narrative these two requisites of a good novel." ("Advertisement" preceding "Antiquary.") And, as a description of a perfect novel,— "Natural and probable—commencing strikingly, proceeding naturally, ending happily—like the course of a famed river, which gushes from the mouth of some obscure and romantic grotto—then gliding on, never pausing, never precipitating its course, visiting, as it were, by natural instinct, whatever worthy subjects of interest are presented by the country through which it passes—widening and deepening in interest as it flows on; and at length arriving at the final catastrophe as at some mighty haven, where ships of all kind strike sail and yard." ("Introductory Epistle" preceding "Fortunes of Nigel.") Tu quid ego et mecum populus desideret audi! Only, where is the poor author to find the materials for these paragons of tides? The inspira- tion of some happy moment is the good fortune upon which many would-be authors are content to build their hopes. Such was not, however, Sir Walter Scott's method. "No, captain, the funds from which I have drawn my power of amusing the public have been bought otherwise than by fortuitous adventure. I have buried myself in libraries, to extract from the nonsense of ancient days new nonsense of my own. I have turned over volumes . . . which might have been the cabalistic manuscripts of Cornelius Agrippa. . . . From this learned sepulchre I emerged ... to mingle in the crowd, and to elbow amongst the throng, making my way from the highest society to the lowest, undergoing the scorn, or, what is harder to brook, the patronising condescension of the one, and enduring the vulgar familiarity of the other, and all, you will say, for what? ... to write a successful novel." (" Answer to letter from Captain Clutterbuck" preceding " The Monastery.") So much for what a good novel should be, and whence an author may hope to procure one. What Sir Walter Scott has to say concerning motifs and plots shall be reserved for the next paper. Henky Cressweli..  ## p. 321 (#725) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 321 INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT. r. Annual Meeting of the Copyright League. ri^HE adjourned annual meeting of the American I Copyright League was held at the rooms of the Authors' Club, on Tuesday afternoon, December 29th, Mr. Edmund C. Stedman in the chair. The Treasurer's report showed a cash balance on hand of $469.02. The following memorial resolution on the death of Mr. Lowell, written by Mr. Stedman, was adopted by the league:— "Resolved, That in the death of Mr. Lowell, not only the League, but his country and the entire republic of letters, have lost the scholar and writer upon the whole most eminent in various branches of learning and literary pro- duction, and confessedly at the head of his guild throughout the English-speaking world. In common with all Americans, the members of the League grieve for the loss of the i>oet, the patriot, the firm, eloquent, and gracious adjuster of national and international affairs. As writers, we shall feel the absence of the best equipped, the most subtle, witty, pene- trative master of our English tongue. "As a League organized to restore the American good name for integrity, to protect the rights of authors without distinction of nationality, and to foster the growth of our native literature, we have sustained the most grievous blow that could befall us. In our late President we have lost one who cheerfully, and with the purest sense of duty, lent his great name and his earnest personal labours to the movement for International Copyright. He took the place assigned him at the head of our column, and remained there until the victory was won. We owe to him the advance- ment of our cause on the principle of abstract right. We owe to him the most brilliant and incisive elucidation before Congress of the difficult problems involved. We owe to his epigrams, and to his attitude, that legislative comprehension which finally enabled us to obtain an effective recognition of our claim. Even in the hour of bereavement, and while there is yet much to do, the League rejoices that he was not taken until after the principle of International Copyright had been legally established by Congress, and not before the common gratulation in view of its reduction to practice had reached his knowledge. Ani- mated by his example and monitions, the American Copyriglit League can never retract its course; it must steadily move towards the full attainment of his own high ideal of what in the end shall constitute a true literary federation of enlightened Powers." On motion of Mr. R. W . Gilder, seconded by Mr. It. R. Bowker, the following resolution was adopted :— "Resolved, That the American Copyright League desires to place on record its especial obligation to Dr. Edward Eggleston, as the originator of the idea of the League, one of its first promoters, and one of the most arduous and effective workers in the cause. While not present in the final campaign, owing to ill-health, largely the result of his exertions in the interests of the League, we recognize that his continuous and intelligent labours at an earlier date led up to that great victory. Dr. Eggleston was esi>ecially active, and of paramount use in the establishment of relations between the League and the publishers, and in carrying on the most delicate and difficult negotiations between the Publishers' and Authors' Leagues. He also took the initiative in the negotiation with the typographical unions; and in general served the League and the cause of copyriglit with enthusiasm, devotion, and initiative, which make his part in the long conflict one of peculiar honour, and deserving of the gratitude of all who have at heart the interests of literature, and the honour of our country." On motion of Mr. Bowker, seconded by Dr. Eggleston, the Chairman was requested to write to Mr. P.. U. Johnson, Secretary of the League, and to express the regrets of the League at his illness, and wishes lor his speedy re- covery: also to put on record the sense of the League as to his great services to the cause of International Copyright. It was stated that Mr. Johnson was convalescing from the attack of yellow fever by which he had l>ecn prostrated, but would not bo out and about again until February. The following members of the council were re- elected, with the addition of the name of Mr. Frank Millet, in the place of Mr. Lowell, deceased :— Henry M. Alden, Charles Barnard, It. It. Bowker, H. H. Boyesen, Noah Brooks, II. C. Bunner, George W. Cable, Titus Munson Coan, the Itev. Robert Collver, Alfred R. Conkling, Samuel L. Clemens, George William Curtis, Edward Eggles- ton, Richard Watson Gilder, George Walton Green, Bronson Howard, W. I). Howells, Laurence Hutton, Robert Underwood Johnson, Thomas \Y. Knox, Brander Matthews, Albert Mathews, Edward Mm iroe Smith, 1 liorv.ild Solln/rg,Kdniuinl Clarence. Stedman, Frank K. Stockton, the Rev.  ## p. 322 (#726) ############################################ .322 THE AUTHOR. Dr. Henry Van Dyke, Gen. Lew "Wallace, Chas. Dudley Warner, and James C. Welling, LL.D. At a meeting of the Council which followed, Mr. Stedman was elected President, Dr. Eggleston, Vice-President, Mr. Johnson, Secretary, and Col. Thomas W. Knox, Treasurer. II. Canada and the United States. It is stated in Ottawa (the Times'1 correspondent says) that Lord Salisbury has sent a despatch to Lord Stanley which joins issue with the Canadian Government on the refusal to allow to citizens of the United States the privileges of copy- right in the Dominion without domicile. Canadian action is based on the existing Dominion law, under which registration is only permitted to foreigners whose Government has a copyright treaty with Croat Britain. But Canada contends that the United States Copyright Act of 1891 and the President's proclamation of July last granting certain privileges to British subjects do not constitute a copyright treat)', and that, therefore, the citizens of the United States cannot be regis- tered under the Dominion Act. The Canadian legal authorities affirm that the Canadian view is correct. The present difficulty lies in the fact that Lord Salisbury assured the Washington Cabinet that all the British possessions would grant copy- right to Americans—an assurance which Canada repudiates. It is hoped that the difficulty will soon be settled, although it is feared that the public sentiment of the Dominion is clearly in favour of the right to legislate for herself on the subject. This right so far the Home Government has not admitted. — AUTHOR AND EDITOR. Advice to Contributors. ~1"*EF011E sending a contribution to any maga- I'm zinc or journal the author should observe the following simple rules, which, if they are olnsyed, will sweep away most of the complaints against editors :— (1.) He should write to the editor offeriug his paper, describing its subject and its length; he should also state his own special quali- fications for treating that subject, and his experience and record as a writer. (2.) If he is satisfied with the position and stand- ing of the paper, he should say that he will accept the scale pay. If he has any reason for doubt on these ]n>int he should name the minimum price he will accept. (3.) If the paper is on a subject interesting only for the moment, he should ask for its return, if it is not accepted, by a certain date. (4.) Before sending to any editor, he should first look at the announcements made in its pages. Some papers state that they do not ask for outside contributions. In that case, a writer cannot expect his MS. to be considered, or returned, or noticed in any way. (5.) In any case he should keep a copy of his MS. A draft of the above notes was submitted to the editor of a well-known journal. He suggested certain changes which have been made in the third clause; he says that the advice is, on the whole, "entirely reasonable," and on the last clause he writes, "This is his only way of insuring himself against its loss, though if an editor says he will return the paper, the chance of its being lost is presumably small." Value of a Pseudonym. I l>eg to bring under your notice the following unfair procedure of the editor of a well-known journal, the name of which I give below. For some years I had been a contributor to the journal in question, having run a serial and several short stories in it. Quite suddenly, and without any apparent reason, the editor fell into the habit of rejecting each and all my MSS., without, as I suspected from the promptitude with which they were returned, even taking the trouble to read them. As the MSS. were afterwards accepted by journals of as high, if not higher standing, I could not think it was lack of merit which threw them out of the journal just mentioned. I acted on the advice of a friend, and had one of my short stories copied by a relative, assumed a pseudonym, and another address, and sent it to the editor. It was at once accepted. About a week before, I had sent the same MS. to the journal, without even a different title, and it was promptly returned, with- out being looked at, I am forced to conclude. Since then, MSS. sent under my pseudonym have been, with one exception, accepted; those sent under my own, as invariably rejected. I consider that such conduct, which an unlucky author is forced to submit to, is subversive of all the confidential relations which ought to exist between editor and contributor. I may add that  ## p. 323 (#727) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 323 this particular editor, not knowing me personally, could have no personal animus against me, and I cannot account for his acting in so unfair and arbitrary a manner. H. B. M. [This case seems purely accidental. If the editor has no animus against this contributor, why should lie send hack her work? Probably the paper accepted under the ps.'udonym pleased him so much that he readily looked at other work by the same hand. H. B. M. had better stick to her new name.—Ed.] A Far too Common Case. In January of last year I offered the editor of a certain monthly to "do" an article upon a subject that was just then attracting a consider- able amount of public attention. A journey to town (100 miles) and an interview with a specialist upon the matter in hand, resulted in an article which was accepted "upon the terms named in (my) letter." In due course, the contribution was published. After a lapse of several months, as I had received no remittance, I wrote to the editor, who ignored that and two subsequent communica- tions. In December (after waiting, threatening legal proceedings) I placed the matter in my solicitor's hands. He succeeded in getting firstly a denial of the debt; secondly, an inquiry as to how much was claimed; and lastly, a statement that the editor understood that the remuneration expected (although he had my letter distinctly stilting the sum I was prepared to accept) was io«. The article was only 10 columns in length, and had only involved a journey of a hundred miles to London and back, and the best part of four days to write. The editor, a more or less well-known person, is now stated to be away. Surely, sir, an editorial black list, in which such men could be pilloried, should be started in the Author. I have more cases for a future occasion. C. H. Editorial Etiquette. I am glad to find in the current number of the Author some indication of the treatment which editors accord those who send them MSS. on approval. I once forwarded, by request, to the editor of a monthly review an article on a current political topic. Weeks after, when the subject discussed had died out, and my "copy" could not be used elsewhere, it was returned to me. Has not every writer, famous or obscure, expe- rienced the sweets of .editorial etiquette? Has he not sent MSS. to editors to find them unacknow- ledged; written to editors to find his letters ignored; sent stamps to editors to find them appropriated without a word? When one merchant sends samples and quotations to another, his letter is replied to, or at least preserved. You may write to a pork-butcher and be sure of getting a civil reply. You may write to architects, builders, surgeons, and lawyers, and receive courteous treatment; but when you write to an editor your communication is as sent to the dead. The chances are that the waste paper basket receives your letter, and the office boy pockets your stamps. Editors are now endeavouring to elevate their calling to the dignity of a profession. They have founded a Journalist's Institute, and incorporated it by Royal charter. Is it, then, too much to ask that they should acknowledge some common and humane standard of professional etiquette? E. H. Stamps for Return. A correspondent calls attention to a very curious difficulty. He calls it, indeed, by a stronger name, but the thing can hardly be designed. He says, in effect as follows. He has sent MSS. to a certain journal. The only address of the editor is that of the publishers. He always carefully encloses stamps in case of rejection. Now in one case he sent a paper on which he set some value. Not getting it back or accepted, he wrote again and again for it; he obtained no reply. At last, after a very sharp letter, he received a note from the editor saying that the stamps had been used in forwarding the MS. from the publishers to his private address, and that, as there were no more stamps, the MS. could not be returned. Now, it is quite certain (1) that if a magazine asks contributors to forward stamps for return, they are lx>und to return rejected MSS.; in which case the editor's place of residence is a private consideration for himself and the pub- lishers. But (2) if the magazine does not invite contributions, MSS. must be sent to take their chance. Should members of the Society fall into such a difficulty as this, a letter to the secretary, with the particulars of the case and the name of the paper, would probably lead—if that paper invites contributions—to the return of the papers. Accepted and Kept. A correspondent, not a young writer, but well known in the world of letters, scuds us particulars of treatment to which he has recently lwn subjected.  ## p. 324 (#728) ############################################ 324 THE AUTHOR. He offered m certain paper to a certain magazine. The editor, writing in November, said "I am quite willing to use your article in , but every page is arranged for so far ahead that I see little chance of being able to use it till the January or February number. If you are willing to wait until I find room for it, I shall be very glad to keep it." In January he writes again, "I am obliged by your note, and shall send proof as soon as ready to the Club, unless I hear from you to the contrary." In February he writes again, "As it is evidently of importance to you that your article should appear soon, I return it to you herewith, as it is quite impossible for me to promise any date for its appearance in and I may not be able to find room for it until the Mav or June number." Here we have an article deliberately accepted, and kept for three months, when it is uncere- moniously sent back to the author. Suppose a fruiterer, who buys of a grower fruit which must be eaten within a week or two or it will spoil, were to keep that fruit for a week, and send it back rotten, saying that he could not use it. This is exactly a similar case. Nearly all the papers pub- lished in the magazines belong more or less to the day. Suppose the contents of the current Contem- porary, for instance, were kept for six months. How flat' and stale and unprofitable they wotdd appear! Editors who are open to receive unsolicited contributions might, at least, remember that the wares offered them belong for the most part to the day, and not to this day ten years. They should, therefore, be sent back at once, if they cannot be used within a reasonable period. In this case, however, there was a definite promise. Unless the author himself released the editor, he seems to have boiind himself to produce the paper in January or February. ♦*•»♦ THE LETTER H. AFTER the great catastrophe in " Vanity Fair" —the downfall of Becky, the departure of her husband and the debacle of the house- hold—Haggles addresses Mrs. Rawdon Crawley thus: "Har you a goin' to pay mo? You've lived in this 'ouse four year. You've 'ad my substance: my plate and linning. You ho me a milk and butter bill of two 'undred pound, you must have noo laid eggs for your homlets, and cream for your spaniel dog." It will be observed that Thackeray makes Raggles reverse his aitches—put in the aspirate where it ought to be omitted, and omit it when it ought to 1)0 put in—and novelists generally soem to take it for granted that the illiterate and imperfectly educated talk in the same fashion. As a matter of fact, they do not, and thoro is no reason why they should. Without deliberate intent and much practice nobody could consistently reverse his aitches. I daresay Raggles said "Har you?" by way of being emphatic. He probably omitted the aspirate from " house" because ho knew no better; but why, if he omitted it from "house," should ho take the trouble of saying "heggs" and " homlets." If you listen attentively to the talk of the uncul- tured, you will find that though they may mix their aitches they never consistently reverse them. There are people so fond of the aspirate that they not only never drop it but sound it before every word beginning with a vowel. Others never sound it at all, while many use it only when they desire to l>e emphatic. Lancashire folks, like cockneys, make a great hash of their aitches. I have heard a Lancashire man of good education say that ho was too busy to bother about aitches; and I once knew a Lancashire lawyer who intentionally omitted the aspirate—except in words preceded by the indefinite article. For instance, though he would say, "Give me my 'at," he would say, "That is a hat," on the ground that it is easier to say " a hat " than "a 'at." On the other hand, Scots who use the aspirate incorrectly are as rare as cockneys and Lancas- trians who use it according to rule. The moral of all which, as I take it, is that in writing dialogue you should follow no conventional rule nor merely imitate your betters, but observe for yourself, and make your characters talk and mispronounce as people talk and mispronounce in real life. It is a curious, and not an irrelevant question why so much importance is attached to the proper use of the, aspirate; why it is considered a more heinous offence to drop an aitch than commit any other solecism. The very writer who pokes fun at one of his puppets for saying " 'ouse " or " homlot," will employ " constant" as a synonym for " often" and "always"; and write "if" when he means "though" or "whether." But of all errors in writing and speaking, the commonest and most grotesque is that of using the perfect form of the infinitive, after a perfect verb, for the simple or indefinite form, e.g., "I intended to have scon him " for " I intended to see him." "It would have been impolitic to have refused the invitation" for "It would have been impolitic to refuse the invita- tion." This mistake is committed by our best writers and speakers. You find it everywhere—in the Times, and the Saturday Hcvietc, and the works of John Ruskin and Charles Reado, not to mention loss shining lights. Why I wonder,  ## p. 325 (#729) ############################################ THE A UTHOR. 325 should so gross an error Ik' more leniently regarded than the occasional dropping of an aitch, or tlie aspiration of a word which begins with a vowel? William Wkstall. CORRESPONDENCE. 1. Mr. Traill's List of Pouts. "fW^" is quite right in calling attention to the I omission of Mr. Gerald Massey and Dr. W. C. Bennett. But he has forgotten to take note of several other omissions, which are equally, if not more, remarkable. A list of living poets is indeed incomplete which does not include women like Mrs. Hamilton King, Isa Craig Knox, and B. Nisbet (Mrs. Bland), and men like Philip James Bailey, author of "Festus," <fcc, Dr. George Mac- douald, Professor John Stuart Blackie, Dr. Walter O. Smith, author of "Hilda, or Broken Gods," &*>., the Rev. T. E. Brown, author of "FoVslc Yarns," and Mr. Rudvard Kipling. Mackenzie Bell. II. Useful Books. The Author does not, I believe, admit "notices" of new publications. Criticism, I am sure, none of us wish to see in its pages. Enough of that iv to be had anywhere. But I think that the Author ought somehow to bring before our notice books either especially designed to assist literary men, or of very great service to them. I mean, for ex- ample, works such as the more important English lexicons, or books like Dr. Roget's "Thesaurus," or Dr. Hodgson's "Errors in the Use of English." Works of this kind are not very numerous. The notices of them in the ordinary literary journals are very brief, and are often, also, inserted in places where they are liable to be overlooked. Here the Author might help us. Could the authors them- selves be invited to send paragraphs, simply mentioning the character and scope of any new publication of this kind? Or could any that may appear be announced in the Author fairly con- spicuously, say, always in some particular part of the journal where we might look out for them, and easily afterwards refer back to the announcement? I wish something of the kind was possible, for my own experience is that very useful books of this sort often escape my notice until someone chances to tell me of them. And, whilst I am writing this, it occurs to me that if a few experienced authors would draw up and send to the Author a little list of books of this description, which they have them- selves found useful, and would therefore recommend others to have on their shelves, the information would be valuable to many of us. A Member. [Will the "Member" kindly begin with a list and description such as he proposes?—En.] FROM THE PAPERS. I. "One who knew him." {By One Who Knows Him.) fl^HE breath has scarcely left the body -when I "One Who Knew Him " takes pen and paper, in profoundest grief, and proceeds to earn a guinea by describing, with the greatest unction,trivial details as to the dead man's manner of existence, picked up, as the fruit of vulgar curiosity, at a few chance meetings. The less the acquaintance of the writer with his subject—and, generally speaking, it is evidently a good deal less—the more "chatty" and "readable" is the resulting article. If the poor man who was unfortunate enough to be "known" drank coffee after dinner, with or with- out sugar, there is material for an article. From this fragment of truth the new journalist who knew him will build up a memoir with far greater . ease than that with which an Owen can reconstruct the frame of an extinct beast from its jawbone, and, of course, many miles further away than the original. When caution in the invention of facts is advisable, imaginary conversation dishonouring to the subject's intellectual capacity, and the auto- biography of the writer, make up the necessary column of matter. Autobiography, in fact, is indispensable, and has been so this long time. It is in this department that "One Who Knew Him" is really at home, and can let fly something that is warranted to interest the reader—as, for instance, "He gently glided from business into general topics, knew all about my career, congratulated me on some recent success, had known some of my belongings, inquired about my school and college, was delighted to find that I had been, like himself, at Harrow and at Oxford, and, when an hour's pleasant chat was ended, said, 'Now you must stay and have some luncheon.' From that day I was a frequent visitor at the Cardinal's house, and, as long as he was able to go down stairs to meals, at his table." There is none among the living who can know that he will be exempt from this new and terrible  ## p. 326 (#730) ############################################ 326 THE AUTHOR. scourge when (load, there are many who must be sure that their friends will have to undergo this additional horror in their death. No matter who it be, prince, cardinal, politician, criminal, or nonentity, everyone is fair game for the author of "Imaginary Conversations with the Demi; to which an; added Notes on their Idiosyncrasies in the Payment of their Washing Bills.'' There is always "One Who Knew Him "—generally several more—who is ready to reel off an endless string of trivialities, imaginary or otherwise, as to his habits and manners, which, even if historically true, are the last things to be remembered or brought up against the dead. There would be no objection to these journalistic memoirs if they took the form of respectful tributes to the memory of those who have done something for the world or their fellow-men; but this is the very last shape they take. They are calculated to belittle their subjects, to reduce them to the standard of the narrowest life, of which the most remarkable incidents are the appetite for meals and the hour of going to bed. The ordy possible effect is to place the whole world in the position of a valet to the mighty dead. And the worst of it all is, that there is no one who can rid us of this insolent pest.—Satitrdoy Review. II. Reading as a Recreation. By Mr. Edmund Gosse. (From an Address given at the College for Men and Women. By permission of the Author.) There is at the present day a certain danger of our taking the act of reading, as so many other of the daily acts of our little desultory life, too pompously. It is one thing to set up a high general standard of literature, and another thing to allow ourselves to be bullied by the best hundred books. In this matter our liberties—the right of the British citizen to amuse himself with what he finds amusing —are threatened by two enemies whose hands are usually at one another's throats, but who on this occasion have joined arms against our peace of mind: I mean the Rev. Dr. Prig and Professor Pococurante. Dr. Prig, who has no conception of the need of pleasant things in life and no sense of proportion between our plain capacities and the cravings of his own erudition, wants us to master the classics of the world before we presume to be entertained. He marches round, with his cane behind his back; and if he finds us grinning in our corner, with "Treasure Island" or "Little Lord Fauntlcroy" on ,our knees, he snatches it from us and bids us be studying the "Mahabharata." He tells us the awful tale of Sir William Jones, who in the brief leisure of a busy career, invariably rends through, every year, the entire works of Cicero. But Dr. Prig is really not very dangerous. He is so lumbering and so unpractical that we laugh at him and his hundred best books, and run away to read what we like best. Professor Pococurante is a far more insidious enemy. He pretends to sympathize with us; he has not read the "Mahab- harata " any more than we have, and laughs at the idea of reading it. But, of the two, I think I like poor old Dr. Prig the best, for he has a sort of superstitious respect for literature, while the whole essence of the Professor is that ho comes to sneer at the charming illusions of the book world, to toll us that he has tried them all and found them dust and ashes. If I remember rightly, it was Mrs. Pipchin who told Miss Pankey that she would never go to heaven if she sniffed. I am sometimes afraid that, in spite of all his gifts and graces, the heaven of literature will bo closed to Professor Pococurante. He advances sniffing to the rank of the fine arts. He has little offensive and defensive formulas, taking in vain the names of one or two authors whom he patronises—Dumas's, Thackeray's, Scott's—that he may from behind these ramparts fire down contempt upon all other novelists, as though ginger were not still hot in the mouth in spite of our virtuous partiality for roast saddle of mutton. In the course of sniffing the Professor reaches the world of old books, and would fain forbid us to read any genial-hearted brown quarto that attracts us, because, forsooth, wo might be spending our time letter in reading " Rob Roy " for the eighth time, or chewing the lamentable cud of Thackeray's least inspired fragment. The strength of the Poco- curante position is that it conceals its listlessness, its radical contempt for literature, under the shelter of one or two noble names, so that he who ventures to denounce this evil trick of sniffing may be charged at once with disrespect to Scott or Homer. But I risk this danger, and I urge you not to be the dupes of this cynicism. Do not despise the day of small books, nor believe that you can restrain a genuine taste for literature within the narrow limits of a handful of accepted classics. It is amusing to find that the very writers on whom cynics of the Pococurante school base their scorn of second-class literature were themselves, without exception, indulgent to and enamoured of little books. Nothing in the shape of a volume was too obscure or too old-fashioned to amuse and attract Sir Walter; Thackeray's fondness for dumpy twelves amounted to a passion. What a pretty letter is that of Scott's to Terry lamenting that he cannot buy all the rarities he desires  ## p. 327 (#731) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 327 because of the expense that the building of Abbots- ford is putting linn to. Yet there are two books which, poor as lie is, he must secure if possible. What are these? One is the " Mahftbharata," you will be bound; and the other a copy of "Rob Boy "? By no means. The books that Scott so much longed to amuse himself with were a "Treatise on Dreams, by the author of the New Jerusalem," and a volume of "Loyal Poems, by N.T."—no more illustrious a person than Nahum Tate, who wrote such afflicting hymns in company with Brady. For this latter curiosity Sir Walter was willing to give a guinea or thirty shillings. Turn away your face, Professor Pococurante. To limit our sympathies in books to those which are the best-accredited and the most classical is like refusing to know anybody whose movements are not. chronicled in the Morning Post. It is not an enviable social aim to be always trying to know none but the "best" people. EveryIwdy who is worth his salt has seedy friends, friends who have been failures, friends who possess some uncontrol- lable foible which prevents them from being universal favourites. Each of us, I hope, under- stands the weakness of loving some one who does not seem loveable to all the world. So it should be with our book friendships. In idle moments, when one is tired or dispirited, one finds one's fingers drumming on the panes of one's bookcase, and one asks one's self, " What shall I read?" I know that, in my own case, some rascally old comedy often gets taken down, although "Paradise Begained " is austerely frowning at the side of it, or else Sterne glides naturally into hands which know they ought to be engaged on Gibbon. Is it that if some one suddenly came up and said, "Do you seriously prefer the lax frivolities of Vanbrugh to Milton's noble appeals to the sanctified imagination," I could answer "Yes"? Certainly not. But why should I pretend to be always "seriously preferring" anything? There are moods in which it is our privilege not to be serious; and then the second-rate and the third- rate literature has its dav, all the queer books and the silly books, the books that run too far ahead of their age and the books that lagged too far l>ehind. I positively refuse to be always reading "Bob Boy" for the eighth time. I would rather read over again "Count Bobert of Paris" and "St. Bonan's Well" than do that; while, in point of fact, as soon as Professor Pococurante's back is turned I blaspheme the name of Sir Walter in a whisper, and I take up Smollett, or Leigh Hunt, or some yellow book of tales by poor M. de Maupassant. Anything for liberty and sympathy, and to assert the right of a free Englishman to read what he likes to read. Away with the "Mahabharata!" Away with the "Sheking!" If I want to be bored, I will be bored with what I choose. I will read "Polexander" or the "Leviathan" of Mr. Hobbes. Who, that is a real lover of books, does not ac- knowledge the charm of a squat volume that has had its day. It makes no demand upon us. It is so thankful to be read at all that it does not insist upon a rigorous observance of the rules of reading. If I take up the "Essay on Man" I feel that a great deal is required of me. "Awake, my St. John," says the poet, and you must not merely awake, but, in the frivolous language of the day, you must sit up. No skipping to the fourth page, no dipping here and tasting there, are permitted. You have an intellectual task before you, a very inspiriting and improving one; but you must give your unbroken attention to it. "Awake, my St. John," says the bard, and unless he is ready to make an effort, St. John had better put his classic volume back on the shelf again. But let me remind you how another poet suggests that you should read his verses, and perceive in it the accent of the man who knows what sympathetic reading is. This is how Herriek wishes us to approach those golden apples of his western orchard, his rich "Hesperides": In sober mornings, do not thou rehearse The holy incantation of a verse; But when that men have both well drunk and fed, Let my enchantments then be sung or read. When laurel spits in the fire, and when the hearth Smiles to itself, and gilds the roof with mirth; When up the thyrsc is raised, and when the sound Of sacred orgies flics around, around, When the rose reigns, and locks with ointments shine, Let rigid Cato read these lines of mine. In short, it is only needful to recall once more that happy phrase of Lucas do Penna, and re- member that a book should be lumen cordis, the light of the heart. No one can lay down rules or draw up lists which can help us much to discover what kind of lantern or candlestick will hold this light with most convenience. The heart must choose the book that shines on it. Experience alone can teach us where we shall find the sym- pathy of which we are in need among those silent servants " within whose folding, soft, eternal charm we love to lie." But the more we are thrown upon the sympathy of books, and acquire the habit of appealing to them in every mood, in every nervous vicissitude, the more we shall become convinced of the truth of what Isaac Barrow says, "that he who loveth a hook, will never want a faithful friend, a wholesome counsellor, a cheerful companion, or an effectual comforter."—St. James's Gazette. January 28th, 1892.  ## p. 328 (#732) ############################################ 328 THE AUTHOR. nr. On Literary Collaboration. (From the New Review of February 1892.) To sum up, the chief advantage of collaboration is that it is tolerably certain to produce clear- ness of purpose, a well-defined plot, and distinct characters. There is the danger that there may be too much distinctness—a loss of atmos- phere — not enough left to the imagination. Living men and women are not always distinct; tbey change from day to day; they possess more than one characteristic; the miser is not always paring the cheese; the man of science is not always in his laboratory; the shrew is sometimes good tempered; the wanton is sometimes serious and chaste. That is a real danger—and it is only to be avoided by giving, as I have demanded, the final revision to one of the two partners. As for collaboration being a saving of labour, it may be so sometimes, but I would not press that point. From my own experience, I should say that it is not, especially when it results in the improvement of the work, any saving at all. Discussion, you see, is far less rapid than thought. Meantime, let it be remembered that the dramatist or the novelist can find nothing more helpful to his work than to talk over it. When a plot, an incident, a situation, a character, is discussed, a thousand combinations occur and rise up in the conversation. Those which are useless, inartistic, or unnecessary are most easily picked out and thrown away in conversation. Those which remain are most easily passed in review in conversation. The great—the very great—objection to literary partnerships is the difficulty of finding your partner. Mr. Brander Matthews has been so happy as to find several: I have only been able to find two. To take a man into partnership, even for a short story or a short play, is a step attended with great risks; it may lead to certain failure, with certain quarrels, recriminations, and preten- sions. Why did the novel fail? Because of the other man. Or, if it was not a failure, why did the thing succeed? In spite of the other man. Of course, one knows men who could not possibly say such things. Unfortunately, there are men who could and would. Therefore, one would advise a young literary man not to attempt partnership until he has proved his own strength. Perhaps not even then: it is not always that an artist can admit another man to work upon his canvas. But let him not hamper himself at the outset. When he has had a few years' experience, the man whom he would now willingly accept as his partner may be far, very far below him. Reputations in literature are made sometimes very suddenly and very unexpectedly. Let him, there- fore, wait. In any case, a literary partnership, though it may result in many volumes when the partners are happily able to work together evenly and harmoniously, without jealousy, without measuring each other's share, can only, from the nature of the case, be one from book to book— from play to play—from one fable to another. There is, however, one kind of collaboration not put forward by Mr. Brauder Matthews, which may be recommended very strongly to every young literary workman. I would advise him to find among his friends—cousins—sister's friends—a girl, intelligent, sympathetic, and quick; a girl who will lend him her ear, listen to his plot, and discuss his characters. Perhaps he would like to get engaged to her—that is a detail: if he does it might not injure the collaboration. She should be a girl of (puck imagination, who does not, or cannot, write—there are still, happily, many such girls. When he has confided to her his characters all in the rough, with the part they have to play all in the rough, he may reckon on presently getting them back again, but advanced—much less in the rough. Woman does not create, but she receives, moulds, and develops. The figures will go back to their creator, distinct and clear, no longer shivering unclothed, but made up and dressed for the stage. Merely by talking with this girl, everything that was chaotic falls into order; the characters, which were dim and shapeless, become alive, full grown, articulate. As in every day life, so in imaginative work, woman should be man's best partner—the most generous—the least exacting—the most certain never to quarrel over her share of the work, her share of the kWoj, her share of the pay. Walter Besant. IV. The Critic. The critic is the Ishmaelite of the literary family. No one sympathises with him. The people he criticises, of course, will have none of him. His fellow readers, or playgoers, as the case may be, regard him as a wet blanket. Even the "serious intellects," with whom he thinks he may at least claim something in common, treat him with good-humoured contempt. Indeed, the wayward attitude of the "serious intellect" in these days is one calculated to stagger the critics. He never reads the books, or sees the plays, which call for the critic's keenest powers. He cannot be got to read "Eobert Elsmere," or "The Wages of Sin."  ## p. 329 (#733) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 329 Nor will he turn out at night to see Shakespeare, or Ibsen, or Mr. Henry Arthur Jones. He in- finitely prefers burlesque, or a broad farce. It is only the intellects of the second rank who revel in the analytical novel or psychological drama; and the poor critic, realising all this painfully, feels himself out in the cold. He is compelled to write to an audience he cares little about, while those whose ear he would fain reach will not take him seriously. "There is nothing," says an eminent scientific man of the day, "that serious intellects hate so much as an intellectual treat." People whose brains and bodies are systematically under- worked may care about them. But men who have done a hard day's work take more kindly to some- thing frivolous, and prefer—as Darwin did—a trashy volume from Mudie's to Shakespeare him- self. It baulks the critic to find people who will insist that fiction and the drama are intended, not for education, but for relaxation. His trade is to detect and measure the serious purpose which underlies most of the important work, both of novelists and playwriters, in this day. Both have ceased to be merely recreative. The onward march of education has absorbed them as factors in the moral development of the ago. The pulpit has admitted them amongst its coadjutors. They have ljccome, like the jam that envelops the powder, vehicles for truths, and lessons of the gravest kind. It is, therefore, heartless of the person of serious intellect to eschew them all, and addict himself to the lewd fellows of a baser sort, who aim at nothing beyond raising a laugh, or lulling the brain with drowsy nonsense. Happily for the critic, the second-rate intellects, who do concern themselves with fiction "with a purpose," still constitute the bulk of the British reading public. With them he is, or might be, a King supreme. For, without his help, they would be drowned in the floods of books and plays which pour in from every side. On him they depend to keep their heads above water, to guide them through the torrent, and bring them within reach of the few spots of foothold on which they may stand secure. It is rare indeed for anyone to-day to buy a book of one's own motion. It must previously have passed muster with the critic before we pay hard cash for it. It is conceivable that our judgment may not jump with that of the critic when the book is read. If so, the discipline to which long liabit has reduced us will probably lead us to assume that the mistake is ours, not his. More frequently we know what we are to think about a book before we take it up, and, to do us justice, we rarely fail to think accordingly.—Leeds Weekly Mercury, February 6th, 1892. V. Do Publishers Bead MSS. Submitted? Writing in the Western Daily Mercury on "Money - Making in Writing," as a phase of "Women's Questions," Miss S. F. Latimer says :—The idea that publishers do not trouble to read all the MSS. submitted to them is generally ridiculed. We are told that this is an essential part of their business, and if they were to neglect it they would soon go the wall, for the competition among them is now very keen. Nevertheless, I am inclined to believe their readers are not so keen as their employers may be, judging from two in- stances that have been given to me by a couple of my friends during the past week. The first lady did not take the matter much to heart, as she had met better fortune in a previous attempt; but she detailed the keeping of her MS. by a firm for over six months, from whom, despite various letters, she could get no response nor learn of the safe arrival of her copy into their hands, until a cousin made a personal call of inquiry, when the following day the MS. was returned to her—never having been apparently read or glanced through, as it came back done up just as she had sent it away. The second account of the fortunes of a novel that is still awaiting the fiat of a publisher is one that is none too encouraging to the chances of its establishment, nor gratifying to the amour propre of the wearied author. It started on its travels in a box made to fit and to keep its sheets clean. It came back minus the box after an absence of suffi- cient duration to have enabled the mastering of its contents. On removing the outer paper covering, the precious volumes proved never to have been opened. Each had been tied up separately and numbered to save the reader trouble; each pre- sented precisely the same appearance as when laid with expectation within the missing box. "I thought," said the narrator, "when I received their opinion of the novel, that they had evidently no idea of the work at all beyond my brief descrip- tions that accompanied it." It was next sent off, packed in a fine wrapper. A MS. soon.shows signs of having been through the post if not well pro- tected, and the trouble of rewriting, of course, is great. It was kept exactly the same time, and then returned with the communication that the reader's opinion was so unfavourable that the firm could not publish it. The wrapper no longer enveloped the sheets, but the pages bore equally plain evidence that they had not been looked through. The third attempt was to write to the publishers in advance, to ask if they would con- sider the novel if forwarded. After the lapse of a  ## p. 330 (#734) ############################################ 33° THE AUTHOR. fortnight a letter of the usual stereotyped form came from the house, saying " that they had given their best and careful attention to the work, and regretted that they tlid not see their way to its publication." The fact of its not having been sent had been forgotten. They waited the usual time, and returned the usual answer. And the hapless novelist sums up by saying, " I am at present just where I was a lew months ago, save being a loser to the amount of ios., MS. sent to and fro, one deal box, and one wrapper. Sore and downcast with disappointment, she exclaims, "It is very provoking to feel the time going past when the novel might take, and not be able to get a publisher to read it fairly and honestly I know that there is good matter in it, and that I have laboured hard to make it worthy of being read, and I am not given to over-value my own work." The lady has for years practised her ]x>n. The firms she has tried are influential ones, but there is such a tendency to deal with writers known to the public, and thereby save trouble and risk, that unless some favourable introduction or happy chance comes to the rescue among the flood of offers, the rejected find themselves in the majority. — Pall Mall Gazette. VI. Creative? A daring lady named Molly Elliot Seawell has excited the literary circles of New York. She has written an article in the Critic, and, with relent- less impartiality, has denied that her own sex has ever been great in creative literary genius. Readers of the Critic have withdrawn their subscription, by way of proving that Miss Seawell is wrong. Right or wrong, she has called from an opponent named Sidwell N. Breeze by far the most amusing of all exhibitions of literary patriotism. We know how good Americans insist that Emerson and Mr. Whittier have better chances of immortality than the Laureate. We know it, but we do not argue about it. We maybe prejudiced, and besides prophecy is a frivolous exercise. If humanity develops more people who admire Mr. Whittier than people who admire the author of the "Lotus Eaters," then the American patriots are right. We may hope that they are wrong, rather in the interest of humanity than of Lord Tennyson, but no one can be certain. However, this is a digres- sion. In the game of literary poker, Mr. or Miss Sidwell N. Breeze "bluffs" a much stronger hand than we hold in the Laureate, though that is a strong hand too. She (she must be a woman) "bluffs " the hand which ancient Greece holds in the case of Sappho. Miss Sidwell N. Breeze is ready to " see Sappho, and go two better "—two at least. Now the whole opinion of the world has recognized in the Lesbian lady Who with the deathless Muses, hand in hand, Sang side by side, the one great woman poet of the world. The fragments which remain, those wonderful fragments never to be translated even by poets, suffice to show the unapproached genius of Sappho. But Miss Breeze avers that these fragments "can easily be surpassed by Miss Helen Gray Cone or Miss Edith Thomas," whose rhymes we may have observed in the magazines. This delightful observation simply leaves patriots like Mr. Higginson nowhere in the race, and adds two to the Muses who are now twelve, including Sappho. No other vaunt can match this vaunt. But, if we examine the general Question, we may think that Miss Seawell has been too hard on her sex. They never created, she says, a Panta- gruel, a Becky Sharp, a Micawber, an Ivanhoe, a Don Quixote, a Faust. Well, we do not exj>ect them to produce Pantagruels. Ivanhoe, as Miss Breeze remarks, is no creation at all. Poor Wilfred is a lay figure; perhaps Scott would have called him, as he called Edward Waverley, "a sneaking piece of imbecility." "I am a bad hand at drawing heroes," he added, and Ivanhoe is a hero. As to the others, it is certain that no woman (unless it. be Miss Cone or Miss Thomas) has created a poetic figure like Faust, or Satan, or Don Quixote, or Lear, a humorous figure like Falstaff, or Mrs. Gamp, or anybody that is good in Shake- speare or Dickens. No woman (not even Miss Mtirfree nor Miss Wilkins) has designed a Captain Costigan, or a beauty and a Queen of Hearts, like Beatrix Esmond, or Rosalind, or Di Vernon. Women have created no great characters of any sort, and very few good ones, few whose names are household words. * * * It was a woman who gave us Mr. Collins and Anne Elliot, and all the immortal family of Bennets —Lydia and Kitty, their father and their mother George Eliot also created Mrs. Poyser and Caleb Garth, and the girl whom Mr. Gilfil wooed. But it is certainly curious, when we think of George Eliot, to consider how few of her people hold their own—how few of them are household words. When Manse Headrigg remarked that she would cease testifying for nae painted brick o' the Tower of Babel that's coloured scarlet and ca's itself a corporal, she quite, outshone Mrs. Poyser by mere native eloquence. Take away Mrs. Poyser, and who is there? Tito Melema is only the " Awful Example " of a sermon. Adam Bode is a stage-  ## p. 331 (#735) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 331 carpenter. These people do not wear, they do not last, like true and living creations. The name of George Sand is also invoked. But whom do we remember, or what do we remember, in George Sand's work? We remember descrip- tions, sentiment, a charm of style, such as never other woman wrote, and perliaps we remember Consuelo. Indiana is just a passionate Creole; Valentine is hardly more actual than Aurora Floyd. George Sand drew living people in her memoirs, much more than in her novels. It is really the humourous women who create characters, not the clever women, the learned women, the audjicious women. A woman (who might conceivably have been better employed) gave us Xaintrailles, Paillette, Madame de Flirt, and scores of others. Miss Broughton's people—not her heroes, but her chil- dren, her casual coquettes, her vulgar, good-hearted girls—are creations; they live, and move, and are remembered, simply by dint of humour. As to speaking "immortal words," in verse, passages that live as familiar quotations, we do not, unluckily, remember any of the many with which Miss Helen Gray Cone and Miss Edith Thomas have enriched the world. But the real prize would have to be given to no lady who writes in magazines, but to the women who composed "Auld llobin Gray," "The Flowers of the Forest," "And were na my heart light I would dee," and so forth. They were not profession^ poets, they struck the lyre but once or twice, yet still the notes are ringing.— Daily A'ews. VII. An American on American Literature. (From the Times, January i5th, 1892.) There has been a deal of talk back and forth across the water as to the bigness or littleness of our American literature. We talk about the bigness of it, you about the littleness of it, and the real truth concerning it is altogether ignored, or else it is not understood. By your gracious leave I would say what seem to me the facts in the case. We have had no creators of literary sentiment, or more truly discoverers, such as Wordsworth, who found for us the spiritual life in nature; like Browning, who has taught us the deeper, truer, meaning of love as a life passion of the human heart; like Carlyle, who knew more concerning the energy of life that wins results in the world than all his predecessors. We have not these. Let us frankly admit it. There is nowhere in our lite- rature the thoughtful substance that the Englishman thinks of when he thinks of even his modern literature. Our poet is Longfellow, a man of musical rhythm, sweet fascinating phrases—in short, a man of art in verse. But you have this, too, say you, in Tennyson, the poet of form, and a man of more substance than Longfellow. Let me distinguish. Tennyson is a creator of form, a dis- coverer of every possible new form in musical verse, a man who racked his brain from youth to find an exquisite phrase, a perfect word, a striking and enduring figure. Tennyson's eye was on the form itself, just as much as Browning's eye was on love, or Wordsworth's on the spirit of nature, while Longfellow touched the little nature, the little life, the little human passion that lay about him, with his eye on the human heart, not on his form or on his substance of thought. It is this wonderful adaptation of Longfellow's simple, sweet, beautiful verse to the common heart of man that makes it as significant as it is popular. Tennyson has done some bad work, shocking work; he has written verses that jar as well as verses that sooth to sleep or fill with life; so all the English poets, in their efforts to discover what was good, were unable themselves to distinguish the good from the bad in that which was to the world altogether new as it was new to them. Browning has written a considerable body of work which would not inspire even his own soul, let alone that of anyone else, and Wordsworth seemed utterly unable to tell his good work from his dry, meaningless verbiage, as Matthew Arnold him- self says. So it is with Mr. Arnold's own work, and with Keats and Shelley and Clough and Mrs. Browning and the rest. Even the popular Macaulav in his effort to be striking fell into serious blunders, and Carlyle is full of irregularity. Glance over such a book as Lowell's " From my Study Windows " and you will see plainly some of the chief characteristics of our literature. Lowell does not say anything of great moment, but what he does say is gracefully addressed to the heart and thought of us all; we can all enjoy it, we can all understand it, and we all are the better for his having written it. Browning and Shelley confess that they did not write their poetry for you or me or anybody else, but for themselves, for their own relief, to satisfy their own passion of ex- pression. If we get any good out of their work it is localise they were good men and worth some- thing, and we are free to borrow what we can from all good men. But that is not art in its true sense; that is accident. Conscious art writes for somebody, aims at a definite effect on a definite audience. The germ of that art we have and you have not. In us it has not yet borne very great  ## p. 332 (#736) ############################################ 332 THE A UTHOR. fruit, but it is sure to do so in the near future, as you yourselves admit when you incline to the view that the great novel of the future will come from America. We have not yet gone very deep, we have not yet even fully comprehended the thoughts that you have laid before us, but we are coming to just that, and we have the power—perhaps a power of youth—to put all thought, all feeling, all dis- coveries of the heart into a form which will be useful and will endure, as you have not at all. The mass of England's nineteenth century literature will be dead and buried within two centuries unless wo Americans rescue it from the mass of vagueness and verbiage in which it already languishes, and put it into the setting of the gold of the human heart—the common heart, the common intelligence —by which I mean the intelligence common to all humanity, high and low, and not the vulgar herd merely. The common human heart is your heart and my heart and yonder blear-eyed fellow's heart, and that common heart is dull of comprehension, weary it knows not why, and like a child must be fed by a trained nurse if it is to thrive. We are eoniinsr to be the trained nurses of future life and growth throughout the world, we have learned our business, and we are rapidly putting it into prac- tice. From you we get our materials to work with, our appliances, our food, our drink. We own our mother; we are not disloyal; England has as much right to be proud of us as we of ourselves, and perhaps more right, and the great novels which I fully believe we will soon send forth will perpetuate her name quite as surely as it will ours. But please, cultivated Englishmen, let us not hear any more about the lack in substance from which our literary art suffers. We may not have substance yet, but our literary work is adapted to the human heart more widely, more certainly, than anything of the best you can boast, and we will not be slow to utilize all the substance you have laid open to us. A. S. Cody. Boston, Mass., U.S.A., Jan. ist. VIII. Swindells v. Morgan and Tomkins. The business of Messrs. Morgan and Tomkins, who appear to be indifferent whether they transact it under the style of the " City of London Publish- ing Company " or that of the " Authors' Alliance, Limited," should be considerably curtailed by the revelations made yesterday in the Queen's Bench Division. These ingenious persons appear to derive much of their income from the remittances they receive from aspiring authors, among whom they appear to sow their circulars broadcast, other- wise it is hard to understand why they sent one to the plaintiff in the action just tried. Their anxiety to receive MSS. for publication led Mr. Joseph Swindells, employed in a warehouse at Manchester, to send a sbeaf of verses entitled "Ballads and Poems," besides a drama called "Charles I." Messrs. Morgan and Tomkins, with a frankness which must have won the author's heart, admitted that a most favourable impression had been created by the perusal of the MSS.; but they required a sum of money towards the expense involved in the intended publication. . . . Under the circum- stances there was little which was remarkable in this request, and Mr. Swindells expressed his willingness to comply with it. In short, he forwarded to the moving spirits in the undertakings we have named, and others, £40, some of which seems to have been raised "by subscription " from persons willing to take copies of the work. But, alas! the promised book has never been issued, nor have the MSS. ever been returned. Upon the whole the jury showed their sympathy with the troubled author in a manner which should do much to console him. He was awarded £500 damages, and in the event of his having the MSS. returned he must receive £200 for their detention. We can only hope that the order of the Court may be complied with, but, judging from the caustic remarks of Mr. Justice Grantham on the system of business pursued by Messrs. Morgan and Tomkins, it may be doubted if they will respond to all the demands involved iu yesterday's verdict.—Daily News. "AT THE AUTHOR'S HEAD." AMONG the more noticeable books of the month may be specially mentioned Carlyle's "Lectures on the History of Literature" (Ellis and Elvey), Aitkin's "Life of Dr. Arbutli- not" (Clarendon Press), Miss Gordon Cumming's latest book of travels (Blackwood), H. G. Keene's "Literature of France" "(Murray), Saintsbury's "Political Verse" (Percival), Earle's "Deeds"of Beowulf" (Clarendon Press), Watson's Poems (Macmillan), Lyon's "Colonial Furniture" (Houghton and Mifflin), Lord Selborne's "Facts and Fictions concerning Churches and Trees." The new novels include the " Duchess of Powys- land," by Grant Allen; "Nevermore," by Rolf Boldrewood; "A Strange Elopement," by Clark  ## p. 333 (#737) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 333 Russell; "Denzil Quarrier," by George Gissing; "The Bo's'un of the Psyche," by Claude Harding; fi Eagle Joe," by Henry Hermann; "A Partner from the West," by Arthur Paterson; and "Memoirs of a Mother-in-Law," by George Sims. A new literary paper is about to appear. It will be called the Library Review. The editor is Mr. Kineton Parkes, Librarian of the Nicholson Institute, Leeds. The publishers are Messrs. Hutchinson & Co., 25, Paternoster Square. There are promised (i) critical notices, "chiefly of an expository character," written by experts and signed. There are some subjects, one would suggest to the editor, which are best reviewed by persons who are not experts. The tendency of every expert is to find out something omitted, and to give undue prominence to that omission. However, the signature will have some effect in restraining the experts from too much contempt; (2) condensed estimates from the leading critical papers; (3) bibliographical details; (4) publica- tions of the month; (5) statistics of sales from booksellers and publishers—a promise difficult to keep—and of issues by libraries; (6) general notes; and (7) a library calendar. Nothing new in these features, except as regards the library intelligence. Signed criticisms are found in the Academy. Lists of publications in the Athenceum and in the Author. Notes and news everywhere. But we must not judge by a prospectus. Meanwhile we wish the Library Review every success. The Author cannot choose but welcome every new attempt to create and maintain an interest in literature, especially if it be remembered in each new venture that literature belongs to those who make it, not to those who sell it. The Publishers' Circular shows that the number of books published in England in 1891 was 5,706 —4,429 new books and 1,277 ncw editions. These figures show a slight decrease from those of the pre- vious year, a larger decrease from 1889, and a still larger when compared with the number in 1888, which was 6,5gi. Since 1880 the number of novels (new and old) published in a year has increased from 58o to 1,216, while " miscellaneous" (including pamphlets) has increased from 353 to 731. Books relating to the arts and sciences, and illustrated works, have decreased from 479 to 116, and theology from 975 to 627. The increase in the number of novels during the last ten years, so that there are now produced annually double the numl>er of the year 1880, is very remarkable. But in considering this increase we must remember that the Board schools have given us new readers by the million. This is shown in many ways, but especially by the immense circulation of the popular weeklies. We hope it is not libellous to say that Tit-Bits is reported to circulate 600,000 every week, while Pearson's has 3oo,ooo. At the same time the old favourites, such as Cliambers's, the Family Herald, and others maintain the position which they liave held for so many years. Then the increase of story books for school prizes and presentation becomes greater every year; and every year the demand for books from the colonies and India becomes greater. Nor must it be forgotten that of the novels intended for adult readers and those of the better class, a large proportion are actually paid for by the authors, while the better class politely decline to read them. Houghton, Mifflin and Co. will publish in March the first number of the Neio World, "a quarterly review of religion, ethics, and theology." It will be under the charge of an editorial committee consisting of Profs. Charles Carroll Everett and Crawford Howell Toy of Harvard; the Rev. Orello Cone, D.D., President of Buehtel College, and the Rev. Nicholas Paine Oilman (managing editor). The new periodical will have 200 pages in each issue, a fourth of which will be given to the careful review of important books in its field. A new magazine has appeared in America called the Philosophical Review, the first number of which, for January of this year, now lies before us. It is edited by Prof. J. G. Schurman of Cornell, and is supported in part by funds in the control of the same institution. "It will aim," says the editor, " at the organization, the diffusion and the increase of philosophical knowledge and activity in America." It will deal with all subjects that have hitherto been embraced by the term philosophy. A new weekly, literary and artistic in its aims, the Mahogany Tree, appeared at Boston with the new year. The first few numbers of such a venture rarely afford grounds for an exact and infallibly just appreciation of it. More criticism! The prospectus of another new venture, this time a quarterly review of very high aspirations, is now being sent out. It is to be called the Knight Errant, and devoted to criticism of all the arts, " working to this end without hope or, indeed, desire of pecuniary return." The expenses of the first year are assumed by forty guarantors.  ## p. 334 (#738) ############################################ 334 THE AUTHOR. Under the title "Some Aspects and Tendencies of Current Fiction," Mr. J. Stanley Little will contribute a series of articles on contemporary fiction to the Library Review, a journal for librarians and general readers, the first number of which appears this month. The Leadenhall Press has l>een turned into a limited liability company, with Mr. Andrew W. Tuer as managing director. No prospectus is issued. Who is " John Oliver Hobbes," author of " Some Emotions and a Moral "? There have been guesses and suggestions. Mr. Oscar Wilde has been con- fidently proposed as the probable author of the 1xk)1c. But it is not given to many to discover the author from internal evidence alone. It is not Mr. Oscar Wilde. Then many have thought that it was the work of a woman. They are quite right. John Oliver Hobbes is a woman. Further than that I am not allowed by my informant to go. Meantime, in the hope that these lines may reach her—since I have not been told her address—I venture to express, very humbly, the hope that we may, before long, enjoy more Emotions with or without a Moral. Mr. W. A. Gibbs is about to bring out a con- tinuation of his " Idylls of a Queen" in April, as an "Easter Offering to a Princess." The book will be published by Sampson Low and Co. In the last number, "Maisie Derrick" should have been announced as the work of Mrs. Katharine S. Macquoid. Mrs. Leith Adams (Mrs. Laffan) has just brought out her latest volume with Eden, Remington & Co. It is in one volume, and is called a "Garrison Romance." Bright, lively, natural, true, and womanly. One cannot use all these adjectives at once for many books. The serial current in House- hold Words, "Estelle," is also by Mrs. Laffan. Mr. W. Carlton Dawe's new Australian romance, "Mount Desolation," will be issued by Messrs. Cassells early in this month. Lady Fairlio Cunningham's new novel, "A Wandering Star,"—3 volumes—will be published about the 20th of March (Ward and Downey). D. Appleton and Co. are bringing out the third volume of McMaster's " History of the People of the United States." It covers the period from the Louisiana purchase down to the beginning of the War of 1812 and Hull's surrender at Detroit, and thus includes Burr's conspiracy, the Embargo and it effects, and a review of the social, economical, and political development of the people since 178+. Scribner's for March will contain the last poem written by James Russell Lowell, and "the only one of consequence that ho left in manuscript." It is called "On a Bust of Gen. Grant." One of the stanzas will be given in facsimile. A selection of Moltke's letters to his mother and to his brothers is promised by the Harpers. Mr. T. P. O'Connor, M.P., has translated Pierre Loti's work, "The Book of Pity and of Death," and it will be published by Messrs. Cassell. Mr. Joseph Knight, perhaps the l>est-kno\vn of London critics, is about to publish a volume of reminiscences of the stage. Fiction is to have a magazine all to itself. Under the title the Long Quarterly Mr. Elliot Stock will publish every three months a new novel. The Long Quarterly will be published at half-a- crown. The first number will be entitled " Until My Lord Returns," by Admiral Hinton. A new translation of the "Memoirs of Mar- guerite de Valois, Queen of Navarre." (Ninnuo.) The book will be provided with an introduction and notes by the translator, Violet Fane, and will be illustrated by portraits from contemporary en- gravings. It is dedicated to the Due d'Aumale. Mr. Fronde's masterly papers on the Spanish Story of the Armada, with other essays, are to be published in book form before long. (Longmans.) Mr. Charles Booth has ready for publication a book called "A Picture of Pauperism, with some remarks on the Endowment of Old Age." (Macmillan.) Sir Edwin Arnold's new volume will be called "Potiphar's Wife and other Poems." (Long- mans.) Lord Lytton's last Poems will probably appear this month. (Longmans.) The volume is entitled "Marah." The last poems of Philip Bourke Marston will be published in Boston by Roberts Brothers, with a preface and biographical sketch by Mrs. Louise Chandler Moult on.  ## p. 335 (#739) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 335 Mr. Lowell's "Lectures on the English Dramatists" will be published in book form next autumn by Messrs. Houghton, Mifliin and Co. Professor Karl Pearson has almost ready a book willed " The new University for London." (Fisher Unwin.) David Wingate, the poet, is dead at the age of sixty-four. Mrs. Spender's last three-volume novel "Lady Hazleton's Confessions" will be published imme- diately by Messrs. Sonnensehein. Her new novel, originally called " For better, for worse," has been run by a newspaper syndicate. That title has been already used, and it is now called "A Waking." The author of a "Game at Bluff" is getting steadily to the front. A man is always at a dis- advantage who has an elder brother in the same line and already successful, but Henry Murray is like Henry Kingsley. He cannot be mistaken for his brother, and he has a following of his own. The " Song of Sixpence," just out, is distinctly "clever," in the best sense of the word—dex- terous in construction, and possessed of the "grip" which the bad novelist toils after in vain, and the real novelist has by nature. NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. Theology. Eyton, Preb. Robert. The Lord's Prayer. Sermons. Kegan Paul. Fleming, Rev. James, B.D. Recognition in Eternity : a Sermon preached before their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales in Sandringham Church on Sunday morning, January 24, 1892. Printed by command of their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales. Skeffington and Son, 16 3, Picca- dilly, is. Kempis, Thomas X. Meditations on the Life of Christ. Translated and edited by Archdeacon Wright, M.A., and the Rev. S. Kettlewell, M.A., with a preface by the latter. Parker and Co. MacLaughlin, Rev. J. Is one Religion as Good as Another? 27th thousand. Hums and Oatcs. 2». Magee, the late W. C., D.D. Christ the Light of all Scripture. Edited by Charles S. Magee. Isbister, Tavistock Street, Covent Garden. ys. id. Maurice, F. D. Sermons preached in Lincoln's Inn Chapel. In 6 vols. Vol. IV. New edition. Macmillun. 3«. 6d. Metropolitan Tabernacle PoLrrr. Sermons preached and revised by C. H. Spurgeon during 1891. Vol. XXXVII. 7*. Metrics:, Frederick, M.A. The Church in Spain. With Map. The "National Churches" Series. Wells, Gardner, Darton. Rawlinson, Canon. The Pulpit Commentary—Job. Ex- position. Homilectics by the Rev. T. Whitelaw, D.D. Homilies by various authors. Kegan Paul. Robertson, James, D.D. The Early Religion of Israel. The Baird Lecture for 1889. Blackwood. Taylor, Rev. E. H. Messages from the Cross to the World. Griffith Farran. is. 6d. Voysey, Rev. Charles. The Bible and Modern Criticism: Three Sermons preached at the Theistic Church. Williams and Norgate. Paper covers, $d. Wickham, Rev. E. C. The Church Catechism. Notes and Questions intended to help towards its teaching in the middle forms of public schools. Percival and Co. History and Biography. Adam, G. Mercer. The Life and Career of Sir John A. Macdonald. Based on the work of Edmund Collins j revised, with additions to date. Sampson Low. i6». Aitkin, George A. The Life and Works of John Arbuthnot, M.D., F.R.C.P. With Portrait. Clarendon Press. 16s. Beesly, E. Spencer. Queen Elizabeth. "Twelve English Statesmen" Scries. Macmillan. is. 6d. Carlyle, Thomas. Lectures on the History of Literature. Delivered by, April to July, 1838. Now printed for the first time. Edited, with preface and notes, by Professor J. Reay Greene. Ellis and Elvey. 5*. Lectures on the History of Literature, delivered in i838 by. Now first published from the Anstey MS. in the library of the Bombay Branch, Royal Asiatic Society. Edited, with an introduction and notes, by R. P. Karkaria. Johnson, Times of India Office, Fleet Street. 12J. Cotton Smith, Rev. H. A History of Spilsby in Lincoln- shire, with notes on Ercsby and other places connected therewith—" The Town of Sir John Franklin." The Spilsby Printing Company. Dunbar-Ingram, T., LL.D. England and Rome: a History of the Relations between the Papacy and the English State and Church from the Norman Conquest to the Revolution of 1688. Longmans. 141. Fyfe, H. Hamilton. Annals of Our Times, a record of events sccial and political,home and foreign. Vol. III. Part II., 1891. Macmillan. Paper covers. 1*. Also in cloth boards.  ## p. 336 (#740) ############################################ 336 THE AUTHOR. Hosmer, .Tames K. A Short History of German Literature. Itevised edition. Sampson Low. 7s. Sd. Keene, H. G., CLE. Mddhava Rao Sindhia, otherwise called Madhoji. "Rulers of India" Series. Edited by Sir W. W. Hunter. Clarendon Press. 2s. 6d. Lecky, W. E. H. A History of England in the Eighteenth Century. New edition. Vol. II. Longmans. 6s. Oxdcastle, John. Memorials of Cardinal Manning. Arranged and edited by. Bums and Oates. Old England: Sketches of English History. By E. A. W. Hunt and Co., Paternoster Row. 3s. 6d. Oliphant, Mrs. Jerusalem: its History and Hope. With wood engravings from drawings by Hamilton Aide, and photographs by F. M. Good. Macrnillau. 5os. Pike, Godfrey H. The Life and Work of Archibald G. Brown, preacher and philanthropist. With an intro- duction by Sir S. A. Blackwood, is. 6d. Passmore and Alabaster. Praeger, F. Wagner, as I Knew Him. Longmans. 7s. 6d. Rousset, Camille. Recollections of Marshal Macdonald, Duke of Tarentum. Edited by. Translated by Stephen Louis Simeon. 2 vols. Bentley. Saunders, Wm., L.C.C. History of the First London County Council, 1889, 1890, 1891. National Press Agency, Whitefriars street, E.C. Schwabe, Ludwio. Teuffel's History of Roman Literature, revised and enlarged. Authorised translation from the 5th German edition, by George C. W. Warr, M.A. Vol. II. The Imperial Period. George Bell. iSs. Stow, Elizabeth. Stories from Ancient History, from the Earliest Records down to B.C. 363. David Stott. Symonds, Mrs. J. A. Recollections of a Happy Life, being the autobiography of Marianne North, edited by her sister. 2 vols. Macrnillau. 17s. net. Fiction. Allen, Grant. The Duchess of Powysland: a Novel. 3 vols. Chatto and Windus. A Woman's Victory. By the author of "Ludley's Widow." Family Story-Teller. Stevens, Strand. Baring-Gould, S. Margery of Quether, and other Stories. Methuen and Co. Boldrewood, Rolf. Nevermore. 3 vols. Macmillan. 3 is. 6d. Braunston-Jones, W. Mithazan: a Secret of Nature. 3 vols. Fisher Unwin. 3 is. 6d. Cambridge, Ada. Not all in Vain. 2 vols. Heinemann 3 is. 6d. Chronicles of Westerly: a Provincial Sketch. By the author of " Culmshire Folk." 3 vols. Blackwood. Clark-Russell, W. A Strange Elopement. Illustrated by W. H. Overend. Macrnillau. 3s. 6d. Cobb, Thomas. Miss Merewether"s Money. 2 vols. Ward and Downey. . The Westlakes. Griffith, Farran. 6s. Crim, Matt. Adventures of a Fair Rebel. Chatto and Windus. Gerard, Dorothea. Orthodox. Cheap edition. Eden, Remington. 3s. 6d. ■ On the Way Through, and other Tales. Eden, Remington. Gissing, George. Denzil Quarrier: a Novel. Lawrence and Dullen, New Bond Street. Grein, J. T. Eline Vere. Translated from the Dutch of Louis Conperus by. Chapman and Hall. 5s. Harding, Claud. The Bo's'un of the Psyche. 3 vols. Fisher LTnwin. 3 is. 6d. Herman, Henry. Eagle Joe: a Wild-West Romance. Griffith, Farran. 3s. 6d. Hewson, J. J. This and my Pipe. Illustrated. Second Edition. Paper covers. Simpkiu, Marshall, is. 3d. In Tent and Bungalow. By the nuthor of "Indian Idylls." Methuen. Jones, Charles. The Solicitor's Clerk. Second and revised edition. Effingham Wilson. 2s. 6d. Leigh-Fry, E. N. A Scots Thistle. 2 vols. Bentley. Lytton, Lord. A Strange Story. Caxton Novels. Routlcdge. Marryat, Florence. There is no Death. Griffith, Farran. 3s. 6d. Mitfobd, Bertram. Golden Face, a Tale of the Wild West. Trischler. 2s. 6d. Nibbet-Bain, R. Pretty Michal. A free translation of Maurice Jokai's romance, "A Szep Mikhal." Autho- rised version. Chapman and Hall. 5s. Paterson, Arthur. A Partner from the West. Chapman and Hall. 5s. Pendleton, Edmund. One Woman's Way: a Novel. Appleton and Company, New York. Phillpotts, Eden. Folly and Fresh Air. Trischler. is. 6d. Pidwell, Ellen. Condemned; or, In the Dark. King, Sell, and Railton, Bolt Court, Fleet Street. Paper covers, is. Rose, F. W. "I Will Repay." Eden, Remington. "Rox." Through the Mill, or Rambles in Texas. Sampson Low. Paper covers, is. Schallenbergeh, V. Green Tea: a Love Story. Vol. of the Pseudonym Library. Fisher Unwin. Paper covers, is. 6d.  ## p. 337 (#741) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 337 Sims, Gkorgk B. Memoirs of a Mother-in-Law. George Newnes (Limited), is. 6d. Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom's Cabin. Illus- trated by E. W. Kemble. 2 vols. Sampson Low. 16s. Terrell, Thomas. The City of the Just. Illustrated by Everard Hopkins. Trisehler. is. 6d. Yorke, Curtis. Two on an Island. F. V. White. Paper covers, is. General Literature. Annandale, Charles, M.A. A Concise Dictionary of the English Language. New and enlarged edition. Blackie and Son, Old Bailey. Cloth, 5s.; half morocco, 9s. Anstey, E. Mr. Punch's Young Reciter, with Introduc- tion, Remarks, and Stage Directions. Enlarged and illustrated edition. Bradbury, Agnew. Armatage, George, M.B.C.V.S. Every Man His Own Horse Doctor, in which is embodied Blaine's Veterinary Art. Eourth edition, revised and enlarged. E. Warne. 2 is. Arnold, Sir Edion. Seas and Lands. New edition, with illustrations. Longmans. 7s. 6rf. Attwood's Volunteer Artilleryman's Handbook. Re- ports of the Shoeburyness meetings from 1865 to 1892. Truelove and Shirley, Oxford Street, is. 6d. Ancient Facts and Fictions concerning Churches and Tithes. By Roundell, Earl of Selborne. Second edition, with a Supplement containing remarks on a recent history of tithes. Macmillan. 7s. 6d. Bennett, A. R. On the Telephoning of Great Cities, and on an Electrical Parcel Exchange System. Papers read before the British Association. Revised, with notes. Whittaker & Co. Paper covers, is. Brown, Dr. Robert. The Story of Africa and its Ex- plorers. Assisted by eminent African travellers. In monthly parts. Part I., with may and illustrations. Cassell. Paper covers, yd. Bullock, Charles. Temperance Talks. Home Words Office, Paternoster Square. Paper covers. $d. Britannic Confederation. A series of Papers by Admiral Sir John Colomb, Professor E. A. Freeman, G. G. Chisholm, Professor Shield Nicholson, Maurice H. Hervey, and Lord Thring. Edited, with an intro- duction, by Arthur Silva White. Published by the authority of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. Reprinted from the Scottish Geographical Magazine. With a new map of the British Empire. George Philip, Fleet Street. 3s. 6d. Cobb, A. Stanley. Metallic Reserves and the Meeting of Parliament. Effingham Wilson. Paper covers. 6d. Cochrane, Patrick, R. W. Mediaival Scotland: Chapters on Agriculture, Manufactures, Factories, Taxation, Revenue, Trade, Commerce, Weights and Measures. James Maclehose, Glasgow. 7s. £></. net. Craie, Alexander, F.S.A. America and the Americans. A narrative of a tour in the United States and Canada, with chapters on American home life. Gardner, Paternoster Square. Dilke, Sir Charles and Spenser Wilkinson. Imperial Defence. Macmillan. 3s. 6d. Dredge, James. The Columbian Exposition of 1893. What to see, and how to get there. Part I., The City of Chicago and her Exposition. Part II., The Poly- technic Cheap Trips to Chicago. The Polytechnic, Regent Street. Paper covers. 6d. Edwards, F. A. Early Hampshire Printers. Hampshire Independent Office, Southampton. Paper covers. Florence, W. J. The Handbook of Poker. Routledge. Flugel, Dr. Felix. A Universal English-German and German-English Dictionary. Supplementary part. Asher, Bedford Street, Covcut Garden. Goschen, Rt. Hon. G. J., M.P. The Theory of the Foreign Exchanges. Fifteenth edition. Effingham Wilson. Harper, Charles G. English Pen Artists of To-day. Examples of their Work, with some Criticisms and Appreciations. Percival and Co. 3/. 3s. Hessels, J. H. Archives of the London Dutch Church. Register of attestations or certificates of membership, confessions of guilt, and other papers preserved in the Dutch Reformed Church, Austinfriars, London, i568 to 1872. Edited by David Nutt. Hodgkins, J. E., and Edith. Examples of Early English Pottery, named, dated, and inscribed. Printed for the authors, by private subscription, by Cassell & Co. Hoffmann, Prof. Card Tricks with Apparatus, and Card Tricks without Apparatus. With illustrations and diagrams. E. Wanie. is. each. Huish, Marcus B. The Year's Art. Compiled by. With full-page illustrations. J. S. Virtue. Ignotus. The Essential Foundation of Real Army Reform. Eyre and Spottiswoode. Paper covers. 6d. The India Office List for 1892, containing an account of the services of officers in the Indian service, and other information. Harrison and Sons. 6s. The India List, Civil and Military. January, 1892. W. H. Allen, Waterloo Place. 10*. 6<f. Journal of the Leprosy Investigation Committee. Edited by Phiueas S. Abraham, M.A., M.D., Medical Secretary to the Committee. No. 4. December, 1891. Published for the Committee by Macmillan. 2s. 6d. Kalm's Account of ins Visit to England, on his way to America, in 1748. Translated by Joseph Lucas, with maps and illustrations. Macmillan. 12s. Keene, H. G. The Literature of France. University Extension Manual Series. John Murray. Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed, and Official Classes for 1892. Kelly & Co., Great Queen Street, W.C. 16s.  ## p. 338 (#742) ############################################ 338 THE AUTHOR. Kennedy, Admiral. Sporting Sketches in South America with map and illustrations. E. H. Porter, Princes Street, Cavendish Square. Lang, Andrew. Books and Bookmen. A new edition. Longmans, u. 6d. Loeing, G. B., M.D. A Year in Portugal, 1889-1890. G. P. Putnam's Sons, King Willian Street, Strand. Lyon, I. Whitall, M.D. The Colonial Furniture of New England: A Study of the Domestic Furniture in use in the 17th and 18th centuries. Illustrated. Houghton and Miffin, Riverside Press, Cambridge. "M." A Prosperous Kingdom : or a Vision of the Possible. The problem of pensions for old age discussed, and how to empty the workhouses. Slater, Strand. Paper covers. 6d. Macquere, T. Miller, LL.D. A Summary of the Powers and Duties of the London County Council. Second edition. Simpkin, Marshall. Paper covers, id. Mew, James, and J. Ashton. Drinks of .the World, with illustrations. The Leadenhall Press, it. is. Morris, Rev. M. C. F. Yorkshire Folk Talk, with characteristics of those who speak it in the North and East Ridings. Henry Frowde, Amen Corner: York, John Sampson. 7s. dd. net. Nottklle, L., B.A. The French Peasantry since the Revolution of 1789. Simpkin, Marshall. Paper covers, is. Picot, M. Georges. Self-Help for Labour: an Address. Some French solutions of working-class problems. Published by the Liberty and Property Defence League. Victoria Street, S.W. Paper covers, id. Priestley, Neville. Distance and Route Tables, India: showing the shortest distance and route between any two stations in India, also alternative routes between them. Indian State Railways. Second edition, revised and corrected. Printed at the Education Society's Steam Press, Bombay. Reeves, Edward. Homeward Bound, after Thirty Years. A Colonist's Impressions of New Zealand, Australia, Tangier, and Spain. With illustrations. SwanSonnen- schein. Richards, H. C., and W. H. C. Payne. The Metropolitan Water Supply: a compendium of the history, the law, and the transactions relating to the Metropolitan Water Companies from earliest times to the present day. Collected and collated by. Argus Printing Company, Temple Avenue. Saintsbury, George. Specimens from Defoe's Minor Novels. Edited by. Volume of the Pocket Library of English Literature. P ercival. 3s. 6d. Sayce, Professor A. H. Records of the Past: being English Translations of the Ancient Monuments of Egypt and Western Asia. New series, edited by. Vol. V. Samuel Bagster, Paternoster Row. Schaffer, D. A. The Impossibility of Social Democracy: being a supplement to "Quintessence of Socialism." Authorised English edition, with a preface by Bernard. Bosanquet, M.A. Swann Sonnenschcin. Scidmore, E. R. Westward to the Far East. A guide to the principal cities of China and Japan. Issued by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. Smith, Arthur H. Chinese Characteristics. Kegar. Paul. Smith, H. Gkeenhough. The Romance of History. Bentley. Teegan, Thomas H. Technical, Industrial, and Commercial Education in France. Simpkin, Marshall. Tegetemier, W. B., F.Z.A. Poultry for the Table and Market versus Fancy Fowls. With an exposition of the fallacies of poultry farming. Horace Cox, Field Office, E.C. Tredwell, Daniel M. A Monograph on Privately Illustrated Books: a Plea for Bibliomania. Privately printed at Lincoln Road, Flatbush, Long Island, U.S. Verga, Giovanni. The House by the Medlar-Tree. Translated by Mary A. Craig, with an introduction by W. D. Howells. Red Letter Stories Series. Osgood, M'llvaine. 3s. 6d. Walters, Alan. Palms and Pearls; or, Scenes in Ceylon. Bentley. Webb, W. S. California and Alaska, and over the Canadian Pacific Railway. Second edition. Illustrated. Put- nam's Sons. White, W. H. The Architect and his Artists: an essay to assist the public in considering the question, Is archi- tecture a profession or an art? Spottiswoode and Co., New Street Square. Wilkinson, J. Fhome. Pensions and Pauperism. With Notes by T. E. Young, B.A., Vice-President of the Institute of Actuaries. Mcthuen. is. Wright, H. C. Children's Stories in English Literature, from Shakespeare to Tennyson. Fisher Unwin. Ss. Educational. Baker, Major Eden, R.A. Preliminary Tactics: an introduction to the Study of War for the use of junior officers. Kegan Paul. Bkndall, H., and C. E. Laurence. Graduated Passages from Greek and Latin authors for first sight translation. Selected and supplied with short notes for beginners. Part II. Moderately easy. Cambridge University Pres... Cameron, D. A. An Arabic-English Vocabulary, for the use of English Students of Modern Egyptian Arabic Compiled by. Bernard Quariteh. Harrison, W. Jerome. Guides to the Examinations in Chemistry and Geology, and Answers to Questions. Blackie's Guides to the Science Examinations. Blackie, Old Bailey. Paper covers. 6d. each. Hughes, Wm., and J. F. Williams. Advanced Classbook of Modern Geography, Physical, Political, Commercial. George Philip, Fleet Street. 6s.  ## p. 339 (#743) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 339 Jaschke, Richard. Nutt's Conversation Dictionaries, English-French. Compiled by. David Nutt. Pellissier, Eugene, M.A. French and English Passages for Unseen Translation and Composition, with Exami- nation Papers in Grammar and Idioms. Senior course. Edited by. Practical Abithmktic Exercises for Senior Pupils, con- taining upwards of 6,ooo Examples, with Answers. Blackwood. Rotal Atlas op Modern Geography. Part IV. W. and A. K. Johnston. Paper covers. Stanford's Handy Atlas op Modern Geography 3o coloured maps. Stanford, Cockspur Street, S.W. 10s. 6d. Wormell, Richard. Plotting, or Graphic Mathematics, is. Arnold's Mathematical Series. Edward Arnold, Bedford Street, W.C. Wright, Joseph, Ph.D. A Primer of the Gothic Lan- guage, with Grammar, Notes, and Glossary. Clarendon Press. 4«. 6d. Poetry and the Drama. "A." Sonnets and Poems. John Flack, High Holborn. Blakeney, E. H., and D. M. Panton. Poems by Two Friends. Palmer, Little Queen Street, W.C. Paper covers. I*, net. Dennis, John. The Poetical Works of Sir Walter Scott. Edited, with Memoir, by. In 5 vols. Vol. I., with portrait. Aldine Edition. George Bell. is. 6d. Earle, John, M.A. The Deeds of Beowulf: an English Epic of the Eighth Century, done into modern prose. With an Introduction and Notes by. Clarendon Press. is. 6d. Lamb, Charles and Mary. Poetry for Children, i vols. The Leadenhall Press. Leather binding. Ross, Ronald. The Deformed Transformed: a Play. Chapman and Hall. 3j. 6d. Saintsbury, George. Political Verse. Edited by. Volume of the Pocket Library of English Literature. Percival. 3s. 6d. Shorter, C. K. Lyrics and Sonnets of Wordsworth. Selected and edited by. The Stott Library. David Stott, Oxford Street. Towndrow, R. F. A Garden and other Poems. Fisher Uuwin. 2S. 6d. The Professor and other Poems. By the author of "Moods." Kegan Paul. Watson, Wm. Poems. Macmillau. Ss. Law. Crawley, Charles. The Law of Husband and Wife. Clowes and Sons, Fleet Street. ios. The Law of Mcstcal and Dramatic Copyright. By Edward Cutler, Q.C., Thomas Eustace Smith, and Frederick E. Weatherly, Barristers-at-Law. Revised edition. Cassell. 3s. 6d. Oswald, J. F. Contempt of Court, Committal, and Attachment, and Arrest upon Civil Process in the Supreme Court, with the Practice and Forms. Clowes. us. 6d. Practical Hints on the Preparation and Registration of Joint Stock Companies' Forms. With prece- dents, table of fees, and stamp duties, and an index. Waterlow and Sons, London Wall. u. 6d. Piooott, F. T. Exterritoriality: the Law relating to Consular Jurisdiction and to Residence in Oriental Countries. Clowes, lit. Warbhrton, Henrt. A Selection of Leading Cases in the Criminal Law (founded on Shirley's leading cases), with notes. Stevens, Chancery Lane. 9*. Science. Bell, Robert, M.D. Tuberculosis and its Successful Treatment. David Bryce, Glasgow. i«. 6d. Bcbddicker, Otto. The Milky Way, from the North Pole to 10 deg. of south declination. Drawn at the Earl of Rosse's Observatory at Birr Castle. Longmans. 3os. Meyer, Lothar. Outlines of Theoretical Chemistry. Translated by P. P. Bedson, D.Sc, and W. Carleton Williams, B.Sc. With a preface by the author. Longmans, qs. Shaw, John, M.D. Epitome of Mental Diseases. For practitioners and students. Simpkin, Marshall; and Wright, Bristol. Parliamentary Papers. Analysis of the evidence taken before the House of Lords Committee on Metropolitan Hospitals (i«.). Agree- ment between Great Britain and Tonga relative to the Trial of British Subjects by the 'J'ongan Courts (£</.). Protocol between Great Britain and Uruguay amending the Treaty of March 26, 1884, for the Mutual Extra- dition of Fugitive Criminals (J</.). Treaty between Great Britain and Spain for the Suppression of the African Slave Trade (id.). Declaration between the Governments of Great Britain and Belgium respecting the North Sea Fisheries (id.). Declaration between the Governments of Great Britain and France for the execution of the agreement signed last year for the re- gulation of the Telephonic Service between the two countries (id.). Return of Tramways (Street and Road) Statistics for the year ended June 3o last (3d.). Consumption of Opium in India. Letter from the Government of India (is.). Annual Report of the Educational Endowments (Ireland) Commissioners for 1890-91 with abstract of the minutes of the Commis- sion, minutes of evidence and appendices (3s. qd.). Foreign Office, miscellaneous series. Netherlands, report on the evidence taken at Rotterdam and Amster-  ## p. 340 (#744) ############################################ 34° THE AUTHOR. dam by the Dutch Labour Commission (i|d.). further Correspondence respecting the Egyptian Exiles in Ceylon (i£d.). Comparative statement of Pauperism for December, 1891 (2d.). Return as to Alien Immigration for January (jd.). Report by the Board of Trade upon all the Railway, &c. Bills of Session 1891 (5jd.). Foreign Office—Miscellaneous Series, Nos. 209 to 219, reports of the subjects of general and commercial interest. Foreign Office—Annual Series, Nos. 938 to 978, Diplomatic and Consular reports on trade and finance. Annual Report on the instruction carried on at the School of Musketry, Hythe, during 1890, and on the progress of musketry instruction iu the Army during the year ended March 3i, 1891 (63.), Report on the Strikes and Lock-outs of 1890, by the Labour Correspondent of the Board of Trade (2s. 1 id.). Return as to Licensed Premises in Scotland (2s. 3d.). Reports of the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies for the year ending December 3i, 1890, Part O, Appendix (L), Trade Unions (2^/.). Comparative Statement of Pauperism (England and Wales) for November, 1891 (2d.). Foreign Office Annual Series. Report for 1891 on the Trade of France (i^d.). Accounts relating to Trade and Navigation of the United Kingdom for January, 1892 (4^/.). Ten Years' Sunshine in the British Isles, 1881-1890 (ts.). Harmonic Analysis of Hourly Observations of Air, Temperature, and Pressure at British Observatories (12s.). Hourly Means of the Readings obtained from the Self-recording Instruments at the Four Observa- tories under the Meteorological Council, 1888 (20s.). Post Office Telegraphs (Capital Account) (id.). Chelsea Hospital, account 1890-91 (id.). Imperial Defence Act, 1888; Ports and Coaling Stations, account 1890-91 (id.). Irish Land Commission, report on sales completed within the six months ended June 3o, 1891 (id.). Post Office Contract as to the Portsmouth and Ryde mails (id.). Military Forces Localization, Account 1890-91 (id.). Official Paper: Agricultural Returns of Great Britain, with Abstract Returns for the United Kingdom, British Possessions, and Foreign Countries (nd.). Census of Ireland, 1891. Part I., vol. I, Leinster. No. 2, County and City of Dublin (is. 8d.). Report of the Irish Laud Commissioners for the period from August 22, 1890, to August 22, 1891 (7jd.). Statistical Tables and Report 011 Trade Unions for the years 1889 and 1890 (5*. ijd.). Barracks Act, 1890, Account 1890-91 (id.). Supreme Court of Judicature, Account 1890-91 (3Jd.). Report to the Home Secretary on an Explo- sion of Gunpowder at Kaines Factor}' on September 11, 1891 (id.). Army (Ordnance Factories) Appropria- tion Account, 1890-91 (2^d.). Church Temporalities (Ireland)—Report upon the account for the year ended March 3i, 1891, with the account for that period, and that from July 26, 1869, to March 3i, 1891 (2^d.). Duchy of Lancaster—account for the year ended December 21 last (id.) Bank, of England—annual accounts of Exchequer Bills, &c. (id.). Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act, 1877—amendment to the statutes of Peterhouse College, Cambridge (^d.). Reports, &c., respecting Peterhead Harbour Works (id.). Returns showing particulars relating to Im- migration of Indian and Chinese Coolies into Trinidad since 1871 ($d.), and into British Guiana since the report of the Commission of Inquiry in 1871 (id.). Annual Local Taxation Returns for 1889-90 (3s. 4§d.). Return as to Licensed Houses in England and Wales (id.). Return of the Proceedings of the Irish Land Commission during August, December, 1891 (3d.). Scheme for the Union of the Benefices of Upper Chelsea and St. Jude, Upper Chelsea (id.). Report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General upon the account of the Irish Land Commission for year ended March 3i, 1891, with the account for the period from August 22, 1881, to March 3i, 1891 (2d.). Royal University of Ireland—accounts for year ended March 3l, 1891 (Jd.). Abstract Accounts of Woods, Forests, and Land Revenues, 1890-91 (2^d.). Foreign Office Annual Series Report for 1892 on the Finances of the Netherlands (ijd.). Report for 1891 on the Trade of Patras (Greece) (id.). Report for 1891 on the Trade of Zanzibar (zid.). Report of Experiments conducted by the Irish Land Commission (Agricul- tural Department) in testing the value of Applications of Sulphate of Copper to the Potato Crop, and ap- pendix to the report. Thorn and Company, Dublin. Eyre and Spottiswoode.  ## p. 341 (#745) ############################################ ADVERTISEMENTS. 341 THE AUTHORS' SYNDICATE. HIS Association is established for the purpose of syndicating or selling J_ the serial rights of authors in magazines, journals, and newspapers. It has now been at work for more than a year, and has transacted a very satisfactory amount of business during this period. It has also entered upon a great number of engagements for the future. The following points are submitted for consideration :— 1. The management is voluntary and unpaid. No one makes any profit out of the Syndicate, except the authors who use its services. 2. The commission charged on the amounts received covers the expenses of clerks, travellers, rent, and printing. As work increases this may be still further reduced. 3. Only the serial rights are sold for the author. He receives his volume rights and copyright. 4. The Syndicate has an American agent. 5. The Syndicate will only work for members of the Society. 6. Its offices are on the same floor as those of the Society, and its assistance and advice are always at the service of the Society. 7. Authors are warned that no syndicating is possible for them until they have already attained a certain amount of popularity. 8. The Syndicate acts as agent in every kind of literary property. 4, Portugal Street, Lincoln'8 Inn Fields.  ## p. 342 (#746) ############################################ AD VERTISEMENTS. Not Work, but Play. Leave the drudgery of the Pen—Soiled Fingers—Blotted and Obscure Manuscript, to those who prefer darkness to light. Quick, up-to-date writers use THE BAR-LOCK TYPE-WRITER. 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The interests of Authors capably represented. Proposed agreements and estimates examined on behalf of Authors. MS. placed with Publishers. Transfers carefully conducted. Twenty-five years' practical experience in all kinds of publishing nnd book producing. Consultation free. Terms and testimonials from leading Authors on application to Mr. A. M. Burghes, Authors' Agent, I, Paternoster Row. London: Printed by Kyrk and SrOTTiswooiiE, Printers to the Queen's most Excellent Majesty. Why? Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 02 Issue 10 (March 1892) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 02 Issue 10 (March 1892) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015031017927&amp;view=1up&amp;seq=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015031017927</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1892-03-01-The-Author-2-10 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/262/1892-04-01-The-Author-2-11.pdf 9a16a0d63dfceab5b7b3f5b776eb7e76 PDF Text Text �������������������������������������� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1892-04-01 Volume 2 Issue 11 Pages Page range in volume 343–380 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18920401 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin Hbe Hutbor* (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESA1TT. Vol. II.—No. ii.] APRIL i, 1892. CONTENTS. [Prick Sixpence. TAQE Warnings 345 Notices 345 Literary Property— I.—Transfer of Contract 347 II.—Literary Agents 348 11L—The supposed Increase of Magnalnra 348 IV.—The Output 349 The Authors' Syndicate 349 American Authors— 1.—The American Society of Authors 3S» II—The Book of the Authors' Club 35' The Report of 1891 352 The Story or Anita 354 Notes from Paris 35s Spring. Bv F. Bayrord Harrison 300 T^../..l D««l... .. .. 3OO 361 Useful Books Notes and News. By Walter Besant PAOB An Old Master 3<>4 Scott on the Art of Fiction 365 Author and Editor— I.—" Advice to Contributors" 367 II. —No Use in Writing 3*8 III. —A Kindness and its Sequel 30S IV. —Returned Unread 3'9 V.—With no Name 3('9 VI.—Long Kept, and then Returned 369 Correspondence— I.—Novels on Commission 3&9 II— The Library Stamp 37° III. —How Books are not Read 37° IV. —Mr. Traill's List of Poets 37< V.—The Great Use of a Table of Conteuts 37 > VI.—Compositors' Errors 37' "At the Author's Head" 371 New Books and New Editions 373 EYRE AND SPOTTISWOODE. INVESTMENTS. A List of 1,600 British, Colonial, and Foreign Securities, with the highest and lowest prices quoted for the last twenty-two years. 25. 6(7. "A useful work of reference."—Money. PHILOSOPHICAL NOTES ON BOTANICAL SUB- JECTS. By E. Bonayia, M.D., BrigadeSurL-eon, I.M.D. With 160 Illustrations, a*, 6(7. KEAL ARMY REFORM, THE ESSENTIAL FOUNDA- TION OF. By Ioxo-rra. 6d. 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Prepared under the direction of the Statute law- Revision Committee, and Edited by G. A. R. Fitzgerald, FORECASTING BY MEANS OF WEATHER CHARTS, Principles of. By the Hon. Ralph: Abeeceomuy, F.R. Met. Soc. as. HYGIENE AND DEMOGRAPHY. Transactions of the Seventh International Congress of. To be published in thirteen volumes. Vol. XII. (Municipal Hygiene and Demography). Now ready, as. (id. List of the Series on application. METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS, Instructions in the use of. a«. 6<7. THE LITERATURE RELATING TO NEW ZEALAND. A Bibliography. Royal 8vo. Cloth, 2*. (id. COPYRIGHT LAW REFORM: an Exposition of Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission or 1S78. and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lelv, Esq., Itarrister-at-Law. i*. 6(7. KEW BULLETIN, 1891. Monthly, id. Appendices, ad. each. Annual Subscription, including postage, )s. gd. Volume for 1S91, 3s. yr/.. by post. MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. Descriptive Catalogue of the Musiral Instruments exhibited at the Royal Military Exhi- bition. 1S90. Compiled by Capt. Day, Oxford Light Infantry. Illustrated. 21s. "Unique, as no earlier l»ook exists in English dealing exhaus- tively with the same subject A very important con- tribution to the history of orchestration."— Athenaum. PUBLIC RECORDS. A Guide to the Principal Classes of Documents preserved in the Public Record Office. By S. R. Scaegill-Birp. F.S.A. 11. "The value of such a work as Mr. ScargillBird's con scarcely be over-rated."— Times. Esq. Vols. I. to IV. now ready, price 7*. 6(7. each. TEN YEARS' SUNSHINE. Record of the Registered Sunshine at 46 Stations in the British Isles, 1881-1890. a«. Monthly Lists of Parliamentary Papers upon Application. Quarterly Lists Post Free, an". Miscellaneous List on Application. Every Assistance given to Correspondents; and Books not kept in stock obtained without delay. GOVERNMENT AND GENERAL PIHLIKHERS. KVKK awl SPOTTISWOODE, Her Majesty's Printers, East Harding Street, Loudon, E.C.  ## p. 344 (#748) ############################################ 344 ADVERTISEMENTS. Cfje ^orietg of 8utfiora (finrorporatelO. PRESIDENT. The Right Hon. the LORD TENNYSON, D.C.L. Sir Edwin Arnold, K.C.I.E. Alfred Austin. A. W. a Beckett. Robert Bateman. Sir Henry Bergne, K.C.M.G. Walter Besant. Augustine Birrell, M.P. R. D. Blackmore. Rev. Prof. Bonney, F.R.S. Lord Brabourne. James Bryce, M.P. P. W. Clayden. Edward Clodd. Hon. John Collier. W. Martin Conway. Marion Crawford. Oswald Crawfurd, C.M.G. COUNCIL. The Earl of Desart. A. W. Dubourg. John Eric Erichsen, F.R.S. Prof. Michael Foster, F.R.S. Herbert Gardner, M.P. Richard Garnett, LL.l). Edmund Gosse. H. Rider Haggard. Thomas Hardy. Rudyard Kipling. Prof. E. Ray Lankkster, F.R.S. J. M. Lely. Rev. W. J. Loftie, F.S.A. F. Max Muller, LL.D. George Meredith. Herman C. Merivale. Rev. C. H. Middleton-Wake, F.L.S. Hon. Counsel—E. M. Underdown, Q.C. Pembroke and J. C. Parkinson. The Earl of Montgomery. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart. LL.D. Walter Herries Pollock. A. G. Ross. George Augustus Sala. W. Baptists Scoones. G. R. Sims. J. J. Stevenson. Jas. Sully. William Moy Thomas. H. D. Traill, D.C.L. Baron Henry de Worms, F.R.S. Edmund Yates. MP., A- W. k Beckett. Hon. John Collier. W. Martin Conway. Edmund Gosse. H. Rider Haggard. J. M. Lely. COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT. Chairman—Walter Besant. Sir Frederick Pollock. A. G. Ross. Solicitors—Messrs. Field, Roscoe, & Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. Secretary—S. Squire Sprioge. OFFICES. 4, Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C. PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1891 can be had on application to the Secretary. 2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary- Property. Issued to all Members. 3. The Grievances Of Authors. (The Leadenhall Press.) 2*. The Keport of three Meetings on the general subject of Literature and its defence, held at Willis's Kooms, March 1887. 4. Literature and the Pension List. By \V. Morris Colles, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 3s. 5. The History of the Societe des Gens de Lettres. By S. Squire Sprigge, Secretary to the Society, is. 6. The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c, with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. 7. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squire Sprigge. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society's offices, the various kinds of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3s.' 8. Copyright Law Eeform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill now before Parliament. With Extracts from the Keport of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lely. Eyre and Spottiswoode. i*. 6d.  ## p. 345 (#749) ############################################ ^Ibe Hutbot\ (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. II.—No. n.] APRIL i, 1892. [Price Sixpence. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. WARNINGS. Readers of the Author are earnestly desired to make the following warnings as widely known as possible. They are based on the experience of six years' work upon the dangers to which literary property is exposed :— (1.) Never sign any agreement of which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part, until you have proved the figures. (2.) Never enter into any correspondence with publishers, especialli/ with those who advertise for MSS., who are not recom- mended by experienced friends or by this Society. (3.) Never, on any account whatever, bind yourself down for future work to any one firm of publishers. (4.) Never accept any proposal of royalty until you have ascertained exactly what the agreement gives to the author and what to the publisher. (5.) Never accept any pecuniary risk or respon- sibility whatever without advice. (6.) Never, when a MS. has been refused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises they may put forward, for the productionjofjthejwork. (7.) Never sign away American rights. Keep them. Refuse to sign an agreement con- taining a clause which reserves them for the publisher. If the publisher insists, take away the MS. and offer it to another. VOL. 11. (8.) Keep control over the advertisements by clause in the agreement. Reserve a veto. If you are yourself ignorant of the subject, make the Society your agent. (9.) Never forget that publishing is a business, like any other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy, charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with business men. Societi/'s Offices:— 4, Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields. NOTICES. THE Secretary will be much obliged if any members who have kept the Report for 1890 will kindly send their copies to him. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of this Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly understood that the Society does not, under any circumstances, under- take the publication of MSS. B b 2  ## p. 346 (#750) ############################################ 346 THE AUTHOR. The official directions for the .seeming of American copyright by English authors were given in the Author for June 1891. Members are earnestly entreated to take the trouble of reading those directions. Members are earnestly requested to forward agreements to the Society for inspection before they sign them. Once signed, the mischief is generally irreparable. Communications intended for the Authors' Syndi- cate should be addressed to W. Morris Colics, the Honorary Secretary. An American Success. "There are," writes an American author, "in our country as in yours, various kinds of success. Thus, the late Mr. E. P. Roe has obtained a success ; Mr. Howells is successful; and a certain writer, whom we will call Mr. Smith, to prevent jealousies, is also successful. But Mr. Hoe's success, if it is measured by sales, compared with Mr. Howells', and that again with Mr. Smith's, may be represented in the continued proportion of 1,000 : 7 : i. "The general method of publication with novels, by which the greatest successes are obtained, has hitherto been to bring them out at a dollar or a dollar and a half at first, and afterwards in paper at i*. or 2s., as a cheap edition. Let me give you one or two experiences. A novel was published two or three years ago by one of our most successful men. It was his most successful work. He published it first in serial form, for which he obtained the price of a thousand pounds, or perhaps more. His English publishers set it up in this country, and gave him—for sole remunera- tion—the plates, which he handed to his American publishers, who allowed him a i5 per cent, royalty, in consideration of having the plates given to them, which saved composition. There were sold 2,000 copies at 4s., or one dollar, and 16,000 at I*. You may easily calculate the royalty to the author. He got £180 only. His publisher, for his share, supposing the returns to have been honest, of which there was no proof, made about £260. And this with a man who stands in the front rank of American writers. "Here is another experience. A novel was brought out by a new writer. Here was risk, it may be said. But the publisher owned that he had sufficient prestige to plant at least 1,200 copies of every work he produced. And in this case the book was heralded by a letter of praise, written by one of the best known and best trusted critics in the country. The author was to receive 10 per cent, on all copies after the first 5oo. There were subscribed 7,000 copies at a dollar, and 20,000 copies at is. The author obtained £240 for his work. The publisher, for his share, netted £480 or £5oo—just twice as much. This with a book about which no risk at all could be pretended. You English authors will do well to be on your guard when you deal with our publishers. "But, above all, do not expect too great results. A circulation of 2,5oo copies of a dollar book is a remarkable—a noteworthy—success. That of 5,ooo copies is a most unusual success. One of 10,000 is phenomenal. Tilings may alter in accordance with the new Copyright Bill, but let your antici- pations be moderate and you will not be dis- appointed. For you, as for us, the serial right will remain the most valuable," The Pantheon. This is a gratis advertisement for the man Morgan, for the International Society of Literature, Science, and Art, and for the official journal of that institution. Undismayed by repeated exposure, this precious Association still sends out numberless circulars, and perhaps still receives a fair proportion of guineas in return. Blue Books and Bed Books, Clergy lists, and Calendars have all been ransacked, with the result that everyone of the slightest official position has been assured, that by a special resolution of the Council he can become a Fellow of the Society, without further formula, upon payment of one guinea. And now the Pantheon has arrived, the official organ of the Society. We reproduce from this sheet part of the article headed, " the Literary Department." "The Department under- takes the whole cost of the revision, production, and publication of Fellows' and Members' work, where more than usual merit is apparent (even though it be the Author's//'«Y work), paying to the Author an agreed share of the profits. In other cases the Author will be required to pay one-half of the estimated cost" (whose estimate ?) " taking one-half of the net proceeds arising from the Sides, but in no instance will the entire estimated cost of an accepted Work be required of the Author, as demanded by ordinary publishers. Works that are likely to prove a failure will not be undertaken. Arrangements have been made whereby all Works published will be reviewed by the press. Thus Authors will secure the two essentials to success too often denied them, viz., production of their first works and publicity." (Italics are the Pantheon's.)  ## p. 347 (#751) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 34; To anyone with the least idea of what a bona fide publishing offer looks like, these suggestions form a very clear case. But probably many people will be caught by them. "Here," will the aspirant siiy, " is my chance. Production and advertisement secured, with only half the risk to lie run! And to be dubbed an Author with a capital A ! and to see my MSS. called Work with a capital \V!" Of course the Secretary of the Literary Department will receive MSS. by the thousand. The particular method is so obvious to readers of the . tut/tor, and to all who know, that we refer to it apologetically. A Novel Book Club. A new kind of Book Club has been started at Bridgwater. It is designed partly to furnish new books for the Free Library in that town. A small library has been founded, consisting of about 400 volumes, selected with some care. Those who use the library find in every volume one of the deposit forms used in the Post Office. Every member affixes a postage stamp before returning the book. If, therefore, a l>ook is kept for four days and is then taken out, it will earn, not counting Sundays, 78 pence in the year. Now, with 78 pence, or 6*. 6d., certainly two, and possibly three, books can be bought for the library. And if there is a steady circulation of 3oo out of the 400 books on the shelves, the amount realised would be nearly £100 a year. Everything depends upon the honesty of the reader. In these little things honesty may perhaps be expected, especially pro- vided the readers feci a certain assurance that they may be detected in dishonesty. Here is a circular which runs as follows :— "Of Paramount Importance, and should be Bead by every Author! HINTS TO AUTHORS and LITERARY ASPIRANTS, by Liber. Cr. 8vo., 6d. a copy, sent post free on receipt of 7 stamps. Contents:— Advice to Authors and Literary Aspirants, Publisfters and Publishing, on makin;/ a Booh, Poetry, MSS., Proof-correctimj, SfC, Remuneration." It was with an expectant eye that we glanced over the pages of this little work, for the contents, as advertised, ought to interest us much, if they were properly done, and should be of much service to authors. We give an introductory sentence, which rendered it unnecessary to read more. "No one can write poetry, unless they have the poetic vein or gift, and most assuredly they cannot write books, or for the press, <$c, unless they have those natural endowments which ensures an ap- preciative public." We did, however, read a little more. The rest of the work is full of vague encouragement to all who have MSS. to print them, and in an accom- panying letter, Messrs. Alder & Co., "who have twenty years of experience in publishing," offer to revise MSS. and to generally assist the fortunate author. We give the firm this credit—it is not likely that their pamphlet will bring even the youngest of aspirants to them for advice. Their wording is too clumsy. When we remember the letters of the London Literary Society, of the City of London Publishing Company, of Mr. MeGuire, and of Messrs. Bevington and Co., and recall the fact that these letters secured applicants by the score, it is hard to believe that any lwit can be too coarse. But " Liber's" utter freedom from syntax would shake a baby's confidence in his advice. ♦•»••♦ LITERARY PROPERTY. 1. Transfer of Contract. "fTMIE Author calls attention to a recent advet*- I tisement in the Times, in which a firm of publishers, having more MSS. of novels in their possession than they can for some time publish, offer to part with the contracts relating to several MSS. by good authors (some being subject on publication to a royalty), and point out 'this is an admirable opjwrtunity for a young lirm who want to start with a good lot of publications without any loss of time,' the adver- tisement being addressed to 4 Young Publish- ing Firms or others commencing a publishing business.' The Author 4 has always been of opinion that a contract by one author with one publisher, except in the case of sale, could not be passed on to another publisher without the author's consent,' but thinks that the question is one for lawyers to consider. The general rule as to assignability of contracts is that all contracts are assignable by either party on notice to the other, but without the  ## p. 348 (#752) ############################################ 348 THE AUTHOR. consent of the other, except in cases where the individual skill or other personal qualifications of the assigning contractor were relied on by the party contracting with him, and the modern ten- dency of the Courts appears to be in favour rather of extending than narrowing the assignability of contracts (see 'Chitty on Contracts,' 12th edit, at p. 862, citing The British Waggon Company v. Lea, 44 Law J. Rep. Q. B. 321). In two cases, however—that of Stevens v. Benning, 6 De G. M. & G. 2 23, and Hole v. Bradbury, 48 Law J. Kep. Chane. 673—contracts between author and pub- lisher have been held not to be assignable. In Stevens v. Benning, a complicated case arising out of 'Forsyth on the Law of Composition with Creditors,' it was held that an agreement on the half-profit system was of a personal nature on both sides, so that the benefit of it was not assignable by either party without the other's consent. In Hole t\ Bradbury, another half-profit agreement between Canon Hole and Messrs. Bradbury and Evans for the production of 'A Little Tour in Ireland, with Illustrations by John Leech,' was held also to be personal, and to be put an end to by a complete change of partnership in the publishing firm. From the language of Lord Justice Fry in delivering judgment, it is clear that that learned and literary judge was of opinion that, except where the copyright passes, the contract between author and publisher is personal and not assignable, but that there is a great distinction arising if the copyright is sold to the publisher, and in such a case we cannot but think that as a copyright is assignable ad infinitum, a contract to produce copyright must be assignable ad infinitum also, but assignable by the publisher only, and not by the author also. At any rate, authors would do well, in contracting to produce a work of which they sell the copyright and receive no further re- muneration, to restrain the assignability of the contract in some reasonable manner, as it is obvious that publishers must differ very much from one another in capability to get a book sold.'' In ordinary cases, therefore, publishers' contracts are not assignable, and those authors who find their works passing into the hands of publishers others than those with whom they originally contracted, will do well either to consult their own solicitors or to apply to our secretary forthwith. It seems also to be worth while to restrict assignability in cases where the copyright is sold, otherwise an author who expects to be published in London may suddenly find himself published in Cornwall, and in Cornwall only.—Law Journal (March 19). II. Literary Agents. Two or three letters have been received on the subject of literary agents and their use in the literary world. A good deal of doubt and of mis- understanding exists on the subject. For instance, those, who think that an agent can succeed in placing work that has l>een already refused by editors and publishers arc certain to be disap- pointed. They may get the agent to make the attempt; in the end they will grumble at paying for services which have proved useless; they may suspect that these services have never been rendered at all. No one—not a literary friend, not a well- known man of mark, not an agent—can succeed in getting editors to accept MSS. unsuitable, or pub- lishers to produce work of no commercial value. No one can help the author but himself. He alone has to besiege the fort. Very often he has to retire; in some few cases the fort presently sur- renders. Of what use, then, is the agent? Of every use to the writer tcho has already created a demand. The agent undertakes his work, esti- mates his market value, keeps him out of mischief, and leaves him free from money worries. There are so few, comparatively, who have succeeded in creating this demand for their work, that they may reasonably Ijc siipj>osed to know the agents who can be trusted. A bad ageut—one who plays into the hands of fraudulent publishers—audits and passes fraudulent accounts—is a worse shark than the most dishonest of publishers. Beware of him! In a word. Let no one go to any agent on the faith of an advertisement. And let no one who is not already on the ladder of popularity go to any agent at all. III. The supposed Increase of Magazines. On the subject of magazines, we are always ready to cry out at the increase in their numbers of late years. The following, however, is a list of monthly magazines published in the year 1807, with their prices. It will be observed that, com- paring the population of Great Britain in 1807 with that of 1892, there were many more magazines in proportion to population than there are now; and comparing the proportion of reading classes, very many more. And if we consider the Colonies and India, there is no comparison possible. Then iu 1807 the population of England alone was 9,000,000. In 1892, it is 27,000,000, or three times that of  ## p. 349 (#753) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 349 the former year. Now, consider the magazines of 1807. They were :— Athenaeum, 2*. Monthly Repository, Agricultural, is. 6d. is. Britannic, 1*. Methodist, 6d. Botanical, 3s. Monthly, is. 6d. Christian Observer, is. Monthly Mirror, is. 6d. Evangelical, 6d. Naval Chronical, is.Sd. European, is. 6d. Naturalist's Miscellany, Gentleman's, is. 6d. 2*. 6d. Gospel, gd. Orthodox Churchman, Literary Recreations, is. 6d. is. 6d. Philosophical Mining, Literary Panorama, 2s. 6d. 2s. 6d. Philosophical, 2s. 6d. Ladies', is. Repertory of Arts and Ladies'Museum, is. Manufactures, 2s.6d. La Belle Assemblee, Records of Literature, 2S. 6d. 2 s. 6(7. Le Beau Monde, 2s. 6d. Sporting, i». id. Medical and Physical, Theological and Bibli- 2s. 6d. cal, 6d. Universal, is. 6d. Besides these there were the reviews:— The Annual, £1 is. Literary, 2s. 6d. Anti-Jacobin, 2s. 6d. Monthly, 2s. 6d. British Critic, 2s. 6d. Medical and Surgical, Critical, 2s. 6d. is. 6d. Eleetric, is. 6d. Oxford, 2s. 6d. Edinburgh, 5s. In short, there were in 1807,40 magazines to 9,000,000 people. But, at the very least, five-sixths of these, rustics, children and the working classes, read nothing. That makes one magazine for every 40,000 people. Observe again that these magazines touched only the better class. At the same rate we ought now to have 700 magazines of the higher class. IV. The Output. The autumn harvest of books is followed by a spring gathering almost as rich. The Laureate, our President, contributes his new drama, advertised for the last day of March. Lord Lytton's posthu- mous volume " Marah " is out. Sir Edwin Arnold has produced his " Potiphar's Wife "; Dr. Abbott, his book on the "Anglican Career of Cardinal Newman"; Mr. Molesworth, his "Stories of Saints for Children "; Prof. Earle, his "Deeds of Beowulf "; the Dean of "Winchester, his " History of France "; Prof. Jebb, the " Fifth Part of his Sophocles"; Archdeacon Farrar, his new Volume of Sermons; Grant Allen, his new novel, the "Duchess of Powysland"; a popular edition of Mrs. Oliphant's "Life of Laurence Oliphant"; Mr. S. Baring Gould, his new novel, " Margery of Quether"; Mr. Dubourg, whose silences are too prolonged, is ready with his romantic drama "Angelica"; "Melmoth the "Wanderer" is revived once more; Mr. George Gissing produces his "Denzil Quarrier"; Churchill's "Rosciad" is reprinted. And when we consider the long lists which are not advertised in the ordinary channels and never appear in the Saturday, the Spectator, or the Athaneum, there is little reason to doubt that the output of 1892 will equal that of the preceding years. All the more reason to keep hammering into the minds of those who are terrified at this output the fact that it is intended for an enormous multitude of readers, every day growing greater and more greedy for literary food. Wc need not l>e afraid about the quantity; that concerns the purveyors only; as for the quality, let us remember that it is what our educators make it. If the quality is low, raise the standard by education—or by example. Meantime, let us do our Iwst to prevent the publishing of books worth- less and not wanted. THE AUTHORS* SYNDICATE. THE progress of this offshoot of the Society has already fulfilled the expectations of those who are responsible for its formation and management. An Honorary Council is now formed, and the work is being put on an extended basis, so that it may now undertake the management of all forms of literary property. The difficulties which had to be overcome at the outset were not inconsiderable. The natural distrust of a new and unknown organisation, the active competition of rivals, and the overt or covert opposition of a few who regarded the association as " superfluous " were so far successful that they prevented progress from being as rapid as could be desired. Much time was occupied in establishing business relations with publishers and with the periodical press in all parts of the world. Our agents and travellers have been actively engaged in introducing the association and explaining its method of working. The result so far is as satisfactory as could be wished. A large number of publishing houses in this country and in America have not only expressed their willingness to co-operate but have entrusted tlx? Syndicate with negotiations on their behalf. It is not perhaps putting it too high to say that we have the ear of the British Press throughout the world. We are efficiently represented in  ## p. 350 (#754) ############################################ 35° THE AUTHOR. America by agents of tried integrity. From this it will be seen that the encouragement which the association has received is highly promising. Many publishers, nearly every journal of standing in the kingdom, many journals in the colonies, and in India, and either directly, or through our agents, a large number of established journals in the United States have requested that we will keep them constantly informed of the rights we have to offer. In addition, a large number of periodicals have expressed their willingness to deal through the Syndicate, provided it can supply them with the material they require. Only two journals and one magazine have expressed any unwillingness to do business, in each cast; simply on the ground that their conductors object to the intervention of such an intermediary. The applications which reach the Syndicate for the work of the best writers are steadily increasing. There is, too, a small but growing demand for work on its merits, apart from name, and the Syndicate has even been asked to send out work of all kinds with its imprimatur. When the necessary arrangements have been completed a reading staff will be esta- blished, whose recommendation shall be given with as much jealousy as that of a publisher's reader. It is obvious that work which secures so valuable a recommendation is certain to receive favourable attention. Again, the knowledge possessed by the advisers of the Syndicate of the markets for literary property will be, at least, instrumental in sparing members much disappointment. It must bo understood that this department is quite distinct from the reading department of the Society. The Syndicate does not give an educa- tional opinion, but passes judgment upon the commercial value of a MSS. submitted to it.* The Syndicate, it must lie repeated, acts merely as the agent of members, and its e.\j>enses are met by a commission charged upon moneys received. It is now in a position to look after all rights that may be entrusted to it. The information accumulated in the archives of the Society is at its service, and it is simply impossible to exaggerate the value of that information. Its conductors are by means of this knowledge acquainted with the methods of business of every publishing house in the trade. The future of the Syndicate now depends only on the support it receives from the members of the Society, and it is hoped that they will, in their own interests, strengthen the hands of its conductors. Members who receive applications for work from the manager will materially advance the interests of the Syndicate if they will endeavour, as far as possible, to meet its demands, although these must, necessarily, * No MSS. whatever must be sent to the .Syndicate without previous communication with the secretaries. often be somewhat peremptory. None of the work of the association is more important than that it should, as far as possible, satisfy the needs of its clients. It has been objected that the Syndicate is designed to sow distrust between authors and editors or publishers. Nothing could be further from the fact. The jiersonal relations of publishers and editors with authors will most certainly con- tinue cordial so long as their business negotiations are conducted for them by means of such an asso- ciation as our own. Nothing is so conducive to a rupture of the entente cordiale as those misunder- standings which constantly arise when an author conducts his own business for himself. The history .of literature is full of such misunderstand- ings and quarrels. It is a preposterous condition to insist that a distinguished author shall do his own "marketing." And it must be remembered that the only way in which authors can act with each other, and for themselves, is by means of such an association as this, in which they are not e.rploites for the advantage and interests of one |>erson. It is the interest of the Syndicate to advance the position of everyone who takes advantage of its services. There are no traps or secret profits. W. M. C. AMERICAN AUTHORS. I. The Amekican Society of Authors. Prospectus: PltOTECTION of authors and of literary property. First. By advice before publishing; by arbi- tration or by appeal to law in all cases where members have been swindled or oppressed by publishers. Second. By enacting here the French statutes in regard to!literary property; in particular that one which compels the publisher to affix to each book printed by him a stamp furnished by the author of said book and inflicting legal penalties if he neglects or refuses to do so. (A law which would do away entirely with the wholesale cheating of the author by the publisher in the return of books sold.) Third. Extension of the present term of copy- right to the lifetime of the author, or fifty years.  ## p. 351 (#755) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 35* Fourth. Carriage of literary property (MSS.) through the mails at the same rates charged for property not literary. Fifth. Co-operation with the British Society of Authors for needed amendments to the present International Copyright Law. Sixth. Cultivation of a fraternal spirit among writers by monthly meetings for discussion and the reading of papers on literary topics, and by the publication of a monthly journal devoted to the interests of authors and of the Society. Seventh. Reading of MSS. for authors, and opinions as to its value, &c. Membership. All persons, male or female, who have written a book, or are engaged in writing for the press, to be eligible to membership. Annual Dues. Limited to $5 (the dues of the British Society), in return, each member to be entitled to legal and expert advice gratis, and, if wronged, to have his case prosecuted by the Society; also to one year's subscription to the Society's journal. Officers. A President, Secretary, and Board of Managers, to be elected by members at an annual meeting, the Secretary to be executive officer, the Board of Managers to control the affairs and shape the policy of the Society. The above prospectus is followed by a letter, of which the following is an extract:— "We ought to have in America a society of at least 5,ooo members. If such a society did nothing more than force Congress to enact the French statutes (noticed above), it would prove abundantly its "raison d'etre." But it could do much more. Will you join us in creating such a society, by pledging your name as a member when organised, and, if convenient, by attending a meeting for organisation, to be held privately in New York not later than May 1 st? If 100 favourable replies to this circular are received, it is proposed to organise such a society at once. "To those who fear to incur the resentment of publishers by joining such a society, we would say that its proceedings and lists of members could be kept secret, if desired, but no publisher would be so foolhardy as to antagonise such a body, since with the British Society (whose co-operation is VOL. 11. pledged by their Committee) and the French Society, it would control nearly the entire literary output of the world. "Charles Burr Todd," Author of "Life and Letters of Joel Barlow." "Story of the City of New York." "Story of Washington, D.C." II. The Book of the Authors' Club. An erroneous account of a project recently entered upon by the Authors' Club appeared in several of the New York daily papers a few days since. The enterprise has proceeded so far that its success is no longer problematical, but the Club was not quite ready to announce it. Now, how- ever, the Critic is authorized to set forth the matter as it is. The Club will publish a sumptuous volume, made up of stories, poems, essays, and sketches, written specially for it by 100 or more of the members. One hundred and six have definitely promised to contribute. The length of the con- tributions will vary from one page to a dozen pages. Those contributors who are artists as well as authors arc asked to illustrate their articles. The volume will be as handsome typographically as the De Vinne Press can make it. The head of that establishment, by the way, is himself an author and a member of the Club, and will contribute to the book an article on " Typographic Fads." But one edition will be printed, and that one limited to 251 numbered copies, 25o of which are to be sold to subscribers. In every copy of the book, each article will be signed, in pen and ink, by its author. The subscription price is 8100, and the Club may reserve the right to raise the price after the first 100 copies have been sold. Type-written copies of the articles are prepared for the printer; and the original manuscripts, clean and whole, are to be bound up by themselves and sold to the highest bidder. About 5o of the contributors have already placed their articles in the hands of the Committee. These include, among others, essays by Poultney Bigelow, James Howard Bridge, Andrew Carnegie, George Cary Eggleston, Henry R. Elliott, George H. Ellwanger, Parke Godwin, Laurence Hutton, Rossiter Johnson, Albert Mathews, Brander Matthews, Oscar S. Straus and Charles Dudley Warner; poems by Henry Abbey, Elbridge S. Brooks, John Vance Cheney, Richard Watson Gilder, Arthur Sherburne Hardy, Henry Harland (" Sidney Luska "), John Hay, James B. Kenyon, Walter Learned, William Starbuck Mayo, James Herbert Morse, David L. Proudfit, Clinton Scollard C c  ## p. 352 (#756) ############################################ 35* THE AUTHOR. and "William Hayes Ward; stories by William H. Carpenter, John D. Champlin, Jr., Maurice F. Egan, Harold Frederic, Charles Ledyard Norton, Horace Porter, Theodore Roosevelt and George E. Waring, Jr.; sketches by Samuel L. Clemens (" Mark Twain "), Moncure D. Conway, Thomas W. Knox, James M. Ludlow and Horace E. Scudder. The intention is to carry the book through the press during the spring and summer, and have it ready for delivery next autumn. The Club has not yet formally opened a subscription list, but a good many subscriptions have been sent in. Letters re- lating to it should be addressed to the Secretary of the Club, Mr. Rossiter Johnson, i, Bond Street, New York. The money to be raised by this publi- cation will be held as the nucleus of a building fund; but as the Club has never been in debt, and its finances have always been managed remarkably well (belying the popular dictum that literary men do not understand business), it is not probable that a clubhouse will be erected very soon.—New York Critic. THE REPORT OF 1891. f | ^HIS Report is, in every respect, the most i satisfactory that the Society has had to show. There is advance in every direction. First, as regards numbers. The election of over 200 during the year; the loss, by death or retirement, of no more than 3o or so; the increase of members to 800; these are very satisfactory figures. They have not, as yet, assumed the proportions which we desire, but a list of 800 means a very consider- able advance in power. We now have among our members nearly all the best known writers of the day. The opposition which we formerly received has, in great measure, disappeared. It still pleases certain journals persistently to misrepresent the aims and the work of the Society. They have, no doubt, their motives and their inspiration. Meantime, it is now generally understood that our chief raison d'etre is the definition and the maintenance of literary property. With this end in view, we have investigated the exact meaning of the various systems of publication—" half-profits," royalties, &c.—and have shown what these mean to publisher and to author, and have exposed the various frauds practised under their methods. Wc therefore continually and earnestly entreat everyone who has nn agreement submitted to him to ascertain, before he signs it, what proportion in the returns of his own property is offered him, and what is reserved for the publisher. If he has any doubt on the point, let him ask the publisher for an estimate of this proportion on the supposition of certain results. Or, which is simpler, let him refer the agreement to the Secretary, remembering to forward not only the agreement, but the length of the MS. and the kind of form in which it is to appear. There has been, from the beginning of the Society, a persistent attempt made to represent it as hostile to publishers. This is, of course, the trick of the fraudulent publisher in order to cover his own iniquity. He pretends that not only he himself, but all the fraternity, are attacked. We will repeat, if necessary, with every number of the Author, that the Society fully recognises the necessity and the justice of allowing the publisher his just fees and share of the property whose rents he collects and which he manages. Like the solicitor, too, he must be paid first- But he must not make secret—which are fraudulent—profits. And in every agreement it must be clearly understood what share he is to receive, without any other secret—and fraudulent—profits. What is this share? Is it possible to arrive at a method of publishing which can be applied to every form of book alike, whether cheap or dear, large or small? Perhaps. Let us try. We will state the problem in plain language, and refer it to our members. Perhaps between us all an answer may be found. Suppose that answer will not be accepted by publishers? Well, in the present competitive condition of business no method based upon fair play is in the least likely to be refused by the better houses. If it were refused, the next step would be easy. In point of fact, men and women of letters have their independence in their own hands, if they choose to accept it on the only possible terms. They must cease, absolutely and at once, from believing that the material side of literature is a branch of gambling; they must cease from prating nonsense about publishers' generosity—a jargon as degrading to letters as it is mischievous and false in fact; they must regard their work as property for the administration of which they must pay; they must regard those who want to administrate it as they regard solicitors, of whom some are good and honourable, some indifferent, many dishonest and incapable; and, above all, thev must desist from talking as if the material side was beneath their dignity. The material side is everything; properly treated it gives indepen- dence and freedom to the artistic side; it must be watched jealously, closely, continually. Where wealth is gathered, thither flock the thieves; where property is to be administered, thither flock the rogues who hope to steal that property. Not to watch over property is the attitude of a madman;  ## p. 353 (#757) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 353 to drop contentedly into the nttitudc of a mendi- cant is the act of a slave. What literature—what art—comes from the bondsman? What—where —of what quality—are the fruits of Grub Street? All this is very different from clutching greedily after guineas. One does not desire that literature should be followed as a means of acquiring immense fortunes, nor does one envy in the least a successful publisher who honourably accumulates an immense fortune. But we must no longer ask what a publisher will give; the question henceforth must be what the book will bring in—if anything—on a definite system. That this will be the attitude—this the question—of the future admits of no doubt. That it will become immediately the attitude of all writers is matter of considerable doubt. Let those begin, at least, who have already achieved such a measure of success as will make that attitude possible. Consider, for a moment, the change which will be effected by the adoption of a common and recognised method of publishing. The author will have no trouble in bargaining; he will simply offer his book; he will understand his own popularity— if ho has any; the extent and nature of his own following; he will be in true partnership with his publisher; be will be under no delusions; ho will suspect no tricks; the accounts which concern his work will be his own, for inspection whenever he pleases. There will be no affectation of generosity on the one hand, no attitude of mendicancy on the other; there will bo no suspicion of trickery; both parties to the agreement will stand upright, man with man. Compare this independence, this openness, with the sullen suspicion, the jealousy, the smouldering wrath, the outspoken accusations which prevail at the present day. Listen to the talk of authors among themselves; listen to the stories they whisper or suggest of fraud and treachery ; some of them get into these columns, but not a fiftieth of what arc told. Are they all true? Those that we give are true, not all the rest; but they are all founded on suspicion, or on cases that are, unhappily, true to the letter. One would have thought that men engaged in this business would catch at anything—anything—that promised to relieve them of this atmosphere of suspicion. This, however, has not generally proved to be the case. Everything is in the hands of men and women of letters. But they must learn to act together, with common objects and that amount of confidence which springs from the possession of common interests. The Society has from the outset re- garded common action as one of the most inq>ortiint objects to be realised. Understand. No con- cession of individual freedom is desired. In the world of letters, foolishly called a Bepublic, where there is no equality jwssible, every man must stand apart and individual. But every man is not necessarily the enemy of every other man. There are common interests. Where these are concerned let us be friends; where they are not concerned, we need not be deadly enemies to each other, even though there may be disagreements. It is time that the old brutal slogging and hammering of author by author should cease—most of it, indeed, has ceased; it is more than time that men of letters should adopt those outward forms of respect towards each other which are enforced in the professions of the law and medicine. This does not preclude criticism. When a man sends his book to be criticised, he invites a judgment; he has no right to complain if that judgment is harsh; he has invited an opinion. But for a man to go out of his way in order to attack, wantonly, spitefully, and maliciously a man of the same calling, deliberately to sit down unasked, unprovoked, in order to stab a member of the same calling; deli- berately to besmirch a reputation by throwing mud, like a dirty little schoolboy; deliberately to insult another writer for the mere enjoyment of insult—■ all this is plainly and simply brutal and black- guard. A barrister who should dare to do such a thing would be disbarred; a physician would be expelled the college; in private life a man who should wantonly insult another man at a club would have his name removed. There ought to bo —there must be—found some way in which such men shall be made to feel that they arc exactly in the same position as those lawyers, physicians, or club men who have been expelled from the society of their brethren. Who, it may be asked, does such things? Perhaps, no one. The question may be answered by any reader for himself. The dependence of writers is, no doubt, greatly increased by the continual influx of those who have no business to take up literature as a profession, and no capacity to do more than the production of books which are not wanted, and of literary work which is purely hack. There must always be such writers. Let us do our best to urge and persuade those who would swell the unhappy ranks that in any other line—any other—a more easy living, with more money, more independence, more self- respect can be obtained than in the lowest walks of literature. If they must and will write—the impulse is sometimes as strong for the incompetent as for those who have the gift—let them take up some other position and give to writing their spare hours. Every member who sends his yearly guinea enables the Society to act for other members. This is the first step towards common action in matters connected with law and property. The creation of public opinion as regards literature as a calling has yet to be achieved. It may prove C c 2  ## p. 354 (#758) ############################################ 354 THE AUTHOR. difficult, but so much has been done already, owing to the efforts of the Society, that it does not seem impossible. And we look for the co-operation of editors in the enforcement of these outward forms of respect. Without them, indeed, the profession of letters would long since have been an arena of maddened gladiators. The newly formed Authors' Club will also prove of assistance in this respect. The club, even if it does nothing more, will make it difficult for men who meet in friendliness to go away and stab each other in spite and malice. The newly formed Writers' Club should exercise a similarly beneficent effect upon ladies. We have spoken of the work already effected by this Society. It. has already taught those who have work to produce what it will cost to produce; it has enabled them to understand, for the first time in the history of literature, what agreements mean. And it has made publishers far more care- ful in the agreements which they submit to authors. The old cynical impudence with which arrange- ments, ridiculously unfair, used to be offered, has almost vanished, while certain firms which a year or two ago were remarkable for barefaced trading on the ignorance of their clients, are now offering agreements which leave little to desire. The Society does not propose to arrogate to itself the functions of a judge; it neither protends to punish, nor does it bear malice; where fair agreements are offered, the past may be forgotten. But it does its best to keep away from fraudulent houses as much work as it possibly can. This course it has pursued for seven years with satisfactory success; it. has mulcted certain houses in many thousands of pounds; it has taken out of their hands authors by the dozen j and this course it will still continue to pursue. «~*-» THE STORY OF ANITA. IT became ridiculous; it became proverbial; it became maddening. What was there in the commonplace work of this commonplace girl —they liked the double use of the adjective- commonplace, they said—that caused her work to be taken by magazines—paid for properly, mind, with good sound substantial cheques—to be accepted by publishers and issued in series which included some of the very biggest names? Other maidens with similar ambitions, curiously turned over the leaves of her stories and tossed them contemptuously one to the other. Some said, " Well!" and it was as if there were rivers and lakes dammed up behind. Others said, " Ah!" and it was as if a cataract was ready to leap and bound. Others again looked round them and asked of the silent heavens, the patient earth, and the unsympathetic ocean, " Can anyone tell me why?" For it could not be denied, even by Anita's worst enemies, to say nothing of her most bosomly friends, that her tales were commonplace in the conception, slovenly in their execution, and vulgar in sentiment; that her plots were old, feeble, and ridiculous, and the style was what is commonly called that of the school girl. "Anita Palaska has got a story in the Chcapside this month!" It was in one of the halls of the British Museum. There were half-a-dozen girls talking together. She who spoke had the dis- cordant tones of envy. "She had one in the Hat/market last month!" With a wail of pain. "And one in the Regent Street the month before!" The voice was that of one who prefers an accusation against fate. "And she is doing a weekly fashion letter for the Young Ductess!" This in a minor key, as of one reciting a Penitential Psalm. "And oh !" cried another, "Mr. Cyril Muckle- more is announcing a new novel by Anita Palaska. 'Preparing. Will be ready in a month.' Ah! Can anyone—will anyone—anyone tell me why?" It was as the cry of a Lost Soul, antl along the sonorous ceiling of that vast hall rolled the notes, echoing as they rolled, " tell me why—why—hy—y —y—y." "I have read everything Anita has ever written," said one, " and there is not a lino, or a sentence, or a character—not a situation or a thought—which is not feeble and commonplace. Not one. All as commonplace as her appearance." "Well, my dear," murmured a bosom friend, "you certainly ought to be a judge of the commonplace." But she said aloud, "I have tried to read our Anita, and I confess that I cannot." They all had desks and drawers and chests and boxes full of MSS.—these inky Graces. They were all mad—insatiably mad—for literary fame. They were all poor, badly dressed, and insufficiently fed; they wanted dollars almost as much as they wanted literary fame. And here was Anita—one of themselves—who twelve months before had been in the same quagmire of neglect and contempt with themselves, now blossoming into a popular author. The thing called for a universal sniff to begin with—wrath could come after, but the sniff came first—a thing so absurd, so foolish, so unjust—a popular—popular—Hear! Oh Heavens! Anita Palaska was already a popular—popular—popular author, while they— they—they—the unsuccessful—those of the inky  ## p. 355 (#759) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 355 fingers—were as much on the outside as the Foolish Virgins! What did it mean? By what magic did Anita persuade editors to take her stuff? Let the truth be told plainly—her skimble skamble, foolish, futile, commonplace, weary, dreary, languid, miserable, copied, imitated, second-hand, humbug- ging stuff—while her sisters had their works—far better—everyone knew it, and was not ashamed to say it—better? Gracious! Comparison was out of the question.—Their lovely work returned, hurled back in their faces, with a slap of contempt, so that all the cheeks of all these maidens were always red and glowing, and their eyes aflame with rage, and their tongues like forked serpents charged with venom and hatred, and spite, and all uncharitablcness. There is nothing in the world for these cpialities like a disappointed literary woman, unless it is the disappointed literary man. It will be readily understood tiiat whenever these angry and defeated ladies met together the conversation speedily turned on the success— tenqwrary only — everyone agreed upon that— of their more fortunate sister. And the talk always assumed such a character as that indicated above. One day, then, while three or four of them were gathered together in the luncheon room of the Museum, that Tavern with the sign of the Inky Finger, the Spirit of Envy being in their midst, the subject of their discourse appeared. She opened the door and stood there for a moment smiling. By the quick snap of all the mouths; by the quick glance of all the eyes; by the little shudder which ran round the group; by the little blush of shame; by the sudden silence, it was plain to Anita, being a woman of at least ordinary intelligence, that they were talking about her. At this she was not surprised; she knew even the kind of discourse they would be holding about her. In such matters a girl has but one rule of judgment. She puts herself in the place of the others. Anita Palaska was a tall and rather fine-looking girl — her friends said that her real name — but that matters nothing. She looked English and had a foreign name—a Servian name? A Polish name? A Czetch name ?—what does it matter? Almost a handsome woman, large and generous in her proportions, and about 24 years of age. "Commonplace in her appearance," said her friends. Not quite. These ladies were not, perhaps, the best judges of what is attractive in a woman where man is concerned. Nor did they understand in the least—certainly they had never had an oppor- tunity of observing—the latent power in Anita's eyes. They could not even guess how those eyes could dilate; how they could tremble; how they could fascinate; how they could flicker; how they could mean wonderful inexpressible things; how they were, as she pleased, persuasive, coaxing, innocent, limpid, loving, fresh, candid, sincere, alluring, promising, saintly. Her friends never even suspected the magic, and said she was as commonplace in her style as in her manner. Poor deluded girls! As for literary style, that may be conceded. For her manner, however— "I have been correcting my new proofs," she said, addressing the assemblage. "My story is going into the Cheapside this month." "So we see," said the eldest of the damsels, with a little prolongation of the sibilant. "We were just asking each other if you would be kind enough to tell us the secret of your success, which, indeed, we cannot understand. Your stories, of course, are taken on their merits. . . ." She tossed her head. Anita laughed softly. "Outside the profession I should say, ' Send in good work and it will be taken.' To you I cannot say that." "No, no." They all hastened to exclaim assent. Had they not all—to a female—sent in good work which had been sent back to them? And Anita had sent in bad work and it was accepted. "No. To you I say this: There are just a few living writers who really have got the art of writing attractively. They are very few. Everybody wants their work, and there isn't enough to go round. Then there are a great many who all write up to a certain level, and that a low level. Now do you begin to understand?" They did not. They shook their heads. Each one felt that she, in fact, was a good bit above the level achieved by her sisters. "Well, it is so, however. And the great diffi- culty of editors is to select from this vast expanse of commonplace something a little better than the rest. Now do you see?" She spoke very sweetly, and they began to see, and the gleam of that new light brought fire into their hearts which burned them up, internally. "I am not a ltudyard Kipling nor a Barrie," Anita went on, modestly, " I don't pretend to such great ness. But I may be—you see—a little—just a wee bit—above the general level of those who send in contributions. That is why I am accepted. Only ever so little above the commonplace. The expla- nation is quite easy. You have only to be a little, very little, bit above the average level." She nodded pleasantly, and took a table by herself, where she taxed the resources of the establishment for her selfish gourmandise. And the rest felt themselves—all—all—lying on the low, cold, watery, despised levels of incompetence. They crept back to their work, one after the other, unhappy, crushed, trodden upon.  ## p. 356 (#760) ############################################ 356 THE AUTHOR. Anita, luncheon despatched, took a MS. out of her hand bag, and run through it hurriedly. "I think it will do," she said. "At all events, if it won't do he must make it do. If it is not good when he's dressed it up, it is his fault, not mine." She put it back—rose—and walked away. The editor of the Ilaymarltct sat in his room at work. It was a cosy room, with one or two comfortable chairs and a bright fire and the appear- ance of seclusion, with a window which looked out upon a quiet churchyard, not yet turned into a playground. A boy brought him a card. He read it; he changed colour; he put it down. "I am busy," he said. "Lady says she can wait any time," replied the boy. "She's taken a chair and a book." "In that case—show her up," replied the editor desperately. She came in smiling sweetly. She gave him her hand; nay, she pressed his hand tenderly with her softly gloved fingers. For purposes of pres- sure, the persuasive cover of a Swede is better than the nudity of bony and knuckly fingers. "Best of editors," she murmured. "What can I do for you, Miss Palaska?" "Fie! last time it was Anita—so—now we are friends again. Between friends everything is easy. I have brought you—" she opened her bag and af- fected not to hear his groan—"a MS. This is really very, very much better than the last. Oh ! I know there were weak—terribly weak—points about that tale, though your beautiful touches improved it so wonderfully. This, however, is much better. It is quite, quite an original story. I will tell it you in brief. There are two most charming lovers—girl like me, you know—and the man—vain creature! you look in the glass! They are separated by a horrid lack of money. There is little hope, but when things arc desperate, her long-lost uncle comes from India. Oh! it is beautifully original and full of pathos. I know you will like it. I wrote it on purpose for you—for you—my best of editors. She laid the MS. on the table, and touched his hand with her's accidentally. Were there ever such eyes, so full of admiration, of respect, of humble handmaidenly devotion? Was there ever a face so full of tender interest and sympathy? "You are quite well?" she asked, "Quite— quite well? Do they watch you enough? You are not working too hard or anything? You are not in love, are you?" She laughed softly and consciously. Now this wretched man had a wife— but he trembled and he reddened, and he murmured, "Except with you, Anita? Impossible." He leaned his face; he kissed her forehead. She held his hand, and her eyes lay upon his face like sunshine, filling it with glow and radiance. Then she rose. "You will put it in the very next number? Dear friend! make any altera- tions—any. Farewell!" She left him. The moment after she left the room, the spell of those eyes died away. He took up the MS.—looked into it—fell into a blind rage over it—hurled it on the floor and jumped upon it. Then he picked it up and smoothed it out, and spent the rest of that day and the whole of the next in correcting it and re-writing it. But it still remained, after his corrections, about as bad a paper as the magazine had ever seen. And he knew that unkind things would be said about it, and perhaps the proprietor might .... Anita went away with a dancing step and a laughing eye. This time she was going to see the publisher of her new novel, Mr. Cyril Mueklemore. He was an aged gentleman whose brows had long been frosted. As for his reputation, it was like unto that of the nether millstone. Anita possessed an agreement-signed by Mr. Cyril Mueklemore—the beautiful Christian name inspired confidence—in which the firm agreed and bargained to give her a deferred royalty. She was to receive 16s. a copy after the first 500 had been sold. It was a noble offer. No other house, Mr. Cyril Mueklemore assured her, would possibly make such an offer. In fact, as the libraries did not give him so much for a copy, it was what the world would call princely. Mr. Mucklemore's record is full of such princely episodes. But the good and generous patron of literature could very well afford these noble terms, because, you see, he knew very well that 3oo copies would be the very utmost that he could cram down the throats of the libraries, and nobody outside the libraries would buy one single copy. Therefore he had had an edition of 35o, and no more, printed, and he had already distributed the type. But this he did not tell the author. When the proper time came, he would be the first to lament the failure of the work, and to express regrets more on the author's account than on his own. As a matter of fact, he proposed to make a nice little profit of £100 and more, to the author's double duck's egg. "You think," said a certain adviser of Anita—a male novelist—" that old Mueklemore mains to let you have any money? Not he. I know his tricks and his ways. Not a penny will you ever get out of him." In fact, this good old man had the warm heart and the kind word of every author who had ever gone to him. Hence his princely fortune; hence, too, or closely connected with the warm heart and the kind word, was his eminent piety, for he was of a very advanced and stalwart form of Christianity, and in his will he has endowed a college for decayed—but this is anticipating the charitable intentions of a good and great man. "I think," said Anita, "that Mr. Mueklemore will  ## p. 357 (#761) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 357 be persuaded to give me a cheque on account." Her adviser laughed scornfully. Anita smiled darkly, mysteriously. "If you are a witch, Anita . . ." She smik'd again, and she sallied forth. "Dear Mr. Mucklemore !" said Anita, sinking into a chair and holding the hand of this Christian person in her own. "You are well? You look anxious. Do they consider you enough? Do they watch over you? You are not worried about anything? Have wicked men written you angry letters? You are not—Oh! you are not—anxious about my little book, are you? Dear Mr. Muckle- more! I could never forgive myself if I thought you were going to lose money over my little venture." "No, I shall not lose much money," said Mr. Mucklemore. A benevolent smile stole over his countenance. "Not more than I can afford, over your little book, Miss Palaska." He looked down upon her with a certain growing interest. The damsel was comely, and she met bis wrinkled old eyes with looks so full of sympathy, that he began to forget his seventy years. She certainly did show for him a tenderness and a consideration—and, could he be seventy? Those eyes—those eyes—" I feel your kindness so much, dear Mr. Mucklemore —Oh! so very, very much. I feel almost like a daughter to you." "Yet I can never feel like a father to you," replied the Inflammatory Old. "No? Well you are quite as kind as a father to me, anyhow. You may call your kindness what you please, dear Mr. Mucklemore." They were quite alone. Mr. Mucklemore melted. He felt less and less like a father. He told her that she reminded him of his young days, and that she made him lament his youth, and that he thought such an interest in a girl as he now felt had long since gone, and presently he had his benevolent old arms round her slender waist. Nobody would have recognised at that beatific moment the saintly Mr. Mucklemore. Presently Anita drew herself slowly away from this glimpse of Eden. "Dear Mr. Mucklemore," she murmured, "you must not take advantage of woman's weakness. But you will always be young in heart." "Um—urn—urn," murmured the Inflammatory over her fingers. "And oh!" continued Anita, "How good it is when one no longer—quite—so young is so young." "To you, Miss Palaska—Anita "—he became poetical with passion—the Passionate Publisher— "Methusalem would be young, and old Parr himself a boy in buttons." "Flatterer! But why did I call here this morning? You make me forget everything, even that I am wasting your most valuable time, and outside—outside," she said this without a ghost of a smile, "there are a dozen people at least waiting to bless your generous heart." Ho caught her by the hand, again murmuring his " Um—um —um." "What I came to say is only this, dear Mr. Mucklemore. You have given me an agree- ment by which you promise me a royalty—a most generous royalty—of 16s. a copy when ooo have been sold. You are the only man in the profession, everybody tells me, who would ever make such a splendid offer to a novelist. How can I ever sufficiently thank you? Meanwhile sit down, my dear friend, and write me a cheque for a £100—a little £i5o — that will do—in advance, and on account of those royalties." He did it. He did it without a word, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do, and yet, as you have heard, he had only printed 35o copies, and the type was already distributed. Now you understand the secret of Anita's success, and yet they said she was as commonplace in appearance as in style. Something has happened, however. No one knows how these things do happen. Some one must have communicated the thing under promise of secrecy; then it got whispered in a club smoking- room—but nobody knows. Only one day, when Anita called with a new MS. upon one of her editors, she was coldly received, and was presently informed in plain words that her work could no longer be received in exchange for the pressure of a hand, and the kindly light of pretty eyes. She went away, feeling sad, and called on another editor. The same reception awaited her, almost in the same words. And good old Mr. Cyril Mucklemore has gone, and his heir has discovered that Anita's last novel resulted in a real loss. "I am going"—Anita was sitting with her friends, the Children of Defeat, in the Tavern of the Inky Finger at the British Museum—" I am going very soon to New York. I have been very much disgusted of late about several little things. I thought that editors were gentlemen. Well, you will hardly believe it, but I have met once or twice with things—things, you know—one of them once actually wanted to kiss me." "Imposs sible," cried the young lady who had called Anita commonplace. "True—and another—and another. What is the world coming to? Well, of course I cannot any longer offer to contribute when such insults have been attempted, and I have been considering. Now, I find that the American magazines are far better, richer, and finer than our own; that they welcome good work ." Everybody coughed slightly.  ## p. 358 (#762) ############################################ 358 THE AUTHOR. "Work above the average, when they can get it —they pay four times as well—and their editors are high-souled gentlemen, incapable of insulting a lady. Oh! America is fast becoming the only country in the world for a gentlewoman. Chivalry has a new and a better home in Broadway." She got up and went away, conscious that she could not make a better exit. Yet they had called her as commonplace in style as in manner! "Oh!" cried one of them, who spoke for all, "what does it mean? Can anyone—anyone—tell me why?" Along the lofty walls and along the cornice of the panelled ceiling rolled, and rang, and echoed her question, "Tell me—tell me—why—why—by —hy—y—y—y—." ——-—♦-♦-« NOTES FROM PARIS. SEVERAL paragraph-writers, commenting on what I wrote last month about Ishmael sweating Ishmael, have asked me why I did not give the names of the " reputed author " who sweated, and of the " unfortunate youth" who was sweated in the case I cited. My principal reason was to avoid giving offence to the latter, who, being now a successful feuilletonist on his own account, would hardly have; liked the record of his early struggles made public. A secondary reason was that the "reputed author" would certainly have sent me a challenge, and I have had all the duelling I care for. It is not dangerous, but each duello cost you—for landau, refreshments, doctor's fee for attendance, and lunch to one's seconds at the Cafe Anglais after the affair—a matter of £i5, and, what is worse, obliges you to rise at the unearthly hour of half-past live. Now I do not think I could get up at half-past five even to be guillotined. Apropos of duelling, it is perhaps to be regretted that the fashion of it has gone out so completely in England. I fancy if it existed still the critics of one's works and persons would be more civil. I could not help thinking this as I read the notices about Mr. John Gray's translation of " Lc Baiser," produced at the beginning of this month at the Independent Theatre, and the abominably offensive personalities which were indulged in against him. I understand that he has commenced one suit for libel, but the majority of the critiques were not such as could be attacked in a court of law, and in this way would very summarily have been dealt with. English literary criticism, by the way, is a thing which French men of letters are totally unable to understand. I remember reading some of those malevolent critiques, for which a particular paper has gained a reputation and a sale amongst our splenetic fellow citizens, to a very prominent novelist here. He said, "If a Paris newspaper were to publish such critiques, everybody would be convinced that it was attempting to blackmail either the author or the publisher." I had con- siderable difficulty in persuading him that these notices were written with a certain amount of bona fides on the part of their authors. There is little or no criticism of general literature in Paris. In sending you a book for review the Paris publisher also sends you his card, and—with a priere (Tinserer-—a small printed notice of the book. If one can find room the notice goes in, if not it does not. One would never think of reading the book for the sake of writing a few lines about it, unless the author were a friend and one wanted to oblige him. It would not pay to do so. Three hours is the least one would spend in gaining an honest opinion of a book, and there are very few books on which, in justice to one's journal and to one's public, one could write a critique of more than, say, twenty lines. Fourpenee a line is the maximum rate for articles in a leading Paris paper, so that the remuneration for three hours of such labour would amount at the utmost to eight francs. Three francs would, however, be nearer the average. With coals at 5os. the ton in Paris, men of letters cannot work at those rates, and so literary critiques are not supplied to the Paris papers. Of course, when any big novel or book— a Daudet or a de Maupassant, a Zola or a Dumas —appears, all the papers review it. It is the actuality and is dealt with in the leading article or premier Paris. But the minor authors do not get reviewed at all and seem none the worse for it. Spiteful criticism of the kind which helps to sell a number of moribund publications in England is practically unknown here. It would soon be put a stop to were any innovator to introduce it. That innovator would have to be getting up early most days in the week, to have an excellent balance at his bank, or to have a very tough hide. The only man of letters here who is attacked in the British fashion of attack is George Ohnet, who is a cripple and cannot defend himself. It is all the more cniel that he feels it deeply. I have often found him almost prostrate with mortification at spiteful  ## p. 359 (#763) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 359 tilings which have appeared against him. I remember his once pathetically exclaiming to me, "I wonder why they so hate me, I am sure I have never done anything wrong. I never stole any spoons, and am a decent lived man as a whole." I suppose it is the phenomenal success of his books stirs the gale. It is fair to say that the attacks are made by nonentities, the same class, I presume, who harass the British author. George Ohnet works three hours a day regularly, during which time he writes four pages of small MS., amounting to about one thousand words. He then revises carefully, and, having finished his corrections, hands his MS. to his wife, who makes a beautifully neat fair copy for the printer. She is an immense admirer of his talent, but never allows herself to make any suggestions. A thing which always astonishes French men of letters is to hear a British author talking about the number of words his novel is to consist of. When you tell him that custom has it that a book to be sold at such a price has to contain a minimum of so many words, incredulity first, and then pity comes into their eyes. The commercial side of literary production is what they never can and never want to grasp. It may be accepted as a general rule that all lwoks, other than those of authors who have made a name, which are published in Paris are produced at the author's cost. A French publisher would never dream of risking a farthing in a publication. When Charpentier settled a small income on Emile Zola, to enable him to have leisure to write, he did a most unusual thing. On the other hand, I have never heard of any Parisian publisher practising the frauds by which most British amateur authors are victimised. An ordinary French novel or volume of poems will be produced in good style at from £20 to £32. As soon as a man gets a little known the best he can hope for is a sum of £10 on account of royalties for a novel or a volume of poems. The author in Paris who wants to make money tries for the newspaper serial stories. These are splendidly remunerated. The majority of French authors and poets, however, write for glory. It would be considered lunacy on a man's part to look for a living to the production of books. Those here—barring a few exceptions—who live by their pens are engaged in journalism or in writing for the stage. Many well-known writers VOL. II. follow commercial or professional pursuits. Huys- mann, for instance, is employed at one of the Government offices, and is partner in a bookbinding business. Alexander Dumas is tired of life in Paris. He is selling his mansion in the Avenue Villiers, and all the art treasures it contains, and is about to retire definitely to the country. Most enviable Alexander, tired of worlds to conquer. The catalogue of the books in the French National Library has at last, after years of labour, been completed. Some time, however, must elapse liefore this most interesting work can be published. It appears that the money for its publication is not forthcoming, and cannot be hoped for for some time. Yet France spends £40 a minute on her army. I wonder if ever we shall succeed in getting the author's rights to the benefit of his work as fully recognised in England as they are in France. Here is an instance of this recognition in France. A friend of mine, who is just now collaborating with Catulle Mendes on a play, told me a night or two ago that he receives annually a few sous as heir of his grandfather, who many years ago wrote the libretto of a certain operette, of which Offenbach, I think, wrote the music. Of this operette only one air has survived the change of taste, and it is constantly being fitted to fresh words of topical interest. During the Exhibition, for instance, it was to this tune that a song about the Eiffel Tower was set. The original libretto in general and the song to this air in particular have long since been forgotten, but French justice holds that the writer of the libretto to some extent suggests the music to the composer, and is therefore entitled to a certain share in the proceeds of the music, even if his words are no longer used. Accordingly, when- ever that song is sung, the heir of the man who wrote the original words to it is credited by the agencies with a certain per-centage of the composer's droits cTauteun I hear from Madrid that the widow of de Gonzales has just died in an almshouse. Gonzales was the Dumas of Spain, and his works are still immensely popular. He received very large sums from his publishers, but was a sad spendthrift, and would only work when need pressed him. At last his publishers agreed to give £12 a day against so much copy to be delivered daily. He used to fetch D d  ## p. 360 (#764) ############################################ 36° THE AUTHOR. his money every evening at six, then hasten off to a cafe and keep it up all night till five in the morning. Then he would begin dictating to a couple of secretaries, and his task lx'iug finished, would go to bed until the time came for fetching a fresh supply of doubloons. As a rule, he never had enough money left to pay the cab that took him to his publishers. These, by the way, are all millionaires, chiefly thanks to the Gonzales copy- rights. Why did they let his widow die in a work- house? It may not be generally known that Mr. Oscar Wilde is by maternal descent the grand-nephew of Charles Maturin, where " Melmoth the Wanderer" is at List attracting attention in England. I say "at last," inasmuch as it has been a classic for nearly sixty-five years in France and Germany. It won for its author the admiration of Balzac, and was a livre de chevet of Baudelaise. It contributed greatly to the literary movement in France in i83o. In the course of a conversation I had the other day with Mr. Ernest Renan, I happened to ask him his opinion about Emile Zola's work. These are his own words: "Zola! Nay, Monsieur, you must not ask me about him, for I have no opinion on him. It is low, far away, beneath. It is the mud, and a pity for French literature. I have a horror for what is coarse. At Pompeii, all that was coarse was secreted and hidden away. It is a pity we do not do the same in these days. I confess that I cannot understand how the French, so lettered, so scholarly and so full of taste, can tolerate such horrors as are the modern French novels." I must now ask Zola what he thinks of Mr. Renan's work. SPKING. Oil! to wake at early morning, and to hear the thrushes sing, To watch the steady sunshine stealing over everything. And to know that now, at last, is come the first wann day of spring! Oh! to open wide the window, and to taste the scented bree/e— Sweet and pungent from the breathing of the flowers and tlie trees, And to listen to the humming of the discontented bees! Oh! to step out on the grassplot and to note the sprinkled dew, To look above the lurk's song at the deep unfathomed blue, And to feel the world is still the same as springs ago we knew! Oh! to sit at noontide idle in the chestnut's flickering shade, To hear the cuckoo calling from every knoll and glade, And to catch the perfect harmony by Nature's discords made! Oh! to wander in the evening, with the pink clouds over- head, To listen to the nightingale when his song is freely shed, With one companion by my side, one dear friend, long since dead! Oh ! to tell out all my thoughts to her, my loneliuess and pain, Pale hopes and glowing memories, the toil of heart and brain, And all my deep delight and grief that Spring is come again '. Oh 1 to lie at night and listen to her solemn whispering, While I strain my soul to try and hear what tidings she may bring, And to learn if I may dare to look for everlasting Spring! F. Baykord Harrison. USEFUL BOOKS. It is reported that the Parisian publishers are organising an immense lottery by means of which to rid themselves of huge accumulations of unsold stock. The prizes will lie assortments of reading with a work of art (cruel distinction) thrown in. One publisher declares himself ready to contribute one hundred thousand volumes. And still the pens run on Robert H. Shekard. Paris, March, 20th, 1892. ACORRESPONDENT recently suggested the formation of a list of useful books, i.e., books useful to those engaged in literary work. Here is a contribution to such a list. No doubt others will help to swell the list and to make it really serviceable :— P. M. Roget. Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases. (Longmans.) T. Stormonth. Etymological and pronouncing Dictionary of the English Language. (Black- wood.) Webster's Complete Dictionary of the English Language. Authorised and unabridged Edition. New Edition. (Bell and Sons.) T. Walker. The Rhyming Dictionary of the English Language. (Routledge.)  ## p. 361 (#765) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 361 W. B. Hodgson. Errors in the use of English. (Edinburgh. Douglas.) E. A. Abbot. How to write clearly. (Seeley, Jackson, and Halliday.) Chambers's Encyclopaedia. New Edition. (Chambers.) E. C. Brewer. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Cassell. E. C. Brewer. The Header's Handbook. (Chatto and Windus.) W. J. Lowndes. Reference Catalogue of Current Literature. (t. K. Portescne. Subject Index of Modern Works added to the Library of the British Museum from 1880 to 1885. W. J. Stead. Annual Index of Periodicals and Photographs. E. B. Sargeant and B. Whitshaw. A Guide Hook to Books. NOTES AND NEWS. THE literary event of the month, the appear- ance of the President's Drama, occurs just as these proofs have been ptssed, too late for notice here. American rights, long sighed after, have now become American expectations. We have been accustomed to think of the United States as the author's land of milk and honey. Every- body who produces a book now looks to its reproduction and a wide popularity in America. With this view every publisher and most editors in the States are deluged with offers, and books are given to newspapers for nothing in order to get copyright. -Time will, of course, bring its experiences and its disappointments. It will be discovered that it is not enough to lie a British author in order to command success; but that one must also write what the American public want, anil that will be done very largely for them by their own authors. In the. case, however, of the men thev do want, an American author, on p. 346, shows pretty clearly what they may expect. The figures will come to some of us as a revelation. I commend for our very serious consideration certain passages in Mr. Itoliert Sherard's Notes from Paris in this number. French men of letters are, he says, wholly unable to understand the criticisms, spiteful and cruel, which appear in cer- tain English papers. The love of insult is kept in check by the fear of the duel. No French publisher ever dreams of risking a farthing in the production of a book. Strange! Every English publisher is vol.. n. always dreaming that he risks immense sums. Perhaps Mr. Sherard will give us more information on this side of French literature. Here is a very curious and complete coincidence. One day last year an unfortunate girl connected with one of the theatres in London committed suicide on account of some love disappointment. Just, before this event a story was given in at the office of the New York Herald, for the London Sunday edition, in which the life of this girl—of whom the author had never heard—her love business, and her suicide were all faithfully pour- trayed, anil her very name, with one vowel wrong, was also used. This curious coincidence happened to Mr. Joseph Forster. It was mentioned in the New York Herald—in the American edition—nt the time, but seems not to have attracted any attention. The New York Critic, referring to a certain paper on the work of the Society of Authors in the Forum for March, sums up the situation by saying that "the cases brought forward against certain publishers could very easily be parallelled in every other branch of business." That is very likely. Does that, however, concern us? Do a thousand wrongs justify one other wrong? But there are certain considerations which make our position different from that of other producers. We are for the most part robbed under the guise of friendship; the fraudulent publisher will not, if he can help it, allow the business to be treated as business; he must be considered as the confidential adviser and friend—the generous, disinterested, large-hearted friend. If these things, and things like them, go on in all other lines of business, then a time will come when the whole edifice of cor- ruption will fall to pieces; and if these things are done in the holv name of religion, then it is the worse for that, religion, and for the people who should be guided by that religion. Walt Whitman is dead. It is a long time since we heard that he was paralysed, though he has gone on working almost to the end. When, many years ago, his earliest volume came over here, it was handled at first by critics and by readers with disgust and contempt. Then came a reaction: the book so gross, so coarse, so misshapen, was found to have great thoughts in it. The reaction pre- vailed; the reputation of Walt Whitman has been growing steadily higher. He is said to have, now, more readers in this than in his own country. E e  ## p. 362 (#766) ############################################ 362 THE AUTHOR. On Wednesday, March the 9th, a bust of Richard Jefferies, executed by Miss Margaret Thomas, was unveiled in Salisbury Cathedral by the Bishop in the presence of the Dean and a small company. The inscription on the bust is as follows :—" To the memory of Richard Jefferies, born at. Coate, in the Parish of Chiseldon and County of Wilts, 6th November 1848. Died at Goring, in the County of Sussex, 14th August 1887. Who, ob- serving the works of Almighty God with a poet's eye, has enriched the literature of his country, and won for himself a place among those who have innde men happier and wiser." The Bishop made a short speech, followed by the Dean, who spoke; at greater length. It is very much to be regretted that not one of those who had promoted the acquisition of this monument, nor a single man of letters, except Mr. Lcith Derwent, who resides in Salisbury, was present, on this occasion. Not even the sculptor was in- vited to be present or informed of the time at which the ceremony would take place. The committee were absolutely ignored. This discourtesy, or neglect, was the sole cause of the absence from the ceremony of those who would otherwise have marked their respect and affection to the illustrious author by their presence. The chief credit for the idea of this bust must be assigned to Mr. A. W. Kinglake, of Haines Hill, Taunton. He it was who conceived the idea and would have carried it out single handed, but for ill-health, which obliged him to hand over the matter to a London committee. It is not the last, one hopes, of the many acts of national recognition which have been instituted by the creator of the Somersetshire Valhalla. The placing of the bust of Jefferies in Salisbury Cathedral reminds us of the great increase of interest in everything connected with the world of Fields and Hedges. To be sure, he was only one of a succession—Gilbert White of Selborne, Thomas Burrows, Jefferies—a very fine procession, not to speak of the scientific explorers, Romanes, Lubbock and others. But the succession has not ceased, it is carried on by more than one diligent and peacef ul lover of nature. One of the new books, by one of Gilbert White's successors, is in my hands. It is " Nature's Fairy Land," by H. W. S. Worsley-Benison, already in its fourth edition; a book that one may take up in the evening for a quiet hour; which carries you away into country scenes, and to lovely places; on the sands; among the gorse; in the garden. If one who is not a student of nature, yet a humble reader of books on nature—may name with commendation such a book, I venture to do so. It is never tedious; nor is it a catalogue, as some of Jefferies' earlier books were cruelly said to be; it is always pleasant, and always instructive. The late Lord Lytton died, pen in hand, correct- ing and finishing the verses which, under the name of " Marah," have just been produced in a collected form, and in a daintily bound volume (Longman). One more poem still remains to be published, after which there will be no more of Owen Meredith. Perhaps many of the readers of the Author may like to possess this volume as a memento of a man who valued the Society so highly, and hoped so much for its future. The following lines are from the Epilogue :— 1 My songs flit away on the wing; They are fledged with a smile or a sigh; Anil away with the songs that I sing Flit my joys, and my sorrows, and I. 2. For time, as it is, cannot stay, Nor again as it was, can it be; Disappearing and passing away Are the world, and the ages, and we. 3. Gone, even before we can go, Is our past, with its passions forgot, The tears of its wept-away woe, And its laughters that gladden us not. 4- The builder of heaven and of earth Is our own fickle fugitive breath; As it comes in the moment of birth, So it goes in the moment of death. 5. As the years were before we l>egan Shall the years be when we are no more; And between them the years of a man Are as waves the wind drives to the shore. 6. Back into the Infinite tend The creations that out of it start; Unto every beginning an end, And whatever arrives shall depart. 7- But I and my songs, for awhile, As together away on the wing We are borne with a sigh or a smile, Have been given this message to sing.  ## p. 363 (#767) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 8. The Now is an atom of sand, And the near is a perishing clod; But Afar is as Faery Land, And Beyond is the Bosom of God. In a talk on things literary, one chanced to say, "I am convinced that an uncomfortable pen, or paper of a kind to which I am not accustomed, makes twenty per cent, difference in the quantity I write under ordinary circumstances in a given time. I know that it is absurd to be affected by such trifles—but that is so." "It is not absurd at all," replied the other, a man of science, " but perfectly natural. You speak of the point of a pen, or the degree of rugosity of the surface of the paper as small things. Have you ever considered how very much smaller things are the molecules of the brain, and the infinitesimal changes taking place in them that are all the time guiding your hand and thought? It is only reasonable to suppose that living fibres of a delicacy so infinite would bo very much affected by finding their operations hindered by objects comparatively so large as the point of a pen, or the grain of the surface of a sheet of paper." Those who have visited the Shakespeare house at Stratford-on-Avon of late years will regret to learn that the curator who did so much to give interest to every object preserved there, Mr. Joseph Skipsey, has resigned the post. He has returned to his native country, and now resides at Newcastle. A volume of his collected poems has just been pub- lished by Walter Scott . Many of the pieces have, no doubt, been seen already by the poet's friends. The whole form a collection of singular interest. The charm of the verse lies chiefly in its simplicity and purity. The source of inspiration is the village, the country, the coal mine, the village beauty. For instance—there are certainly poems of a higher flight than this, but everybody will recognise the sweetness and simplicity of the following lines :— Coal black are the tresses of Fanny; But never a mortal could see The coal-coloured tresses of Annie, And be as a body could be. White, white is her forehead, and bonnie; And when she goes down to the well, The beat of the footsteps of Annie, The wrath of a tiger would quell. Bed, red are her round cheeks, and bonnie; And when she is knitting, her tone— The charm of the accents of Annie, Would ravish the heart of a stone. Nay, rare are her graces and many; But nothing whatever can be Compared to the sweet glance of Annie, The glance she has given to me. At the dinner held in aid of the Booksellers' Provident Institution, Mr. F. Macmillan, the chair- man, in support of his contention that MSS. are really read and considered, made an interesting statement. Out of 166 books, including new editions, issued by his firm last year, no fewer than 22, he said, were printed from 3i5 MSS. sent in without being invited. I have always stated my own conviction that in the more important houses all MSS. are fairly read and honestly considered, and it is satisfactory to obtain this confirmation of my view. There are, of course, only some people can never be persuaded of this, houses and houses, publishers and publishers, just as there are lawyers and lawyers. From informa- tion received one is quite certain that in some firms MSS. are not properly considered. The per-cent- age of books accepted, 22 out of 315, or 7 per cent., is much higher than that which other publishers have reported as the result of careful reading. Mr. F. Macmillan is reported to have dwelt with some emphasis on the identity of interests of author, publisher, and bookseller. It was rather dangerous, unless the chairman was willing to accept the logical consequence, to dwell too strongly on identity of interests, though no one in this Society has ever questioned this identity. For, if we are all agreed, as we should be, alxwt this identity of interests, we must therefore be agreed upon the necessity of a mutual understanding as to a just division of these interests. At present things are so constituted that the publisher knows the share of interest which goes to the bookseller, but the bookseller does not know the share that goes to the publisher. In the same way the author knows his share, but has l)een hitherto care- fully prevented from knowing the publisher's share. What recognition of identity of interests is that in which the publisher stands in the middle and says to the bookseller, "Here, my identically in- terested friend, is your share," and to the author, "Here is your share out of our identical interests. Mine? Oh '. mine is my own affair to myself."  ## p. 364 (#768) ############################################ 364 THE AUTHOR. Here, for instance, is a little sum for booksellers and authors alike to consider. For book, our old friend the 6s. novel. A successful book. Cost of production, say iod., in order to be liberal. The bookseller gives, say, 3s. ^d. for it, and sells it for 4.S. 6d. The author gets, say, 2d. in the shilling, or is. a copy. The publisher pays iorf. for it to the printer, binder, paper maker, and advertisements. lie gives the author is., and he gets 3s. \d. The interest of all three parties are identical, says Mr. F. Maemillan. Quite so. Identical must, I apprehend, be taken to mean equal. If not, what does it mean? Here, then, are the actual shares of the three persons concerned in the publication of that book :— The publisher gets 15. 6d. The bookseller gets 1*. zd. The author gets 1 s. Suppose it were agreed—no fraudulent cost of production being allowed, no charging for adver- tisements where nothing has been paid—to make the interests of all three actually identical, then each would make is. 3d. by every copy on a large sale. Shall we "go" for a real identity of interests? But in many cases the trade pays more than 3s, $d., and in many cases the author does not get so large a royalty as a sixth. Walter Besant. AN OLD MASTER. AMONG the best books of this season is "Melmoth the Wanderer," of which Messrs. Bentley and Son have just issued a new edi- tion, together with a portrait of the author, a very interesting account of his life, a chronology of his work, and a scholarly estimate of his literary position. "Melmoth the Wanderer" has been known to most readers by name, and many attracted by the chance mention of the work in the writings of— among others—Scott, Thackeray, and especially Balzac, have promised themselves that at some time or another they would read Maturin's masterpiece. Few, however, have carried out this resolution, for the book has been very hard to come by. One or two incomplete versions have been presented to the public in cheap form, hut for most of the people whose curiosity had been stimulated by Balzac, such editions have no existence, and for many years " Melmoth the Wanderer" has been rather a book-collector's prize. It has never fetched any maniacal price, but its rarity has l>een sufficiently pronounced to make it a stimulating object for a collector, and to preclude any wide knowledge of the story. And now that the story is offer*! to the public in a complete, convenient, and hand ome form, it will be interesting to see in what spirit it is read, and, indeed, if it is widely read at all. For undoubtedly "Melmoth" l>elongs to an old- fashioned class of books. It is one long record of horror and mystery, and the author's designs to produce thrills are such as are now-a-days likely to have but little effect. Satanic compacts and the crimes of the Inquisition have had their day, with the terrors of oubliettes and of madhouse cells. The latter have been pictured for us now so often, that they have not only lost through familiarity their power of shocking, but they have actually become forbidden subjects for an author, taking their place in the category of rescues from mad- bulls or rapidly incoming tides, of the heroine's sprained ankle, and of mistakes in the identity of twin-brethren. And of treaties with the devil, what is to be said? Does the consideration of these blood-signed contracts cause the skin to tighten or the scalp to lift? No longer. It is to be feared that our growth in wisdom has led to serious dimi- nution of our happiness in many ways, notably, that what we have gained in solid knowledge we have lost in airy illusion. A story of diablerie, to be successful as such, must at this time have something of the sad, cynical, humourous, extravagant touch, for as a l>ogey-man Satan has got behindhand. "Melmoth the Wanderer," though it is extravagant enough, is certainly not sad, humourous, or cynical. Yet it is very possible that the book will be a popular success, though its subject is rococo, its incidents familiar, and its treatment not too artistic. Then the Reverend C. Robert Maturin is about to enjoy at the end of the century some little measure of the fame that he enjoyed at its commencement. For the hare-brained Irish parson has a magnificent power of story-telling. His romancing is consistent and spontaneous, and the action of his drama is so quick that the absurdities pass unnoticed in the whirl of events. Though the mysterious appearance of the "Wanderer" may not bring terror to our souls, nor the baleful glare of his eyes seem to us to gain in malignity by the origin that is suggested for it, yet the note of horror is struck—even for us. And it is the author's triumph that this should l>e, for our own horror is a direct tribute to his skill in telling the story. It means that the reader has been convinced that what frightens all the bold bad men in the book so really and so terribly, must have its real and terrible side. He takes this for granted, and hurries on to see what is going to happen. It is something in the nature of an experiment to issue such a book in these davs, but it is more than  ## p. 365 (#769) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 365 possible that the excellence of the story will outweigh its absurdities, and will secure for it a big public. The cheap mutilated editions seem to have had a vogue, and was certainly directed rather to meet the demands of an uncritical public, asking only for a good interesting story, than to supply cultured taste with a curio to speculate over, or a text upon which to hang essays in celebration of the improve- ment of fiction. This new issue, with its elaborate and trustworthy editorial additions, should secure for Maturin a fresh crop of admirers.* O. J. OBSERVATIONS ON "THE TALE-TELLING ART" IN SIR WALTER SCOTT'S INTRODUCTIONS TO THE "WAVERLEY NOVELS." 11. HAVING learned what, in Sir Walter Scott's opinion, constitutes perfection in a romance, and in what quarters an author should seek for the elements of his stories, it will be natural next to enquire what Sir Walter Scott has to say respecting the choice of subjects. Here, may well be placed first an observation, which, though it says no more than Horace's— Sumite materiam vestris, qui scribitis, scquam Viribus.f and indeed, contains but a very trite truism, still expresses happily a fact with which all authors must reckon. "It is not sufficient that a mine be in itself rich and easily accessible; it is necessary that the engi- neer who explores it should himself, in mining phrase, have an accurate knowledge of the country, and possess the skill necessary to work it to advantage."—(Introduction to St. Ronan's Well.) In several passages bearing generally upon the choice of subject, Sir Walter Seott insists upon attaching paramount importance to novelty. This is not novelty in the sense of some theme or motif never before attempted. That kind of novelty, indeed, many would assert to be impossible of dis- covery: though it seems more temperate to doubt whether all the possible combinations of human existence could ever be exhausted; whilst La Fontaine has pertinently remarked— La feinte est an pays plcin de terres desertes, Tons les jours dos autcurs y font des decouvertes.J * Maturin, Charles Eobert. "Mclmoth the Wanderer." Bcntley. A new edition from the original text with n memoir and bibliography of Maturin's works. Frontispiece. 3 vols. t Ars Poetica, 38. J Fables, Livre 3, 1. The novelty, however, upon which Sir Walter Scott insists, consists in the choice by an author of subjects of a sort that he himself has never pre- viously treated. This the great novelist seems to hold indispensable to success. It would be inte- resting to know how far the experience of the living novelists of the present day corroborates or goes against Sir Walter Scott's view. Do they really find that they recruit additional readers, and increase the circulation of their works when they quit the particular kind of romance in which they have hitherto laboured, to attempt a story of an entirely different description? Or is their ex- perience quite the contrary? Certainly, it is a very common thing to hear the enthusiastic readers of a well-known author cry out at once, when he quits the themes with which be has hitherto dealt to break some new ground. "So-and-so's new book," they promptly declare, " is not a bit like any of the others. It is just like a tale by such-an-onc." And the speaker almost always goes on to say that he hates such-an-one's books. This seems to indicate that to continue to excel in stories of the type an author has found most congenial to his taste should lie his aim, rather than to attempt novelties. And that is what most of our present authors appear to do. But Sir Walter Scott very distinctly expresses his opinion, that no author should write many books of the same kind, and that, if he wishes to maintain his popularity, new departures are indispensable. So, after the publication of his Scotch novels, commencing with "Waverley," and ending with "The Bride of Lammermoor," Sir Walter Scott writes in the preface to " Ivanhoe "— "The author of the 'Waterley Novels' had hitherto proceeded in an unabated course of popu- larity, and might, in his peculiar district of lite- rature, have been termed L'Enfant Gate of success. It was plain, however, that frequent publication must finally wear out the public favour, unless some mode could be devised to give an appearance of novelty to subsequent productions. Scottish manners, Scottish dialect, and Scottish characters of note being those with which the author was most intimately and familiarly acquainted, were the groundwork upon which he had hitherto relied for giving effect to his narrative. It was, however, obvious that this kind of interest must in the end occasion a degree of sameness and repetition. . . . Nothing can be more dangerous for the fame of a professor of the fine arts than to permit (if ho can possibly prevent it) the character of a mannerist to be attached to him, or that he should be supposed capable of success only in a particular and limited style." In his very next novel, " The Monastery," he is again in quest of something new.  ## p. 366 (#770) ############################################ 366 THE AUTHOR. "There was a disadvantage ... in treading the Border district, for it had already been ran- sacked by the author himself, as well as others, and, unless presented uuder a new light, was likely to afford ground to the objection of crambe bis cocta. To attend the indispensable quality of novelty, something, it was thought, might be gained by contrasting the character of the vassals of the Church with those of the dependants of the Barons."—(Introduction to " The Monastery.") And again, in the "Introduction to St. Ronan's Well ": "This style of composition was adopted by the author rather from the tempting circum- stance of its offering some novelty in his com- positions, and avoiding worn-out characters and positions." It seems, therefore, that, in Sir Walter Scott's opinion, novelty in choice of subject is indis- pensable. Some general remarks upon how Sir Walter proceeded in the construction of his plots, con- tained in the "Prefatory Letter—Dr. Dryasdust to Captain Clutterbuck," preceding "Peveril of the Peak," have been already quoted in the previous paper. To these may be added a con- siderable number of hints and passages, some of them too long to be here quoted at full length, bearing upon several different sorts of romance. Historical romance may be first mentioned. On this important kind of fiction, in the opinion of many the highest form of which romance is capable, Sir Walter Scott has written a complete short treatise in the "Dedicatory Epistle to the Rev. Dr. Dryasdust," preceding "Ivanhoe." In the "Introduction to Ivanhoe" this letter is mentioned as a formal statement of the author's views respecting historical romance—"expressing the author's purpose and opinions in undertaking this species of composition." It is full of remarks of the highest suggestiveness, but the reader must be referred to it. The "Letter" is too long to be quoted in extenso, and the connection of the whole so close that the value of the remarks it contains would be seriously impaired by the separation of selected passages from the context. The " Letter" deals with most of the difficulties of historical romance, and, whilst replying to many of the ob- jections that have been raised against this form of fiction, enunciates those general principles which now seem to be pretty widely accepted as rules of the legitimate treatment of historical facts in fiction. Respecting stories whose date is, to quote the dramatist, "the present," Sir Walter Scott nowhere offers any particular suggestions, saving a few remarks upon " St. Ronan's Well," in the Introduc- tion to that story, which will be again mentioned presently. In the first chapter of "Waverley," however, he makes a remark which shows his opinion to have differed from that of more recent authors, who have found themes for successful fiction in every epoch. "A tale of manners, to be interesting, must, either refer to antiquity so great as to have become venerable, or it must bear a vivid reflec- tion of those scenes which are pissing daily before our eyes, and are interesting from their novelty." We seem to possess no English equivalent for the expressive German term Tendcnz-Roman. "The novel with a purpose" is undeniably an awkward phrase. Of the value of "the novel with a purpose" opinions differ widely. Not even Horace's dictum— Ouine tulit punctual, qui miscuit utile dulci.* can persuade some people to like powders in their jam. And it would seem that these may claim Sir Walter Scott as a supporter of their opinion. In the "Introduction to the Fortunes of Nigel " he writes, "I am, I own, no great believer in the moral utility to be derived from fictitious composi- tions." In the "Introductory Epistle " preceding the same work, he says frankly, " I write, I care not who knows it, for the general amusement." Romance with a supernatural element is at present extraordinarily popular. Respecting this supernatural element Sir Walter Scott has a good deal to say in the " Introductory Epistle—Captain Clutterbuck to Dr. Dryasdust," placed before " The Fortunes of Nigel" (dated 1822; "The Monas- tery" was published in 1820), and in the " Intro- duction to the Monastery " (dated 183o). All has reference to the " White Lady of Avenel," of whom he writes, "There is a general feeling that the AVhite Lady is no favourite." "The formidable objection of incrcditltis odi was applied to the White Lady." In the "Introductory Epistle" Sir AValter Scott makes rather merry over his unsuccessful introduction of the supernatural, confessing the White Lady " too fine drawn for the present taste of the public," and promising that his next novel shall contain "no dreams, or presages, or obscure allusions to future events. Not a Cock-lane scratch, my son—not one bounce or drum of Jedworth—not so much as a poor tick of a solitary death-watch in the wainscot. All is clear and above board—a Scots metaphysician might believe every word of it." Writing the "Introduction to the Monastery" eight years afterwards, Sir Walter Scott enters into a more serious discussion of his "White Lady," concluding by saying — "Either . . . the author executed his pur- pose indifferently, or the public did not approve of * Ars Poetica, 340.  ## p. 367 (#771) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 367 it. For the White Lady of Avenel was far from being popular. He does not now make the present statement in the view of arguing readers into a more favourable opinion on the subject, but merely with the purpose of exculpating himself from the charge of having wantonly intruded into the narrative a being of inconsistent powers and propensities." This certainly reads as if Sir Walter Scott would have liked to find his supernatural incidents acceptable to the public, even whilst he keenly felt the force of Horace's terrible incredulus odi. Indeed, the tone of the "Introduction to the Monastery" contrasts strongly with the scathing satire which Henry Fielding, in the first chapter of the eighth book of " Tom Jones," pours upon " that species of writing which is called the marvellous." The "Introduction to the Pirate " contains an interesting remark on "the explained super- natural." It refers to Morna. "The professed explanation of a tale, where appearances or incidents of a supernatural character are explained on natural causes, has often, in the winding up of the story, a degree of improbability almost equal to an absolute goblin tale." To come to the plots of particular novels. Four prefaces present features of more interest than others. The "Introduction to the Monastery" relates the whole genesis of that romance from the selection of the first elements upon which it was built. The "Introduction to the Fortunes of Nigel" is much more brief, but of a similar character. Sir Walter Scott himself says that it presents " the materials to which the author stands indebted for the composition of the . . novel." The short "Introduction to the Pirate" plainly shows that romance to have been principally sug- gested by a locality and its scenery, whilst some of the dramatic elements the author has worked into his tale are contained in the "Advertisement." Finally, the short "Introduction to St. Ronan's Well" affords a few hints of how the elements of Sir AValter Scott's one tale of contemporary man- ners were selected. It is impossible to present the substance of these Introductions in any form better than that in which they stand, and the reader is therefore referred to them. The result of a novelist's labours in shaping his plot is his scenario. Sir Walter Scott only twice alludes, incidentally, to any kind of sketch or plan of his romances. Waverley was written without a scenario. "I must frankly confess that the mode in which I conducted the story scarcely deserved the success which the romance afterwards attained. The tale of " Waverley " was put together with so little care that I cannot boast of having sketched any distinct plan of the work."—(General Preface to the Waverley Novels.) In the " Introductory Epistle " preceding " The Fortunes of Nigel" Sir AValter Scott speaks of finding a great difficulty in keeping to the scenario after he had made it. "You should take time at least to arrange your story," observes the captain. "Author. That is a sore point with me, my son. Believe me, I have not been fool enough to neglect ordinary precautions. I have repeatedly laid down my future work to scale. . . . But I think there is a demon who seats himself on the feather of my pen when I begin to write, and leads it astray from the purpose. Characters expand under my hand; incidents are multiplied; the story lingers, while the materials increase; my regular mansion turns out a gothic anomaly, and the work is closed long before I have attained the point I proposed." Some remarks of Sir Walter Scott's on characters, titles, and a few other matters remain, and shall form the subjects of another paper. Henry Cbesswell. AUTHOR AND EDITOE. 1. "Advice to Conthiijutors." THE " advice to contributors " published in the March number of the Author, although good, is not, in my opinion, the best that could be given to the ordinary or casual contributor, for (i) if you, a comparatively unknown writer, suggest a good subject to the editor of a magazine or news- paper he probably knows someone who will treat the subject in a manner which will surely commend itself to him, whilst with your treatment of it he may not be satisfied, consequently it often happens that the only reply received to a suggestion or offer of this kind is that the same subject is being treated by one of the regular staff, or that an article upon it is already in hand. (2.) To put any price on your contribution is a sure method of obtaining its prompt return unread and without thanks. To the third and fourth rules no objection can be raised, but with respect to the fifth, whether you keep one copy, or fifty, of your MS. is nothing whatever to do with the editor, although some editors assume that you do keep a copy, and, consequently, take less care of MSS. sent in. The best advice that can be given to intending contributors is that they obtain a personal intro- duction to the editor of the magazine to which they  ## p. 368 (#772) ############################################ 368 THE AUTHOR. wish to contribute. To produce good work, readable work, marketable work, is not to obtain the open sesame of the market, the entrance to which can be effected easily by the intervention of one of the select few in possession of it. This method is that usually followed, and is the plan adopted by many now successful writers; an entrance may be forced, but in this few succeed. Why should editors treat MSS. so badly? What right have they to scrawl hieroglyphics and ciphers of their own upon a neatly named and signed manuscript? What right have they to scribble "Declined with thanks upon paper which is not theirs? Is it editorial etiquette or sheer careless- ness that results in MSS. being returned stained with coffee and porter; torn and creased, and without a wrapper; with the author's name scrawled by an office lx>y on the back thereof, and a postage stamp of the lowest denomination affixed thereto, although the correct postage for return was forwarded? Publishers of the highest standing and editors of the most successful periodicals are the worst offenders: the second-rate men cannot afford to be rude: those wonderfully kind letters which the great literary men are said to write when they are forced to return a manuscript are things we never receive, but of which we frequently read. As often as not MSS. are returned without a word, printed or otherwise, sometimes with a stereotyped refusal, still less frequently they are refused by postcard; a most reprehensible method, although practised by at least one London quarterly and one London monthly. At the Authors' Club there should be an album for the original " D. W. T." forms of all periodicals; the future generation of editors may then learn which to avoid. There is enough and to spare of editorial etiquette in London, but the home of editorial courtesy is, at present, north of the Tweed, as the place aVhonneur will be accorded to the Scotch firms. G. W. If. No Use in Writing. "I have had so much trouble to get my MSS. stories out of the Family Hearthrug that I must give you my experience, and beg you, if you have not had yours back, to act somewhat as I did. First, I wrote and called in all five times. Then I wrote saying I should be obliged for an answer, 'Yes' or 'No' as to whether they had the MSS. or had lost them, and enclosed a stamped envelope. Still dead silence. Then I sailed down to the office with a new novel—not in MS.—under my arm, and said I had come to stop until my packet was found, or till the editor could give me an explana- tion. The man in charge was exceedingly rude, but I did not care in the least. I sat down on a shelf in front of the counter (not at all uncom- fortable if you get your back against the window), pulled out my book, and read steadily from 11.4.5 till 2 o'clock, without speaking or stirring, except to cut the page. At 2 p.m., the man in charge, who had spent the time in staring at me, and shuffling in and out of a back hole (where presumably the editor was hiding), suddenly found my story and handed it to me, but with no explanation. I thanked him, and begged him to request the editor to accept the stamped envelopes I had showered on him, as a slight recognition of his trouble, and caine off triumphant. I tell you all this, because I am convinced that you will not get your story back by writing for it." [The lady to whom this letter was written sent it on to us, and we are happy to reproduce it for the benefit of other people who may be thinking of sending manuscripts to the Family Hearthrug, so that they may consider before doing so, if they are of the temperament to stand such treatment, if they can afford to give stamps away by the hand-full, and to spend half a working day in recovering their own property from a person who proposes to keep it. There is also another point on which we must add a few lines of warning. When the MSS. have once been despatched, we arc often powerless to help the author. If they have been destroyed we cannot recover them. If it should be denied that they have ever been received, we cannot prove the opposite. If they have been lost we cannot find them. But if the author will only consult us before sending his MSS. to the editor at all we can advise him as to the course he should pursue.] III. A Kindness and its Sequel. Here is a case of kindness not often met with and worthy of record. Years ago I sent a MS. to an editor, who, declining it for his own paper, told me he had sent it on to a friend who would print it, and pay the same price per column. This was my first entrance into a periodical which has printed a number of articles during some 10 or 12 years. The periodicals were published respectively in New York and Boston; the editors were, or rather are, both Americans. Is such kindness only to be found across the ocean? Such certainly is my experience. S. B.  ## p. 369 (#773) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 369 IV. Returned Unread. "I should like to relate my recent experiences with MSS. I was careful to observe the rules of the magazine to which I sent them. I had them type-written, so that they should be clear to read. I then started the MS. on their travels, forwarding in my letter an addressed postcard to acknowledge the arrival of the parcel. One editor used the postcard to state that the work was not suitable, und sent it back without opening the parcel. Most editors stated that they were flooded with con- tributions, and unable to consider anything for months. Only two attempts were made to read the MS. Now, I conduct a provincial journal. Whenever I put in work of my own the circulation increases. My work, therefore, suits my readers. Why not the general mass of readers? How can I, however, get editors to consider it?" V. With no Name. May I call attention to a fact in my literary exi>erience which has puzzled me a good deal, but which some of your readers may be able to explain. Here it is. I have contributed verse of a lyrical type to a certain high class, well-known London journal. I was most liberally and promptly paid by them. But—and here the shoe pinches— they would not append either my name or initials to the poems. This omission, to a poet feeling his way, as it were, amid the labryinths leading to Fame's Temple, is a fatal one. The increase of reputation was the desideratum in my case, even more than the "jingle of the guineas," and I may safely say, my reputation would have been increased materially, owing to the high standing of the journal in question, had only my name appeared. The omission seems to me rather "rough" on the contributor. What should we think of a pub- lisher who accepted a volume of poems from a young author, conditionally on his name not appearing on the title page? The author might tell his friends, of course, but the world at large would be in the dark, unless he turned egotist, and wrote to all the papers avowing the authorship! His reputation would not be increased one jot, at any rate, for some time. The puzzle for me lies in the reason the editor in question had for omit ting my name or initials. I cannot conceive any possible reason. If good enough for insertion, why conceal the writer's name. B. VI. Long Kept, and then Returned. Here is a case in which a writer was invited by the editor of a certain magazine to send him a paper on a definite subject. This he did. The paper was kept for three years and a half (!) and then returned with a curt note to the effect that the editor could not use it "this year," and there- fore returned it. What is to be done in such a case? Obviously, a claim for compensation, for the editor was bound, having invited the work, to return it if it was not suitable within a reasonable time. CORRESPONDENCE. I. Novels on Commission. Sir, You have advised many an author on the production of his own books, and by far the most frequent advice that you have felt it your duty to give him has been—do not do it. "Our first impulse," says the Author of January last, "has always been to try and turn him (the would-be author) from his project, because it is our general experience that these undertakings end in dis- appointment." But although you thus make it your usual rule to dissuade authors from publishing upon commission you allow that in more than one special case it is to the author's advantage to bear the cost of production himself, and, indeed, in the article from which I have just quoted you pointed out—to me convincingly—that this was the right course to pursue with regard to certain scientific and professional books. I should like to persuade you to go one step further, and admit that it may be the right course to pursue when an author's first novel is the work under consideration. I recognise that it would be a dangerous ad- mission for our Society to make, and that once made it would expose the Society to the insinuation that it was ready to encourage incompetency— for a consideration. Now, Sir, as this is exactly what I understand we do not do, and as for one person who wants to publish a scientific treatise there must always be 20 who want to publish a romance, I venture to think that some steps might be taken to assist them in this object—some- times. Not generally, but sometimes. In fact, I think there should be added to the classes of books where the author is encouraged by you to take the actual cost upon himself—scientific books and trade books—a third class, viz., first novels. At the  ## p. 370 (#774) ############################################ 37° THE AUTHOR. risk of taking up too much of your valuable space, I have set clown a few facts which appear to iue to support my proposition :— (i.) It is extremely difficult for a new author— good, bad, or indifferent—to get an immediate hearing. (2.) Yet every distinguished author—good, bad, or indifferent, and some distinguished writers are by no means good writers—must have been a new author at the beginning.- (3.) It is a fact that more than one master-piece of fiction, in more than one language, has been rejected by publishers, and only readied the public after much delay, with infinite mortification to the author. (4.) At the present day a work of fiction does not require to be a masterpiece at all, to be a very saleable piece of property: certainly more copies have been sold of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab in five years, than of Rhoda Fleming in over twenty years. I think it must appear from those that there are arguments in favour of occasionally relaxing your rule, and of occasionally encouraging the new author to publish his own romance for himself. If a book is not good enough for a good publisher, it may be urged that it is not good enough for the public. But the public is not as critical either as the young critic would have it, or as the first-class publisher seems to consider it, and surely our society must beware, lest in attempting to act as a check upon the excesses of the incompetent, we withhold from the public, matter that it would have welcomed. And more care will have to be exer- cised on this point from day to day, as more people begin to wield a facile and fluent pen, and, as by the spread of education a larger public is provided, whose hunger for fiction is not attended with an over-critical palate. I believe that many a story-teller—no great genius, no possessor of a Vanity Fair or a Jane Eyre—but still able to write as good a book as many that are in print, might with advantage be encouraged to try his luck for himself. There is much against him, but if he does not do this, how is be to start, yet, once started, though, as I have said, no great genius, he may fill a want and make nn income. And what matter that two or three people fail, if the Society should be the means of one such success. I would respectfully urge that every new author's MS., when it has been read by one of our readers, and has met with some commendation, should be looked at by our secretary, or by a sub-committee appointed for the purpose. If on such scrutiny the work appeared saleable—not, perhaps, a work of high genius, if I may be excused the repetition, but saleable—the author may be encouraged, nay, helped to publish at his own risk, if no publisher could be found for him. Again, if such a com- mittee proved instrumental in placing on the market one or two good books, there are many publishers who would seriously consider MSS. vouched for by people who had shown their discrimination. A Member op the Society. [The Syndicate can always find for such a work an honourable publisher, who will take it on com- mission. The warning offered every month against paying for publication is directed against the ac- ceptance of the terms proposed by low-class firms, who delude their victims with hopes of great returns when failure is certain. In the case suggested by our correspondent, of a work well thought of by readers, yet refused by good houses, prolwbly on the ground of risk, and also refused by editors of magazines, it might be the best thing possible for the author to get it—with the advice and help of the Syndicate—printed at his own expense, and placed in the hands of a publisher on com- mission. This, for example, is exactly what was done by myself twenty years ago with my collaborateur in our first novel, with admirable results.—Ed.] II. The Library Stamp. A number of copies of my first book were taken on approval by a certain library, but as some of them failed to be sold, they were ultimately returned. All these were stamped with the ineffacable name of the library. Now, sir, when a person buys an old library book from this firm, an additional stamp is made on the fly-leaf, " Sold." Anyone, however, who now buys these returned copies of my book finds nothing but the name of the library embossed inside, and to all intents and purposes it would appear as though they had purloined them. I do not think it fair on the part of the firm thus to deface the books. It may be of interest to note, perhaps, that I have just had an article accepted by a magazine to which I forwarded it twenty-two months ago. Everything comes to him who waits. A Waiting One. III. How Books are not Read. The last number of the Author contained an interesting reply to a correspondent who wished to know "bow books get read." Recently I met with an amusing instance of how books come not to be read.  ## p. 371 (#775) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 371 I was witli a young lady, a great novel reader, in the chief circulating library of a large and fashionable watering place. My fair companion was complaining that she could find nothing new to read, and I suggested a recent novel, in my opinion a very good one, by a well-known author. "What, one of So-and-so's books!" exclaimed the lady indignantly. "As if I would read anything written by that man! Why, he lircs here!" IV. Mr. Traill's List of Poets. To my note of omissions in Mr. Traill's list of poets I would now add Mr. Joseph Skipsey " the poet of the coalfields," Mr. Alexander Anderson, "the railway surface-man," and, may I be per- mitted? Mr. Traill himself. Presumably Mr. Traill does not intend his list to include, living hymn writers, however excellent their work, or it would be easy to mention the Rev. Sabine Baring- Gould, Dr. Walsham How, the Rev. H. R. Haweis, and others. Mackenzie Bell. V. The Great Use of a Table of Contents. Permit me to congratulate the Author on the very good example it has set in having a good table of contents printed on the page which soonest meets the eye. Why do not all newspapers, magazines, and reviews do this? Some of them come out with no tables of contents at all, with the result that an author who wishes to consult some back number for information valuable to him may have to expend an hour on a search which ought not to take up more than a minute. I suppose the reason for placing a table of con- tents either in a bad place or in no place at all is that the best place is wanted for advertisements. But surely advertisers might fairly be asked to pay a little more for space in a page to which readers would be so much more frequently sent by a good table of contents. SCRIPTOR IgNOTUS. VI. Compositors' Errors. In the "long ago," before I had ventured to tread the thorny paths of authorship, or to commit my "flights of fancy" to the public gaze, I was accustomed, in all good faith, to attribute whatever mistakes or absurdities appeared in story or article to the carelessness or ignorance of the author, and many were the derisive epithets and contemptuous criticisms launched, in consequence, at his unconscious head. I no longer make that mistake; experience, aggravating and reiterated, has taught me to "saddle the right horse," which is (in nine cases out of ten) the compositor. Not, I hasten to add, in wholesome dread lest the present philippic should never see the light, your compositor in particular, Mr. Editor, but everybody's compositor. For from all quarters of the scribbling world the cry goes up. Even across the sacred pages of the Author itself is seen the "trail of the"—again discretion stays my hand. Now, in accordance with the axiom, old as the hills—older—that "where there is smoke there must bo fire," so, for a practice thus widely extended, there must be a reason. What is it? "The reason is soon given," replies the cynic, "you authors write so execrably that the unfortu- nate compositor, in despair of deciphering, makes a dash at the nearest word." Well, "I'm no denyin'," as Mrs. Poyser says, that some authors do write execrably, and some— do not—yet the result in print, is so nearly the same that there is no difference. My own cali- graphy, for instance, has frequently been " awarded honourable mention "; yet, when in a praiseworthy endeavour to be abreast of the times, I ventured to transform an ancient "spook" into a "Kama Rupa," Mr. Compositor swooped down upon the (presumably) unknown word, and promptly changed "Ka " into' " Ye "! By what peculiar obliquity of mental or physical vision he " mistook" such utterly dissimilar letters I do not pretend to say, but "Icama Rupa" the unfortunate ghost appeared —and remains. Should it meet the eye of any wandering tlicophist, I shall get the credit of having discovered (or invented) a new denizen of the " Astral Plane " !" You expect too much of the genus compositor," urge other apologists," they do not profess to be highly educated men, nor to lie gifted with an intuitive perception of the ortho- graphy of strange and obscure words." Granted. Then why not, in doubtful cases, act on the supposition that possibly the author may be the best judge of what he intended to convey, and just content themselves with copying the letters of the text? To illustrate once more from my own experience—it is nearest to hand, wherefore the egotism—I am addicted to the (from a compositor's point of view) reprehensible practice of occasionally using out-of-the-way words. People say 'tis "characteristic," which may be intended as a compliment—and may not. Anyway it is slightly  ## p. 372 (#776) ############################################ 372 THE A UTHOR. disconcerting when reading over one's productions in print, to find the word upon which one had relied to give a touch to the picture, or point to the story, transformed into something altogether different. "Homey," for instance (meaning home- lihe), invariably appears as "homely"; a good enough word in its way, but not at all carrying the meaning I wished to convey. Again, why should a compositor when "setting up " a chatty descrip- tion of a country ramble, substitute "lump" for "tump "(my "Is" and "ts " are not identical)? "Tump" means, as even his attendant imp could have told him, a " hillock"; while " lump" might be anything (from putty to pudding), but one would scarcely choose to sit down upon it! Then why, oh why, should the well-known process of expelling an obnoxious member from clubland be transformed into " blackmailing," suggesting Hounslow Heath rather than Piccadilly. But now the apologist waxes wrath and demands, "Did it never strike you that compositors often discharge their duties under extreme pressure, especially in newspaper work, which renders mistakes unavoidable? You would substitute a wrong letter now and then with the ' devil' waiting importunately at your elbow." I should—more than one! And doubtless hurry has much to answer for. I am sure it had when a devout old lady, who figures in a story for which I am respon- sible, was represented as indulging in "irreverent (irrelevant) remarks "! But, Inn ing conceded so much, I return to the charge, and, on the strength of accumulated evidence, culled from observation no less than experience, I assert (sealing thereby the fate of this article !) that " compositors' errors" are not chiefly due to bad writing, to ignorance, nor to haste, but to the compositor's overweening conceit. He thinks he knows better than the author, and "acts accordin'." On what other possible supposition could that unfortunate "spook" have been re-christened? Sylvia Neun. -c->oc "AT THE AUTHOR'S HEAD." "rpHE ^aw of the Press," by Joseph E. Fisher, I B.A., and James A. Strahan, LL.B., is a most valuable work, and editors and proprietors of newspapers are strongly recommended to keep a copy by them. The whole of the law relating to the press in this country has been gathered into a single volume, and the result is not only a compre- hensive but a lucid digest. The book contains the answers to numerous questions that have been put to us at this office, different chapters being devoted to the registration of newspapers, to the postal regulations, to lottery advertisements, to copyright of articles, to contributors' piracy, to libel as a civil injury, to criminal libel, i-.nd to the foreign press laws. The want of such a book must often have been felt by persons connected with the press, to whom a knowledge of their legal rights and of the responsibilities incurred in their business must be very valuable. The book is published by- Messrs. Clowes and Sons at 27, Fleet Street. A volume of short stories by the late Mr. Bales- tier, "The Average Woman," is to be issued, with a memoir by Mr. Henry James. Mrs. Edmonds has translated another Greek novel, which will be published by Fisher Unwin. Its title is "The Herb of Love," and it is a tale of peasant life laid in Eubcea. The customs and superstitions of that district form the groundwork of the story. Mr. Horace Victor's novel "Mariam" has been issued by Macmillan & Co. simultaneously in England and America. A Colonial edition has also been prepared. Messrs. Bentley and Son have done the lovers of old books and old fashions of sensation a veritable kindness in reprinting Maturin's "Melmoth the Wanderer." It is the book of the month, and its anonymous editor must be heartily congratulated on his prefatory notes. Mr. Evelyn Ballantyne contributes a paper on "Some Impressions of the Australian Stage" to the April number of the Theatre. An article on "The Milky Way," by Mr. J. E. Gore, F.R.A.S., appears in the Gentleman's Magazine for March; and another on " New and Variable Stars," with especial reference to the new star which recently blazed out in the Milky Way in Auriga, will appear in the same magazine for April. Messrs. Jarrold and Son have published "A Charge to keep," by Mr. P. A. Blyth; and the Religious Tract Society have published "The Inheritance of Little Amen," and "A Tale of a Sign Post," by the same author. Mr. Alfred H. Miles, editor of "The Poets and Poetry of the Century," is about to issue a new volume. It will discuss the women poets from Joanna Baillie to Mathilde Blind. The principle contributors of articles are Dr. Garnett, Mr. Ash- croft Noble, Dr. Japp, and Mr. Mackenzie Bell.  ## p. 373 (#777) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 373 .Mrs. Grimwood's first novel begins this week (April 2ii<l) in Mrs. Stannard's periodical, Winter's Magazine, as a serial. The profound impression created by the heroism of Mrs. Grimwood at Manipur, and the immense success of her book "My Three Years in Manipur," will doubtless cause her first effort in fiction to be read with unusual interest and curiosity. The story will afterwards be issued in volume form by Messrs. F. V. White & Co. John Strange Winter's latest shilling story has just made its appearance under the title of "Mere Luck." This is the twenty-first novel published by Messrs. White & Co. for this author. During the present month the same publishers will bring out .her long novel, which is now running in Lloyd's News under the title of "Justice." It will be remembered that Mr. Herbert Spencer produced a book under this title a few weeks before John Strange Winter's story began in Lloyd's New. Mr. Spencer very courteously waived all objection to the title being retained—thereby avoiding the great expense and inconvenience a change of title at the last moment would have involved. When the book appears in two-volume form next week it will bear the title of "Only Human." A new work of fiction by Mr. J. A. Steuart will appear during the present month. It will be published in the "Whitefriars' Library of Wit and Humour " under the title of "Life's Medley: or the Order of the Jolly Pashas." Mr. Steuart's last novel, " Kilgroom: a Story of Ireland," besides being very favourably received by the press, attracted the attention of Mr. Gladstone, who wrote to the author that " The praises deservedly given to Miss Lawless for her ' Hurrish' " were due to him," but in a higher degree for a fuller and better adjusted picture." Mr. Gladstone adds that he finds the story " truthful, national, and, highly inte- resting." The book is receiving attention abroad too. The Allr/cmcine Zeitung, in reviewing it the other day, called it a "striking romance," and, speaks of "the fine flow of the narrative, and the delicate characterization of the individual person- ages," adding that it gives an "unusually vivid picture of the Ireland of to-day." A new edition of "Kilgroom" will shortly be issued. ♦-»•♦-— NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. Theology. Davidson, Rev. A. B., D.D. The Book of the Prophet Eiekiel. With Notes and Introduction. "Cambridge Bihlc for Schools and Colleges." 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Amendment to Statute 13 of Corpus Christi College, Oxford (Jd.). Navy Esti- mates for 1892-93 (is. Sjd.). Estimates for Civil Services for the year ending March 3i, 1893 (2d.).  ## p. 378 (#782) ############################################ 3;8 THE AUTHOR. Civil Service Estimates, 1892-93, Class L, Public Works and Buildings (7(1.). Memorandum of the Financial Secretary to the Treasury relating to the Civil Service Estimates, 1892-93 (2d.). Alien Immi- gration Return for February (id.). Accounts of the Russian, Dutch, Greek, and Sardinian Loans (id. each). Reports on the Malago Vale Colliery Explosion (jd.). Imperial Defence Act, 1888 (Naval Section), Austral- asian Agreement, Account, 1890-91 (\d.). Report of the Hoard of Trade on the Cork Harbour Pilotage Dill (id.). Amendment to the Statutes of Corpus Christi College, Oxford (id.). Further Correspondence respecting Anti-Foreign Riots in China (is. Sd.). First Report from the Select Committee on the House of Lords Offices (id.). Civil Services, 1890-91, .Statement of Excesses (^d.). Eastbourne Improve- ment Act, 1885 (Prosecutions for Open-Air Services, &c), Return of Charges under the Act between June 1, 1891, and February 18, 1892 (iJ.). Trustee Savings Hanks Inspection Committee Scheme (id.). Nationality in Brazil—Article 69 of the Brazilian Constitution (id.). Census of Ireland, Part I., Vol, II. Minister. No. 4. Limerick (is. id.). Return as to Schools in Ireland (3s. id.). Census of Ireland, Part I., Vol. 2, Minister, No. 3, Kerry (n.). Returns as to Loans raised respectively in India and in Kugland, Chargeable on the Revenues of India out- standing at the beginning of the half-year ended September 3o, 1891 (id. each). Petitions of Univer- sity and King's Colleges, praying for the grant of a charter for the "Oresham" University, with the draft of the proposed charter (2d.). Local Taxation (England) Account, 1890-91 (z\d.). Returns of the number of Agrarian Outrages reported in Ireland during the third and last quarters of 1891 (id. each). Naval Manoeuvres, 1891—The Partial Mobilization of the Fleet and the Manoeuvres of Last Year j Civil Services and Revenue Departments, Appropriation Accounts, 1890-91 (4s. Sd.). Civil Services Estimates, 1892-93, Class II., Salaries and Expenses of Civil Departments. Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Redemption of Tithe Rentcbarge in England and Wales (i^d.). Colonial Reports, Annual, Victoria: Digest of Statistics for 1890 (3id.). Jamaica j Report for 1889-91 (20!.). Income Tax: Return of assessments by Counties from 1884-90, and of other particulars (10!.). Estimates for Civil Services and Revenue Departments, 1892-93 ; Votes on Account (id.). Deer Forests, Scotland (return substituted for that previously circulated) (id.). Supreme Court of Judicature (Circuit Allowances, &c.) (id.). Education Department Code of Regulations for 1892, with Schedules and Appendices (6d.). Glebe Lands (Sales) (^d.). Mr. Hastings—Record of his Trial (id.). Teachers Pension Fund (Ireland), Memorandum on the Position of the Fund on December 3i, 1890 (Jd.). Statistical Tables of Corn Prices for 1891, with comparative tables for previous years (3</.). Report of the Committee on Questions connected with the Royal Naval Reserve (gd.). Return as to Medical Officers of Health appointed by County Councils (i|d.). Return as to Courts Martial in 1890 (id.). Civil Service Estimates, Class IV., Education, Science, and Art (7<Z.). Foreign Office, Annual Series—Trade of Tonga (1890) (id.). Trade of Zanzibar (1891 sup- plementary) (i^d.). Trade of Suakin (1891) (\d.). Miscellaneous Series—Netherlands; Report on the Effects of the Law of 1889 for the Protection of Women and Children engaged in Factory and other Work (2d.). Contracts entered into by the Admiralty by virtue of the Naval Defence Act, 1889, section 7 (id.). Civil Sen-ice Estimates, 1892-93, Class V., Foreign and Colonial Services (4$d.). Class VI., Non- effective and Charitable Services (3|d.). Parcel Post (United States of America and Great Britain), Corre- spondence (2d.). Foreign Office, Annual Series—Trade of Galveston (1891) (lid.). Miscellaneous Series— The Aloe Fibre Industry of Somaliland (Egypt) (id.). Report on the Administration, Finances, and Condition of Egypt, and the Progress of Reforms (4|d.). Report to the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the Explosion of Fireworks on a Floating Magazine below Gravesend (i.'.d.). Index to the Estimates for Civil Services, 1892-93 (2d.). Further Papers relating to the Malay States. Reports for 1890 (lojd.). Revised Instructions to Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools and Applicable to the Code of 1892 (4d.). Elementary Education (Schemes of Charity Commis- sioners applying funds to, since 1870) (3d.). Return of Railways comprised in the Railway Rates and Charges Orders Confirmation Bills, 1 to 26 (id.). Accounts of the Lighthouses maintained in British Possessions Abroad (id.). Bank of England, applica- tions made for Advances to Government from January 5, 1891, to January 5, 1892 (jd.). Return of the Court Martials on Non-Comniissioned Officers for Gambling in 1888-89-90 (id.). Foreign Office, Mis- cellaneous Series; Report on Legislation for Protection of Women and Young Children Employed in Factories in the Netherlands (id.). Mr. Magan, Correspondence (2id.). Board of Agriculture—Report of Proceedings under various Acts, 1891 (l\d.). Yeomanry Cavalry Training Return, 1891 (id.). National Debt (Military Savings Banks)—cash account ({d.). Return of Proceedings under the Augmentation of Benefices Act, from February 21, 1891, to February 18, 1892 (id.). Intermediate Education (Ireland)—Rules (|d.). Ordnance Factories Estimate, 1892-93 (id.). Army Estimates of Effective and Non-Effective Ser- vices for 1892-93 (2s.). Statistics of the Colony of New Zealand for 1890. Didsbury, Government Printer, Wellington, N.Z. Census of Ireland, Part I., Vol. 2, Munster; No. 2, Cork—County and City (2s. 3d.). Returns of licences for the Sale of Opium and Intoxicating Liquors issued in Upper Burma since January i, 1888 (6<f.). Foreign Office, Annual Series, Trade of Mozambique (Portugal), 1891 (ijd.). Trade of Guayaquil (Ecuador), 1891 (id.). Budget of the German Empire for 1802-93 (id.). Trade of Galatz (ltoumanin), 1891 (ijd.). Miscellaneous Series.— Roumanian Trade, Agriculture and Danube Navigation from 1881 to 1890 (id.)—Eyre and Spottiswoode.  ## p. 379 (#783) ############################################ 379 THE AUTHORS' SYNDICATE. THIS Association is established for the purpose of syndicating or selling the serial rights of authors in magazines, journals, and newspapers. It has now been at work for more than a year, and has transacted a very satisfactory amount of business during this period. It has also entered upon a great number of engagements for the future. The following points are submitted for consideration :— 1. The management is voluntary and unpaid. No one makes any profit out of the Syndicate, except the authors who use its services. 2. The commission charged on the amounts received covers the expenses of clerks, travellers, rent, and printing. As work increases this may be still further reduced. 3. Only the serial rights are sold for the author. He receives his volume rights and copyright. 4. The Syndicate has an American agent. 5. The Syndicate will only work for members of the Society. 6. Its offices are on the same floor as those of the Society, and its assistance and advice are always at the service of the Society. 7. Authors are warned that no syndicating is possible for them until they have already attained a certain amount of popularity. 8. The Syndicate acts as agent in every kind of literary property. 4, Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields. W. MORRIS COLLES, Honorary Secretary.  ## p. 380 (#784) ############################################ 380 ADVERTISEMENTS. Not Work, but Play. Leave the drudgery of the Pen-Soiled Fingers—Blotted and Obscure Manuscript, to those who prefer darkness to light. Quick, up-to-date writers use THE BAR-LOCK TYPE-WRITER. Why? Easiest Managed; Soonest Learned; Most Durable; Writing Always Visible; does best work, and never gets out of repair. Chosen, by Royal Warrant, Type-Writer to the Queen. Only gold medals-- Edinburgh (1890) and Jamaica (1891) Exhibitions; is useil in principal Government Departments, and greatest number of English business houses. We send interesting supply of further information free. THE TYPE-WRITER COMPANY, LIMITED, 12 & 14, Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C.; 25, Market Street, Manchester; 1, South John Street, Liverpool; 22, Renfield Street, Glasgow ; 35, Charles Street, Bradford. MISS R. V. GILI, MRS. GILL, TYPE-WRITING OFFICES, TYPE-WRITING OFFICE, 6, Adam Street, Strand, W.C. 35, LUDGATE HILL, E.C. (ESTABLISHED 1883.) Authors' and Dramatists' Work a Specialty. All kinds of MSS. copied with care. Extra attention given to diíficult Authors' MSS. carefully copied from 1s. per hand-writing and to papers or lectures on scientific subjects. 1,000 words. One additional copy (carbon) Type-writing from dictation. Shorthand Notes taken supplied free of charge. Plays, &c., 18. 3d. per and transcribed. 1,000 words. Carbon copies 18. per Act. Refer- FURTHER PARTICULARS ON APPLICATION. ence kindly permitted to Walter Besant, Esq. MISSES E. & S. ALLEN, MISS PATTEN, TYPE AND SHORTHAND WRITERS. TYPIST, TRANSLATIONS and Scientific Work 44, Oakley Street Flats, Chelsea, S.W. a Special Feature. AUTHORS' MSS. CAREFULLY TRANSCRIBED. REFERENCES 39, LOMBARD STREET, E.C. KINDLY PERMITTED TO GEORGE AUGUSTUS SALA, Esq. Office No. 59 (close to Lift). Particulars on Application. MESDAMES BRETT AND BOWSER, TYPISTS, Selborne Chambers, Bell Yard, Temple Bar. Authors' MSS. carefully and expeditiously copied, 1s. per 1,000 words. Extra carbon copies half price. References kindly permitted to Augustine Birrell, Esq., M.P. THE AUTHORS' AGENCY. Established 1879. Proprietor, Mr. A. M. BURGHES, 1Paternoster Row. The interests of Authors capably represented. Proposed agreements and estimates examined on behalf of Authors. MS. placed with Publishers. Transfers carefully conducted. Twenty-five years' practical experience in all kinds of publishing and book producing. Consultation free. Terms and testimonials from leading Authors on application to Mr. A. M. Burghes, Authors' Agent, 1, Paternoster Row. LONDON: Printed by EYRE and SPOTTISWOODE, Printers to the Queen's most Excellent Majesty.  ## p. 381 (#785) ############################################ ^Ibe Hutbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. II.—No. ij.] MAY 2, 1892. [Price Sixpence. CONTENTS. PAGE • 3«3 ■ 3*3 • 3«.< . 386 . 3H6 Warnings Notices The Authors' Syndicate The Lnirrolliad "Porta Nascitur, Noli Fit" Literary Property— I.—Literary Theft 3»6 II.—Mr. James Knowles 3»7 III. —Anthony Trollope's Life 3J7 IV. —" Baby Lifting extraordinary 3*7 V.—American Piracy 3j>-j Tho American Society of Authors »» Agencies Editing and Reviewing:— 1.—The Value of a Favourable Review II.—About Reviewing III.—Magazines and Editors 3*9 S90 391 391 3t> 393 Hew .192 VII.—With no Name 393 TJneut Leaves 391 The Literary Agent 393 IV.—( V.—I-ong kept and then returned VI.—From the Editor's Point of Vie I'scTnl Books Author and Publisher Generosity, Litienility, and Equity .. Young anil Old Notes and News. By Walter Besant Feuilletou Notes from Paris PAGR • 394 • 395 ■ 39« • 398 • 398 • 399 401 iierature in the Miwnizines 404 Scott on the Art of Fiction Walt "Whitman From America "At the Author's Head 4°J 410 410 4" From the Papers :— I.—The Lowell Memorial 415 II.—The Glorious Traditions of the Book Agent .. .. 41 j 111.—The Chief Use of the Society 41 j IV.—American Fiction '.. .. 41 j V.—Newspaper Copyright 416 VI.—From America 416 VII.—The Education of Opinion 416 VIII.—An Outside Opinion on the Society 417 New Books and New Editions.. 417 EYRE AND SPOTTISWOODE. INVESTMENTS. A List of i,6oo British, Colonial, and Foreign Securities, with the highest and lowest prices quoted for the last twenty-two years, is. bd. "A useful work of reference."—Money. PHILOSOPHICAL NOTES ON BOTANICAL SUB- JECTS. By E. B05AVIA, M.D.. Brigade-Surgeon, I.M.I). With 160 Illustration*. a«. bd. KEAL ARMY REFORM, THE ESSENTIAL FOUNDA- TION OF. By Ionotus. bd. "Those who would understand the general argument of those who favour conscription cannot do liettcr than read this pamphlet." —Army and Xavy Gazette. MY GARDENER (Illustrated). By II. W. Ward, Head Gardener to the Right Hon. the Earl of Radnor, Longford Castle, Salisbury, is. bd. "The book is replete with valuable cultural notes indispensable to the millions who are now turning to gardening as a source of pleasure and proiit."—Gardener's Chronicle. STATE TRIALS, Reports of. New Series. Vol. III., 1831—40. Published under the direction or the State Trials Committee. Edited by Joii.v Macdonell, M.A. km. PUBLIC GENERAL ACTS, 1891. Red Cloth, 3*. Contains all the Public Acts passed during the year, with Index, also Tables showing the etl'rct of tho yenr's legislation, together with complete 111 id classified Lists of the Titles of all the Local and Private Acts passed during the Session. REVISED STATUTES. (Second Revised Edition.) Royal svo. Prepared under the direction of the Statute Law Revision Committee, and Edited by G. A. R. Fitzoerald, Esq. Vols. I. to IV. now readv, price 7*. bd. each. TEN YEARS' SUNSHINE. Record of the Registered Sunshine at 46 Stations in the British Isles, 1881-1800. 2*. FORECASTING BY MEANS OF WEATHER CHARTS, Principles or. By tho Hon. Ralph Abbecromdy, F.R. Met. SOC. 2.1. HYGIENE AND DEMOGRAPHY. Transactions of the Seventh International Congress of. To be published in thirtivn volumes. Vol. XII. (Municipal Hygiene and Demography). Now ready. 2*. btl. List or the Scries on application. METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS, Instructions in the use ot. 2t. bd. THE LITERATURE RELATING TO NEW ZEALAND. A Bibliography. Royal Svo. Cloth, is. bd. COPYRIGHT LAW REFORM: an Exposition of Lord Monksw ell's Copyright Bill. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1S78. and nn Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lely, Esq., liarrist«r-at-Law. i». bd. KEW BULLETIN, 1892. Monthly, 2d. Appendices, id. each. Annual Subscription, including postage, 341. 9*/. Volume for 1891, is. id., by |>ost. MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. Descriptive Catalogue of the Muural Instruments exhibited at the Royal Military Exhi- bition, 1890. Compiled by Cnpt. Day, Oxford Light Infantry. Illustrated, lis. "Unique, 11s no earlier liook exists in English dealing exhaus- tively with the same subject A very important con- tribution to the history of orchestration."— Athcnamm. PUBLIC RECORDS. A Guide to the Principal Classes of Documents preserved in the Public Record Office. By S. R. Scaucill-Bird, F.S.A. is. "Tin- value of such a work as Mr. Scargill-Bird's can scarcely lw over-rated."—Tiuvts. Monthly Lists of Parliamentary Papers vpon Application. Quarterly Lists Post Free, id. Miscellaneous List on Application. Every Assistance given to Correspondents; and Books not kept in stock obtained without delay. GOVERNMENT AIVD GENERAL PUIIEISIIERS. KYUK and SPOITISMOODU, Her Majesty's Printers, East Harding Street, London, H.C.  ## p. 382 (#786) ############################################ 383 AD VERTISEMENTS. Cfje Jswtetg of gutljors (fincorporatrtO* PRESIDENT. The Kight Hon. the LORD TENNYSON, D.C.L. Sib Edwin Arnold, K.C.l.E. Alfred Austin. A. W. a Beckett. Robert Bateman. Sir Henry Berone, K.C.M.G. Walter Besant. Augustine Birrell, M.P. R. D. Ulackmore. Rev. Prof. Bonnky, F.R.S. Lord Brabourne. James Bryce, M.P. P. W. Clayden. Edward Clodd. Hon. John Collier. W. Martin Conway. Marion Crawford. Oswald Cbawfurd, C.M.G. COUNCIL. The Earl of Dksart. A. W. Dubourg. John Eric Erichsen, F.R.S. Prof. Michael Foster, F.R.S. Herbert Gardner, M.P. Richard Garnett, LL.D. Edmund Gosse. H. Rider Haggard. Thomas Hardy. Rudyard Kipling. Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S. J. M. Lely. Rev. W. J. Loftie, F.S.A. F. Max Mullee, LL.D. George Meredith. Herman C. Merivale. Rev. C. H. Middleton-Wake, F.L.S. Hon. Counsel—E. M. Underdown, Q.C. Pembroke and J. C. Parkinson. The Earl of Montgomery. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart. LL.D. Walter Herries Pollock. A. G. Ross. George Augustus Sala. W. Baptists Scoones. G. R. Sims. J. J. Stevenson. Jas. Sully. William Moy Thomas. H. D. Traill, D.C.L. Baron Henry de Worms, M.P., F.R.S. Edmund Yatks. COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT. Chairman—Walter Besant. A. W. a Beckett. Hon. John Collier. W. Martin Conway. Edmund Gosse. H. Rider Haggard. J. M. Lely. Sir Frederick Pollock. A. G. Ross. Solicitors—Messrs. Field, Roscoe, & Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. Secretary—S. Squire Sprigge. OFFICES. 4, Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C. PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1891 can be had on application to the Secretary. 2. The Author. A, Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Meml>ers. 3. The Grievances Of Authors. (The Leadenhall Press.) 2*. The Report of three Meetings on the general subject of Literature and its defence, held at "Willis's Eooms, March 1887. 4. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Colles, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, g5, Strand, W.C.) 3*. 5. The History of the Societe des Gens de Lettres. By S. Squire Sprigge, Secretary to the Society, is. 6. The Cost Of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c, with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, g5, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. 7. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squire Sprigge. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society's offices, the various kinds of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, g5, Strand, W.C. 5s. 8. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill now before Parliament. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lely. Eyre and Spottiswoode. is. 6rf. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 02 Issue 11 (April 1892) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 02 Issue 11 (April 1892) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015031017927&amp;view=1up&amp;seq=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015031017927</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1892-04-01-The-Author-2-11 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/263/1892-05-02-The-Author-2-12.pdf 66130398c839d97aa3ca93afaefd9b51 PDF Text Text �������������������������������������������� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1892-05-02 Volume 2 Issue 12 Pages Page range in volume 343–380 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18920502 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin TLhc B u t b o t\ (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vol. II.—No. 12.] MAY 2, 1892. [Prick Sixpence. For the Opinions earpressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. WARNINGS. Readers of the Author arc earnestly desired to make the following warnings as widely known as possible. They are based on the experience of seven years' work upon the dangers to which literary property is exposed :— (1.) Never sign any agreement of which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part, until you have proved the figures. (2.) Never enter into any correspondence with publishers, especially with those who advertise for MSS., who are not recom- mended by experienced friends or by this Society. (3.) Never, on any account whatever, bind yourself down for future work to anyone. Never accept any proposal of royalty until you have ascertained exactly what the agreement gives to the author and what to the publisher. (5.) Never accept any pecuniary risk or respon- sibility whatever without advice. Never, when a MS. has l>een refused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises they may put forward, for the production of the work. (7.) Never sign away American rights. Keep them. Refuse to sign an agreement con- taining a clause which reserves them for the publisher. If the publisher insists, take away the MS. and offer it to another. (+•) (6.) (8.) Never sign a receipt which gives away copyright without advice. (9.) Keep control over the advertisements by clause in the agreement. Reserve a veto. If you are yourself ignorant of the subject, make the Society your agent. (10.) Never forget that publishing is a business, like any other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy, charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with business men. Society's Offices 4, Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields. NOTICES. T HE Secretary will be much obliged if any members who have kept the Report for 1890 will kindly send their copies to him. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of this Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly understood that, the Society does not, under any circumstances, under- take the publication of MSS. K f 2  ## p. 384 (#788) ############################################ 384 THE AUTHOR. The official directions for the securing of American copyright by English authors were given in the Author for June 1891. Members are earnestly entreated to take the trouble of reading those directions. Members are earnestly requested to forward agreements to the Society for inspection before they sign them. Once signed, the mischief is generally irreparable. Communications intended for the Authors' Syndi- cate should be addressed to W. Morris Colles, the Honorary Secretary. The Authors' Club, whose foundation has been so long delayed and obstructed by one accident after another, is now making a real start. It already numbers a very good roll of original members, and it is taking temporary premises in St. James's Place, St. James's Street. The position is rather more to the West than is desired for a permanent location. The Committee, however, have time to look about them, and it is best not to be in a hurry. Mean- time readers will please observe that the Club is .starting. It will be remembered that at the outset, every kind of prophecy was uttered about its certainty of failure, its impossibility of success. A trick of some importance has been brought before us on several occasions of late. A writer agrees with an editor to contribute papers to his magazine. He is perhaps a writer whose work is of more than ephemeral value. He has been accustomed to place his work subject to the con- dition that he sells serial right only. When the cheque arrives it is accompanied by a form of receipt which contains the words " for the copy- right," or words to that effect. He often signs without noticing the clause, and finds out too late what he has thrown away. Let, therefore, every one guard carefully against signing such a receipt, and let him, for better security, stipulate before- hand that it is the serial right alone which he assigns to his editor. There has been remonstrance. The editorial worm has turned. In the short space of three months one paper has borrowed from another to the following extent. Two important leading articles; three sketches of living characters; six- teen reviews of books; and various short notes. In each case the "conveyance" was accompanied by the words, "the — says." At last the proprietors of the paper have remonstrated, and the thing is slopped. The use of articles taken from other papers is a thing that concerns the Author, because so many of our members arc; journalists as well as authors. Surely some rules can be arrived at. It is very good in most cases, both for the contributor and the paper, to have articles quoted with due acknowledgment. On the other hand, it cannot be claimed that there is no copyright in the daily or the weekly paper. But in any case of reproduction it ought to lie made conspicuously clear where the article first appeared, and in common fairness the author of the article in question should receive some more substantial recognition than the honour of being reprinted in al) cases in which he has reserved his copyright. Perhaps the Institute of Journalists would see a way of takin<* up the matter. With the ratifications of the Literary Convention exchanged between Germany and the United States on the 15th ultimo, and President Harrison's proclamation extending the benefits of the Ameri- can copyright to Germany, German authors enter into the enjoyment of such advantages as they may be able to secure under the American statute. It is to be. feared, however, that the experiences of French authors will be repeated. The conditions of the American copyright requiring a foreign author to be simultaneously printed and published in his own country and in the States, have so far proved in a large number of cases practically prohibitive. In the result, American publishers are practically able to make their own terms, so that, so far as France, and, it is to be feared, Germany is concerned, with the exception of 11 favoured few, the American Copyright Act leaves matters much where it found them. There is a prevalent idea that the death of a holder of a pension on the Civil List creates a vacancy. That is not the case. The number of those on the List is not limited. A grant is made every year of £1,200. This is spent for the most part, as we all know, on persons for whom the grant is not made, and for whom the Reso- lution of 1837 was not passed. When any person on the List dies, that portion of the annual £'1,200 which he has received is no longer paid. But there- is no vacancy to fill up. The amount actually expended every year is about £27,000.  ## p. 385 (#789) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 385 The death of the Rev. Dr. Allon removes one who was a member of this Society from its very commencement, who cordially sympathised with its aims, and was most hopeful of its success. This alone should ensure his memory a grateful pre- servation among us all. But there was more. In his capacity as editor of the British Quarterly he conducted for many years a review which was a formidable rival—say, rather, an equal—to the Quarterly and the Edinburgh, lie was always eager to welcome good work. There are many— the writer of this note among others—who can bear testimony to his kindness and his sympathy. That he was also a Prince of Israel in his own Church, that he was a personal friend of all who were the wisest and the best in his own generation, to what- ever Christian community they belonged, are things which ltelong to the part of him outside literature. Another original member has passed away. Mr. Samuel Lee, M.A., Barrister-at-Law, of Lincoln's Inn, the translator of Virgil and Horace, with Professor Lonsdale, died suddenly on Thursday, April 14th. A constitutional indolence prevented him from doing justice to his own abilities. He did nothing but those two books. But with him has perished a wonderful mass of scholarship and information. He was, in addition to his classical attainments, a wide reader in Spanish, Italian, and French literature. Of a retiring disposition, he was seldom to be seen outside his two clubs, the Athenaeum and the United University. His col- laborateur, Professor Lonsdale, only survived him by a fortnight. Fiction and Egyptology have sustained a loss in Amelia B. Edwards. It is, however, several years since Miss Edwards wrote her last novel. It was with her Egyptian researches much more than her novels that Miss Edwards has been recently before the world. She was on the Civil List, but lived to enjoy her pension a very short time. It is not an uncommon thing in the case of disputed accounts or agreements taken up by the Society for the publishers to attempt to ignore the Secretary by writing to the author. The motive is evident. First, they wish to complicate the settlement of the question by dealing with one whom they have already found to be ignorant of the practical side of literature, or wanting in business capacity. Next, they would, if they could, bring about a division 1 Kit ween the Society and its members, In such a case the duty of the author is clear. He must not answer the letter, but send it on to the Secretary. In no case;—under no circum- stances— must he hold any independent correspon- dence with the publishers. Should he do so, the Society will return his papers at once, and refuse to take any further steps. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether thev have paid their subscriptions for the year? If they will do this, and remit the amount or a banker's order, it will greatly assist the Secre- tary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. The present number of the Author concludes the second volume. Readers are reminded that though the paper is sent to every member free of charge, every member is also free, if he pleases, to remit a year's subscription of 6s. bd., and that if every member would do so, the paper would cost nothing to the Society. Members are earnestly requested to forward any- thing that may be of interest or value to literature, whether news, comments, questions, or original contributions. The short space at the command of the editor forbids any attempt at reviewing, but books can always be noticed if they are sent up. Members are entreated to attend to the warning numbered (3). It is a most foolish and a most disastrous thing to bind yourself to anyone for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether In; was honest or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign themselves into bondage for three or live years? In the April number of the Author, the name of Sylvia Pens ([1.372) wrongly appeared as Sylvia Nein. THE AUTHOES' SYNDICATE. MR. Colles desires to inform readers of the Author as regards the Syndicate— 1. That he undertakes to work for none but members of the Society. 2. That his business is not to advise members of the Society, but to manage their affairs for them if they please to entrust them to him.  ## p. 386 (#790) ############################################ 386 THE AUTHOR. 3. That when ho has any work in hand he must have it entirely in his own hands; in other words, that authors must not ask him to place certain work, nnd then go about endeavouring to place it by themselves. 4. That when a MS. has been sent from pub- lisher to publisher, and from editor to editor, in vain, it is most likely impossible to place it. 5. That in the face of the present competition, authors will do well to moderate their expectations. To this it may be added, that where advice is sought, the Secretary of the Society, and not the Syndicate, must be consulted. On his behalf members are requested— 1. To place on paper briefly the points on which advice is asked. 2. To send up all the letters and papers con- nected with the case if it is a case of dispute. 3. Not to conceal or keep back any of the facts. ■— THE LOGROLLIAD. SOME months ago I wrote for the students' paper at St. Andrew's—College Echoes— part of a satire called the Logrolliad, supposed to be the work of an envious failure, named McStimey. The lines were preceded by a prose explanation, telling how McStimey had died of envy on reading a favourable review of someone else. By an accident at the printing office, or through the discretion of the undergraduate editors, the explanation did not appear in the College magazine. As the little paper has the very most limited circulation I thought the omission of no importance. I learn, however, that the verses have been published with my name attached to them, in one or two newspapers, and that they have been sent to the persons satirized by McStimey, one of whom was myself. Whether intentionally or not, the persons who published and circulated the lines have caused mis- apprehensions, which I now endeavour to remove. I did not suppose anyone capable of believing that I would make serious assaults on writers, some of whom are my personal friends, and to all of whom I owe gratitude for instruction and enter- tainment. Nor would my natural modesty urge me to remark with seriousness that I teach "by precept and example how to fail," as alleged by McStimey. A. Lang. "POETA NASCITUR, NON FIT; At niihi jam puero ccelcstia Sacra placebant: Inane suum furtira Musa trahebat opus. Sacpe pater dixit: "Studiura quid iuutile tentas? Moonides nullaa ipse reliquit opes." Motus eram dictis: totoque Helicone rclicto, Scriberc couabar verba soluta modis. Sponte sua carmen numcros veniebat ad aptos, Kt, quod tentabam scribere, versus erat. P. Ovidii Nasonis Trist., Lib. iv., El. 10. vv. 18-16. Me Harmony delighted from a boy As the Muse drew me on to her employ: "Why toil for nothing ?" oft my father cried, "Homer himself a very pauper died." His chiding! moved me: Poesy I left, And sought to write some words of song bereft. Put still ray lines flowed, apt to rhyme and scan, And as I wrote my thoughts, in verse they ran. J. M. Lely, [with apologies to P.O.N.]. LITERARY PROPERTY. I. Literary Theft. THE question of literary theft by means of reprinting newspaper articles, either in other newspapers or in books, now being brought into prominence by the Times is a very important one, ami it is to be hoped that it will not be allowed to drop without some practical remedy being discovered and applied. It is notorious that much valuable literature first appears in newspapers. Thackeray's "Snobs" first appeared in Punch; Sala's "Twice Round the Clock" in the Daily Telegraph; while Mr. Russell, Mr. Forbes, and other war correspon- dents innumerable have republished their letters in book form. For payment and without risk, the author (perhaps hitherto unknown) by this mode secures a publication which otherwise he might have to pay for and lose money by, and he also gains the advantage of being able to correct and revise after newspaper publication, and before re-issue, by the light of such criticism, and with the encouragement of such admirers, as newspaper readers may bring. The enormous and increasing output of literat ure in the present day gives every ground of expecta- tion that this mode of publication will become more and more general.  ## p. 387 (#791) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 387 The points of law to be borne in mind are three :— (1.) The copyright belongs to the newspaper proprietor, not the author, for 28 years if, and if only, the articles are written and paid for on the terms that the copyright shall belong to the newspaper proprietor. (2.) The newspaper proprietor cannot sue for breach of copyright without first " registering" his newsj>aper. (3.) To a certain extent, very difficult to define, copying is legitimate. By way of cure for these inconveniences to all concerned in the production of literature, it was proposed (amongst other things) by Lord Monks- well's Copyright Bill, which was read a second time in the House of Lords last session (on the curious condition, imposed by the Lord Chancellor, that it should not be further proceeded with), that— (1.) In the case of any article, essay, or other work whatsoever, being the subject of copyright, first published in and forming part of a collective work for the writing, composition, or making of which the original copyright owner shall have been paid, or shall be entitled to be paid, by the proprietor of the collective work, the copyright shall belong to the proprietor of the collective work for 3o years from publication. (2.) Except in the case of an Encyclopedia, the original copyright owuer shall have the right to republish the article in a separate form at any time after 3 years from the first publication. (3.) Copyright in respect of newspapers shall extend only to articles, paragraphs, communications, and other parts which are compositions of a literary character, and not to any articles, paragraphs, communications, or other parts which are designed only for the publication of news, or to advertise- ments. It is, we believe, a not uncommon practice for the proprietors of magazines to ask their contri- butors to sign receipts containing assignments of copyright as well as acknowledgments of payment. This we think the contributors should decline to do. The contract to assign the copyright can only be made when the article is arranged for. Any contract made after the article has been published is made " without consideration " and void. II. Mb. James Knowles. Two letters on this subject, written by Mr. James Knowles, editor of the Nineteenth Century, are published in the Times of April 29th and in the May number of Mr. Knowles's magazine. In the second letter Mr. Knowles defines what he considers legitimate criticism. He says—we hope that our own interest in the diffusion of these views will excuse our reproducing the lines— "I can of course make no objection at all to 'legitimate' criticism, supported by fair and moderate extracts of anything which is published in my review. "What I cannot recognise as 'legitimate' is extracting the substance of an article or quoting from it merely as a notice and apart from proper criticism of it. "That practice must be stopped by the pro- ducers and owners of literature, just as the practice of taking all the best cherries out of a basket without paying for them — under pretence of obtaining a sample—would be stopped by the law, if necessary, at the instance of the producers and owners of the cherries. "Your common sense and fairness will see the force of the distinction between criticism and pillage, and you will doubtless act accordingly without further pressure." III. Anthony Trollofe's Life. A correspondent writes: "I remember a case which very well illustrates the reckless way in which extracts are made. It is that of the post- humous 4 Recollections of Anthony Trollope.' The publishers were good enough to present me with a copy. For some reason, I had no time to look at it for three months after it appeared. I read during this interval the usual reviews and news- papers. When I at last cut the pages, I found that I knew every single thing of any interest. All had been picked out. What was left was rind and pulp." IV. "Baby" lifting extraordinary. The editor of Baby: the Mothers' Magazine calls attention to the following barefaced theft:— "Imitation is said to be the sincerest flattery; but when it takes the form of a gross piracy and wholesale robbery of ideas from a publication of which one is the originator, editor, and pro- prietor, it cannot be said to be acceptable to the person imitated. I may say that my feelings with regard to a new American publication, en- titled Baby: a Journal for Mothers, the first number of which was published in New York in January 1892, are of unqualified dissatisfaction and disgust at the colossal impudence of the proprietor and editor, whoever they may be. In  ## p. 388 (#792) ############################################ 388 THE AUTHOR. the words of my own prospectus, this magazine professes that its several departments are edited by "well-known writers, and articles will be obtained from the highest authorities on the bringing up of children." It would seem that no extraordinary expense will be incurred in carrying out this programme, as the editor evidently proposes to "annex" from my magazine all that may be required for the purpose. I have only seen the second number of this magnificent speculation as yet, but it is evident from this that the editor has had the four volumes of Baby: the Mo/hers' Magazine open during its preparation, although no acknowledgment is made of the fact. On p. 18, for example, there is a paragraph about the care of the eyes, which I wrote myself, and a hint about teething, taken from my third volume. On p. 19 is a drawing modified from one in my first volume; on p. 20 is the paragraph which forms the heading of my " Nursery Cookery" department; on p. 21, that from the heading of my "Parents' Parlia- ment"; and, on the same page, a whole article called "Hints about Teething," by Dr. T. L. Browne, stolen bodily from my fourth volume, p. 220. Such a production as this is a dishonour to journalism, and that it is possible to produce it is a disgrace to international law." V. American Piracy. There are two kinds of piracy: that, of new books and that of old books. A correspondent, a well-known novelist, writes that the New York Sunday Xeics has been presenting its readers with a complete story by himself, which was published in this country about five years ago. Another complete novel by another well-known writer is announced for the next week. The piracy of new books may be considered pretty well ended, but the piracy of old books will go on unchecked so long as the books which do not possess copyright continue to have any freshness. As regards Mr. Collier, whose correspondence and advertisements have attracted more attention, it is now stated that he has been "laying hands" as well on stories whose copyright is uncertain. A novel written for Tillotson and Son exclusively has very recently figured in three successive issues of the American Once a Week. We can only repeat our former caution. Do not entrust MSS. to any advertiser without careful business agree- ments beforehand and proper guarantees. . ■»-••♦ THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OP AUTHORS. AN important feature in this Society is the appointment of local secretaries in various centres of the country. Thus, at a meeting lately held at "Washington, a local auxiliary society was formed, at which Mrs. M. D. Lincoln was elected Vice-President. At the meeting certain plain truths were spoken. Mrs. Katherine Hodges, the general secretary, said :— "This is certainly one of the most vital subjects for consideration More the country to-day. It is a. question, not of war upon any man, or class of men, but it is one of principle, upon which the constitution of this Republic is founded—the principle of justice and fair dealing to all." Mr. George Smalley, of the iVeio York Tiibunc, was quoted in reference to the complete protection insured to authors by French law. "Why should we sit down contented with 11 position of inferiority to a nation whom we are not in the habit of thinking our superiors in civiliza- tion, or in that branch of it which consists in protecting the weak against the strong?" Mrs. Hodges also read a passage from a letter written by Mrs. Potter Palmer, President of the Board of Lady Managers of the Columbian Exposition, in which she said :— "I sincerely trust that the authors of this nation will be able to make such a showing of their wrongs, and of their inherent rights to the product of their own brains, and so arouse public sentiment on the subject, that the Columbian Exposition shall be recorded in history as the point beyond which such a robbery was made impossible." Continuing, Mrs. Hodges said: "Chaunccy M. Depew made a speech on the occasion of a celebration 011 the passage of the International Copyright Law, in which he said, as nearly as I can now quote it from memory: 'Piracy on the high seas has been abolished for a century, and burglary has been under control of the police for a hundred years, but it remained for a llepublican Congress to abolish the piracy and burglary of the human brain.' "But this has not been done," continued the lady, "as we can prove conclusively, and by unimpeachable testimony of prominent authors, who are victims of the piracy and burglary of human intellect now in full power in America. There is no limit to this practice of piracy, because there is no statute to forbid it under the present laws, and it is for the abolition of this wrong that the American Society of Authors has been orga- nized, confident that this enlightened Government and people will heed a demand for the protection of writers, which other civilized nations of the  ## p. 389 (#793) ############################################ THE AUTHOR 3% earth has already accorded to the authors of various countries. Every branch of trade and traffic has protection under our Government and laws except this one. And why should this form the sole exception?" "What plan do you propose to bring about the desired change? " Mrs. Hodges was asked. "Organization, as Mr. Smallcy suggests. An organization reaching from sea to sea, and through every part of the United States. We shall have at everv prominent point speakers on the topic, who will convey to the people the true situation as it has and does exist. At the Columbian Exposition, we shall have the world for an audience, as from every nation we mean to have those who will tell us the means employed for protection of their writers, and who will help us to perfect plans for the best method of protection here. Please be particular to observe that this movement is not a war on publishers as a class. Honest publishers express themselves as friendly to the cause. Such men have nothing to fear from the organization of authors for their own protection. It is purely a movement to establish the principle of just treatment to authors in this country, to protect them in their right of literary property in commerce, and to defend that right." "Docs not the International Copyright Act protect the American author?" "Abroad, perhaps, to an extent, but not here. The International Copyright Act does not yield the least protection to the native author against the native publisher. And it is quite as great a hard- ship to be robbed by a native as by a foreign publisher." ♦•»•♦ A&ENCIES. I. The Agency Bureau. INHERE is an institution called the "Agency Bureau." Apparently they—or he—advertise "for MSS. A certain lady sent them a paper, or a book, in MS. She received the following reply :— "Dear Madam, "I beg to acknowledge receipt of your favour enclosing MSS., and- should advise you, before proceeding further with them, to have a fair copy made of them on a typewriter, as our ex- perience has taught us that typewritten MSS. is greatly favoured by hard worked editors and publishers. Rejections are, without exception, eaused by MSS. being badly written. "Should you entertain this idea, I shall have great pleasure in having same executed in our vol. n. office at the low charge of 3s. (about 3,5oo words), including paper. "Should this fail to influence you, I will put your writings forward without further delay. Please state by return what you think a fair price for same. "Awaiting your favoured reply, "I am, Dear Madam, "D. Tomasin, "Secretary." The above shows resource. Even if a MS. cannot be placed, it may be typewritten. Fifty MSS. a week at 3s. would not be such very bad business. We have not seen the prospectus of the "Agency Bureau." When we do see " same "— to imitate the excellent style of the secretary—we may have a word or two to say to "same." Meantime, we shall be glad to learn what special powers this person has—what machinery—to place any MS. for anybody? Why will people persist in thinking that an agent can do for their MSS. what they cannot do by themselves? II. The Literary and Art Agency. (Before Mr. Ji/stice Grantham and a Common Jury.) Harington r. the Star Newspaper Company (Limited). This was an action for libel brought by the Rev. T. R. S. Harington, who was descril>cd as a Congregational minister and a journalist, and who for many years had been associated with various religious papers as chief and assistant editor, against the Star for publishing the following article. It was in the form of a letter, addressed by " An out- of-work journalist" to the editor of the Star, and headed, "The Literary Art, the Royal Road to Getting a Living in the Literary Line" :— "Yesterday morning, on the strength of a circular which has been pretty widely distributed, 1 called upon the Rev. T. R. S. Harington, at 2 2, Furnival Street, Holborn, W.C. The reverend gentleman calls himself the London Literary and Art Agency, and sends round an invitation to all and sundry, couched in the following terms :— 'Ladies and gentlemen seeking high-class appoint- ments as governesses, tutors, private secretaries, journalists, artists, &c, may have their names registered by paying a fee of 5*. For this fee they will not only l>e entitled to our services at all times, but will have their individual require- ments advertised in the Times, Mornitiy Post, Standard, Daily Xexcs, or some other influential G g  ## p. 390 (#794) ############################################ 39° THE AUTHOR. and suitable paper. . .' The Literary and Art Agency I found was a very small hack room, up two flights of stairs, and besides the Rev. T. R. S. Haring- ton boasted a desk and a couple of chairs. The rev. gentleman welcomed me sympathetically and listened with the shrewd air of a consulting philanthropist to my tele. ... I thanked him and regretted that it was not convenient for me at the moment to hand over the 5s. registration fee. Well, well, that did not matter. There was a half- crown fee, which entitled the applicant to some portion of solicitude of the London Literary and Art Agency. I regretted that it was not in my power to pay that small sum, hut said I would bring it round in the morning. . . The rev. gentleman in appearance is tall, sandy haired and sandy bearded ... It is to be hoped that the agency will proves of more use to private secretaries than to journalists; meanwhile it would perhaps be as well for 'gover- nesses, tutors, private secretaries, journalists, artists, &c.,' to suspend payment of their 5.?. until the rev. principal proves his bond fides and the practical usefulness of his agency." Mr. Lincoln Reed represented the plaintiff; Mr. Lankester the defendants. In the course of the case the plaintiff admitted he had not been a Congregational minister, but considered he had a right to call himself one, because he had been called to preach in a Baptist chapel in 1862 for two years. Since that date he had been sub-editor of the Christian World, but had given that up a short time ago, and had started this agency for the purpose of introducing people who wanted situations in the literary line to those who wanted to employ literary men and women. When asked by the judge if his scheme was of a philanthropic character, the plaintiff said of course he expected to be paid fees for his labour. He had received £i3 or £14 in fees of 5*. and is. 6d. each, but had only obtained two situations for people, one as tutor for three months, and the other as secretary to the Association for Preventing the Immigration of Destitute Aliens; and he had received 24s. in one case, and 3os. in the other as a commission on the salaries obtained. The plaintiff also said that the article in question had ruined his agency, which had only been started about a month, as his landlord had refused to let him continue the hire of his rooms. He did not remember the individual coming to him who purported to be the writer of the article. On a gentleman being asked to stand up, the plaintiff said he did not, remember the faces of ordinary-looking people; all he could say was, he looked and acted in such a way as to induce several Oxford and Cambridge men to pay him a fee. For the defence, it was submitted that the article in question was not published falsely or maliciously, that it was not libellous, was true in substance and in fact, and was a fair and bond fide comment on the plaintiff's conduct. The learned judge having summed up, the jury retired to consider their verdict, and after a long absence returned into court with a verdict for the defendants.— Times. III. The International Society. Here is another case of an unfortunate confusion of names by the " Society " with which the man Morgan, already exposed in these columns and elsewhere, is connected. (To the Editor of the Newcastle Daily Journal.) "Sir, I find that invitations are l>eing extensively sent to gentlemen resident in the North of England to join a society styling itself the International Society of Literature, Science, and Art, and I have received several letters making inquiries respecting its status. I should be obliged, therefore, if you would allow me to state through your columns that I neither have, nor desire to be supposed to have, any connexion with this society, and that the name printed among its honorary members, the « Rev. Canon Norman, M.A.' is not that of yours, &c, A. M. Norman, F.R.S., Hon. Canon, Durham Cathedral. Burnmoor Rectory, April 12, 1892." EDITING AND REVIEWING. 1. The Value of a Favourable Review. IT may be laid down as a general rule that it is not possible for an unfavourable review to kill a good book. It may retard its progress; it may inflict a heavy pecuniary loss upon it; but it cannot kill it. On the other hand, what can a favourable review do for a book? Here are two instances from the private history of a literary man :— Ten years ago he produced a book anonymously. For six weeks or so the book hung fire: no one noticed it; there was no demand for it. Then there appeared a notice, not. only favourable, bat highly laudatory, in the Saturday Review. Instantly the  ## p. 391 (#795) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 39i book sprang into popularity. Before many months there was a demand of something like i3,ooo copies. Again, the same writer produced a three-volume novel which has had as great a success as falls to the lot of most novels. For a time, however, it lay unregarded, the demand for it almost stagnant. Then there appeared a review in the Times—a long one-eolnmn, review—speaking of it in the highest terms, and then the demand began and continued, advancing daily, and the fortune of that book, as of the other, was made by that favourable review. II. About Reviewing. "To-morrow," says Mr. Phoebus in Lothair, "to-morrow the critics will begin. And who are the critics? Persons who have failed in literature and art." Dramatically, of course, this is very good. The criticised no doubt is the man to find out the weakest points in the armour of the critic. Nor is it without a germ of truth in itself, for the disap- pointed man is naturally more quick to find fault. But it is a little curious that some critics who have not themselves failed or are likely to fail write just as if they had. Who amongst us has not now and then suffered from the criticisms of such? The selection of the one misspelt word, or of the one line of poetry which will not scan, and complete silence about all the rest of a work, the crushing dctractation of a first effort in literature, the steady determination not to see the author's view; these and faults like these will not (infrequently be found in those who may themselves be; amongst the very favourites of fortune. And yet, perhaps, even such criticism is less really unjust than that of the lazy* penman who scarcely reads a line of a Iwok, but dismisses it with fluent generalities (whether of praise or blame) strung together to conceal his ignorance of it. On the other hand, many authors arc absurdly sensitive, thinking themselves ill-used if their reviewer deals out any blame at all, while here and there we find the man who has been so unduly puffed by his friends that a little undue scarification is positively welcome. Macaulay's celebrated review of Montgomery is a well- known case in point. Macaulay's name brings to my mind a bit of his biography well worth the notice of every critic. Into the hands of the great reviewer fell a friend's book, with, I think, a request from somebody or other that he would say some- thing good of it. He saw at once that it would not do, and declined to review it at all. Should not a reviewer always be anonymous? I rather think so. If solicited for a "notice," should he take it ill, and either review unfavour- ably or not review at all? Certainly neither. Soliciting is, of course, bad, but it may be after all a mere harmless form of bringing a book to an editor's recollection. Should an editor hand over a book written by one specialist, to be reviewed by another? I think yes, for the risk of unfairness and partiality of view is quite compensated by the certainty of knowledge of the subject. Should not all books which cannot be reviewed be returned? I know of a case where a book worth about ten pounds was courteously returned by one editor, and kept, but not even reviewed, by another editor. The cost of supplying copies for review is very great, and the sale of such copies, if sold (though I have heard that some editors destroy them), seems to compete somewhat unfairly with the sale of the ordinary copies. Why should not, at least review copies be machine cut, to help the reviewer, and why should not publishers always state the prices and dates of their books, and reviewers re{>eat this useful information for the benefit of the public? J. M. Lely. III. Magazines and Editors. In the early part of 1888, I wrote an article on "Dorothy Jordan," and sent it to the English Illustrated Magazine. About nine months later, proofs were forwarded to me, corrected and returned by me. Months passed, and the article did not appear. In February 1889 I applied for payment, and received £i3 iqs. Soon after, the magazine changed editors. In March 1890, I saw the new editor, and asked when would the paper be in- serted. He knew nothing of it, nor did his secretary. In 1891 I again made inquiries con- cerning the article, but received no satisfactory reply, nor did I bear of it again until I saw it in the April number just published. It was then reduced to about half its original size, and the private information regarding Mrs. Jordan's life and earnings, which 1 had obtained after much trouble, was left out. It was four years in the office of the magazine before being published. A story of mine appeared in another monthly. Three letters requesting payment received no answer, nor did a solicitor's letter. The proprietors were then sued for the amount, and the case was* set down for hearing on the 3ist of March. The day previously the debt was paid, and the solicitor's costs. FlTZCiERAI.l) MOLLOT. GK 2  ## p. 392 (#796) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 392 IV. Query. If an editor chooses to keep my MSS., sent for n magazine or weekly paper, and neither return it nor accept it, how can I enter into possession of it again so as to feel free to send a copy to a fresh editor? Would it be sufficient to send a stamped envelope for reply—" Sir—You have kept my MSS. a month (6 weeks). I have no news of it. I am going to try a fresh editor?" Peregrine. Does it not require an editor made wondrous kind by fellow feeling for young authors to get all tins literary property safe home to Us owners? Editor. V. Long kept and then returned. Under this heading in the last number of the A uthor a case was stated of a MS. kept for three years and a half. The contributor writes to say (l) with regard to his first statement that he was invited to write a paper on a definite subject, that the exact facts were these: "I submitted to Mr. A., at his own request, I having been introduced to him as a specialist by the secretory of a certain society, six short stories on approval." (2) That the editor has sent him a certain sum for compensation. This, as the Editor was not in the least obliged to do so, is extremely honourable in him. VI. VII. With no Name, With the complaint of " B " who has contributed "verse of a lyrical type to a certain high-class London journal," has been "most liberally and promptly" paid, but cannot get either his name or initials appended to his contributions, every author must fully sympathise. Only two possible reasons for the editor's refusal to print the name suggest themselves:—Either he fears that "B," when known by name, will be drawn away to rival prints, or that the poetry will go unread with an unknown name at the bottom of it. But whether his reason be good or bad or even none, he is of course within his legal rights. "B" however should forthwith insist on his name being printed under pain of his ceasing to contribute. SCRII'TOR IGNOTCS. From the Editor's I'oint of View. May an editor offer a few suggestions as to why the MSS. of young authors are occasionally absorbed by the Family Hearthrug, and other kindred publications? Reading the directions printed in the magazine is the last thing that appears to occur to contributors. A type-written MS. arrives with no stamps en- closed, no name or address written on it. Some time afterwards a letter arrives, asking why " my MS.," omitting the name of the paper, has not been returned? How is the editor to know which MS. is referred to? Stamps arrive separately, with apologies for having omitted to enclose them, but no mention as to the MS. for which they are intended. As for the number of the MSS. that appeared stamplcss, with requests for immediate publication and payment, these do not always come, from the young and inexperienced. The acrostic editor receives articles on the Rights of Woman; belated " lights " for the acrostics are thrown upon the chief editor, while the manager, under a nom de plume of some special department, is pestered with inquiries about serial stories. UNCUT LEAVES. AREMARKABLE association exists in Boston, U.S.A., whose members assemble at stated intervals for the purpose of hearing, not reading, new articles before their appearance in the magazines. Here is part of the programme for the season :— "The Boston Readings of Uncut Leaves, the imprinted magazine conducted by Mr. Lincoln, of the Deerfield School of History and Romance, will take place on the third Wednesday evenings of January, February, March, April, and May. Among the contributors will be Richard Henry Stoddard, Edmund Clarence Stedman, George W. Cable, Elizabeth Stoddard, Agnes Repplier, Mar- garet Deland, Sarah Orne Jewett, Kate Douglas Wiggin, Alice Wellington Rollins, Arlo Bates, Hamilton W. Mabie, Clyde Fitch, Annie Payson Call, Edwin D. Meade, and other well-known writers. "The magazine will not be published, and can only be heard at the readings. Many of the articles will be read by their authors. Nothing will be included which has been previously printed. The entire reading of any evening will not exceed two hours.  ## p. 393 (#797) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 393 "The first reading will begin promptly at 8 p.m., January 20th, at Dr. Chas. P. Putnam's, 63, Marlborough Street. No one will be allowed to enter during the reading of an article. Sub- scribers will pledge their good faith to observe entire secrecy as to the nature and contents of these magazines, in order to protect the rights of authors. No notes nor press reports can be permitted under any circumstances. "Subscription for the season, Five Dollars. "Three tickets for each reading, Ten Dollars. '' Names of subscribers must be submitted to Miss A. C. Putnam, 63, Marlborough Street, on or before January 16th. As the meetings will be in private parlours, only a limited number of names can be accepted." This is the nearest approach to a Private View Day in literature that has yet been made. There is a certain luxury in having one's articles read aloud, especially if they are articles in whose subject one is interested, and by writers whose; style has a charm for us. Mr. Lincoln, the Director of this society, suggests that we might find room for a similar organisation over here. This is doubtful. The difficulties, though not insuperable, would be grejit. For, first, it is a new thing, and editors and pro- prietors might think that such a reading would in jure the Side of the journal in which the paper after- wards appeared. The contrary would be the effect, just as a good novel is helped in its volume form by its serial form. Then, still because it is a new thing, the writers might object. These objections would, however, be removed in a very simple manner out of the subscriptions. The last objec- tion is the most serious. The essential for success is the inexorable observance of the clause pro- hibiting notes or reports of the pa[K?r. London is so vast a place, that there is no way at all of keeping out people who would disregard the most solemn promise of secrecy, and every lecture would be, somehow, fully reported in every paper. But, again, suppose the papers were not so anxious to anticipate the magazines, then this objection would not hold, and it must be confessed that, in the ease of most magazine articles, there is no such breathless eagerness to read them. The Contemporary and the Nineteenth Century, for instance, lie on the table awaiting their turn. How might such an association be formed and worked? Obviously, as a course of lectures is organised. The readings would be in the afternoon, from four to five. There should be no more than six in each of two sessions. They must be given by well-known writers, and the number of sub- scrilRTs must be sufficient to give a handsome honorarium to every reader. If, for instance, one guinea were the subscription for each course of six lectures, there should be enough subscribers to pay for the rooms and the service, and to leave two guineas at least for every reader. Should the Society follow the example of the Americans, and organise for the next winter one course, at least, of Uncut Leaves on the Literary Life from its various points of view? Will our meml>ers consider this suggestion? Of course, the proposed subscription may be very much smaller in case of a sufficient number of subscribers. THE LITERARY AGENT. ACORRESPONDENT writes about the lite- rary agent, evidently under a false impression as to the use and the nature of the services rendered by the literary agent. To one who has already succeeded, he says, a literary agent is of no use. His services are only required by one who has not succeeded. This creed is entertained by a good many people. They think that a literary agent is able to persuade publishers and editors to take work that they would otherwise refuse. Why should he? Is his opinion better than the opinion of the publisher's reader? But the agent does not, as a rule, read MSS.—he has not the time. Writers must learn for themselves—the earlier in their career they learn it the better—the truth that the only way to get on is to produce good work, or, at least, work that the world accepts as good work and reads and goes on reading. No agent, no private influence, can do any good at all to anyone. There is not, and there never has been in the history of literature, any case of a writer being perma- nently helped in this way. There has been perhaps log-rolling, but those few who seem to have been assisted by their friends have really done good work which by itself commanded success. They were, in faet, independent of log-rolling. It is when a man has reached a certain stage of success that his agent comes in. Then he takes over all the business arrangements of that writer, agrees with editors and publishers for him, places his work, and, in fact, relieves him of all trouble. To such a man a good agent is invaluable. But let the writer beware! He must not, on any consideration, go to the first man who offers. He must take advice. What, then, is the young writer to do? He should first get an opinion from one of the Society's readers as to the merits and chances of his book. It may be that certain points would be suggested for alteration. It may be that he finds himself recommended to put his MS. in the fire. He should then offer his MS. to a list of houses or of magazines recommended by the Society. There is  ## p. 394 (#798) ############################################ 394 THE AUTHOR. nothing else to be done. No one, we repent, can possibly help him. If those houses all refuse him it is not the least use trying others, and, if he is n wise man, he will refuse to pay for the production of his own work. If, however, as too often happens, he is not a wise man,but believes that he has written a great tiling, and is prepared to back his opinion to the extent of paying for his book, then let him place his work in the hands of tha Society, and it shall be arranged for him without greater loss than the actual cost of production. At least he will not be deluded by false hopes and promises which can end in nothing. ■ — ■ USEFUL BOOKS. I. DEAR Author,—I cull from my own Reference Library Catalogue the titles of just a dozen really useful books. When I have a little leisure I will send some more. I may mention that the " Sailor's Word Book " and " Old Sea Wings" will be found very valuable to maritime storytellers yearning to follow in the footsteps of Clark Russell; and I may further hint (at the risk of provoking the men of supercilious MSS.) that lady novelists might advantageously add to their shelf of reference books a "Newgate Calendar" (Knapp and Baldwin's), and an up-to-date edition of Blackstone's " Com- mentaries." The " Calendar " is full of intensely dramatic plots and characters; while occasional consultation of Blackstone would set the ladies right on many legal points, touching which, in their novels, they frequently blunder. G. A. Sala. M. Scheele De Veee, LL.D.—Americanisms: The English of the New World. (New York: C. Scribner and Co.) Mrs. Cowden Clarke.—The Complete Concord- ance to Shakspere. (London: Bickers.) Cruden's Concordance to the Holy Scriptures. (Any bookseller.) , Beeton's Great Book of Poetry. (Ward and Lock.) Smyth, W. H., Admiral.—The Sailor's Word Book: An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms. (London: Blackie and Son.) Leslie, Robert C.—Old Sea Wings and Words. (London: Chapman and Hall.) Jennings, G. H.—Anecdotal History of the British Parliament. (London: Horace Cox.) McCarthy, Justin, M.P.—A History of Our Own Times. 4 vols. (Chatto and Windus.) Lanciani, Rodoi.fo, Prof.—Ancient Rome in the Light of Recent Discoveries. (Macmillan.") Phillips, Lawrence B.—Dictionary of Biogra- phical Reference: containing 100,000 names. (Sampson Low.) Wheatley and Cunningham.—London Past and Present. 3 vols. (Murray.) Heaton, J. Hennikek, M.P.—Australian Dic- tionary of Dates and Men of the Time. (G. Robertson, Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide.) II. Scientific. Quain's Human Anatomy. (Macmillan.) Young's General Astronomy. (Ginn and Co.) Sach's Text Book of Botany. Now published in three parts. (Clarendon.) Roscoe and Schorlemmer's Treatise on Chemistry. (Macmillan.) Foster and Balfour's Elements of Embryology. (Macmillan.) Geikie's Text Book of Geology. (Macmillan.) Giinther's Study of Fishes. (A. and C. Black.) Mill's Logic. (Longmans.) Lauder Brunton's Pharmacology. Therapeutics and Materia Medica. (Macmillan.) Darnell's Principles of Physics. (Macmillan.) Foster's Text Book of Physiology. (Macmillan.) Nicholson's Manual of Zoology. (Blackwood.) Bain's Mental and Moral Science. (Longmans.) Be van Lewis's Text Book of Nervous Diseases. (Griffen.) Herbert Spencer's First Principles, Principles of Biology, Psychology, and Sociology. (Wil- liams and Norgate.) Ueberweg's History of Philosophy. (Hodder.) Carpenter's Microscope. (Routledge.) Dictionaries. Smith's Latin. Spier's French. (De Baudry, Paris.) Grieb's German. (Sampson Low.) Baretti's Italian. (Dulau.) Quain's Medicine. (Smith Elder.) Heath's Surgery. (Smith Elder.) Fleming's Vocabulary of Philosophy. (Gritlin.) Men and Women of the Time. (Ca&sell.) Hazell's Annual. F. Howard Collins.  ## p. 395 (#799) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER. With .some New Points for the Society of Authors and for an Eminent Publisher. (From tin; New York Tribune by permission.) J piHE report of the Executive Committee of I the Society of Authors has the following paragraph: "Among those members whose loss by death we deplore are (i) Lord Lytton, always one of our greatest supporters. He took the chair at one of our public meetings, and at all times showed the warmest interest in the work and success of the Society. (2) Mr. James Russell Lowell, not only the American who had endeared himself to all hearts, but very specially the friend of this Society, and the advocate of international copyright. Those who were present at the dinner of the Society in 1888, and heard his brilliant and eloquent address, since printed in the Author, will want no reminder of his interest in our work and in the well-being of literature on this side of the Atlantic." The report is signed by Mr. Walter Besnit, chairman of the Executive Committee. He does not say too much of Lowell's interest in the Society. Nothing that concerned literature could lie indifferent to Lowell. I can imagine that the great American author had in his long career known moments when the advice of such a Society would have been useful to him, and would have meant money to him, as it now means money to many others. Lowell was, in truth, careless about such matters, and had a childlike faith in men; even in publishers, and even in second-hand book- sellers. I used to think he took pleasure in being their victim, and his easy good-nature forbade him to seek redress even when he had found out that a —well, that a mistake had occurred. Lowell once bought a copy of a scarce book for which he paid, I need not say, a long price. When the book arrived at Elmwood, it proved to be an imperfect copy; a number of leaves missing. The bookseller had not thought it worth while to mention the defect. "Of course you returned the book," I said. "Well, no," answered Lowell, with n dry look in his eyes. "I know the l>ook is often imperfect." The fact that he had paid a perfect price for his imperfect copy made little or no impression on him. The book is now, I presume, in Harvard College Library, to which Lowell meant his treasures to go. Unless the missing leaves have been supplied, that rather miscellaneous col- lection of books has therefore one more miscellaneous copy. There is but one golden rule for the collector: either a perfect copy or none. It is interesting to hear that the Society of Authors is growing at a great pace. Never before, Mr. Besant says, has so much work poured into their hands. Authors are at last awake to the benefits offered them. "They are bringing their agreements before accepting them; they are also— a thing without precedent in the history of author- ship—actually asking what their agreements mean for either side." Then comes this characteristic and most sensible passage: "The passing of the International Copyright Acts makes it doubly important for writers of success and position to know how to protect their property. It is not too much to say that never until the Society began was it possible for writers to realize, as at last they are learning, (1) that they possess property over which they should be as careful as over fields and houses and (2) that the mere administration of this property really does not entitle the agents to take over all the rent to themselves." To the publishers this last proposition will seem startling indeed. To others than publishers it may seem startling that there should l>c need of stating such a proposition and of dwelling on it. But there still is. The publisher himself still looks askance at the Society of Authors. Not all pub- lishers, perhaps, but some. Look at the tone of the leading trade organ, the Publishers Circular. Always a sneer at the Society, and always the suggestion that the author and publisher would naturally constitute a happy family but for the interference of outsiders. Look at the seventh case in the Appendix to this Report, where an author, unable to get either money or answer to his letters from a certain publishing firm, put his claim in the hands of the Society. There was a colonial house and a London house. The London house was very dignified. The intervention of the Society was, in its opinion, uncalled for. Their friends abroad would certainly deal honourably with the author. Notions of honour anil honourable dealing vary. The publisher's notion in this case might be thought peculiar. The author had sent his MS. to the colonial house. Six mouths later came a letter saying: "We hoped to have sent you a copy of your book by this mail, but regret it is not quite ready. We propose to style the book ." The author replied that as no terms had been submitted for his signature, he should like to know what lie was to get. No answer; and then it was that the Society intervened in the way which to the publish- ing mind seemed so uncalled for, pointing out that the honourable colonial house had appropriated the author's work and had offered no terms. The honourable colonial house was as much surprised as the London house at hearing "from a Society  ## p. 396 (#800) ############################################ 396 THE AUTHOR. calling itself a Society of Authors." It had been "too busy" to write the author, though not too busy to print and publish his book. "Finally they proposed certain terms and, subject to changes made by the Society, these proposals were accepted." Eight or nine of these sample cases are given. "Can anyone doubt," asks the rei>ort, "that almost all these authors would have been robbed had it not been for the vigorous intervention of the Society?" Now let us listen to a voice, I will not say from the other side but from among the publishers, Mr. Frederick Macmillan. No house stands higher than his. He presided last week at the annual t radedinner of the Booksellers' Provident Institution, and made a speech in the course of which he quoted a remark, author of it apparently unknown, that "the interests of booksellers and authors are highly antagonistic." Bookseller here means publisher, as it used to in the last century; so that the remark seems an old one. Old or new, Mr. Macmillan thinks that he who made it has a great deal to answer for. Why? Because "the antagonism between author and publisher is a foolish and mis- chievous fancy." Such is the answer of an honourable and success- ful publisher; the best he can offer. "It would be as reasonable," adds he, " to talk about the natural antagonism between the man who builds an engine and he who drives it." He might have drawn his analogy closer. It would he as reasonable to talk about the natural antagonism between the man who builds an engine and he who buys it. That would be perfectly reasonable. There is a natural an- tagonism. The man who builds the engine wants to sell it as dear as he can ; he who buys wishes to buy as cheap as he can. It is the natural antagonism which exists the world over in all commercial transactions. The interests of the buyer and the interests of the seller are not the same; they are hostile. So are the interests of the author who has a book to sell and of the publisher who buys it. True, as Mr. Macmillan says, both wish it to be successful; so far their interests are common. But in the division of the profits of the successful book the interests of the author and publisher are no longer common; they are antagonistic. Each wants as large a share as he can get. Thus do we. come back to the old point, and to the real grievance which the publisher keeps steadily in the background, namely, that the pub- lisher is a man of business dealing with the author who is not. The publisher draws up the contract, imposes his own terms, fixes his own proportion of profits, renders no accounts or imperfect accounts, avails himself of a hundred advantages under the plausible title "the custom of the trade," all un- known to the author; does, in fact, as a rule, by help of his business advantages and of the want of them in the author, take the lion's share of the profits. Therefore it is that a Society of Authors is needed which shall protect the interests and property of the author just as the publisher protects his own. Let Mr. Macmillan read the commentary on his speech by the editor of the trade organ al>ove mentioned: "Whatever may have been the state of affairs in the remote past, it certainly is not true to-day that publishers drink champagne from the skulls of unhappy writers. In the present era only amateurs imagine that the publisher is a sort of ghoul who appeases a diabolical appetite with innocent and confiding men and women of genius. The interests of authors and publishers, as Mr. Macmillan pointed out, must be, and are, identical. In the nature of things there can be no antagonism between the man who writes a book and the man who publishes it. If there were, both would speedily go to the wall, the publisher probably going first." Such is the attitude of a publisher of whom I will say nothing except that he must know lx-tter. The rancorous tone of his comment on a good- tempcred speech from his own side is only too marked. Ho represents, like the London branch of the colonial house quoted a moment ago, the class of publisher who resents the interference of the Society of Authors, resents its existence, and would, if he could, restore the good old days when the publisher settled for the author as well as for himself the terms of the contract between them. But. those days are going, if not gone. The number of members of the Society has risen from 25o three years ago to 780; its business has in- creased in a still greater ratio. If an author now makes a bad or stupid bargain with a publisher, he has only himself to thank, for here is a society which, without pay, will be delighted to help him make a good and wise bargain. O. W. Smalley. ♦■»■♦ GENEROSITY, LIBERALITY, AND EQUITY. "TTIS liberality is highly praised; and though we do I I not know precisely why authors should expect liberality from publishers any more than designers expect it from builders, it is certain they do, and that publishers who fulfil the expectation are the publishers whom literature reckons as friends. The publisher who was also a patron is passing away; and perhaps it is better so, and that the publisher should be merely the author's collecting agent. Hut there was something gracious and fine about the old position."  ## p. 397 (#801) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 397 These lines are taken from a short note in the Spectator of April gth. It is in some respects a remarkable utterance, because it reveals a mind still leaning towards the old and cherished delusions, but forcibly attracted by the new ideas—say rather, the new discoveries,—and, against its will, recog- nising them. It is not, perhaps, disrespectful to regard the editor of the Spectator, who has im- pressed upon his paper in a very remarkable manner his own very remarkable personality, as no longer a very young man. He was brought up in the belief that the good publisher is " generous" and "liberal" towards authors; that the true patron of literature is the publisher—the public mean well, but the publisher is the only friend; that he, and he alone, is the stay and prop of those who write; that his life is wholly spent in advancing the higher interests of literature; that in publishing books he is guided solely by those higher interests, and in most cases loses his money on every book. And he now learns the new discovery and is dis- turbed. "There is something," he says, regretfully, "fine and gracious about the old position." Yes, the old position of his own imagination. Did it ever exist in actual fact? Was the publisher ever, at any time, "generous" and "liberal"? Was he ever, at any time, a patron of literature in the only true sense? Was he not always and always a man of business pure and simple? What is it that authors should expect from these pub- lishers? Liberality? Generosity? But theirs is the property—their own—their creation, as much as a desk, a picture, a piece of machinery. The publisher administers it. What is meant by "liberality" on the part of the agent who ad- ministers the property? And what kind of respect can ever lie paid to literature while the world per- sists in regarding the author as standing, hat in hand, before his publisher, crying, "Oh! sir. This is, indeed, generosity! This is liberality indeed! What? Another half-crown? Another? Oh! My children will bless thee! Oh! Princely — Kingly—Generosity!" Of course, as we now know, the real fact is that no publisher ever gave any man anything at all for unsaleable work, unless in those cases where he did not know his own business, or where it was for his own advertisement and his own advantage to publish an unsaleable book. At no time has the author of such work ever experienced any "generosity" from any publisher whatever. Why should he expect it? A cabinet maker does not expect to be paid for a piece of work so bad that no one will buy it—why should an author? Why should a publisher be praised for paying for bad work? It is folly; it is madness; unless on the assumption that in this or that case to do so serves his interests. But publishers have at different times paid large sums VOL. II. to successful authors. Certainly. But at no time have they allowed those authors to see their books. What "generosity" is that which says, "My friend, I will give you £200 for your book. But I am not going to tell you what I get for it." There may be "something gracious and fine" about the old position, but the graciousness loses a good deal of its beauty when we remember that it degraded men of letters, even the most successful, to the position of humble dependents on the "bounty" of their publishers. Of course it is a very gracious and fine" thing to pretend to be a patron of literature; it is very fine to be accepted as a patron. Therefore, they all claim to be the patrons of literature — every little impecunious clerk who starts as a publisher by persuading silly people to pay for production; they all put on the airs of the man who nobly throws away his thousands in the advancement of literature; they all pretend that they take fearful risks; they all make the terms they offer a favour instead of a right. By such shallow pretences the fraudulent gentry whom we have exposed have been enabled to carry on their tricks and their frauds. This is the mere jargon of the craft. We are beginning to scoff at it. In the course of time respectable people will be ashamed to use this jargon; it will be forgotten. We shall all agree that business t* business, and has to be conducted according to the rules of all business. Meantime, we rejoice that the editor of the Spectator thinks that the new order may be better than the old, and that the publisher should be "merely the author's collecting agent." But that " old position "—one returns to the question— that time when publishers were patrons of litera- ture—when did it flourish? It is like the age of chivalry; it is a thing dreamed of and written about, but it never existed. Those who dream of it still are for the most part the camp followers of literature—not critics—who sometimes produce books of their own, literary books, biographies of literary men, mild essays on literary subjects, which the world does not care for, and takes in minute quantities. For such a book, a ten pound note—and publication—seems to the author gene- rosity unparalleled. To them their publisher is a patron indeed. But, for the successful author— why—let us see the ledger; let us look into the printer's account; let us examine the cash book; let us ask what proportion the author should receive in equity. We will then decline to take doles in the name of "generosity" and will demand our rights. Generosity! Liberality! Do not the very words degrade and insult the man of letters? —■ H h  ## p. 398 (#802) ############################################ 398 THE AUTHOR. YOUNa AND OLD. WjlEN I WAS YOUXO. When I was young, tlie stars then told n tale Of love beyond the grave, and worlds to prove, When we have never longer cause to wait, But only to explore and love, and love. When 1 was young, my friends then seemed so true, I was a hero in their eyes, and could J)o nothing wrong. Like flowers steeped in dew, My hopes were fresh, my impulses all good. When I was young, I hail not doubts, but took Each smile as meant, and gave it back the same, The world spread out as open as a book, I then felt confident of wealth and fame. When I was young, gold seemed an idle toy, Not worth the striving for; a higher goal Lured my hopes on, a greater, god-like joy, A something worthier of man's deathless soul. When I was young, I thought each woman fair And like an angel sent to lift up lips To God j so like a knight 1 thought to wear My coat of mail and guard them in the strife. When I was young, to make a sacrifice Seemed great and noble, so I sought the field With tender thoughts of humid tender eyes Reaming upon me as my knight's best shield. When I was young, I thought if heroes died Fighting for duty, this was best of all; To leave behind them, with a people's pride, Some kindly hearts to weep their early fall. When I was young, this world was fair and pure, And sin was of another world, while I Might fall and perish, still my soul was sure To reach those stars, that glisten in the sky. Now I in Old. Now I am eld and have gone through the fight, How do I view this fresh'ning world of ours? The stars arc only glimmering sparks of light, The friends but like the fleeting, vanished hours. Each speculation is a doubt, each dream A gourd which withers; fame a breath, and gold The only thing of earth w hich does not seem A fallacy on earth, now I am old. Hume Nishkt. NOTES AND NEWS. IT would be astounding that a work by no less a person than our illustrious President should appear without a note in the pages of the Author. But "The Foresters" was played just too late for the April number, and during the interval there has been sueh a chorus of notices, reviews, criticisms, and appreciations that anything at this late hour would be superfluous. Let us only congratulate ourselves on the master touch which shows as yet no feebleness, the voice that shows no touch of age, the hand as true as ever, the ear as delicate. A disquieting rumour has come across the Atlantic. We have more than once referred to the American Authors' Society; the prospectus of (as we thought) the only American Authors' Society- has been published in this Journal. It now appears that Mr. Charles Burr-Todd wishes to be the founder of -an association called the "Society of American Authors," while Mrs. Katharine Hodges is already the Secretary of the "American Society of Authors," an association which contains 200 members already, and is daily increasing. As Mr. Todd uses my name, I may explain that I was in ignorance that a second—a rival—society was contemplated by Mr. Todd. I naturally thought that he was writing in support of the society already established. Nothing could be more fatal to the interests which we seek to defend, than the existence of two rival societies. Let us trust that the Americans, who have the reputat ion of clearness at least, and common sense in all their relations of business, will be swift to understand that either the second society must not be attempted, or that the two societies may be at once merged into one. The "tyranny of the novel" exercises a good many minds at the present moment. Everything takes the form of a novel. We are didactic in a novel; we are political in a novel; we expose our enemies in a novel; we show what certain theories mean in a novel; we even illustrate our own lives, our sorrows, and our disappointments in a novel. The last illustration of the " tyranny of the novel" is the interesting case of Mademoiselle Helene Vacaresco, the young lady who had to break off her engagement with the Crown Prince of Rou- mania. It is said that she has written a novel, in which she tells her unfortunate love story. Eight years ago the New York Critic published a list of forty "Immortals." Of these, fourteen have now passed away. Their names are as follows :— Richard Grant White, died 5th April 1885, aged 63. Edwin P. Whipple, died 16th June 1886, ae;ed 67. Henry Ward Beecher, died 8th March 1887, aged 73. John Q. Saxe, died 3ist March 1887, aged 76. Mark Hopkins, died 17th June 1887, aged 85.  ## p. 399 (#803) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 399 Asa Gray, died 3oth January 1888, aged 77. A. Bronson Alcott, died 4th March 1888, aged 88. James Freeman Clarke, died 8th June 1888, aged 78. Theodore D. Woolsey, died 1st July 1889, aged 87. George Bancroft, died 17 th January 1891, aged 90. Alexander Burchell, died 19th February 1891, aged 66. Jiiines Bussell Lowell, died 12th August 1891, aged 72. Noah Porter, died 3rd March 1892, aged 80. Walt "Whitman, died 26th March 1892, aged 72. Out of these fourteen, how many are there whose principal works could be enumerated by the average reader, or even by the student of litera- ture? Not that one would scoff at their Immor- tality. Such an English list would probably show as many blanks after eight years; the voice of the living is always listened to before the voice of the dead, and posterity will have its own favourites. Immortality, in fact, is limited, save for the very, very few. Happy is the man who can please or instruct his own generation; happy he who can make them listen to him; more happy still if he does not in the least trouble his head about posterity. "A week or two ago reference was made in these columns to two articles which appeared in a recent issue of the Forum on the grievances of authors and the sins of pub- lishers. Roth were written from the author's point of view, and the unhappy publishers had it hot and heavy. But they have found an unexpected champion. An American author comes gallantly to the rescue. Here is part of his testimony: ' I believe their methods are strictly honourable. Now, for example, in spite of the fact that my last book is not selling nearly so well as I think it ought to sell, I would not for a moment question the integrity of my publishers. As to the suggestion that publishers should open their books for the inspection of authors—it is absurd. If authors were permitted to look at the books they would not understand them. No; I am satisfied that our publishers are not only honest in their dealings with authors, but that they offer us a fair proportion of the returns from our books.'" The above is quoted from the Publishers' Circular of March 26th last. The editor in pub- lishing the extract surely credits the world with a very, very great deal of credulity. The American author who conies "gallantly" (!) to the rescue knows nothing, and pretends to know nothing, about the thing of which he writes. He believes —honest soul! He believes. That is all. He says that authors would not understand accounts. True. That is the reason why we send accountants for the purpose. He is "satisfied" that his publishers are honest, and fair, and virtuous, and holy. No doubt. We do not for a moment say that they are not. Only—let us treat each other in this, as in every other kind of business, openly and fairly, and above board. And—which is an axiom—a man who refuses to let his partner in any joint enterprise see the books must be—what? Let this confiding American letter-writer answer the question. I venture to express the universal good wishes of all who know Mr. George Augustus Sala, either personally or by his work, for the success of his new magazine. As these lines are written news comes of a second large edition. So far I have not been able to get it at any of the bookstalls— "waiting for more copies." Walter Besant. ♦■»■♦ FEUILLETON. The Wish of His Heart. I. THE young man sat in the suburban garden; it was a very little garden about i5 feet wide and 25 feet long; only a scrap of a garden behind a little semi-detached house in the suburb of Forest Gate. Like most houses of the kind, there was a kitchen, with a room over it, built out at the back; things were hanging out to dry in the little area between the kitchen and the garden wall; a Virginia creeper climbed over the house. In the garden were two or three lilacs, a strip of grass, a narrow bed of flowers, now gay with the blossoms of the annuals, and a garden seat, where this young man sat. He was about nineteen, and in his hands was a book. He held it before his short-sighted eyes; he seemed to be reading it; his cheek glowed; his eyes brightened; his hand trembled. If we could put down in lame, slow, halting words the thoughts that filled the mind of that young mar., there would be read a series of ejaculations. For instance, "Oh! It is splendid! It is wonderful! It is splendid! It is wonderful!" What was so splendid? What was it that glorified the world in the eyes of that young man? Nothing but a dream. He was dreaming that he had written the book in his hands. In his imagi- nation he was already a novelist, delighting the whole world, read by all the English-speaking people in this realm of ours; in the kingdom of Man; across the Western seas; in the Isles of the II h 2  ## p. 400 (#804) ############################################ 400 THE AUTHOR. East; in the Austral continent. He heard his own name shouted to the very end of the world; he heard the trumpet of Fame; he actually saw that lovely, benevolent, generous, kindly goddess Hying over his head—over that suburban little garden at Forest Gate; in one hand a scroll—the scroll of his achievements, and in the other a trumpet; and her lips parted while she proclaimed his name—his noble name—the name of the Im- mortal Author—the Darling of the Muses—the admiration of the world—the despair of his rivals— his own name— "Tommy," cried a voice from the open window of the house, " Come in to supper." II. Tommy, or Tom, Crump sat in his bedroom—the little room over the kitchen, generally assigned to "the girl." The other residents of the house were in bed and asleep. He sat up and wrote. Yes, he wrote, for that vision was always with him, and he had begun to do his utmost to make it real; he wrote at night, from ten o'clock till midnight, or even till one and two in the morning. Tommy was a clerk in the City; he received already £60 a year: he was in a big House, and might be considered as having made a very good start: he was steady, wrote a good hand, was intelligent, and gave satisfaction. What more can be desired of such a young man at the outset? He had no secret vices; he did not desire strong drink; he did not play billiards; he did not frequent music halls; he was quite a good young man. When he had time, he read all the books he could borrow; every evening he had this vision of himself as a great writer and of the wonderful Fame that he would achieve; every night he spent two hours in writing stories. He would be a novelist. There was no one to advise him as to the qualifications that go to make a novelist; he knew nothing about style, dramatic effect, or construction; he was entirely ignorant of the elementary requirements of the Art; he did not even know that it was an Art; had he known it would not have helped him. Therefore, he ap- proached the business in complete ignorance how it should be managed. As for other qualifications, such as the possession of materials, observation of life and manners, knowledge of the social machinery, knowledge of society itself—he had none. He was a little clerk who had been at a school where all the boys were intended to be little clerks; his people belonged to a little Nonconformist chapel; he lived in a very quiet little suburb; he went to the City every morning .and came home every evening. He knew nothing; V did not even know that he was ignorant. And this unfortunate boy, so ignorant, so ill-equipped, so poor, so helpless, proposed to himself to become a novelist! What could happen to such a boy? HI. It was just before his twenty-first year that his success came to him. A story was accepted; it was taken by a certain weekly; the editor sent him a guinea for it and told him to call. He called. The editor was a kindly person—his kindliness lasted just so long as his authors were ready to accept a guinea for a story of six columns. He received the blushing, stammering young clerk with a shake of the hand and invited him to sit down. "I have taken your story," he said, "because there is promise in it. I shall get it altered a little. You may, if you like, send me some more. Bui you must take more pains "—Alas! The thing had been written and rewritten half-a-dozen times —"and you must try not to be so amateurish. Here! Take this bundle of the paper—read the stories—analyse them—study them—see how they are written—observe particularly how the attention of the reader is fixed from the outset. Very well. That will show you what we want. If you are clever enough to understand we may do a good deal of business together." Tommy was clever enough to understand. The editor did a good bit of business with him. But Tommy was not, unfortunately, clever enough to understand that without bricks or stone or wood one cannot build a house, and he had neither bricks, nor stone, nor wood. IV. It is fifteen years later. Tommy Crump is now Mr. Lancelot Cory, a name which looks a great deal better upon a title page. He lives in the same house, of which he is now the tenant, vice his father, deceased. But he goes to the City no longer. Tommy is what he so ardently desired to become— a writer of stories. Nobody, I suppose, of five-and-thirty, has written so many stories. No novelist that ever lived has written so much as Mr. Lancelot Cory. He writes all day long and every day. He knows no Sabbath. He takes no rest. He hardly ever goes outside the house. He sees no society. He remains as ignorant of the world as when he first began to write. He sits in the little room over the kitchen where he has always written. He has a wife and four children, and for their sakes his pen keeps driving—driving—all day long. He keeps the wolf from the door—but with difficulty—by these labours unceasing.  ## p. 401 (#805) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 401 He is pule and thin. He has become prema- turely bald. His eyes, which now wear spectacles, are red and watery. That solace of the hard- worked hack, the gin bottle, is not unknown to him. He stops from time to time and grasps his right wrist with his left hand. Yes—it is coming. There are convulsive movements of the fingers; there are shooting pains up the arm. He knows, with a sinking of the heart, that writers' cramp is coming. Presently he gathers up his papers. Some writers linger over their work, correcting here and adding there. Mr. Lancelot Cory does not. He knows hetter. He puts them together, and numbers them, and rolls them up. Then he takes his hat and disappears. "Well, Mister," says his employer, a gentleman with a red face, and a certain something in his look that would have made all the Muses together shiver and shake and tremble— " It's take it or leave it. There's plenty who'd jump at my terms. It used to be three pound ten for thirty thousand words. It's gone down now to two pound ten. And here's the money." "But, good God, sir, how am I to live?" "Don't know, I'm sure. That's not my business. Look here, I can got novelettes by the dozen — thirty thousand words—for two pound ten apiece. What is it — thirty thousand words? About fifty of your pages. Only fifty pages. You're all so infernally lazy. And mind — prices are going down — I shouldn't be surprised, at the rate things are moving, if we don't get the price down before long to fifteen bob the thirty thousand words. Ah! and we will, too—with the help of the girls." Mr. Lancelot Cor)'—Tommy Crump—took the money meekly and crept away. It was the pay for a fortnight's hard work. The work was not worth anything to be sure, regarded as work, but it was all he could do. This is the end of that noble dream. He sees it no more. Fame, with her trumpet and her scroll, has changed into a Fury with a scourge, driving— driving—driving—his pen as fast as it can fly across the page. Soon will come writers' cramp in earnest. Soon the price of the penny novelette will go down, as the large-hearted proprietor foretold, to fifteen shillings the thirty thousand words. And then— then—alas! Poor Tommy! His brothers, who have remained clerks, are drawing their four, five, or even six pounds a week, while he—Alas! Poor dreamer! NOTES FROM PARIS. MR. Walter Besant invites me to give some more information on the financial side of the relations between French publishers and authors. I should say that not in more than one case out of a thousand does a French publisher purchase an author's copyright outright. If the author is unknown the publisher will not run the risk. If the author has any reputation, it is he who would not part with his property, which, thanks to the French custom of continuous republication, may be an unceasing source of revenue to him. The system adopted by authors and publishers is the royalty system, the royalties varying, according to the status of the author, from 25 cents, to 1 franc per volume. The French volume, published at 3 francs 5o cents., is generally sold at 2 francs 75 cents., though the country booksellers and some old-fashioned Parisian retailers refuse to allow any discount to the public. The bookseller earns 5d. per volume, leaving for cost of production and for author's and publisher's profits the sum of twelve-thirteenths of 2 francs 20 cents. Where a royalty of 1 franc per copy is given, the author's remuneration is higher than the publisher's profits, but such a royalty is very exceptional. Zola, Daudet, de Maupassant, and a few others get it. Many first-rate men have to content themselves with a royalty of 5d. Some get 7^d., but the vast majority of writers do not receive more than 3\d., which is a very favourite figure with the publishers. Absolute beginners receive i\d., anil than this there is no lower royalty. Ten pounds on account of royalties is considered liberal, entail- ing as it does the obligation on the publisher to sell from live hundred to a thousand copies. That is where royalties are from 5d. to 2\d. a copy. Four pounds is the best a poet can hope for on account of a volume, and thinks himself liberally treated. An edition in France is supposed to consist of 1,000 copies. But publishers here are not without guile, and to whip up a sale a book may be issued in editions of 5o copies, so that by the time 1,000 copies have been disposed of, the book is in its twen- tieth edition. This is considered, rightly, foul play, and one Paul Bonnetain- once niade a fuss about it. "If my book has reached such an edition, bona fides, you are swindling me," he wrote to his publishers, "for you have only accounted to me for so many copies. If the editions arc imaginary, then the public is being swindled, inasmuch as you lead people to believe in a success and a demand which do not exist. In either case I object to your conduct." vol. it.  ## p. 402 (#806) ############################################ 402 THE AUTHOR. On the other hand, in the caw of one or two very popular authors, the first edition usually con- sists of many more copies than the regulation 1,000. I am told that of the first editions of Zola's books, 20,000 copies are always issued. The second edition then appears as "Twenty-first thousandth." This is because everybody wants a first edition of Zola's books. Formerly his books were issued in first editions of 1,000 copies, and such copies are now worth from 3o to 100 francs a piece. I saw a first edition of "L'Assommoir" marked io5 francs in the window of a shop where only rare volumes are sold. Since "La Terre" however, owing to the new arrangement, such larger first editions have been issued, that no copies of first editions of any of his later books are quoted at a premium. In the case of men of small popu- larity, it is usual for a publisher not to issue more than 5oo copies of a book as a first, often last, edition. If he sells all the 5oo he is quite satisfied, and the author also. If I had a wishing-ring, I think that one of the first twenty wishes that I should express, would be to possess an album giving portraits of the faces of all the readers of a recent issue of the National Observer, as they perused Mallarme's article in French on "Vers et Musique en France," in that number. The face of him who has always prided himself on his knowledge of French, as he puzzled over that prose, would have been delightful to see. I showed the article to two leading French jour- nalists here, and asked them if it was comprehen- sible, and they both said that, with their heads on the block, they could not make sense of it. One said it was pure charabia (Anglice: Double Dutch). Such, however, is Mallarme's invariable style. I have seen and possess letters from him on trivial matters, which are couched in prose as precious and as obscure. As a talker, however, Mallarme, being comprehensible, is exquisite, and I know few rarer delights than to pass an hour or two at one of his Tuesday evening receptions in the dining room of his little fourth floor apartment in the Kue de Rome, and to listen to the master's discourses on literature and art. He stands leaning against the tiled stove, with his disciples closely packed sitting round the long table. Cigarettes are smoked and in the winter the host serves excellent rum grogs. Few speak except the master, though now and then a suggestion will be made or a question asked. Mallarme is here at his best, and it is a pity his words are not taken down for the delight of the -larger world outside the little room. It is •:ademy in a fourth floor back. But Mallarme' has \ a contempt for the larger world, by reason of the Philistines, and prints with great luxury for the very few. He will not publish. I thought his name was derived from words meaning "The Man of Poor Armour." That was the idea of a roman- tique. The master holds it that his name means "The Man of Sad Tears." If English authors, who having achieved some success in England, are anxious to have their works and their names introduced to the Freuch public, would follow the counsel of a Kempis and limit their desires, they would know peace. At least, they would save themselves from much disappoint- ment. As a general rule, the French public does not care for translations of English literature any more than it would care for English lxmnets. Sensational novels have the best chance here, as there is always a public for such fare. But the prices which are paid for French rights are always very small, and it may bo. well for English authors who think of attacking the Freuch publishers, to grasp this fact. Hachette, the great publisher, who does the most publishing or French trans- lations of English books, whenever he is asked, as he often is asked, some "long" price for French rights, will produce, as his answer, the receipt signed by Charles Dickens for the right of pub- lishing the translation of "David Copperfield." It is for £20. An English author who can persuade a French publisher to give him £10 for the French rights of a novel, may con- sider himself very lucky. But it is bringing coals to Newcastle to bring foreign fiction into the most glutted literary market in the world. I should say the chances an English author has of finding a French publisher to translate and publish his book are about one in one hundred. Notoriety is in England so much considered a pass to commercial success in authorship that if a man, who might never have tried his hand at lite- rature before, could manage to stand on his head on the point of Cleopatra's Needle, for, say, 24 consecutive hours, he would very probably be asked to write for some of the most important magazines, and as probably would receive offers from enter- prising publishers of books. In America, he would be asked to undertake a series of lectures. In France, however, the best he could hope for, would be an engagement either as a waiter in some brasserie or eafd, or as a "number" in the pro- gramme of the Folies-Bergeres. Literature is, in France, considered as much a metier, requiring training and apprenticeship, as the craft of the locksmith or of the jeweller.  ## p. 403 (#807) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 4°3 French publishers do little advertising, as a rule. Unknown authors are never advertised, except at their own cost, and do not seem to care to incur the expense. Christinas and New Year's books are advertised, but I do not know of any publisher who advertises all the year round. Some pub- lishers believe in the value of puffs or reclames, the prices of which vary from 4*. to 3os. a line. Xavier de Montepin has, perhaps, made more money out of literature than any living author in France, and though he has been twice ruined, is once again in an excellent situation of fortune. He never knew the hardships of the craft, for his first book, which he published at the age of 20, was a great success, and his good fortune has never since deserted him. He has produced considerably over 400 novels, and hopes, though an old man, to produce as many more. He lives in fine style in a mansion at Passy, which is filled with modern pic- tures, but otherwise decorated and fitted to recall the feudal days, for de Montepin attaches great importance to the fact of his being a count of old family. He is very proud of his riding, and prefers to talk on horses and horsemanship than on any other subject. He works steadily, producing one feuilleton instalment of about 1,600 words a day, never missing a day. His feuilletons are published in the most important Paris journals, though most frequently in the Petit Journal. Though im- mensely popular with a certain public, his confreres complain that once he begins a story in a paper, he carries it on to interminable lengths, and so reduces their opportunities of an innings. He receives a number of insulting anonymous letters weekly. It is in this way that the spiteful, having no reviews or journals—as in England—in which to vent their jealous rage, revenge themselves for his success and fortune. Emile Bichebourg, another feuilletonist of the same school and of almost equal success, lives at Bougival on the Seine, where he has a lovely villa called La Charmeuse. His income cannot be much less than £5,ooo a year. He lives and dresses simply, and his great delight in life is to arrange dances and fetes for the villagers in his district, in which fetes he always takes a very active part. He is as democratic as de Montepin is aristocratic in his ideas. This is how a novel by a successful writer in France is such a gold mine to its author. In the first instance, it is published as a feuilleton in a newspaper, for which the author may receive as much as £3,ooo. Then it is published in volume form. Then Bouff, or some other publisher of the same class, brings it out again in weekly penny parts, paying the author at least as much as was paid for the original serial rights. Such publishers spend immense suras on advertising their publi- cations, both by coloured posters all over France, and by displayed announcements and puffs in the papers. Later on it is republished in book form, the illustrated weekly parts being bound up into a cheap volume. Then after a while, the smaller Parisian journals, or provincial papers, whose proprietors cannot afford original feuilletons, arrange with the Society of Authors for the use of it, so that in ten years, the same serial may have appeared in fifty different papers in various parts of France. The author gets a large share of the "boodle " in each transaction, so that it will easily be understood why French people say that a successful novel is worth a good deal more than a farm in Beauec. Was not George Augustus Sala a little hard on the typewriter in one of his recent letters in the Sunday Times? As a pastmaster in the craft, all that Mr. Sala says is worthy of the closest consideration. Still, I hope that young writers will not be dissuaded from the use of the writing machine by his attack upon it. It may not be as suitable for the production of the higher grades of literary wares as the pen, but for turning out good medium qunlities, it is as good, and so much more rapid. And there is, I should say, more demand for good medium, or even medium wares, than for fine work, for it is a Brummagem age we live in. It is money in a man's pocket—if it be true that time is money—to use a typewriter in the manu- facture of copy, which it produces at at least three times the speed of the pen. Of course, if a man can command his own prices let him use a pen, or even a peacock's quill, like the divine Sarah, but in the case of the writer who stands towards the purchasers of literary wares as a simple producer, whose goods are judged by quantity and actuality, and not by brand, let his argument be to such as object to "machine-uiade copy," "My prices for this quality are so much, but for fine work so much more." "Them as wants titivating"— was not it Mrs. Gamp who said so ?—" must pay according." But even for the professional producer of fine work the typewriter is useful. I fancy that a good way of writing a novel would be to write it off, a jet continu, on the machine, and then to re-write it from this ebauche as often as need be with a  ## p. 404 (#808) ############################################ 404 THE AUTHOR. view to stylo. The MS. would then be once more put on the machine, and the final fair copy turned out. TurgeniefE used to suggest re-writing a book at least six times, but then Turgenioff had a large private income, and could afford to " titivate" his readers at his own expense. Personally, I find it easy to turn out from six to ten thousand words of marketable medium wares per diem on the typewriter. At a pitch, I have produced double that quantity. A typewriter will yield three thousand words an hour easily. By its help I was once able to furnish a publisher in three (lavs, and without interfering with my routine work, with a translation of a French book of over fifty thousand wonls, which the publisher hud hoped I could let him have in a mouth. For the production of "shockers " the typewriter is simply grand. And the machine is pleasant to use if you keep it clean, and give it an occasional drink of oil, and will gallop you over the fields of fancy like a rollicking Pegasus. In speaking to a French author of standing, you address him .as "maitre." In writing to him, you begin your letter, "Sir, and most highly honoured Muster." Actors address the author of a play they are rehearsing as "maitre" also. In both cases maitre means "postmaster" in his craft. Literature is a craft not a trade in France. A man may be a " maitre," and be addressed as such, although his sleeves are out of elbow, and he has not twopence to his credit at either the Society or the dramatic agents. Everybody calls Verlaine "maitre." Nobody would dream of calling certain writers, who earn in half-an-hour what poor Ver- laine earns in a year, by this title. In England, the doubloons earned, not the pastmastership, command respect. It is sickening to read para- graphs in so-called literary papers in which the incomes and earnings of men of letters are dis- cussed. Whose business is it? Such a thing would be considered in France an insult to the whole craft. "What shopkeepers we are! The <SV. James' Gazdtc criticises Mr. Besant's editing of the Author for allowing my note on Itenan's opinion of Zola's novels to pass. A reference to the first paragraph in this magazine, printed in italics, would have shown the St. James' Gazette that the responsibility of all signed articles which appear in the Author lies with their writers. It was therefore very unnecessary to drag Mr. Besant's name into a discussion as to the good or bad taste of one of my notes. As to this particular "•ote, its justification may be found in the very <ls of the St. James' Gazette, which describes itself as " awaiting with unholy impatience" Zola's answer to llenan. Argal, the note was to certain persons interesting and newsy. As to its being calculated to damage " good fellowship and good feeling" amongst the authors alluded to, Mr. Zola's DO' reply to the French interviewer on this note is the best refutation thereof. Zola delights in battle and is the first to desire to know who is his foeman in the arena of letters. My remarks on a certain class of British criticism have been extensively commented upon, and, as I think, unwisely. One journal represented ine as writing—apropos of the deed—that "because a critic says that so-and-so writes indifferent English he deserves to have his brains blown out." Another remarks that" In France, according to our authority, critics are civil because they fear the duel, and show themselves unjustly kind, not from charity, but from cowardice." Now it has been said that a few lines of a man's writing are always sufficient to hang him, that is, that anything one writes can always be misconstrued. How much easier to make it sufficient to cover him with ridicule. Of course, the critics I referred to are those who indulge in offensive personalities, personalities about the writer's character, appearance, habits, dress, and so on, a class which is daily becoming more numerous in England. A favourite form of impertinence with these individuals is to make pleasantries about a young author's name, by repeating it over and over again, provided it have the slightest ring of pretentiousness about it. Such persons are in France kept in check by a sense of direct personal responsibility, and I regretted, and still regret, that the same check does not exist in England. As to the critics who confine themselves to one's works, nobody has greater admiration for, and cause for greater gratitude to them than myself. KOBKKT H. SUERARD. Paris, 20th April, 1892. LITERATURE IN THE MAGAZINES. THE journals which are generally accepted as illustrating the opinions, expounding the theories, and explaining the work of our scholars and philosophers are the Quarterly, the Edinburgh, the Contemporary, the Nineteenth Century, the Fortnightly, the National, and Macmillan. (Their enumeration in this order means nothing.) During the years 1889-1891, there appeared in these journals about 800 articles. They are dissertations on every subject that  ## p. 405 (#809) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. occupied the attention of the world during that time; they cover the whole ground of human thought, human enterprise, human investigation; nothing that belongs to the time but is treated in these magazines. All sides of politics are discussed; all forms of religion; all branches of science; every philosophic school is represented; art, literature, medicine, and trade; the many difficulties and the ever varying questions which belong to a great empire; the prospects of the future; the tendencies of the present; the lesson of the past: for everything room is found by editors whose chief difficulty in this busy age, in which new forces are continually producing new changes, is selection in accordance with the needs and the inte- rests of the day. Of writers willing to discourse on every conceivable subject there is ample choice, the only difficulty being to find a man who at once understands his subject and knows how to set it forth in a striking and iiiterestin<i manner. Of such men there is no great plenty, and there never will be. If, therefore, we are to tabulate the articles according to subjects, we should perhaps arrive at some idea of the relative importance that the subjects treated seem, in the eyes of the editors, to obtain with the public. Should the subject most often treated be polities—finance— art—science—hygiene—the component parts of the Empire—trade disputes—the spread of socialism— the condition of the army? It is, in fact, none of these. An examination of these magazines, conducted for the Author, has revealed the very extraordinary faet that out of the 800 articles published during the last three years in these magazines, 32o—that is to say, two out of every five—are devoted to literature. Does, then, literature occupy the attention of the instructed class in the proportion of two fifths of their whole thinking and reasoning moments? It would seem so from these figures. Yet one certainly knows a great many people who must be called instructed and cultured who read books, both new and old, but most certainly do not give much atten- tion to the history of literatiu-e, to literary move- ments and to the criticism of dead or living literature. In the same way there is an immense number of people who read a certain proportion of new books—those which interest them—and care absolutely nothing for purely literary jmpers. For these people, both the cultured class who read the best books in their leisure hours and the class which reads only for amusement, these papers are not written. They are written for that small scholarly circle which interests itself especially in nil literary subjects, delights in fine criticism, if haply that can be found, reads with avidity monograms on poets and novelists, and loves to hear of great writers and their private lives. It is by this circle that the Browning societies, the Shakespeare societies, and such associations are founded, and from this circle that they are kept up. The increasing extent of that circle is proved by the fact that there are five monthly magazines and two quarterlies which devote two fifths of their space exclusively to the inhabitants of this circle. Considering, next, the subjects treated in these articles we find, first, that the following authors have been passed in review : Mad. D'Arblay, Matthew Arnold, Roger Bacon, Marie Bashkirtseff, Balzac, Baudelaire, Theodore De Banville, Charlotte Bronte, Boswell, Browning, Byron, Carlyle, Chesterfield, Chaucer, Coleridge, Crabb, Cowper, Wilkie Collins, Victor Cousin, Dante, Davenport, Donne, Disraeli, Defoe, Edward Fitzgerald, Farrar, Gifford, Gold- smith, Goethe, Baring Gould, Anthony Hamilton, Thomas Hardy, James Hogg, Heine, Victor Hugo, Thomas Hood, Lessing, Lecky, Dr. Johnson, Ibsen, Rudyard Kipling, Lowell, John Locke, Massinger, Mirabeau, Maeterlinck, Montaigne, Mickiewicz, Milton, Prosper Merimec, Sir Thomas More, Motley, Pepys, Norris, Oliphant, Pope, Prior, Richardson, Renan, Sir Walter Raleigh, Rousseau, Rossetti, Shakespeare, Stent, George Sand, Scott, Spenser, Stendhal, Stevenson, Swinburne, Sedg- wick, Thackeray, Theocritus, Tennyson, John Wesley, Wiclif, Edwin Waugh, William Watson, Wordsworth, George Wither, Henry Vaughan, Vcrlaine, and Zola. Some, of less interest, have been omitted from this list. Among the contri- butors to the long series of critical articles are many whose names are well known in other fields. There are novelists, poets, and historians among them as well as critics. Against the name of Ibsen there stand those of William Archer, Oswald Crawfurd, Edmund Gosse, C. J. Herford, E. Lord, and Philip Wicksteed. J. M. Barrie, himself a novelist, writes on Thomas Hardy, Baring Gould, and Rudyard Kipling. Andrew Lang and Swinburne write on Wilkie Collins. Grant Allen writes on William Watson, and William Watson writes on Edwin Waugh. J. Addington Symonds writes on Theodore Dc Banville, on Dantesque Ideals, Zola, and Theocritus. Swin- burne on Victor Hugo, Wilkie Collins, Massinger, James Shirley, and Scott's Journal. George Saintsbury on James Hogg, Tom Hood, Crabb, De Quincey, Leigh Hunt, and Anthony Hamilton. Professor Dowden on John Donne, Coleridge, and Goethe; Andrew Lang on Robert Browning and Wilkie Collins; Dr. Abbot on Newman; Julia Wedgwood Laurence Oliphant on Shakespeare, receives an astonishing amount of attention. We have papers on Shakespeare's spelling; on his travels; on his Venice; on certain characteristics; on detached plays; on Macbeth as a Celt; on his  ## p. 406 (#810) ############################################ 406 THE AUTHOR. Ghosts; on his Religion and Politics, and on his stage. No writer, one supposes, has ever received so much study and attention as Shakespeare. Turning to articles on subjects and not on names, of which there are about a hundred and twenty, we find about twenty devoted to the con- sideration of fiction under various aspects. Here are some of the subjects: "Idealism in French Fiction "; "King Plagiarism," a very unworthy personal attack; "American Fiction "; "The Modern French Novel "; "Realism in French Fiction "; "Penny Fiction"; the "Light Reading of our Ancestors"; "Romance Realisti- cized"; "English Realism and Romance"; "Morality in Fiction "; "Irish Novelists in Irish Peasants"; "Fiction, Plethoric and Anremie"; "New Watchwords of Fiction "; the "Abdication of Mrs. Grundy "; the "Naming of Novels "; "Candour in English Fiction," and so on. Criti- cism is considered in "Critics in Court "; "Critics and their Craft "; in " Criticism as a Trade "; in the " Literary Criticism of France." Authorship is treated in "The Trade of Author"; "Literature Then and Now "; various papers on American copyright; the Story of the first Society of British Authors. Lastly, such papers as those called, "Children and Modern Literature "; "Poets and Puritans "; "Humour "; the "Poetry of Common Sense "; the "Savage Club"; "Poetry by Men of the World "; " Influence of Democracy on Literature "; "Chapters from the History of the Bodleian "; " Our Dramatists and their Literature"; "Hopes and Fears for Literature "; the "Future of American Literature"; the "Literature and Language of the Age," show that there are men and women always watching the changes and chalices of modern literature, and that there are other men and women —thousands of them—who never tire of hearing about these changes and chances. To those who find the literature of the day trivial and feeble, we may at least point to this extraordinary production of papers by scholars and critics dealing for the most part with the writers of the day. They read — these scholars — the writers of the day; they read their trivial and feeble work, compare them, weigh them. In fact, it may be laid down as a general rule that those who sneer at contemporary literature are either the elder men who now read none of it, or the younger men who as yet know nothing of it. The great fact remains, that while in these seven magazines, considered as the leaders from the critical and cultivated point, two-fifths of the articles are purely literary, the greater part of this fraction of two- fifths is devoted to contemporary writers and contemporary subjects. But we have only taken seven magazines. There remain others. Blackwood contains some excel- lent literary papers; so does Temple Bar; so does the Cornhill and Longmans'. There are others. We must not forgot the New Revieic, a paper quite as good as the Contemporary—written for, in fact, by the same men who write for the larger journal. Nor must we forget such papers as the Saturday Review, the Spectator, the Athenceum, full of literary papers, admirably written, and for the most part full of suggestion and instruction. The seven which we have examined, however, sufficiently establish the important point, that literature, ancient and modern, is a subject which interests very largely—more largely than any other subject —a very large number of people. The increase in these magazines and the apparent fact that they all flourish, prove that this class is largely on the increase. Yet it is not a very considerable class. Are there one hundred thousand men and women, in all, in these Islands, who read these papers with pleasure? Probably not nearly so many. They are, however, a very important class. Among them are the journalists of the better class, the more cultivated of the professions, professors, lecturers, and schoolmasters, a sprinkling of the clergy, and the critics, historians, poets, and novelists themselves. The influence of these people stretches out in all directions; no one can tell where a paper in the Contemporary may not be felt. Here is an opinion: it teaches, as from a recognized centre of authority, those who teach others; so it is spread abroad. Go into a country house; you will hear opinions expressed on the latest novelist, the latest dramatist; and you will presently learn that they are taken bodily—with or without acknowledgment—from a magazine. One more question is suggested by this list. Who are the men and women who write these papers? Their number is necessarily limited. If the editor wants a paper on a French or English writer, there are not many men whom he can a*k. Let us see, then, from this list who are the living writers who during these three years contributed the papers on Authors living and dead, and on the literary subjects we have mentioned. Their names are as follows:— Edwin Abbott. Prof. Blaikie. Canon Ainger. Walter Besant. G. Aitkin. Henry Blackburn. Grant Allen. Karl Blind. William Archer. Mathilde Blind. Alfred Austin. Madame Blaize de J. M. Barrie. Bury. Wyke Bayliss. Rev. Stopford Augustine Birrell. Brooke.  ## p. 407 (#811) ############################################ THE A UTHOR. Hall Caine. Dean Church. E. Courtney. Oswald Crawfurd, Prof. Dowden. Austin Dobson. A. Conan Doyle. R. Dunlop. Archdeacon Farrar. Edmund Gosse. P. Greenwood. E. Dirk beck Hill. Prof. Knight. H. A. Kennedy. H. G. Keene. * Andrew Lang. A. H. Lecky. W. S. Lilly. Mrs. Lynn Linton. Mowbray Morris. Gabriel Monod. Prof. Minto. P. Myers. George Moore. Wilfrid Meynell. Justin McCarthy. Canon MacColl. Walter Pater. E. E. Prothero. Kennell Rodd. Prof. Romanes. E. S. Shuckburgh. William Sharpe. George Saintsbury. A. Swinburne. . J. A. Symonds. Paul Sylvester. Prof. Tyndal. H. D. Traill. Stanley Weyman. William Watson. Dean of Wells. Oscar Wilde. H. B. Wheatley. Rev. Philip H. Wicksteed. Julia Wedgwood. Helen Ziminern. may be taken as whose opinion is likely to be asked. The number is 64. Of course, this list is not proffered as complete. Few of the specialists are here. One misses such names as, in Art, Middleton and Monkhouse; in Archaeology, Budge, Sayce, Loftie; in Architecture, Hayter Lewis; in Philo- sophy, Herbert Spencer, Sir Frederick Pollock, James Sully; in Science, the names of all the leaders. But the list is representative. It a first rough list of those most considered, and most Omissions will be discovered, and will be supplied by anyone who reads the list. And if one were to extend the research, to include a few other magazines—such as the Church Quarterly, the Lata Quarterly, Blackwood, Longmans', &c— and to take the last ten years instead of the last three, we should arrive at a complete list of those who are considered by editors, and accepted by the world, as having a right to speak. Shall the Author extend this research? It is, if one comes to think of it, no mean thing to become one of these accepted speakers to the world—these men are the select preachers to the English-speaking race. They speak to a vast audience of a hundred millions; not that all are listening; most have got the rake in their hands and are raking with deaf ears; but they may listen if they please. And round the select preacher's pulpit is gathered a little throng of a few thousands. These listen and go away and tell others, further off, who could not hear what the preacher has said. And these again toll others, until at last even the man with the rake lifts his head and pricks up his cars. OBSERVATIONS ON "THE TALE-TELLING ART" IN SIR WALTER SCOTT'S INTRODUCTIONS TO THE "WAVERLEY NOVELS." III. A few passages in Sir Walter Scott's introduc- tions still remain which may claim the attention of the novelist, who will regret that they are but few. Respecting too many of the details of the art of fiction, Sir Walter Scott does not in his prefaces Bay a single word. No remarks of any kind are to be found about description of scenery, no remarks upon portraiture, no remarks upon con- trast of characters, nor upon a number of those other details of the "craft of romance writing," in which Sir Walter himself excelled, and upon which it is evident that he must have bestowed no ordinary care and thought. Two passages, however, occur bearing upon the study of character. The study of character is, of course, scarcely a detail of the art of fiction; it is rather the very soul of good story-telling; and all that Sir Walter Scott says in both of these places deserves close attention, not only on account of the great suggestiveness of his remarks, but also on account of the high importance to the novelist of any hints he can gather upon the treatment of character. The first of these passages will be found in the "Advertisement" preceding "The Antiquary." It treats of the great value in romance of characters drawn from those ranks of life in which the passions are least restrained by cultivation, and the feelings are most frequently expressed without reserve :— "I have in the two last narratives ['Guy Mannering,' and • The Antiquary '] sought my principal personages in the class of society who are the last to feel the influence of that general polish which assimilates to each other the manners of different nations. Among the same class I have placed some of the scenes, in which I have en- deavoured to illustrate the operations of the higher and more violent passions, both because the lower orders are less restrained by the habit of suppressing their feelings, and because . . . they seldom fail to express themselves in the strongest and most powerful language."  ## p. 408 (#812) ############################################ 408 THE AUTHOR. The second passage deals with a point no less important, but much more difficult: the choice of such characters as the general reader's conception of life will enable him easily to comprehend. This restriction will bo felt by every author to be a hard one, for it narrows the range of the novelist, reducing him to something resembling the dra- matist's small stock-in-trade of characters, whom everyone can immediately understand. Upon reflection, however, it will probably be admitted that Sir Walter Scott's contention is in the main justified by the fact that everything which is intended to entertiiin, or, indeed, to instruct, must of necessity be perfectly intelligible. It was Sir Walter Scott's opinion that in Sir Percie Shafton the Euphuist, in "The Monastery," he had presented a character which was not in- telligible; and why not intelligible he is at much pains to explain in a long passage in the " Intro- duction to ' The Monastery.'" The whole cannot be quoted here, and should be read in its proper context. The chief points, however, are these "The author had the vanity to think that a character, whose peculiarities should turn on ex- travagancies which were once universally fashionable, might be read in a fictitious story with a good chance of affording amusement to the existing generation, who, fond as they arc of looking back on the actions and manners of their ancestors, might be also supposed to be sensible of their absurdities . . . He was disappointed . . . The Euphuist, far from being accounted a well- drawn and humorous character . . . was con- demned as unnatural and absurd . . . The author has been led to suspect that . . . his subject was injudiciously chosen . . . The manners of a rude people are always founded on nature, and therefore the feelings of a more polished generation immediately sympathise with them . . . It does not follow that the . . . tastes, opinions, and follies of one civilised period should afford cither . . . interest or . . . amusement to . . another. Let us take . . . Shaks- peare himself . . . The mass of readers peruse without amusement the characters formed on the extravagance of a temporary fashion . . . The Euphuist Don Armado, the pedant Holophernes, even Nym and Pistol, are read with little pleasure by the mass of the public . . .In like manner, while the distresses of Romeo and Juliet continue to interest every bosom, Mercutio, drawn as an accurate representation of the finished fine gentle- man of the period, and, as such, received by the unanimous approbation of contemporaries, has so little to interest the present age, that stripped of his puns and quirks of verbal wit, he only retains a place in the scene in virtue of his fine and fanciful speech upon dreaming, which belongs to no particular age . . . The introduction of a. humorist acting, like Sir Percie Shafton, upon some, forgotten or obsolete mode of folly ... is rather likely to awake the disgust of the reader, as un- natural, than find him food for laughter . The formidable objection of iucredulits odi was applied to the Euphuist, as well as to the White Lady of Avenel; and the one was denounced as unnatural, while the other was rejected as im- possible." In the first chapter of "The Bride of Lammer- moor," in the imaginary conversation with Dick Tinto, Sir Walter Scott has something to say upon the use and abuse of dialogue in romance. "Your characters," be [Dick Tinto] said . . putter too much . . . there is nothing in whole pages but mere chat and dialogue." "The ancient philosopher," said I in rejily, "was wont to say, ' Speak, that I may know thee'; and how is it possible for an author to introduce his dramatis persona to his readers in a more inte- resting and effectual manner than by the dialogue in which each is represented as supporting his own appropriate character?" The dangers of an excess of dialogue, and the value of descriptive narrative are a few lines below thus happily expressed :— "Description," he said, "was to the author of a romance exactly what drawing and tinting were to a painter; words were his colours, and, if properly employed, they could not fail to place the scene which he wished to conjure up, as effectually before the mind's eye, as the tablet or canvas presents it to the bodily organ. The same rules . . . applied to both, and an exuberance of dialogue, in the former case, was a verbose and laborious mode of composition which went to confound the proper art of fictitious narrative with that of drama, a widely different species of composition, of which dialogue was the very essence. . . . But as nothing can be more dull than a long narrative written upon the plan of a drama, so where you have approached most near to that species of com- position, by indulging in prolonged scenes of mere conversation, the course of your story has become chill and constrained, and you have lost the power of arresting the attention and exciting the imagina- tion, in which upon other occasions you may be considered as having succeeded tolerably well." The words are supposed to be addressed to Sir Walter, who here is again criticising himself. They suggest several questions. Do readers of the present day find their attention more arrested by the narrative portions than by the dialogues in the "Waverley Novels "? Does not fiction tend to use  ## p. 409 (#813) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. dialogue more and more, and narrative less? Was dialogue one of Sir AValter Seott's strong points? These are questions which the reader must answer for himself. One remark alone Sir Walter makes on romance style :— "Every work designed for amusement must he expressed in language easily comprehended." (General Preface to the "Waverley Novels.") The astonishing speed at which Sir Walter Scott wrote his novels must be considered one of the marvels of those marvellous compositions. Like a good many other authors he was advised by people, who certainly knew a good deal less about novel- writing than he did, to write more slowly, and to bestow more care upon construction and composi- tion. By these means, so his counsellors assured him, certain portions of his work which they found inferior to the rest would be vastly improved. Few lines that he has written will be more interesting to authors than his reply :— "The works and passages in which I have succeeded have uniformly been written with the greatest rapidity . . . the parts in which I have come feebly off wen; by much the more laboured." (Introductory Epistle, Captain Clut- terbuck to the Rev. j)r. Dryasdust, preceding "The Fortunes of Nigel.") When the "Waverley Novels" were collected into a complete edition, Sir Walter Scott subjected them all to a careful revision. A comparison of the texts of the first editions with the texts offered as final, might afford some curious points. Many of the alterations would, no doubt, prove trivial, but it is hardly possible to doubt that others might be of interest. Sir Walter says of his emenda- tions :— "These consist in occasional pruning where the language is redundant, compression where the style is loose, infusion of vigour where it is languid, and exchange of less forcible for more appropriate epithets." ("Advertisement," preceding General Preface to "Waverley Novels.") A single subject remains, about which Sir Walter Scott has a good deal to say: the difficult enterprise of choosing a title. On the one hand, he admits— "It is of little consequence what the work is called, provided it catches public attention." (Introductory Epistle, Captain Clutterbuck to the Rev. Dr. Dryasdust, preceding "The Abbot.") On the other hand, he was not at all blind to the fact that the title itself might much assist to "catch the public attention," and was very careful about the names of his books, "a good name being very nearly of as much consequence in literature as in life." (Introduction to "Rob Roy.") At the same time he was very shy of "taking titles." Of these he speaks in three different places, and all that he says is deserving of the consideration of everyone thinking of publishing a book:— "The publisher and author, however much their general interests are the same, may be said to differ so far as title pages are concerned; and it is a secret of the tale-telling art . . . that a taking title . . . best answers the purpose of the book- seller, since it . . . sells an edition not unfrequently before the public have well seen it. But the author ought to seek more permanent fame. . . . Many of the best novelists have been anxious to give their works such titles as render it out of the reader's power to conjecture their contents until they should have an opportunity of reading them." (Introduction to the "Betrothed.") "What is called a taking title serves the direct interest of the bookseller. . . . But if the author permits an over-degree of attention to be drawn to his work ere it lias appeared, he places himself in the embarrassing condition of having excited a degree of expectation, which, if he proves unable to satisfy, is an error fatal to his literary reputation." (Introduction to " Ivanhoe.") "A taking title is a recipe for success much in favour with booksellers, but which authors will not always find efficacious. The cause is worth a moment's examination. A tale . . . sure by the very announcement to excite public curiosity to a considerable degree ... is of the last importance to the bookseller. . . . But it is a different case with the author, since it cannot be denied that we are apt to feel less satisfied with the work of which we have been induced ... to entertain exagge- rated expectations." (Introduction to "The Abbot.") Sir Walter Scott received very large sums for his copyrights, and was so conscious of the money value of his work, that when he found himself, by no fault of his own, ruined and responsible for a gigantic debt, he courageously resolved to earn with his pen the sum Decessary to pay it. No author ever wrote with a more direct, or more laudable intention of obtaining money, and so the following lines from the Introductory Epistle preceding the "Fortunes of Nigel," may perchance, more fitly than any others close these brief notes on observations on the "tide-telling art" in Sir Walter Scott's introductions to the "Waverley Novels":— "No work of imagination, proceeding from the mere consideration of a certain sum of copy money ever did, or ever will, succeed." Hexhy Crksswell. ■  ## p. 410 (#814) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. WALT WHITMAN. I. An Interview. IT was in September 1881 that I had a personal interview with Wnlt Whitman. Accompanied by a well-known Boston journalist, I called in the forenoon upon the old bard. We set awaiting his arrival for some minutes. Then the door opened, and there walked into the room, with simple mien and unconstrained air, as out of an Ossianic poem or some ancient bardic lay, a veritable Brehon. Tall and slightly stooped, leaning on a stick and walking slowly (the effect of a stroke of paralysis), Walt Whitman, the poet of the American democracy, struck me as a very remarkable picture. His hair white and long, his eye a light blue, bright, intelligent, and brilliant, strongly marked nose, slightly blunted, over a white moustache, and the countenance framed all around with a long white beard and whiskers. Sui generis in dress as in literature, Walt Whitman was every inch an ideal poet to gaze upon, the open Byronic collar and loose coat and waistcoat, surmounted by his massive and venerable head, making an interesting and impressive picture. Whitman in conversation was measured and thoughtful, liked to hear about English literature, especially poetry, and had made up his mind very strongly upon the merits of modern bards. He was then beginning to be understood in Boston, and was acutely sensible of the change of opinion which was gradually coming over the American literary world with regard to his work. He himself has declared that the proof of a poet is that his country absorbs him as affectionately as he has absorbed it. He was fond of young men. "It does me good," he said to me, "to see the boys and young men, and to have them about me." The grandeur of his personal presence, the calm thought enthroned upon his brow, impressed one with the idea that he partook more of the seer and the sage than of the modern poet. I shall always carry with me a memory of Walt Whitman as the First Brehon of the American race. P. H. Bagenal. II. Walt Whitman's Last Room. When I described, on Nov. 29, a recent visit to Walt Whitman, I did not say half I thought of the squalor and wretchedness of his surroundings. It is a wonder to me that he did not die long ago from the effects of the unwholesome atmosphere of the place. Whitman was a man who loved and needed the sunlight and fresh air. In that wretched room he had neither. It faced the north, and the little light that might have shone upon him was kept out by dirty windows and closed shutters. I doubt if the room had ever been swept, much less thoroughly cleaned. The dirty carpet, the piles of old newspapers, the unmade bed, the rickety stove that gave out enough heat to dry up a much more vigorous body than that of the old poet, all had the most depressing effect upon me when I came into the place from the crisp, clear air of a bright October day. I have read descriptions of old misers who have been found dead amid their miserable surroundings, but Walt Whitman's bed- room gave me a far more vivid sense of what such dens must be than columns of mere description. The pathetic thing about it was his contentment. I am well taken care of," he said; "the people, here are very kind." The latter statement was probably true; but I do not call such care as he received good care. I would not have left a favourite dog to live in such a place. I have been told that his friends who visited him in his last illness were greatly annoyed by the unclean wretchedness of the place, but, seeing that he was too far gone to make expostulation advisable, they held their peace.—The New Yokk Critic. ■ FROM AMERICA. ICAN assure you that the condition of the author in America, so far as I am qualified to judge, is even more lamentable than his English brother. You say that " the sweating of authors— chiefly ladies and small authors—that goes on is really terrible." I think that in America, although all authors suffer, the case of the women writers, especially the young authors, is worse, because women, as a rule, are ignorant of business methods, and are especially timid about standing up for their just rights. I greatly desire to see a " Society for the Pro- tection of American Authors" established on the lines ably laid down in the Forum article, and to that end I should be most grateful if you would mail me any printed reports of your Society that you are willing to make public, and especially the two pamphlets mentioned: "The Cost of Production " and " Methods of Publishing," together with a few sample copies of your Author, which I am unable to get in Boston, or even to learn its subscription price. \  ## p. 411 (#815) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 411 I am an author myself ou a small scale, and a contributor to the American Press, but have suffered severely from the methods of payment employed by most publishers, and by all but a few of the largest magazines. Almost all American periodicals "pay on publication," and an author's MSS. are frequently detained, say five years, without any compensation. The syndicate method also works a great injustice to young authors. For instance, one of the largest syndicates in New York city pays at the rate of about 610 per column of 2,000 words for a timely, newsy article, generally not wishing more than a column and a half. This same article is sold perhaps to forty newspapers throughout the United States, and each editor pays for it at the rate of about $5 per column, some- times more, if the author is noted. The syndicate, therefore, takes in about $200 to the author's §10; if this is not a case of "sweating" I hardly know what is. Young authors often endure this in silence, for they hope that the wide circulation given to their article and their name may sometime come back to them in solid cash, but the expecta- tion is often disappointed. For instance, I sent an article of nearly two columns in length that had taken me some time in careful preparation to the above-named syndicate. In my letter to the editor I said that the work thereon was exhaustive, and that I "should like" $20 therefor. No reply was made, and I presumed my terms were accepted. Some weeks afterwards, when the article was published, and I was without redress, I 'received a curt note from the editor saying that the article was only worth Si2 to them, and they therefore sent me a check for that amount. On asking an editor-friend in Boston about the justice of the case, he assured me that I had no legal claim, because I had merely said " I should like," instead of saying plainly " The price is 320." Another syndicate to which I sent a carefully written article on a subject pertaining to women, detained my article of 4,000 words some four months, then offered me a beg- garly price for about 1,000 words: I declined it, and wrote requesting the editor to return me the article. After some weeks' delay he did so, but one-quarter of it, the portion he desired, was miss- ing. I could not get it until a newspaper editor and personal friend called and got it in person. Some weeks after, a friend from the West sent me a cutting, which contained the portion of my article which the syndicate had retained, and never paid for, almost verbatim. I had no redress that I could find out for this case of downright robbery. In a third case I sold a magazine article on a topic of interest to women to a certain magazine for §3o. It was to be paid for on publication, but the month before the article was to appear the magazine failed, and everything was put into the hands of a receiver. I wrote for my unpaid article, but received the reply that it was the property of the magazine, and was now in the editor's desk, which was sealed up, together with about thirty dollars worth of fine pen and ink sketches, the work of an artist friend, also unpaid for. I finally recovered the articles, but their timeliness was gone; I had to wait another year for a publisher, and the pen and ink sketches, although made to order, were detained for months, and finally returned unpaid for, resulting in a total loss to the artist, who had kindly offered to illustrate my work. In still another case I sold a series of letters upon European travel to a prominent New York weekly, giving them the copyright. They, how- ever assured me that if I wished to reprint the articles in book form I was at liberty to do so, if I gave them the credit. Before I had time to do as I had intended, a Boston international steamer agency, without communicating either with me or the editor to whom I sold the work, reprinted nearly the whole of it, issuing it in book form, as an advertisement. Just enough was omitted to make it safe to reprint a copyright work, and, though my name was given anil credit assigned to the paper from which the letters were taken, I did not make a penny by the transaction. When I heard that the book had been so popular that a second edition was to be brought out this season of 2,000 more copies, making 4,000 in tdl, I addressed a letter to the enterprising publisher, suggesting that I might make some additions to the book and corrections making it more valuable, for which I would charge only a nominal sum; the publisher then concluded that, on the whole, he woidd not bring out a second edition this season. I am now negotiating with a second publisher, but fear that owing to the first publication and gra- tuitous distribution of so many copies I have lost all chance of a sale. On another occasion I wrote a timely article for "Thanksgiving" on the "American Cranberry," giving a number of facts which I had been at some pains to obtain. It was sent in ample season, two months in advance, to one of the largest Boston Sunday papers, and I was told by the city editor, whom I knew slightly, that " it had passed the first acceptance." But the MS. had disappeared from the face of the earth; I have looked for it for three years in the paper, but it has never been published, and though I have called a dozen times for it at the newspaper office it has never been found. Although I valued it at $20, and, unfortunately, had no copy by which to replace it, no offer was ever made of payment, and I am told that I have no legal redress, as the article was not specially ordered, and the paper to which it was sent adver- tises "that unsolicited MSS. will not be returned."  ## p. 412 (#816) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. Still, previously that same paper had accepted and paid for a numl>er of my special articles, so I thought that I was safe in submitting this one. I met the loss of another article of equal value in a New York paper, and although I was assured several times that the New York .... always paid for an article if it lost it through its own fault, my modest little bill has remained totally unregarded. I know of a still worse case, where a well-known authoress of New York city sent a complete MS. of a child's book to a well-known Boston publishing house. The MS. was accepted; in some mysterious way between the time of acceptance and publica- tion the MS. disappeared. Although it contained about 8o,ood words, and represented the work of months, the poor author was forced to re-write it from beginning to end, without the offer of pay- ment of a single cent on the part of the. publishing house who lost the MS. Of course, apologies anil regrets were sent, but they did not pay for the loss of time and the double work. In the American newspaper work, especially, there is very sharp competition, and a special writer, like myself, not connected with any regular paper, often suffers severely, when he has an exclusive bit of news. For instance, some years ago, when I was less familiar with newspaper sharp practice than I am now, a new building of public importance was erected in Cambridge, near Harvard College, where I reside, I called ou the superintendent of this manual training school with a letter of introduction from a mutual friend, and he gave me an hour of his valuable time. I then prepared a very full and exhaustive report, of the new building, machinery, &c. The next morning early I called upon the managing editor of the largest paper in Boston, mentioned the fact that this building Was just completed, that no report of it had appeared, and that I had one prepared. The managing editor replied that they did not consider a single manual training school building of sufficient importance to warrant an extended notice; but that if I would visit all such schools in Boston and the neighbouring cities and make a general report they woidd probably accept it. I made my preparations to do so, but on returning for some additional data to the Cambridge school, I was told by the manager that early that morning, evidently directly after my visit in Boston, a special re[K>rter had been sent from the Boston Herald in hot haste to get all the facts, which the manager, knowing of my intention to write the article, out of courtesy to me, refused to give, so that only a maimed and unintelligent report appeared. I have taken the liberty to quote these personal cases to you, as there are thousands of a like kind, with which young writers are helplessly forced to grapple every day. You are at liberty to use these as you see fit, if you will not mention names. I am now a member of the New England Women's Press Association, which also includes a number of authors, and I should greatly like to get this association and the various authors' clubs throughout the country interested in the matter of a reform. E. T. — "AT THE AUTHOR'S HEAD." CITIES, as cities, rarely do honour to their citizens during their lifetime, even though such citizens may become world-famous ; but Bristol is about to break down the habit of letting men be only recognised as famous citizens after death, by acknowledging during his lifetime the valuable ethnographical work that Dr. John Beddoe has been enabled to accomplish, whilst acting also a.s a physician in the Bristol suburb, Clifton. A very representative committee, under Mr. Lewis Frv, M.P., as chairman, has been appointed to present Dr. Beddoe with a volume containing an address recognising his well known labours, that have made his name famous in the scientific world. Amongst the committee are the Earl of Ducie, Bishop Clifford, Canon Ainger, Canon "Wallace, Mr. Warren of Magdalene (a Bristolian); Pro- fessors Lloyd, Morgan, and Rowley of the Univer- sity College, Bristol; the headmaster of Clifton College, Mr. R. L. Leighton, head of the Grammar School, and certain members of the Town Council, in fact a representative, body. Mr. James Baker, acting as Hon. Secretary. The address is to be signed by all the official, literary, scientific, and artistic bodies in Bristol, and will be presented at a dinner during the month of May. Mr. Barry Pain's new volume, entitled " Stories and Interludes," will be published by Messrs. Henry and Co. and by Messrs. Harper & Bros, simul- taneously on May 3rd. Mr. Hall Cable's forthcoming storiette, entitled "Capt'n Davy's Honeymoon," which is to run in Lloyd's, will lie published al>out Midsummer by Mr. AVm. Heinemann. Mrs. George Augustus Sala's new volume, which bears the title " People I have met," has just been published by Messrs. Osgood, Macllvaine and Co. Mr. A. J. Balfour is to preside on the 29th anniversary of the Newspaper Press Fund, which is to be held at the Hotel Metroi>oIe on the 14th instant.  ## p. 413 (#817) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 4'3 Among the series of papers which will uppear in Scribucr's on the position of the great European cities is one by Mr. Walter Besant, dealing with the East London riverside. The parish chosen is that of St. James, Rateliff. Prize stories, with the notable exception of Mr. Goodman's " Only Witness," do not, it seems, catch on. It is reported that the Leadenhall Press have not made a success of their venture "Guess the Title." 10,000 copies were issued, and the Publisher's Circular reports that 9,000 still remain on hand. We are sorry that Mr. Tuer has not made a hit with this venture, but it is, perhaps, fortunate on the whole for the future of fiction that the dodge has not succeeded. We have the advertising fiend quite enough with us as it is, and the self-advertising story is an excrescence which we can very well afford to do without. Ben Brierley has a great popularity, both as a writer and as an entertainer, all over Lancashire, Cheshire, and Derbyshire, and has managed to main- tain himself in a frugal way up till within the last year or two. He was then attacked by illness which kept him confined to his bed for twelve months, and has left him partially paralysed, so that it is impos- sible for him to go on with his entertainments, upon which he mainly depended for a livelihood. A few Lancashire merchants proposed a tribute to him, and up to the present a sum of £25o has been collected in small sums. Among the subscribers were Lord Derby, Viscount Cranbourne, Sir W. H. Houldsworth, Mr. A. J. Balfour, Sir Ughtred Kay Shuttle\vorth,and other leading Lancashire men. It has now been arranged that the mayors of all Lancashire towns shall receive subscriptions for the fund, and it is hoped that it will attain suffi- cient proportions to enable Ben Brierley to be secure from want to the end of his life. If Mr. Gladstone attains to the somewhat doubt- ful honour of being "collected," his fondness for appearance in pamphlet form will lend an added interest to the hunt for complete sets of his works. The last addition to his brochures is a letter on Female Suffrage, addressed to Mr. Samuel Smith, the well-known Liverpool philanthropist, which has just been published by Mr. John Murray. Mr. C. F. Dowsett, F.S.I., has published (The Land Record Office) his promised work on " Land, its attractions and riches," by 57 writers. Principal Bond-deals with "Fruit Growing"; Mr. C. W. Heckethorn with "Investments "; Professor G. Henslow writes on "The Value of Botany to Country Residents"; the Rev. A. Styleman Herring on "Fresh Air for Poor London Chil- dren "; Professor Long on "Dairy Farming "; and the Rev. Compton Reade on "The Pleasures of a Country." Dr. B. W. Richardson deals with "Health in Relation to Land"; Professor A. H. Sayce with "Ancient Laws '*; and Professor R. Wallace with " Egyptian Lands." The death of John Hyslop at Kilmarnock, N.B., removes another of the true jwets of the people. Almost wholly self-educated, he left the machine- room to become a rural messenger something more than thirty years ago, and in the year of Burns' centenary became generally recognised by his tribute to the Ploughman Bard. We extract from the Pall Mall Gazette the concluding lines of his last poem, which was written on his death-bed for the Kilmarnock Standard— I hear the music in the upper rooms, My soul like pent hinl panteth to he free j When that has passed beyond life's prisoning bars, Then burn or bury, do what pleaseth thee With the worn cage that is no longer Me, l'"or I shall neither know, nor hear, nor see. ****** Sometimes, perchance, amid the hurrying years, With friends in shady nook or wooded glen, You'll say: "He coined his soul's best thoughts in words, And sent them rushing through his ready pen In songs of hope to cheer his fellow men." If any songs of all the songs I've sung Make any music where life's discord mars God's harmonies, and through the souls of men Goes echoing on to heal some hidden scars, Then I shall hear it from beyond the stars! The fifth and sixth volumes of Mr. C. G. Leland's translation of the works of Heinrich Heine, which have just been published by Mr. Win. Heinemann, contain the "Germany," the "Comments on Faust," the " Gods in Exile," and the " Goddess Diana." Mr. Leland claims that this is the first complete edition of Heine's "Germany," which, as he very justly contends, is a work of which no one can be ignorant who seeks sound or even superficial reading of modern literature. Mr. Hume Nisbet's new story, "The Bush- ranger's Sweetheart," has just been issued by Mr. F. V. White. M. Chedomil Mijatovich, formerly Servian Minister at the Court of St. James's, has issued an interesting book on the conquest of Constantinople by the Greeks, which embodies the result of great personal research. Messrs. Sampson Low anil Co. are the publishers. Hitherto, no single monograph on the conquest of Constantinople has existed in English, though as early as 1670 a tragedy entitled the "Siege of Constantinople" was published in London.  ## p. 414 (#818) ############################################ 414 THE AUTHOR. "Haunts of Nature," by H. W. S. Worsley- Benison, and illustrated by C. M. Worsley, is issued by Elliot Stock. Mr. Worsley-Benison is already very well known as the author of " Nature's Fairyland," and in his new book shows that he is not an unworthy successor even to Richard Jefferies. Mr. Edmund Downey (F. M. Allen) has ready a collection of Irish tales, which, under the title of "Green as Grass," will be published by Messrs. Chatto and Windus in a few days. Dr. S. P. Driver, the Regius Professor of Hebrew at the University of Oxford, has concluded a volume of sermons, entitled "Old Testament Criticisms." Messrs. Methuen are the publishers. Mr. Rudyard Kipling's " Barrack Room Ballads" —Japanese paper edition—was published on April 3oth by Messrs. Methuen. Mr. Arthur Symon's new volume of verse, which is to bear the title of " Silhouettes," will be published immediately by Messrs. Elkin Mathews and John Lime. There is to be yet another Metropolitan literary society, the Irish Literary Society, which is to be inaugurated next month under the presidency of Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, K.C.M.G. The Rev. Stopford Brooke is to deliver the inaugural address. Mr. E. F. Knight, the author of the "Cruise of the Falcon," promises a book relating his adventures during the recent campaign in Hun/.a, in which he acted not only as special correspondent of the Times, but as a combatant. The Rev. Chas. Voysey has prepared, and Messrs. Williams and Norgate have published, a third edition of a Theistic Prayer Book, greatly enlarged, and containing new services and many new hymns. Mrs. Frank St. Clair Grimwood's story, "The Power of an Eye," is running in Winter's Weekly, and will Ik- published shortly by Mr. F. V. White. Mr. Mackenzie Bell contributes a poem on a religious theme to the Christian Leader. The May number of the Library Revieiv con- tains a further contribution by Stanley Little on "Current Fiction," in which he will deal with woman as a creator in fiction; an article entitled "Tennyson as Dramatist" by Cuming Walters; another by Graham Aylward on "Mr. Meredith and his Critics"; and one by Percy White on "Daudet and his Literary Methods." Mr. Eden Philpotts's new story "A Tiger's Cub" has just been issued by Messrs. Arrowsniith. "Mark Tillotson " is the title of the new novel by the author of " John Westacott," which appears this month. It is dedicated to the veteran poet, Frederick von Bodenstedt, the good friend of "George Eliot " during her Munich life. Mr. E. S. Purcell has written the authorised Life of Cardinal Manning. He has had not only the Cardinal's permission but also his assistance, with the right to read and use private diaries and letters. We learn from the New York Critic, that shortly after the appearance of "Vain Fortune," Charles Scribner's Sons made Mr. George Moore an offer for tho right of reprinting it in America. The author accepted, stipulating only that he should be allowed to re-write his novel. This he has done with such thoroughness that the first half of the narrative has been entirely changed, and the main interest transferred from the hero to the heroine. Messrs. Osgood, Mcllvaine, and Co. are to publish this month a book by Mr. Hamilton Aide, entitled " A Voyage of Discovery," a novel illustra- tive of American Society as Mr. Aide found it last year when travelling here with Mr. Stanley. Those readers whose attention has been attracted by the life story of Travers Madge, as told by the Rev. Dr. Brooke Herford in "A Protestant Poor Friar," will be interested to know that from this strangely pathetic life Mrs. Humphry Ward drew the idea of her Ancrum, the crippled minister in "David Grieve." In "The Gentleman Digger"—Sampson Low and Co.—the Comtesse de Bremont sets forth with a good deal of spirit and actuality pictures of Johannesburg life in 1889, that is to say, at about the period of the famine, the crisis, and the collapse of the feverish "boom"of 1888-89. The varied types of mankind—ill enough for the most part— tlie hideous scenes enacted daily and nightly at the great gold and diamond mining camps of South Africa; the unutterable squalor, glitter, drunken- ness, chicanery, and crime; all these things are displayed in a very realistic manner. As depicting true phases of life, as a very real warning, this book undoubtedly has a value. And it is to the author's credit that she has raised her voice against that vilest of all systems of murder, the poisoning of native races, body and soul, by the horrible drink traffic.  ## p. 415 (#819) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 4i5 FROM THE PAPERS. I. The Lowell Memorial. DEAN Bradley's refusal to find room for a memorial to Lowell in Westminster Abbey is an act of which no explanation is yet forthcoming. Want of space is no explanation, any more than when the bust of Matthew Arnold was hid away in an obscure corner where not one visitor in a thousand will ever see it. Lowell, of course, has no claim. No American has a claim, nor any Englishman either. It rests with the Dean of Westminster, for the time being, to grant or refuse admission to the Abbey. There is no appeal from his discretion, or indiscretion, except to public opinion, or to Parliament, where public opinion is sometimes crystallized into a concrete reform. It was Parliament which intervened to save the Abbey from the intrusion of Prince Louis Napoleon, whom Dean Stanley was resolved to admit. The present is no cause for invoking that supreme court of appeal. Nor do I know that Lowell's American friends need care much about the matter. It is Lowell's English friends who made the request to the Dean, which he somewhat churlishly, they think, has re- jected. Lowell, says one of them, is not thought good enough for the Abbey. Perhaps not. He was merely the foremost American man of letters of his time, long resident in England and beloved here; a representative who did invaluable service to his own country and to this; admittedly the first—it is the English who admit it—scholar of English literature. What has he to do with Westminster Abbey? That mausoleum of non- entities is dignified, no doubt, by the tombs and memorials of some great men, but the majority are no company for Lowell. To say that Lowell shall not find a place tliere is to say that no American shall in the future, and that the few now there had better come away; Longfellow first of all, who will hardly care to remain now that his friend is ex- cluded. If any Dean of Westminster of the future regrets the exclusion, he may chisel into some vacant stone the line in which the French Academy does penance for the absence of Moliere: "Nothing was wanting to his glory. He is wanting to ours." —New York Tribune. April 10, 1892. II. The Glorious Traditions of the Book Agent. Napoleon Bonaparte, when a poor lieutenant, took the agency for a work entitled " L'Histoire de la Revolution." In the foyer of the great palace of the Louvre can be seen to-day the great Emperor's canvassing outfit, with the long list of subscribers he secured. George Washington, when young, canvassed around Alexandria, Va., and sold over 200 copies of a work entitled " Bydell's American Savage." Mark Twain was a book agent. Longfellow sold books by subscription. Jay Gould, when shirting in life, was a canvasser. Daniel Webster paid his second term's tuition at Dartmouth by handling "De Tocqueville's America," in Merrimac County, New Hampshire. General U. S. Grant canvassed for "Irving's Columbus." Rutherford B. Hayes canvassed for "Baxter's Saints' Rest." James G. Blaine began life as a canvasser for a "Life of Henry Clay." Bismarck, when at Heidelberg, spent a vacation canvassing for one of Blumenbach's handbooks.— New York Critic. III. The Chief Use of the Society. I conceive the Society's most important function to be the establishment of that solidarity amongst literary folk, notoriously a race of units, which has hitherto been non-existent. It is a great thing that voting authors should be able to get advice and help from those who know better than themselves; but it is much more that the whole profession of literature should have a focus, a rallying point, a central representative body—call it what you will. And it seems to me that it is the plain duty of every author, of whatever posi- tion, to further the consolidation of the Society by joining it. Many of its members, of course, do not need help themselves; they should, there- fore, add their own strength to the weakness of their less fortunate brethren. And of its power of immediate usefulness, the best testimony is to be found in the list of the more important cases in which the Society has interfered during the past year. It is very interesting reading, and will certainly convince all sceptics of the real usefulness of the Society and the justness of the ideal relations between author and publisher which it holds up.— IVinter's Weekly. IV. American Fiction. American fiction has distinctly forsaken the expansive and the illimitable to run after the contracted and the limited. Instead of a national novel we now have a rapidly accumulating series of regional novels, or rather—so far as the sub- dividing and minimising process goes—of local tales, neighbourhood sketches, short stories confined to the author's Imck yard.— The New York Nation.  ## p. 416 (#820) ############################################ 416 THE AUTHOR. v. Newspaper Copyright. In the interesting discussion on newspaper copy- right now proceeding in the Times, no one has yet called attention to the very definite agreement on the subject embodied in the Berne Convention. Article VII. of that instrument runs as follows :—• "Articles from newspapers or periodicals pub- lished in any of the countries of the Union may be reproduced in original or in translation in the other countries of the Union, unless the authors or publishers have expressly forbidden it. For periodicals it is sufficient if the prohibition is made in a general manner at the beginning of each number of the periodical. This prohibition cannot in any case apply to articles of political discussion, or to the reproduction of news of the day or current topics." It will thus be seen that countries in the Copy- right Union have agreed, in so far as their relations with each other are concerned, to recognise no copyright under any circumstances in (i) articles of political discussion; (2) news of the day; or (3) current topics—a somewhat vague clause this last one.—Pall Mall Gazette. VI. From America. In New York City alone are nearly a dozen publishing "nouses of great wealth, and a score more in a highly prosperous condition. One rarely hears of a publisher failing, from the Cheap Johns and publishers of penny dreadfuls to those of a higher order. On the other hand, there can scarcely be pointed out an American author who is able to make even a decent living by his books. However, the vital question is: How can this state of things be remedied? A partial remedy could be found, no doubt, in the formation of an American Society of Authors similar to the Incor- porated Society of Authors of Great Britain, or the Societe des Gens de Lettres of France. The British Society is organised for the protection of literary property. It has been already of incalcul- able benefit to the British author. The organisa- tion of a similar society has been long mooted among American authors, and signs point to the present time as being ripe for it. The writer, in his inquiries among literary men, has found every- one in favour of it, and none opposed to it. Such a society should be organised on the most liberal basis. It should be open to everyone, young or old, male or female, who has written a book, whether published or not, and to recognised writers for the press. It should retain the best legal counsel; it should provide from its concentrated wisdom and experience a form of contract in which the author's right should be protected—such contracts having been hitherto drawn by the publisher for the pro- tection of his interests. It should have at least one executive officer, who should be an author of experience, and who should give information to all members applying for it, and take cognizance of all complaints, and who should have for counsel and assistance an advisory board composed of three of the ablest and most experienced members of the society. Finally, it should assume, and carry to the courts if need be, all clear cases of extortion and oppression of authors on the part of publishers. Such a society would save American authors thousands of dollars yearly, and chiefly to the young and inexperienced, who need help most.— Charles B. Todd in the Forum. VII. The Education op Opinion. Many publishers, especially the younger men, are gentlemen who have their clubs and their social positions. Social position is like marriage; the man who has it gives hostages to fortune. He cannot afford to have it said that in business trans- actions he systematically cheats. Cold looks greet him, club acquaintances avoid him; he finds the atmosphere of the club chilling. This has already happened in one or two instances; it is the first expression of public opinion in its infancy. What else can the Society attempt; I wish I could publish in these pages, in order to show its work, the letters of a single day. Agreements are sent up for examination, questions of difficulty about copyright in articles or books, questions as to cost, questions as to the trustworthiness of pub- lishers, questions of every kind. Our secretaries are supposed to know everything; hard by our offices are those of our solicitors, to whom are referred almost every day some points of difficulty. We keep authors out of the hands of dishonest publishers—this is a tremendous weapon. There are certain houses from which we have kept many thousands of pounds; we prevent authors from signing unfair agreements; we have readers to examine the manuscripts of young writers and to advise them. The newr American Copyright Law has introduced a whole sheaf of difficulties. In a word, we are the only body which has ever existed for the maintenance and defence of literary property for its creators and producers. What it has still to do. There remains before us one more service to literature. We desire above all things to formulate the broad principles upon which publishing should  ## p. 417 (#821) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. 4i7 be conducted, so as to give the author the full share that belongs to him, and to recognise to their utmost the services of the publishers. I do not think that the problem will prove insoluable, once fairly tackled. I have myself a solution to offer, if I can only persuade other people to accept it. Whatever method is ndopted must depend entirely upon the success of a book, and therefore must be some form of royalty. Publisher and author must be interested in its success, each in his own fair proportion. In this place I can only point out the thing as one which must be attempted. For my own part I have seen, every day since the formation of the Society, fresh evidence of the necessity of such a corporation as our own.— Walter Bksant in the Forum. VIII. An Outside Opinion on the Society. Old and business-like authors gratefully acknow- ledge their gratitude? to this wonderful undertaking; but to the young and untried writers it is even more invaluable. It lias saved many youthful aspirants from ruin, by persuading them not to produce trash at their own risk, and has helped the more promising by kindly advice and suggestions in a way that has enabled authors to remodel a faulty MS. until it presented a readable and sale- able book. The Society has a monthly paper of its own, conducted by Mr. Besant, helped by many of our best writers, in which all means of publication, new methods, pitfalls to be avoided, &c, are fully discussed. The Authors' Club is an off-shoot of the Society, and bids fair to rival the Savilc. Unfortunately there are no lady members, so that the feminine part of the world of letters have to be content with the Albemarle or the Writers'. Nevertheless, the Society itself does not close its doors to women, who muster strongly among its members. There is an erroneous idea current that the Society acts as publishers. This is not so. It is practically an agent. It is also a lawyer, and al>ove all it is an able and willing adviser.—The Queen. ♦■»■♦ NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. Theology. Baxter, Ukv. M. Forty Coming Wonders from 1892 to 1901. Eightieth thousand. Christian Herald Office, Tudor Street, Salisbury Square, K.C. Bell, Captain Henry. Selections from the Table Talk of Martin Luther. Translated by. Cassell's National Library. Cloth, 6d. CaLTHROp, Ukv. Gordon. St. Paul: a Study. Addresses given in St. Paul's Cathedral. Paper covers, is. 61/. The Church in Walks. Full report of the debate on Mr. Samuel Smith's Resolution in the House of Commons on February 23, 1892. Paper covers (bd.). Also Speeches by Mr. Balfour and Sir E. Clarke on that occasion (it/, each). Church Defence Institution, Bridge Street, S.W. Corbktt, Kkv. F. St. John. Echoes of the Sanctuary. Skeffington and Son. Cornpord, Kkv. James. The Book of Common Prayer, with historical notes. Edited by. Eyre and Spottis- woodc. Griffith, Ralph T. H. The Hymns of the Rigveda. Translated, with a popular comment-try by. Vol. IV. (The previous volumes were published in 1889, 1890, and 1891.) E. J. Lazarus and Co., Benares. Gkimthokpk, Loud. A Review of Prebendary Sadler's "Church Doctrine—Bible Truth " anil of Mr. Gore's Theory of Our Lord's Ignorance. 6d. Protestant Churchmen's Alliance. Hill, Rowland, and Spurokox, C. II. Remarkable Sermons Preached from the same Text—" Christ Crucified." Passmore and Alabaster. Paper covers, 3d. Maurice, F. D. Sermons Preached in Lincoln's Inn Chapel. Sixth and last volume. New edition. Mac- niillan. 3j. id. Rawson, Sib Rawson W , K.C.M.G. The Gospel Narra- tive, or Life of Jesus Christ, collated from the Autho- rized Text of the Four Gospels, with Notes of all material changes in the Revised Version, and Epitome and Harmony of the Gospels. 5». net. Reynolds, H. B., D.D. Light and Peace. Sermons and addresses. "Preachers of the Age " Series. With portrait. Sampson Low. 3j. 6<f. Spurgkon, Rev. C. II. Sermons. "Contemporary Pulpit Library." Swan Sonuenschein. Voysey, Rev. Charles. The Theistic Prayer Book. Third edition. Williams and Norgate. Williams, Rowland, D.D. Psalms and Litanies: Coun- sels and Collects for Devout Persons. Edited by his willow. New edition. Fisher Cnwiu. ys. 6d. Wordsworth, Charlks, D.D., D.C.L. Primary Witness to the Truth of the Gospel, a series of discourses; also a charge on modern teaching on the canon of the Old Testament. Longiuaus. 73. 6d. History and Biography. AunoTT, Edwin A. The Anglican Career of Cardinal Newman. 2 vols. Macmillan. 2 5s. net. Beniiam, Charlks E. Colchester Worthies: a biographical index of Colchester. Simpkin, Marshall. Boask, Frederic. Modern English Biography, containing concise memoirs of persons who have died since 18 So. Vol. I., A to H. Truro: Netherton and Worth, for the author (25o copies only printed). 3o.«. net. Brighton, J. G., M.I). Admiral of the Fleet Sir Provo Wallis. A Memoir. With illustrations, charts, &c. Hutchinson. Butler, Arthur John. The Memoirs of Baron de Marbot, late Lieutenant General in the French Army. Translated from the French. 2 vols., with portrait and maps. Longmans. 32*. Chetwtnd-Stapylton, H. E. TheChetwynds of Ingestre: being a history of that family from a very early date. With illustrations by the author. Longmans. 14s.  ## p. 418 (#822) ############################################ THE AUTHOR. Conway, Ri'sset.t. H. Life of C. H. Spurgeon. Illustrated. A. T. Hubbard, Philadelphia. Foster, Joseph. Alumni Oxoniensis: The Members of the University of Oxford, their parentage, birthplace, and year of birth, with a record of their degrees, being the Matriculation Register of the University, alphabetically arranged, revised, and annotated. In two series—from i5oo to 1714 (five vols.), and from 17iS to 1886 (three vols.). Parker and Co. Fowler, VV. Warde. Julius Cajsar, and the Foundation of the Roman Imperial System. "Heroes of the Nations" Series. G. P. Putnam's Sons, Bedford Street, Strand. 5s. Heron-Allen, Edward. I)e Fidiculis Hibliographia: being the basis of the Bibliography of the Violin and all other instruments played with a bow in ancient and modern times. (Part II., Rook Sections and Extracts (continued) and Second Supplement.) Griffith, Far- ran. Paper covers, is. 6d. Holcroft, Thomas. The Life and Adventures of Raron Trcnck. Vol. I. Translated by. Cassell's " National Library." 6,/. Hutton, A. W. Cardinal Manning. With a Ribliography. Metbuen and Co. Lecky, W. E. H. A History of Eugland in the Eighteenth Century. Vol. IV. New edition. Longmans. 6s. Mijatovitch, Chrdomil. Constantino, the Last Emperor of the Greeks; or, The Conquest of Constantinople by the Turks (A.D. 1453), after the latest historical researches. Sampson Low. Musson, S. P., and Roxburgh, T. L. "The Handbook of Jamaica for 1892." Published by authority, com- prising Historical, Statistical, and General Information concerning the Island. Twelfth year of publication. Compiled from official and other reliable records. Edward Stanford. Pike, G. Holden. Charles Huddon Spurgeon. "The World's Workers " Series. Cassell. is. Ri eman, Dr. H. Catechism of Musical History. Second Part—History of Musical Forms. With biographical notices of the most illustrious composers. Translated from the German. Augencr and Co., Newgate Street, E.C. is. 6rf. (Paper covers, zs. net.) Sorel, Albert. Madame de Stael. With portrait. Great French Writers Series. Fisher Unwiu. 3s. 6d. Symonds, J. A., and Daughter Margaret. Our Life in the Swiss Highlands. A. and C. Black. Verney, Colonel Lloyd. A Description of the Parish Church of Llangurig, Montgomeryshire. G. Pnlman and Sons, Thayer Street, W. is. General Literature. Acland, A. H. D., and Smith, H. Llewellyn. Studies in Secondary Education. Edited by Arthur H. D. Acland, M.P., and H. Llewellyn Smith, M.A., B.Sc. With an Introduction by James Brycc, M.P. Percival and Co. 7s. 6d. Anderson, John. The Colonial Office List for 1891. Compiled from official records, by permission of the Secretary of State for the Colonies. 21st publication. Harrison and Sons, Pall Mall. ys. 6d. Ahcher, Frank. How to Write a Good Play. Sampson Low. Atkinson, Rev. J. C. Playhours and Half-Holidays, or Further Experiences of Two Schoolboys. Illustrated by Coleman. Macmillan. 3s. 6d. Atkinson, Rev. J. C. Walks, Talks, Travels, and Exploits of Two Schoolboys. A book for boys. New edition. Macmillan. 3s. 6d. "R" Brigadier-General. A General and his Duties. Gale and Polden, Amen Corner, E.C. is. 6d., post free. Reardmore, W. Lee. The Drainage of Habitable Build- ings. A reprint and revision of articles in the Plumber and Decorator and Journal of Gas and Sanitary Engineering. Whittaker, White Hart Street. Berry, James. My Experiences as an Executioner. By James Berry. Edited by H. Snowden Ward. Percy Lund, Memorial Hall, Ludgatc Circus, E.C. is. Booth, Charles. 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Black and White Publishing Company, is.  ## p. 420 (#824) ############################################ 420 THE AUTHOR. Stables, Gordon-, M.I). Our Humble Friends ami Fellow Mortals. Vol. I. of Homestead and Farm. Vol. II. of Hearth and Home. Vol. III. In Wood and Field. With illustrations by Harrison Weir. Sinipkin, Marshall. — The Cruise of the Land Vaeht "Wanderer," or "Thirteen Hundred Miles in my Caravan." With illustrations. Popular edition. Hodder aud Stoughton. 55. Stanton, Albert J. Foot-and-Mouth Disease: Symptoms and Treatment and Outbreaks in Great Britain. K. W. Allen, Ave Maria Lane. Paper covers, bd. Stanton, Stephen ]!. The liehring Sea Controversy. Brcntano's, Agar Street, Strand. Stray Thoughts. From the Note Hooks of Rowland Williams, D.D. Edited by his widow. New edition. Fisher Unwin. 3s. bd. Stuart, J. S. S., and Stu.vkt, Charles, E. 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THIS Association is established for the purpose of syndicating or selling the serial rights of authors in magazines, journals, and newspapers. It has now been at work for more than a year, and has transacted a very satisfactory amount of business during this period. It has also entered upon a great number of engagements for the future. The following points are submitted for consideration :— 1. The management is voluntary and unpaid. No one makes any profit out of the Syndicate, except the authors who use its services. 2. The commission charged on the amounts received covers the expenses of clerks, travellers, rent, and printing. As work increases this may be still further reduced. 3. Only the serial rights are sold for the author. He reserves his volume rights and copyright. 4. The Syndicate has an American agent. 5. The Syndicate will only work for members of the Society. 6. Its offices are on the same floor as those of the Society, and its assistance and advice are always at the service of the Society. 7. Authors are warned that no syndicating is possible for them until they have already attained a certain amount of popularity. 8. The Syndicate acts as agent in every kind of literary property. W. MORRIS COLLES. 4, Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields.  ## p. 424 (#828) ############################################ 424 ADVERTISEMENTS. Not Work, but Play. Leave the drudgery of the Pen-Soiled Fingers—Blotted and Obscure Manuscript, to those who prefer darkness to light. Quick, up-to-date writers use THE BAR-LOCK TYPE-WRITER. Why? Easiest Managed; Soonest Learned; Most Durable; Writing Always Visible; does best work, and never gets out of repair. Chosen, by Royal Warrant, Type-Writer to the Queen. Only gold medals--- Edinburgh (1890) and Jamaica (1891) Exhibitions; is used in principal Government Departments, and greatest number of English business houses, and by the Society of Authors. We send interesting supply of further information free. THE TYPE-WRITER COMPANY, LIMITED, 12 & 14, Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C.; 22, Renfield Street, Glasgow. Local Agents in all Districts, THE AUTHOR'S HAIRLESS PAPER-PAD. (THE LEADENHALL PRESS, LTD., E.C.) Contains hairless paper, over which the pen slips with perfect freedom. Sirpence each : 58. per dozen, ruled or plain. MISS R. V. GILL, TYPE-WRITING OFFICES, 6, Adam Street, Strand, W.C. MRS. GILL, TYPE-WRITING OFFICE, 35, LUDGATE HILL, E.C. (ESTABLISHED 1883.) Authors' MSS. carefully copied from is. per 1,000 words. Plays, &c., Is. 3d. per 1,000 words. Reference kindly permitted to Walter Besant, Esq. Stickphast Authors' and Dramatists' Work a Specialty. All kinds MISS PATTEN, of MSS. copied with care. Extra attention given to difficult TYPIST, haud-writing and to papers or lectures on scientific subjects. 44, Oakley Street Flats, Chelsea, s.W. Type-writing from dictatior. Shorthand Notes taken and transcribed. AUTHORS' MSS. CAREFULLY TRANSCRIBED. REFERENCES KINDLY PERMITTED TO George AUGUSTUS SALA, Esq. FURTHER PARTICULARS ON APPLICATIO.V. Particulars on Application. MES DAMES BRETT AND BOWSER, TYPISTS, Selborne Chambers, Bell Yard, Temple Bar. Authors' MSS. carefully and expeditiously copied, 18. per PASTE 1,000 words. Extra carbon copies half price. References for joining papers and sticking in scraps : kindly permitted to Augustine Birrell, Esq., M.P. Sixpence and One Shilling, with strong useful brush. THE AUTHORS' AGENCY. Established 1879. Proprietor, Mr. A. M. BURGHES, 1. Paternoster Row. The interests of Authois capably represented. Proposed agreements and estimates examined on behalf of Authors. MS. placed with Publishers. Transfers carefully conducted. Twenty-five years' practical experience in all kinds of publishing and book producing. Consultation free. Terms and testimonials from leading Authors on application to Mr. A. M. Burghes, Authors' Agent, 1, Paternoster Row. LONDON: Printed by EYRE and SPOTTISWOODE, Printers to the Queen's most Excellent Majesty. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 02 Issue 12 (May 1892) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 02 Issue 12 (May 1892) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015031017927&amp;view=1up&amp;seq=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015031017927</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1892-05-02-The-Author-2-12 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/439/1892-06-01-The-Author-3-1.pdf 13e377cf10837ec45e10a596e7132f44 PDF Text Text ���������������������������������������� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1892-06-01 Volume 3 Issue 1 Pages Page range in volume 1–40 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18920601 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin he Muthor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vou. ITI.—No. 1.] JUNE 1, 1892. [PRIcE SIXPENCE. ee AT TS CONTENTS. SPST PAGE PAGE Warnings ae ce as ae mae Boe be ae Sd Se Mixed Maxims... a as sey Sis aD hes on ces How to Use the Society : eae es ae Boe ee ie Ode to Sleep ... te cee ee et a ao wi Sra LD! The Authors’ Syndicate... a ae ies ae ce ageless Notes from Paris... “a oo act sar An sas Negrcke | Notices... eee oe cs ae oes ee ae 2 we To Music eee ce ac on aoe eae wae es ag ek | International Copyright— The Jew in Literature. By Hall Caine... aes He baz eee ae i I—Working of the Law in France axe ey ees ae es On Literature— Tl.—American Piracy... a ave a aN Sy ee I.—At the Royal Literary Fund ... a aes os nec oe Ill.—Literary Theft ... ae ase aus aes as at oe Il.—At the Royal Academy Dinner See See ahs ees eore | On Royalties ... ee Ss es any ey ee Ree ee F From the Papers— | On Deferred Royalties eo as a ere ae she 8 I.—Fiction Manufactured by the Yard ... ies Se was oe Fi : Two Cases of Conveying ... a a aus as a eae IL—A Curious Experiment ... ae mee aes ae eee, 028 5 A Literary Bureau ... ies es sae — wai oe cia IiI.—Personal ... ve ea nee bed my oe we 22k i erertperatieinmn cece a D¥:—Bhomas Moore ..0 ic oa ca a ee , ‘‘Uneut Leaves” .... os <i = ae se pS od Correspondence— 4 Useful Books ... a Dis ie oe uae <n cay an I.—Was there a Contract to Publish? ... a ai men ae Notes and News aa coe ae ae isd nec a cone be II.—Magazines and Editors... oon , res met aan ae i Fenilleton—His One Story ae oe bux zoe ire dase III.—Translations aes ne ps a ote waa 2 a | The Literary Handmaid of the Church ... ae = aA sae kG IV.—The Literary and Art Agency... eos aS Se wae? | | In the Name of the Prophet—Gloves_ ... oe ae a aw ele ‘*At the Author’s Head” .,, ae oe me ote srs en 220. | Shakespeare or Bacon eee oe os oS os a -. 17 | New Books and New Editions... oe eta oe ae san OL PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. | . The Annual Report. That for January 1892 can be had on application to the Secretary. . The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary * f Property. Issued to all Members. . The Grievances of Authors. (The Leadenhall Press.) 2s. The Report of three Meetings on the general subject of Literature and its defence, held at Willis’s Rooms, March, 1887, 1 2 3 4, Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Coxuus, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, 9 6 95, Strand, W.C.) 3s. . The 2 of the Societe des Gens de Lettres. By S. Squire Sprrace, Secretary to the ociety. Is. . The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c., with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. a# 7. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squire Spriaar. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society’s offices, the various kinds of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3s. 8. Copyright Law. Reform, An Exposition of Lord Monkswell’s Copyright Bill now before Parlia- ment. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lexy. Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1s. 6d. 2 ADVERTISEMENTS. The Society of Authors (Sncorporated). Tur Riant Hon. tHe LORD TENNYSON, D.C.L. Sir Epwin ARNOLD, K.C.LE., C.S.I. ALFRED AUSTIN. J. M. BaRRie£. A. W. A BECKETT. RosBert BATEMAN. Sir Henry Berene, K.C.M.G. WALTER BESANT. AUGUSTINE BIRRELL, M.P. R. D. BuackMoreE. Rev: Pror. Bonney, F.R.S. Lord BRABOURNE. James Bryce, M.P. Haxu Carine. P. W. CLAYDEN. EpWwaRrpD CLODD. W. Morris Couuezs. Hon. JoHN COLLIER. W. Martin Conway. F, Marion CRAWFORD. PRESIDENT. COUNCIL. OswALD CRAWFURD, C.M.G. THE Hart or DEsaRt. AusTIN DOBSON. A. W. Dupovura. J. Eric Ericusen, F.R.S8. Pror. MicHarn Foster, F.R.S8. HERBERT GARDNER, M.P. RicHARD GARNETT, LL.D. EDMUND GOSSE. H. Riper Haga@arp. THomas Harpy. JEROME K. JEROME. RupDYARD KIPLING. Pror. EH. Ray LAnKEsSTER, F.R.S. J. M. Lexy. a Rev. W. J. Lorrie, F.S.A. Pror. J. M. D. MerkLEJOoHN. GrorGE MEREDITH. Herman C. MERIVALE. Hon. Counsel—E. M. UNDERDOWN, Q.C. Rev. OC. H. Mrppieton-Wakg, F.L.S. Lewis Morzis. Pror. Max MUuuER. J.C. PARKINSON. THE EARL OF PEMBROKE AND Mont- GOMERY. Siz FREDERICK PoLiock, Bart., LL.D. WALTER HERRIES POLLOCK. A. G. Ross. GEORGE AUGUSTUS SALA. W. Baptiste ScoonEs. G. R. Sims. J. J. STEVENSON. Jas. SULLY. WiuiiaAm Moy THomas. H. D. Trartt, D.C.L. Baron HENRY DE Worms, E.R.S. EpmunpD YATES. M.P., Solicitors—Messrs Frmup, Roscoz, and Co., Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Secretary—C. Hurprert Turine, B.A. OFFICES. 4, PortueaL StreEtT, Lincoun’s Inn Finxtps, W.C. Now ready, Third Edition, with Additions throughout, in demy 8vo., 700 pages, price 15s. AN ANECDOTAL HISTORY OF THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT, From the Earliest Periods to the Present Time. WITH NOTICES OF EMINENT PARLIAMENTARY MEN, AND EXAMPLES OF THEIR ORATORY. CoMPILED FROM AUTHENTIC SOURCES BY GHORGH HENRY JENNINGS. CONTENTS. sesamin Part I.—Rise and Progress of Parliamentary Institutions. Part TI.—Personal Anecdotes: Sir Thomas More to John Morley. Parr JII.—Miscellaneous. 1. Elections. 2. Privilege; Ex- clusion of Strangers; Publication of Debates. 3. Parliamentary Usages, &c. 4. Varieties. Apprnpix.—(A) Lists of the Parliaments of England and of the United Kingdom. (B) Speakers of the House of Commons. (C) Prime Ministers, Lord Chancellors, and Secretaries of State from 1715 to 1892. : Opinions of the Press of the Previous Edition. Ts will be in its right place either on the drawing-room table, to be taken up in the odd ten minutes before dinner, or on the library shelves, to serve as a permanently useful work of reference.’— Spectator. ‘* It would be sheer affectation to deny the fascination exercised b the ‘Anecdotal History of Darliamene! nq in our hands. It will prove useful to many and agreeable to more.”’—Saturday Review. ‘As pleasant a companion for the leisure hours of a studious and thoughtful man as anything in book shape since Selden.” — Daily Telegraph. “Contains a great deal of information about our representative institutions in past and present times which it beh know.”—Daily News. Pp oves all persons to ‘*May be read with pleasure and profit by Conservative and Liberal alike.” —Manchester Courier. ‘““A succession of anecdotes sparkling with wit, bristling with humour, or instinct with imperishable vitality of historic oratory.” Liverpool Albion. “Such a capital fund of instruction and amusement, that it is impossible to take up the book without letting one’s eye fall on some good anecdote or some remarkable speech.” — Shefield Daily Tele- graph. Also mentioned by Mr. G. A, Sala, in ‘'The Author” of May 2, as one among a dozen “really useful books.” eS" Orders may now be sent to HORACE COX, “Law Times” Office, Bream’s-buildings, E.C. Sab sc D ocean emanate  apenveenneeeinteESHEN Che ufthbor, (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vou. III—No. 1.] JUNE 1, 1892. [PRICE SIXPENCE. Lor the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. a WARNINGS. Reavers of the Author are earnestly desired to make the following warnings as widely known as possible. They are based on the experience of seven years’ work upon the dangers to which literary property is exposed :— (1.) Never sign any agreement of which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part, until you have proved the figures. (2.) Never enter into any correspondence with publishers, especially with those who advertise for MSS., who are not recom- mended by experienced friends or by this Society. (3.) Never, on any account whatever, bind yourself down for future work to anyone. (4.) Never accept any proposal of royalty until you have ascertained exactly what the agreement gives to the author and what to the publisher. (5.) Never accept any pecuniary risk or respon- sibility whatever without advice. (6.) Never, when a MS. has been refused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises they may put forward, for the production of the work. (7.) Nuvur sign away American rights. Keep them. Refuse to sign an agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the publisher. If the publisher insists, take away the MS. and offer it to another. VOL, III, (8.) Never sign an agreement or a receipt which gives away copyright without advice. (9.) Keep control over the advertisements by clause in the agreement. Reservea veto. If you are yourself ignorant of the sub- ject, make the Society your agent. (10.) Never forget that publishing is a busi- ness, like any other business, totally un- connected with philanthropy, charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with business men. Society’s Offices :— 4, Portuaat Street, Lincoun’s Inn Frexps. ree HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. ————— 1. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books repre- sented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agreements and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The secretary will always be glad to have any agreements for inspection and note. The information thus obtainable is invaluable. 2. If the examination of the business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 3. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the proposed form to the Society for examination. 4. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks, of every publishing firm in the country. Remember that there are certain houses which live entirely by trickery. . A Re Le er 4 THE AUTHOR. 5. The outward and visible signs of the fraudulent- publisher are—(1) a virtuous and benevolent wish to have the unquestioned conduct of your business; (2) a virtuous, good man’s pain at being told that his accounts must be audited ; (3) a virtuous indignation at being asked what his proposal gives him compared with what it gives the author; and (4) irrepressible irritation at any mention of the Society of Authors. 6. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the inde- pendence of the writer. 7. Send to the Editor of the Author notes of anything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. Oe THE AUTHORS’ SYNDICATE. R. Colles desires to inform readers of the Author— i 1. That the Authors’ Syndicate is now in .a position to take charge in whole or in part of the business of members of the Society. With, when necessary, the assistance of the advisers of the Society it will conclude agreements, collect royalties, examine and pass accounts, and, generally, relieve mem- bers of the trouble of managing business details. All accounts opened between the Syndicate and members are duly audited. 2. That the establishment expenses of the Authors’ Syndicate are defrayed entirely out of the commission charged on rights placed through its intervention. This varies, and must vary, according to the nature of the services rendered, but it is intended to reduce the rates to the lowest possible amount compatible with efficiency. Meanwhile members will please accept this intimation that they are not entitled to the services of the Syndicate gratis. 3. That he undertakes to work for none but members of the Society. 4. That his business is not to advise members of the Society, but to manage their affairs ae Me if they please to entrust them o him. 5. That when he has any work in hand he must have it entirely in his own hands; in other words, that authors must not ask him to place certain work, and then go about endeavouring to .place it by themselves. 6. That when a MSS. has been sent from pub- lisher to publisher, and from editor to editor, in vain, it is most likely impossible to place it. 7. That in the face of the present competition, authors will do well to moderate their expectations. To this it may be added, that where advice is sought, the Secretary of the Society, and not the Syndicate, must be consulted. On his behalf members are requested— 1. To place on paper briefly the points on which advice is asked. 2. To send up all the letters and papers con- nected with the case, if it is a case of dispute. 3. Not to conceal or keep back any of the facts. ee NOTICES. LL persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of this Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish, —_— - Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office with- out previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly understood that the Society does not, under any cireum- stances, undertake the publication of MSS. The following encouraging advertisement ap- peared the other day in a London morning paper: —“ Smart, scholarly, versatile Writer. Expert verbatim and picturesque descriptive reporter. Experienced managing editor, daily, weekly. High personal character. University man. 30s. per week.” The Authors’ Club is now opened in temporary premises, at 17, St. James’s Place, St. James’s Street. Address the Secretary for information, rules, admission, &c. Ses ese eee — | { i wil) | tl | THE AUTHOR. 5 Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? If they will do this, and remit the amount or a banker’s order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. So Members are invited to forward anything that may be of interest or value to literature, whether news, comments, questions, or original contribu- tions. The short space at the command of the editor forbids any attempt at reviewing, but books can always be noticed if they are sent up. SS Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the warning numbered (3). It is a most foolish and a most disastrous thing to bind yourself to anyone for a term of years. Let them ask them- selves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest or dishonest ? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign them- selves into bondage for three or five years ? Here is another illustration of the reckless way in which accusations are flung abroad. We are in- formed that a writerinacertain Scotch paper, about two months ago, stated that “a curious debate has been raging in.a small section of the literary world as to the right of every author to have his works reviewed by the press.” That is the first statement. Where has that claim been advanced ? Noone knows. The next statement is, that it origi- natedin the Author. Such aclaim has never been advocated by the Author. One writer did, so far back as last August, propose the abolition of “ press copies,” but he was on the spot challenged by the editor, who pointed out, in a few words, the mani- fest objections to his proposals. Then follows a quarter of a column devoted to cheap sarcasm and indignation against the folly of such a claim. Once advance a preposterous falsehood, and, until it is contradicted, nothing is easier than to fly into a rage over it. Will not editors, who have no interest at all in the propagation of literary slanders, step in to protect the truth? Andis it not the case that the law of libel includes all those statements which are made wilfully, with the intention of damaging the reputation of an insti- tution or a person? “T hear it alleged against our Society,” writes a correspondent, “ that it is doing great harm in encouraging incompetent writers to persevere, and im increasing the output of bad and mediocre literature. What reply am I to make ?” The first reply that occurs is a flat denial—the Lie Absolute. But it is as well to give the reasons. It may be advanced (1) that the Society has always advised, and warned, and exhorted young writers never, on any considera- tion whatever, to pay money on account of or towards the costs of production. Now it is only by the authors consenting to pay for them that bad books can be produced. Publishers, cer- tainly, are not so foolish as to run the risk—the certain loss—of producing them; (2) next, that the Society has a department which reads and advises on MSS., and stops the publication of a great deal of rubbish; and (3) that in letters to those who seek our help—as well as in its pub- lished papers—the Society is always doing its best to dissuade the unprepared and the incom- petent. But of lies about the work of the Society there is no end, and will be none until one falsehood after another has become patent and proverbial. Those of our readers who find any lies about us, new or old, advanced in any paper, might do good service by sending them up to the Secretary, with the name and date of the paper. “ AUTHOR, 30, fair, tall, wishes to Meet Lady, who could capitalise production of his plays. View Matrimony.— Address, The above cutting, from a provincial paper, may be of interest to our readers: Literary aspirants have tried many paths to fame, but this looks like a new departure. How, we are asked almost every day, is the young writer to make a beginning? He should first get an opinion from one of the Society’s readers as to the merits and chances of his book. It may be that certain points would be suggested for alteration. It may be that he finds himself recommended to put his MS. in the fire. He should then, if encouraged, offer his MS. to a list of houses or of magazines recommended by the Society. There is nothing else to be done. No one, we repeat; can possibly help him. If those houses all refuse him, it is not the least use trying others, and, if he is a wise man, he will refuse to pay for the production of his own work. If, however, as too often happens, he is not a wise man, but believes that he has written a great thing, and is prepared to back his opinion to the extent of paying for his book, then let him place his work in the hands ere ST eee a a 6 THE of the Society, and it shall be arranged for him without greater loss than the actual cost of pro- duction. At least he will not be deluded by false hopes and promises which can end in nothing. — 1 The following advertisement is cut from a daily paper :— “An Author can OFFER either sex constant (spare time) Home EMPLOYMENT: remunerative author’s work and instructions, twelve stamps.— Letters at once to Author.” A correspondent answered it, and obtained the information required. The method offers up an endless prospect of fortune. The “ Author’ has written a book—hence his name and title. The constant and remunerative employment consists in selling copies of that book. Anybody can apply to be made an agent. In case of appoint- ment he inserts an advertisement in the local paper, and invites applicants to sell the book for him. He pays the Author 3s. 45d. a dozen, and gets 8d. a piece for them—profit 4s. 73d. a dozen, out of which he pays, one supposes, for his advertisement. One can but give publicity to this magnificent opening. Several correspondents have asked whether Mr. P. F. Collier, who has already been mentioned in connexion with an advertisement offering to give English authors an immense circulation, is a person to be trusted. There seems little doubt that he can do what he promises, which is to runa novel through his journal. What more he will do is quite uncertain. We therefore repeat the warning given in our last number. Let authors be careful to secure the usual business arrange- ment in an agreement before sending their work across the Atlantic. mee INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT. i UNSATISFACTORY WoRKING OF THE Law IN FRANCE. : (The New York Tribune.) ARIS, March 5.—A year’s experience of the American International Copyright law’ has proved rather disappointing to French authors and publishers. Armand Templier, of Hachette and Co. ; Georges Charpentier, Eugéne Plon and Paul Delalain, four of the leading pub- lishers of Paris, say the law has not produced the good effects expected. Paul Calmann-Levy, AUTHOR. another well-known publisher, said :—‘The law is of too recent date for French authors and publishers to be able thoroughly to appreciate its advantages or discover its defects. We are not yet sufficiently familiar with the details of its application to judge it by experience or to obtain from it all the good it may have in store for us. In the meantime we can only look forward to its yielding advantageous results in the future and express our satisfaction that literary property was at last recognised in the United States.” Felix Aloan, publisher of scientific works, said : “Up to the present the law has not produced any practical results, so far as I am concerned ; but the measure has been in operation too short a time for me to say what may be expected from it.” Count de Kératry’s part in bringing about the passage of the law is well remembered in. America. He is now here, and was asked his views on the subject. The Count said: ‘The ‘manufacture clause’ in the law prevents my country from getting any benefit from it. It is perfectly natural that the United States should want to protect home printing interests against English publishers; but in France, the language being different, our publishers can do nothing to hurt American printers. This ‘manufacture clause’ has raised up a Chinese wall which pre- vents literary and artistic intercourse between France and the United States. To secure to Americans the printing of perhaps thirty books per annum, it kills copyright on innumerable works. Only two French writers have sold American copyrights under the ngw law, and one of themis M. Zola. But he has had such difficulty in getting the manuscript finished in time for the American edition to be copyrighted before publi- cation began here that he declares he will never again undertake to do the same thing at any price. So far as French novels are concerned, the new law has done nothing more nor less than to legalise literary piracy. And this is true also of plays. I have written to the American friends of International Copyright begging them to have this ‘manufacture clause ’ modified.” II. More Prracy. . John Strange Winter writes:—<Apropos to your comments inthe Author for May on piracy by the New York Sunday News, you may like to knowthat this precious publication recently issued the whole of my story “ That Imp” (published here in 1887 as a shilling book) as a complete supplement and under a different title. As I own the copyright of  THE the story I wrote to the editor asking him whether the story had been offered to him, and informing him that, whatever remuneration was credited to the story should be sent to me. I have had no reply ! ERT, Literary THEFT. In relation to literary theft the editor of the Nineteenth Century has published, in a recent number of his magazine, an emphatic condem- nation of the “monstrous extent to which an organised system of plunder is carried in certain quarters.” ‘ Under pretence,” writes he, “ of criticism, and the transparent guise of sample extracts, the whole value of articles and essays which may and frequently have cost a review hundreds of pounds—is offered to the public for a penny or even a halfpenny,” and he adds that ‘a determination has been arrived at to make an example of such pilferers. The cases are nume- rous in which the defence of literary piracy on the ground of “comment, criticism, or illustration” has been unsuccessfully raised. Perhaps the best example is Campbell v. Scott (11 Simon, 31). In that case (as cited in “Scrutton on Copyright,’ 2nd edit. p. 123) the de- fendant had published a volume of 790 pages, thirty-four of which pages were taken up with a critical essay on English poetry, while the remaining 738 were filled with complete pieces and extracts as illustrative specimens. Six poems and extracts, amounting to only 733 lines in all, were taken from copyright works of the plaintiff, who obtained an injunction against the continued publication, on the ground that no sufficient critical labour or original work on the defendant’s part was shown to justify his selection. Not a few of these thieves think that an acknowledgment of the source from which they steal will excuse them. This view is quite unsound, as was shown by Scott v. Stanford (36 L. J. Rep. Chance. 729). There the plaintiff had published certain statistical returns of London imports of coal, and the defendant, “with a full acknowledgment of his indebted- ness” to the plaintiff, published these returns as part of a work on the mineral statistics of the United Kingdom, the extracted matter forming a third of the defendant’s work. ‘The court,’ said Vice-Chancellor Page Wood, “can only look at the result, and not at the intention,” and he granted an injunction without hesitation. Simi- larly the verbatim extracts from law reports in Sweet v. Benning (16 C. B. 459), which Chief Justice Jervis described as a “mere mechanical stringing together of marginal or side-notes AUTHOR. ri ‘which the labour of the author had fashioned ready to the compiler’s hands,” were declared by the Court of Common Pleas to be piratical, and it 1s impossible to glance at the cases without seeing that, if examples are really about to be made, the pilferers will have a hard time of it,— Law Journal. recs ON ROYALTIES. HE agreements of the future will undoubtedly be based upon a system of Royalties. The old method of half profits—a very fair method.in the case of books whose circulation is limited—has fallen hopelessly into discredit by reason of the shameless frauds which have been practised under its cover. The old pretence that a successful book must be made to pay for an unsuccessful book is now no longer advanced. There remains the one reasonable plan that the author and publisher divide the proceeds of each book on some recognised scale. If it be the half profit plan as of old, the publisher must be honest. That is to say, he must not cheat—the explana- tion is elementary but necessary: he must not set down £120 as the cost when £100 was the sum actually spent ; he must set down the exact sum realised, without deductions, and he must not charge advertisements for which he has not paid. All this, again, seems elementary, yet there remains the necessity for saying all this over and over again. But a royalty plan removes the temptation to be dishonest—in these ways at least. All that is wanted is the audit of the accounts as to two points—the number printed and the number sold. A table of royalties was given in the Author (June, 1891, Vol. I., No.2). This is repeated here, on account of its great importance. The book taken was an ordinary six-shilling volume, running from 70,000 to 100,000 words: We deduct from the amount realised—(1) what the publisher pays for production, with adver- tising; (2) what he pays the author. The percentage is taken on the full published price. I.— On THE SALE OF THE FIRST 1000. Per Cent. 5 10 15 20 25 £ £ £ £ £ (eoblusher 3: 4. ul GO 45 30 15 _— Author a ee es 30 45 60 75  - IJ.—On Sane or THE Next 3000. Per Cent. | | 5 | 10 15 | 20 | 25 | 30 | 35 | giasleiaie\a 2 Publisher ..| 330 285 240, 195|150|105| 60 | | | 45| 90 130 180} 225 | 270) 315 | Author ... TII.—On tHe Sane or An EDITION OF 10,000. Per Cent. | 15 | 20 | 25 30 | 35 fi 4 | 21212) 2 | Publisher... ...| 1200 | 1050 | 900 — 450} 300 Pe Author ... ...| 150] 300 |450 ape 752) 1050 These figures ought to be a guide to the author in a royalty agreement. If his book be one which will not sell largely, as, e.g., a volume of critical essays, or a treatise on some subject which appeals to a limited circle he may consider the first table only. If it is a book likely to have a large sale, let him consider all three tables. ON DEFERRED ROYALTIES. T is frequently urged that a book carries with it a certain risk. We repeat, over and over again, that the publishers who take risks are very, very few, and that the occasions on which risk is taken are very, very few. However, let it be granted that a certain book does carry risk—in other words, that the publisher is not certain of clearing the cost of production. As before, the book shall be a six shillmg volume. Here is a little table—the figures being approximate, but as regards cost, over, rather than under the mark. Cost of production of the Ist edition of 1000 copies—say £100, an exaggerated estimate, including advertising. Trade price of the book—say 3s. 6d. Number of books required to clear expenses, 572. Every copy that remains up to 950 copies (allowing 50 for press copies) represents a clear THE AUTHOR. profit of 3s. 6d. The question is, how much of that should go to the publisher. If we give him half, the royalty after 572 c»xpies shou!d be Is, gd. a copy or 29 per cent. Tf, however, a larger sale is expected, and a larger number s‘1uck off, the figures will require alteration. Suppose an edition of 3000 copies. In this case the number required to pay the original cost will be about 850. Then every copy realises a clear profit of 3s. 6d. What should the publisher take for his services in distribution, collection, and management? Surely a royalty of © 1s. 6d. would fairly meet the justice of the case. ‘he author for such a deferred royalty should claim 2s. a copy, or a royalty of 33 per cent. Another plan which is usefully and profitably employed by some publishers, is to offer a sum of money down and a royalty to begin when so many copies have been sold. For instance, a six-shilling book of which the publisher knows that he is certain to sell 1000, and will probably sell 3000. He offers £50 down and a royalty to commence — when? It is very simple. The author’s £50 must be added to the cost of pro- duction. If the publisher is to have a third of the profits he may add on £25 to the cost of production for himself. Then the sum is quite simple. Fora sale of 3000 copies about 850 must be first sold in order to defray the cost of produc- tion. To this must be added 430 more for the advance made to the author, and the publisher's share. After about 1280 copies the royalty should begin. Here is a very pleasing illustration of how the latter method may be worked. An author of great distinction had ready a book of great interest— a book which from the nature of the subject as well as the name and position of the author, was sure to do well. It was published at 4s. 6d. The pubhsher, in a friendly careless way, proposed to advance the author £50, and to give him a royalty—the amount does not here concern us— after 4500 copies had been sold. That figure was reached and passed. Suppose the sale had stopped there, how would the account have stood ? Roughly as follows: The publsher must have netted £300 to the author's £50. And this, of course, he knew very well at the outset. If not, he did not know his own business. If these figures are wrong, let us have the right figures— audited, of course. Sires Nh aceon a a | THE TWO CASES OF CONVEYING. Ss i A student’s text-book was sent to me to review for a certain journal. From its title-page, it was a new edition of an established work by a pro- fessor of the subject, whose name was retained. In the preface, the editor (an unknown name to me) explained that he had attempted to introduce, in a short compass, the chief results of and research within recent years, that he had used considerable pains to sift out what was valuable from recent original foreign memoirs, and that he was indebted more especially to four works of reference, whose statements, so far as he had taken them, he had, in nearly all cases, verified by consulting the original researches. He was also delightfully sarcastic about the short life of many a piece of lore and many a piece of theory ; he had not encumbered his pages with such perishable matter. _ On examining the book, I found that not a line of the former editions remained, that it was an entirely new book, and that it was exceedingly well done—excellent in structure, full in matter, perspicuous in style. The mere paragraphing showed the hand of a master, and the subordination of parts through some 600 pages showed that grasp which only a long familiarity with details can give. A page or two at the beginning of one of the chapters reminded me of something that I had read before ; and on finding the same passage in another book, I got upon the scent. Page by page I identified the new edition of the English text-book with a new edition of a French student’s manual, which was one of the four “works of reference” mentioned in the preface. At long intervals there came a paragraph, or perhaps a whole page, which I traced to one of the three other “‘ works of reference ;” but these interpo- lations were probably not a tenth part of the whole; there were also a few little touches which I could not account for except on the hypothesis that they were the editor’s own. I wrote my review, and pointed out the facts as above given, adding a few abstract reflections on the ethics of compilation. However, the editor of the journal, for reasons best known to himself, did not print my contribution, for all the trouble I had taken over it. Shortly after, I was in the company of two persons, both of whom were learned in the subject-matter of the said text-book. I told them my story, which they seemed to hear without surprise. One of them said, with the obvious concurrence of the other, “Then you do not know that X.,” meaning a professor of the same subject, “had already VOL. III, AUTHOR. 9 pillaged the Frenchman in exactly the same way, in his manual published a year or two ago?” ‘I had not heard that, and did not relish hearing it then, for I knew X., and knew him for a man of religion and of high respectability. I have never inquired whether the open secret about his manual was the truth, and, if so, whether there were any extenuating circumstances. But, assuming that the information given me was true, it placed my own discovery in a new light, and probably explained why my review had not been published. The editor of the journal had said to himself, “Dat veniam corvis, vexat censura columbas,” and had refused to do the latter. The author of my manual had said to himself, “Render unto Scissors the things that are Scissors’,” and again, “They that take the scissors shall perish by the scissors.’’ Also my man had been merely re- editing an old book, and had placed the original author’s name in the leading line of the title-page (although he bragged a good. deal in his own name in the preface), The points of casuistry are curious. I have been told of a parallel case, which, however, is not strictly parallel: the case, namely, of a novelist. who conveys from a French translation the plot, dia- logue, and imaginative trimmings (mutatis mutandis) of a work of fiction which had origi- nally appeared in one of the more inaccessible literatures of Eastern Europe. eT, Happening to have before me two elaborate works on the same subject, one by a German of known erudition in the earlier part of the century, the other by a prolific English book-maker of our own time, I noticed something the same in both ; and, after a minute examination of the one and the other, I discovered as follows: The German’s work, which was written in the French language, was in two almost equal parts, the one consisting of his more philosophical generalities, in the form of rather stiff prolegomena (by no means suited to the English intellect), the other of an immense body of facts, on which his generalities rested, methodically arranged, and authenticated by a truly marvellous bibliography. The English work, to the extent of its entire design, and perhaps three-fourths of its matter, consisted of the German professor’s encyclopedic facts, with the foot notes, and corresponded exactly to their limits of time and place. The German author was just acknowledged, among others, in an unimportant but astute line of the English preface ; and in three or four places of the text the poor old man was cited, among his own innumerable authorities, in order to be contro- verted on some point of doctrine. The English B 10 THE AUTHOR. book was reviewed in three columns of the Times as a work of original merit, reflecting credit upon native erudition and research. Since then the learned author (translator and editor of the easier half) has been decorated by his Sovereign, and invested with a scarlet academical gown. The old German, who was a sort of ultimus Romanorum in his special erudition, and a professor at one of these small universities with vast libraries, out- lived his own generation, and was little known at the time of his death. I doubt whether a dozen readers of the English book would know his name if they heard it. I inclose the names of parties and the titles of books. A. B. Sect A LITERARY BUREAU. PROSPECTUS lies before us of a literary bureau conducted on bold and vigorous principles. We think of our own puny and fainthearted efforts with shame when we read this noble handling of the literary aspirant. Why, we give our young man or young maiden who sends us a MS. for advice, a long opinion in detail, advice as to further proceedings, a list of respectable periodicals, and a list of publishers who can be trusted—or else we warn him or her that the MS. is worthless, and send it back with wholesome advice, either to retire from the field at once or to put in very different work. We do all this for a pitiful, sneaking guinea, of which the Society gets nothing and has to pay the postage of the MS. See, now, what the Cambridge Literary Bureau, “ P.O. Box 3266, Boston, Mass. U.S.A.” proffers. (Perhaps our younger friends will, in their own interests, make a note of the address). 1. It reads MSS. and gives a list of paying periodicals for 1s. every thousand words. 2. It gives a letter of detailed advice for 4s. 3. It revises and corrects MSS. at 4s. per hour. 4. It corrects proofs at 3s. per hour. 5. It type writes at 2s 6d. a thousand words. 6. It writes shorthand at dictation for 3s. an hour. 7. It teaches rhetoric, composition, and proof reading in twenty lessons for £7 Ios. 8. It gives a list of books bearing on literary work for tos. g. It reads a MS., gives a, letter of criticism and advice, and sends a list of publishers for a fee varying with the length of the work from £2 to £4. Lastly, it places MSS. on commission of 10 to 20 per cent. Let us see how it works, Juvenis has written a book. He goes to the Cambridge Literary Bureau. It is a book of 80,000 words. First, of course, he would like to have it read. fs. a. 1. For reading and sending a list of paying periodicals... ... ... ... 4 0 0 2. Next, he would like a letter of opinion on the work ... ... ... O10 O 3. The opinions say it ought to be corrected. Fee for 48 hours’ work at 4s. an hour... 9: 712-0 4. Of course we must have it type written, at 2s. 6d. for 1000 words 10 O O . He will take the course of lessons 7 10 0 . It will be useful to have the text of books bearing on literary work 0 10 0 7. It is absolutely necessary to have a list of publishers with another letter of criticism... 5. 3 OO nuvi a4 2 8 The literary candidate, therefore, under the kindly auspices of this bureau begins with an expenditure of £34 2s. He then finds out that he is in exactly the same position as he was at the beginning, except for the letter of advice. Now, what happens to Juvenis when he writes to us. & 8 a. 1. For reading the MS. and writing an opinion . ae ak ee 2. For sending a list of respectable periodicals... 0.6 6 3. Correction of MSS. not attempted. The opinion will show him where and how it should be corrected ... 0 0 O 4. Typewriting. This should always be done at 1s. 3d. a 1000 words, but not by the Society of Authors 0 0 0 5. Course of lessons in rhetoric. Quite useless. If a -young man cannot read for himself a book on rhetoric, and if he has not learned some- thing of the art of composition he had better not attempt literature. O O Oo 6. What good will such a list do for anybody? But the society will give him sucha list if he wants one 0 O O 7. An opinion from a writer of experi- ence and judgment (see above) ... 9 90 O 8. A list of publishers in whom some confidence may be placed ... .. 9 O O Total: 6...) 0 EE And at the end our man is in exactly the same position as the American candidate who has dis- bursed £34 2s. And yet we expect to get ou!  THE A CO-OPERATIVE FIRM. — — HITHER bends the course of the stream ? Does the prospectus before us show the future? It is a prospectus, apparently quite serious, of a proposed publishing house for a special class of book. <A fairly large capital is announced, and the scheme is called co-operative. Since, however, it is further added that a dividend of from ro to 15 per cent. may be anticipated, it is not clear what the promoters mean by co-opera- tion. The prospectus provides that the ledgers shall be so kept as to enable any customer to see at a moment what expense has been incurred and what sales have been effected. And it promisesa great reduction in the way of advertising. It - looks, therefore, as if a new commission house is in contemplation to be run honestly. There should be room for such a house in special, as there certainly is in general literature. We shall watch the progress of the enterprise, But we must remark that co-operation should not contemplate large dividends. In true co-opera- tion, the capital employed receives a fair dividend, something over the interest in consols, and the co-operators share the rest. In such a project as the one before us care must be taken not to fall into the hands of a printer at the outset, or the whole scheme may be ruined by over-charges. > 0 —<—— “UNCUT LEAVES.” HIS scheme, the programme of which was published in the last number of the Author, has been seriously taken up in America, and centres have been established in many towns. That is to say, there are a great many periodical gatherings of people—monthly or fortni ghtly—to hear beforehand, articles about to appear in various magazines. It appears that the thing has grown out of a friendly association of American authors for the purpose of reading their work to each other. writes “ Editors have met me more than halfway ; in no case have they refused to let me have their MSS. Some of the articles are read just before they come out, and others may not be printed for some time. That is immaterial. I find a mass of able, short essays, stories, poems, and fugitive verses, which make variety and keep up the interest. It is noticeable that here in New York, with all the many things going on, the men turn out and stay through the evening.” Mr. Lincoln is coming to London this month; we The director, Mr. L. J. B. Lincoln,. AUTHOR. II shall probably’ learn more of his scheme. The following shows how it is regarded by the American press : The faddest of fads is about to break out in Chicago. Westerners have heard rumours of the exclusive method by which Boston and New York culture regaled itself during the past year, that of having an unpublished magazine called Uncut Leaves read in private houses to a carefully chosen audience. No report of the contents was permitted to be carried out of the “academy” by the favoured ‘lis- teners, and no mention thereof allowed to get into print. In each of tho cities where the astute editor, Mr. Lincoln, master of the Deerfield School of History and Romance, has introduced his novelty, contributors to Uncut Leaves have added immensely to its interest by reading their own articles, the audience thus having the added enjoyment of authors’ interpretations of their own works. The contri- butors to past numbers of Uncut Leaves have included the cream of living American literature, Richard Henry Stoddard, Edmund Clarence Stedman, George W. Cable, Sarah Orne Jewett, Margaret Deland, and more. At first this scheme of Uncut Leaves seems a mere fad, an affectation without substantial warrant to recommend it to really cultivated people. If an article be good enough for fifty favoured persons is it not better and finer that it should be made readily accessible to a hundred times fifty P Is not an author’s sincere desire to reach the largest number of readers, to be known to the greatest proportion of his fellow men? This is undeniable. But it is equally instinctive in an author to wish to be judged first by the “fit, if few.” Many an article, good on the whole, is marred by unconscious defects in execution that only reading aloud discloses. The experiment of the private audience is, therefore, of great value in fixing estimates and suggesting improvements. No wounds in literature are deeper than those so recklessly inflicted by reviewers who, often driven with excess of work, pronounce judgments honest according to light and time, but precipitated without due consideration and as fatal on the fortune and fame of what may have cost months, a year, or years of study and work, as if every line of the criticism had been weighed and scrutinised for only truth and discrimination. Uncut Leaves gives an author trial, if not before his peers, at least in the presence of those who are bound in honour not to detract, if incompetent to judge or unfitted by nature or lack of education to write. Mr. Lincoln has, therefore, devised a method of getting disinterested judgment in advance of publication on what doubtless will prove to be in time essentially important additions to American literature. For, although the con- tents of the unpublished magazine are at their author’s pleasure, ultimately they become public, and the public as well as the author will benefit by the judicial test to which in private and before a considerable number of presumably qualified jurors, they were subjected. After all, the fad has justification. Mr. Lincoln is well known in the East among scholars and to a large number of Chicago people, some of whom have attended his Deerfield School of History and Romance, and others who have heard his lectures in New York or Boston. He is a man of wide knowledge and authentic taste. He is now in Chicago and indications point to a success as great as that which has characterised his work in the East. His readings of Uncut Leaves will be exclusively, of course, in private drawing-rooms. It is understood that he will give here no article that has been printed anywhere or is likely to see print for some time. Some of the most noted of his contributors are also expected during his stay. Sect B 2 12 THE AUTHOR. USEFUL BOOKS. N American correspondent sends the follow- ing list :— 1. Murray’s New English Dictionary. . SrormontH’s Dictionary of the Language. . Watxer’s Rhyming Dictionary. Barruert’s Dictionary of Americanisms. Cusuina’s Initials and Pseudonyms. WueEeEwer’s Dictionary of the Noted Names in Fiction. 7. Wricut’s Dictionary of Obsolete and Pro- vincial English. 8. Barruerr’s Familiar Quotations. g. Rogzt’s Thesaurus. 10. Breztow’s Handbook of Punctuation. 11. Wurte’s Words and their Uses. 12. Sxeat’s English Htymology. 13. Gummrrx’s Handbook of Poetry. 14. Assort’s How to Write Clearly. 15. Hix's Principles of Rhetoric. 16. Greenine’s Elements of Rhetoric. 17. Eartx’s Philology of the English Tongue. 18. Merxizsoun’s English Language. English vs aey recy NOTES AND NEWS. HE Annual Dinner should have taken place before this reaches our readers. We hope to give a good account of it in our next. The Author’s Club is now in full working order in its temporary premises, 17, St. James’s Place, St. James’s Street. Intendirg members should forward their names immediately to the secretary. The full subscription for the year is not called up. Here is a case which has recently happened. A novelist has spent some months in working a story based upon an idea which is strong, effec- tive, and, as he fondly believed, perfectly new. That a man should believe any story to be perfectly new shows a certain credulity. He has now finished his novel and has made ex- cellent arrangements about its appearance. But he has learned, to his dismay, that the perfectly new and strong idea has already—and not so very long ago—been used by another writer. What is he to do? Shall he lose his labour? Is the accident that the same idea has occurred to this other writer to stand in the way? ce nd The answer to these questions seems clear. He did not steal the idea: this can be proved by the time of his beginning and planning the story. Nobody can accuse him of plagiarism. Then what matters? Every writer has his own style, his own method of treatment ; the two stories will be fitted with different characters, different plots. Let this novelist proceed with his story. Let him, however, if he thinks well, write a preface stating the facts, otherwise some critic will find out the resemblance, and will, naturally, —for such a find happens seldom—crow over him, jump upon him, and despitefully entreat him. I do not believe that such an accident will injure either novel a bit. Se ————_ For instance, about five years ago I wrote a story turning on the Monmouth Rebellion, which first appeared in the Illustrated London News. At the sanie time Mr. Conan Doyle was also writing a novel on the same event. Both these novels appeared at the same time. Nobody ever accused me of stealing my plot from Mr. Conan Doyle. Certainly, my novel was not injured by his, and most certainly his was not injured by mine. “I have read your account of the Monmouth Rebellion,” said a man to me, “and now I am going to see what the other chap has got to say about it.” That the same event should be treated by two different hands begets curiosity. There are, however, certain things which must be avoided. For instance, some twelve years ago, in writing astory called the “ Chaplain of the Fleet,” it was resolved to devote two or three chapters to Tunbridge Wells. It seems incredible that one should have forgotten the Virginians. But I went to Tunbridge Wells, stayed there some days, and read all the books about the place, hunted up contemporary essays where the place was mentioned, and, in fact, made myself master of the subject. When the chapters were all written one remembered that Thackeray had made the place his own, so that all the work went for nothing, except to show how carefully and thoroughly Thackeray had got up the subject. We must not try to do, over again, what has been already done by a master. But it would certainly not deter me from publishing a story of my own if I learned that another novelist had just produced a story with the same—or a closely similar—plot. Just so, in the Royal Academy, we have the Vicar of Wakefield in one room, the Vicar of Wakefield in the second room, the Vicar of Wakefield in the third room, and so on. Always by the most remarkable coincidence in the world all the different artists hit upon the same idea. i 4 a  THE AUTHOR. 13 In the March number of the Forwn (London: E. Arnold) was a paper with my signature on the work of our Society. It contained very little that will be found new by those who have fol- lowed our work, but it is hoped that the paper has, before this, fallen into the hands of many who have not. I found, in conversation with a publisher, that he took exception to one passage in the article. It is this, “ the first ’— way of cheating under a certain head—“is to charge for inserting the book in the publisher’s own catalogues and lists, which cost him nothing.” ‘ My lists,” said the publisher, “ cost mea great deal.’ Quite so. But the insertion of any book in the list costs nothing, or a few pence. He has no right to charge for this in- sertion as an advertisement, because a list isa part of his machinery. He does not charge for his rent, his furniture, his clerks. These are part of his services: they do that part of his work which he cannot do with his own hands. A solicitor does not charge for his clerks, nor does an engineer charge for his draughtsmen; they are part of the machinery. It is high time that this should be made quite clear. SS In Mr. Lecky’s observations, made at the dinner of the Royal Literary Fund (quoted p. 24), there appears to be a certain confusion of ideas, owing partly to the power of an epigram, partly to the prevailing ignorance in which the material interests of literature have been so long wrapped up. The epigram was that “the books which live are not the books by which authors live.” Well, but what does that mean? Shakespeare and all the Elizabethan dramatists lived by their books; Dryden, Pope, Addison, Prior, Steele, lived by their books. Johnson and Goldsmith lived by their books; Southey, Leigh Hunt, Wordsworth, lived by their books; Macaulay made a fortune by his books; Carlyle, Dickens, Thackeray, George Eliot, have lived by their books. We need not mention other novelists who live by their books, because perhaps ordinary stories are not the books which will live; but surely the epigram has very little foundation. Again, at all these dinners there is a suggestion of the great genius in distress because the public will not buy his books. Well, that is nonsense, because the reading public is wise enough and clever enough to discern the great genius and even the little genius as soon as ever he appears. For instance, Messrs. Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling, and J. M. Barrie—among others—have not had long to wait, and have never, so far as we know, been in any danger of starvation. In the same way, Browning always had a following. George Meredith has always had a following, though with both these great writers, at first a small following only. I do not believe that at this moment there is any single man of letters, in any branch, who isa neglected and a starving genius. I have sat on the Board of the Royal Literary Fund—for two years I was on the council. Without breach of con- fidence, I may state that during that term, though there were applications from many unfortunate men and women of letters, there were none from anyone of literary position. All were the second and third-rate writers. Most, indeed, were greatly to be pitied, and the Fund proved a most beneficial institution to them; but of not one could it be said that he or she was a genius in distress. eee The “higher form” of literature, Mr. Lecky said, should not be attempted by a young man unless he possesses an income—or makes an income—outside that work. As a rule nobody proposes at the outset to live by literature of any form. What are the “ higher forms” and what are the lower? I can see no “ higher form” of literature at all unless it be poetry. That seems to me the very highest form of literature. But for the rest—history, philosophy, essays, bio- graphy, fiction, the drama, criticism—which of these forms is higher than the other? None, so far as I can discover. At the outset the future author is always something else. Very often most often—he is a journalist; or he has been trained for some profession; he is a secretary ; he is a clerk in the city. If he is going to be a writer of “solid” literature, he is a professor or lecturer, a Fellow of his college, a teacher of some kind. The writer who begins by saying “I will live by making books” is the writer who ends by making periodical appeals to the Royal Literary Fund. And of all forms of literary failure this is the most pitiful and the most hopeless. Here is a suggestive note. In the New York Critic there are ‘‘ Magazine Notes” every month, i.e., notes on the papers -which appear in the various magazines of the month. But they are all American magazines. In the “ Magazine Notes” of our own papers the English magazines are considered—and the American as well. In other words the American magazines have got a firm hold on the English public. What hold have our magazines on the American public? 14 THE AUTHOR. The book of the month is ‘Nada the Lily.” Mr. Rider Haggard has never, in my opinion, done anything so good. Here we live among the savages—we talk-with them, fight with them, think withthem. That we live in an atmosphere of barbaric cruelty, lust of blood, murder, sus- picion, and treachery, is a part of living among savages at all, To judge from some of the reviews of the book, the author ought to have presented his savages in kid gloves drinking afternoon tea; or, as our noble savage has too often appeared, as a nineteenth century gentle- man of dark skin, with no clothes, and imperfectly armed with a tomahawk or a hatchet, but of irreproachable personal habits and great bravery. We must take the nineteenth century civilisation out of the noble savage altogether; we must live with him as he is, not as the romantic schoolgirl would like to have him; we then get Nada the Lily. One would not recommend it to the romantic schoolgirl—though there is nothing to raise the blush on that fair young cheek. For men the book is virile, and true, and pitiless. As for the fighting, it is Homeric. G. W.S. in the Zribune calls attention to what he thinks is a growing coldness on the part of this country to the people of the States. Among other causes he mentions one that will surprise many of us. He thinks that we are jealous of the growing literary superiority of Americans. This, he thinks, makes us feel small. We are mortified because we have no one worthy to stand up beside Howell, James, and others. He is quite wrong. American authors may be far ahead of us, but, such is our insular conceit, our wooden-headed conceit, our besotted blind- ness, that we have not yet begun to think of American writers as superior to our own. Howell? James? Very good men, both. But what of Blackmore, Black, Hardy, Barrie, Steven- son, Rudyard Kipling, Rider Haggard, Hall Caine, Mrs. Oliphant? What of Tennyson, Swinburne, Austin Dobson, Andrew Lang, Morris, Arnold? We really are not in the least jealous. If the Americans think their team better than ours, we cannot prevent them. We will even bow to their opinion—in their company. In our own, we look round us and we smile. Insular conceit! No doubt the American opinion is right. But, right or wrong, the truth is that we are not in the least jealous of our American brethren on that ground. Watter Brsant. es FEVILLETON. | His One Srory. T came out ten years ago. The author was a young medico—general practitioner in a little country town—the Red Lamp man. He bought the practice with the last few hundreds of the thousand pounds with which he started. It was not an extensive practice because the people in that neighbourhood never had any illness and never died. It was alarge district; there were a good many people who looked to him as the only doctor accessible ; he had a dog-cart and he drove long distances to see his patients; but the income. was small and the prospect was gloomy. To drive along narrow lanes with lovely hedges on either side, ina lovely country on errands of mercy would seem anideal life. Butthe dog-cart costs money ; the horse demands oats; the man himself wants food and drink and tobacco; and the weather is not always desirable for driving in a dog-cart. However, the young man wenton; he was young; he was strong; he was as yet unmarried; while there is youth there is hope; something would happen; something sometimes does happen to some people; but rarely to the G. P. of a country town; or to the vicar of a country parish—where they find themselves, there they remain until the end. Something happened to this young man. As he drove along the lanes day after day, he became possessed of a single thought which seized him, held him, haunted him, and talked to him, so that he no longer marked the flight of the birds or the song of the skylark, or the cry of the corn- crake, or the flowers in the hedge, or the corn in the fields, or the passing of the seasons—he forgot them all in order to listen to his thought. A great thought it was; not that something might happen, but that something was actually happening, and to himself—something grand—something wonder- ful—something unexpected—and to himself, the simple, obscure Red Lamp man. : The strange part of the thing is, that this young man had never before suffered in any way from excess of imagination. He was eminently a scientific young man. Had he experienced the prickings and pullings, and shovings of the imagi- native temperament, he would probably have attributed the symptoms to gouty acidity, and treated himself accordingly. It has now, we all know, been acknowledged that a gouty tendency is closely connected with the imaginative tempera- ment. He had never essayed to write a poem, a tale, or a play. He had never thought it possible that he could write anything, except, perhaps— a thing he sometimes contemplated—a treatise on  THE AUTHOR. ts some disease. And how could he do that in a country town where there was no disease? ‘On Longevity, as induced by habits of habitual in- toxication,’ was a subject which he felt he could tackle from his village experience. ‘On vice of all sorts, accompanied by immunity from disease,” he also felt himself becoming qualified to treat. But that scientific essay, which should launch his name upon the sea of fame, he felt that he was growing daily less and less qualified to under- take. Therefore, as he never expected to do imagina- tive work, he suffered this thought to take posses- sion of him without entertaining any suspicion, and by the time that it held him tightly in its grasp so that it could not be thrown off, he was perfectly pleased and contented with it. Hiverybody must acknowledge that it was a very fine, stimulating, elevating, noble thought quite the kind of thought to prevent a young G.P. in small practice from getting disheartened, He imagined, in fact, that the unexpected had happened to him. It—she—came in the shape of a woman—young—beautiful—unknown—who took lodgings at a farm-house, went nowhere but to church, knew nobody, received no visits, was apparently in easy circumstances, and _ received no letters. She was the mysterious Maiden of romance. Then she fell ill; then he was sent for; then he won her confidence ; then she told her story—oh! such a story—a story at the telling of which every sword would leap of its own accord out of the scabbard and jump about like anything, flourishing and threatening ; then he became her champion—and—and—but every story told in this brief fashion is ridiculous. This story shall not be so mutilated and destroyed. Suffice it to say that the story was full of romance; as full of romance as a story can be in these days, which are supposed by people who have no ima- gination to be unromantic. Now, after many months during which this story filled the young doctor’s brain, there came a time when he must needs write it down. Remember that he had never before thought of writing anything down. But there comes a time when, if a man has such a thought, he must write it down. He cannot choose but write it down. If he refuses, his story turns into bitterness and gall; it is worse than gouty acidity ; it is worse than suppressed gout. Suppressed novel is an obscure disease, never yet treated at all, of which all that is known is that it generally kills unless it maddens. The Doctor, therefore, wrote his story. Now the hero was himself; he put himself into the pages ; he put the whole of himself; he put the best of hinself, but he did not hide the rest of himself. Consequently, it was a magnificent character that he drew. Magnificent, says the maxim, is truth. And, though he little suspected it, he wrote a very true, powerful, and striking story. It still lives on the bookstall and still sells at the railway station; it is a book which will remain a long time ; perhaps it will not quite die for genera- tions. When the story was finished there followed a time of great flatness, because he had cleared out his brain; no more visions remained there ; no splendid thoughts were left; he had nothing to think about; he drove about the lanes as of old, listening to the birds, watching the flowers, marking the passing of the season; and he was horribly dull. Then he sent his story up to London. He chose, as happens to the modest beginner, a person of the baser sort for his publisher. This man promptly wrote back to say that his reader had reported so favourably of the work that he was able to offer the following exceptional terms: The author to pay a quarter of the cost of the production, and to get a quarter of the profits; the publisher to find the rest. ““P.S. The present offers the best chance in the whole year for the appearance of such a work.” The author’s quarter share of the cost was set down at £75. The Doctor scraped together the money. Now, though the publisher was a thief and a rogue, though the fourth part of the cost should have been £25 at the outside, though with the returns the publisher cheated right and left, he could not wriggle out of the fact that the work was really a great success, and that he must send some money to his client. Besides, it was politic. In the first year, the doctor made £150 by his work, and saw his way, as he thought, to a steady little income. So far, good. Unfortunately an old friend wrote to him; pointed out that he was in the worst possible hands; that the man who had written so good a book could write another; that he had a name already; and that if he would come to town, he would himself place him in better hands. He obeyed; he went to London; he resolved upon a literary career; he sold his practice; he engaged to write a second novel. * * * * * I met this ex-G. P. the other day; he was standing among the secondhand bookshops in Holywell-street. His appearance was seedy and miserable to the last degree ; his face was dejected ; his looks were hungry. For old acquaintance sake I lent him what he asked. He left me and entered a tavern. This poor man had but one story to tell; he told it, and was cheated out of it. He received a commission to write another, and he failed ; his failure was dismal. For, you see, he had put the whole of himself and the  THE oo i) Dorna AND SUFFERING: Memorials of Elizabeth and Frances, daughters of the late Rev. E. Bickersteth. By their sister, with a preface by the Bishop of Exeter. Sampson Low. Walter Savage Landor: A Evans, Epw. WATERMAN. a : Putnam’s Sons, Bedford Critical Study. Gua. Street. §s. Prrcy, Litt. D. New Chapters in Greek Historical results of recent excavations in With illustrations. John GARDNER, History. Greece and Asia Minor. Murray. 15s. Irwin, Ricwarp B. History of the Nineteenth Army Corps. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, Bedford Street. Jenkins, R. C., M.A., and Brrcu, W. P. 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And how he lived; by what shifts; and how low he sank; and into what companionship he fell; and in what ditch -he will die—nay—in what hospital he will die—all these things belong to the undiscovered chronicles: the Book of the Things Left Out. es THE LITERARY HANDMAID OF THE CHURCH. of May last. It was im St. James’s Hall, and it has been, for some unknown reasons, imperfectly reported. Neatly attired in a dress of grey nun’s cloth, with a white cap and a high white apron, and having a gold cross hanging from her neck, her face still apparently in its first youth, comely as Jerusalem, beautiful as Tirzah, the Rose of Sharon, the Lily of the Valley, even as the Lily among Thorns, stood before them all, the Literary Handmaid of the Church. But her eyes were red with weeping, and her cheek was ashamed and aflame, and she bowed her head, and thus she spoke, whispering and sobbing: “‘ Hear me, my brothers, hear me! I have done evil in the face of all the world, because I have loved money rather than righteousness, because, always to get more and more money, I have sweated the helpless and had no pity for the needy; because I have taken the work, the toil of the head and the hand, from the poor gentlewoman who cannot somplain, from the poor author who dares not complain, and have given them back, not what should be theirs by right, but a miserable dole and a scanty pittance, and bade them go work again for less. Yea, I have gained threefold, fourfold, tenfold, of what I gave them, and I repented not, but still grew greedier and more cruel, and harder and more unjust. As the needlewoman is sweated by her master, so have my company of authors been sweated by me—by the Literary Handmaid of the Church—yes— pious women, and godly, full of Christian graces, I have sweated them; I have sweated them! Woe is me!” She bowed her head, and wept before them all. Then she fell upon her knees. “ Forgive me,” she cried ; “ I will no longer be a sweater. Help me, you who know, help me in Sr held a public meeting on Friday, the zoth AUTHOR. the cause of righteousness—help me to repentance. What matter though we found bishoprics and distribute tracts if the money has been made by the sweat and the groans, and the labour of those who work for us? The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of His people—even with us—for the spoil of the poor isin our House. Therefore let us hasten to make reparation ; let us give back all that we have wrongfully kept ; let us deal righteously with our workers, even though we issue few Bibles and build no Sunday- schools at all. To what purpose is the multitude of Bibles? It is written, “Put away the evil of your doings; seek judgment; relieve the oppressed; plead for the widow. My brothers, I have sinned!” So she bowed her face to the ground, weeping and crying. And all the people lifted up their voices, and wept with her. And they arose and took the Princes, even those who stood on a high place around the Handmaid, and thrust them forth from the gates, crying, “ Woe unto you that call evil good, and good evil! That put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” And when they turned them again, lo! the Handmaid of the Church stood upright once more, and her face shone with light, and she sang aloud her joy - because she had put away her sweating, and chosen righteousness. And all the people rejoiced with her, and they sang hymns and praises, with thanksgiving. spect IN THE NAME OF THE PROPHET—GLOVES. SS HE following letter has been sent to the Prophet. It is mortifying to relate that he received it in an uncongenial and un- sympathetic spirit. He even sent back the box of gloves which it contained with a cold, curt, unkind refusal to advertise the glove man in the way suggested. Yet surely it was a most liberal offer. An author—a mere Grub Street man—actually refuses a box of expensive gloves, offered him for nothing! Why, although his daughters may be unaccustomed to kid, and better acquainted with thread, he might at least have sold them to his kind and generous patron, the publisher! Absurd! In this paper we must publicly apologise to the glove man for the rude- ness of the author. Of course the enterprising merchant only behaved as anybody else would have done. The whole world knows how hard up weare. Anauthor is of no account. However, let him try again. All Grub Street is open to him. The others will perhaps behave quite differently. And think of the advertisement! Copies of his  THE AUTHOR. 17 books to lie about the glove man’s beautiful show rooms. © A. B., Hse. ‘“ DEAR SIR, ‘“‘T am taking the liberty of forwarding a sample or two of my gloves, and shall esteem it a favour if you will allow a lady friend or two to try them (I will, of course, exchange them for any other size, if these sent should not happen to be right), and if you are pleased with their fit, &C., you perhaps might have an opportunity of bring- ing in my name when writing some of your new works, as being a meeting-place in London for ladies, which is really so, my show-rooms on the first floor, where all the Paris, Vienna, Brussels, and other foreign makes of gloves, fans, &c., are kept, i3 frequently crowded with the very best of London Society. “T was reading one of your books when this thought occurred to me that it would give a tone of reality to the reading, the name and address of my house being so well known. “Should you be pleased to give this suggestion athought, I shall be happy to show you my rooms and the class of goods also. If you called at a busy time of day, you could then form your own opinion as to the class of ladies patronising my place, and on my side, I shall be pleased to supply you with one dozen pairs of any kind of gloves you might think fit to select, and will also keep some of the books laying about the show-room. “ T am, dear Sir, “ Faithfully yours, eG). The following is the cruel reply referred to above : “Mr. A. B. begs to return the parcel of gloves sent by Mr. C. D. Mr. A. B. must beg to be excused from advertising himself or Mr. C. D. in the fashion suggested in Mr. C. D.’s letter of the 16th instant.” oe We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths ; In feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count life by heart-throbs. He most lives Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best. Batuey. VOL, III. SHAKESPEARE OR BACON. HE following lines were spoken by Mr. Joseph Jefferson, the comedian, ata lecture in “ Dramatic Art” given at Yale College, New Haven, on April 27th. They are taken from the New York Critic of May 7th. The question’s this, if I am not mistaken, “Did William Shakespeare or did Francis Bacon, Inspired by genius and by learning too, Compose the wondrous works we have in view ?” The scholar Bacon was a man of knowledge, But inspiration isn’t taught at college. With all the varied gifts in Will’s possession The wondering world asks, ‘‘ What was his profession?” He must have been a lawyer, says the lawyer ; He surely was a sawyer, says the sawyer ; The druggist says, of course he was a chemist ; The skilled mechanic dubs him a machinist ; The thoughtful sage declares him but a thinker, And every tinman swears he was a tinker. And so he’s claimed by every trade and factor ;— Your pardon, gentlemen, he was an actor ! And if you deem that I speak not aright, Tl prove it to you here in black and white, Not by the ink of modern scribes, you know, But by the print of centuries ago; For he was cast in Jonson’s famous play, And acted Knowell on its first essay. The buried King of Denmark at the Globe He played with Burbage in his sable robe, And good old Adam must not be forgot In “ As You Like It,” yes—or “‘as you like it not.” If Bacon wrote the plays, pray, tell me then Were all the wondrous sonnets from his pen Did Bacon, he himself a versifier, Resign these lovely lays and not aspire To be their author? Lay them on the shelf And only keep the bad ones for himself ? The argument against us most in vogue Is this, that William Shakespeare was a rogue— His character assailed, his worth belied, And every little foible magnified. We know that William, one night after dark, Went stealing deer in lonely Lucy Park, We also know Lord Bacon oft was prone, To take another’s money for his own. Now come, deal fairly, tell me which is worse, To poach a stag or steal another’s purse ? Lord Bacon did confess to his superiors, That he had taken bribes from his inferiors. From his own showing, then, it will be seen That he both robbed his country and his queen, A kind of aldermanic Yankee Doodle, Who cherished what we understand as boodle. So if good character is to be the test of it, Tt seems to me that William has the best of it. If Shakespeare was so poor a piece of stuff, How is it Bacon trusted him enough To throw these valued treasures at his feet And not so much as ask for a receipt? Such confidence is almost a monstrosity, And speaks of unexampled generosity. Oh, liberal Francis, tell us why we find Pope calling thee the ‘“‘ meanest of mankind” P Cc  18 But now to Shakespeare let us turn, I pray, And hear what his companions have to say. First, then, Ben Jonson, jealous of Will’s wit, Paid tribute when his epitaph he writ. If other proofs are wanting than rare Ben’s We will consult forthwith a group of friends. Awake! Beaumont and Fletcher, Spenser, Rowe, Arise ! and tell us, for you surely know: Was, or was not, my client the great poet? And if he wasn’t, don’t you think you’d know it? These, his companions, brother playwrights, mind, Could they be hoodwinked? Were they deaf or blind ? I find it stated, to our bard’s discredit— The author of the Cryptogram has said it— That Shakespeare’s tastes were vulgar and besotted, And all his family have been allotted To herd and consort with the low and squalid ; But whence the proof to make this statement valid P They even say his daughter could not read ; Of such a statement I can take no heed, Except to marvel at the logic of the slight; So, if she couldn’t read—he couldn’t write ? Your statements are confusing, and as such You’ve only proved that you have proved too much. The details of three hundred years ago We can’t accept, because we do not know. The general facts we are prepared to swallow, While unimportant trifies beat us hollow. We know full well That Nero was a sinner, But we can’t tell What Nero had for dinner. Now, prithee, take my hand, and come with me To where once stood the famous mulberry tree. Then on to Stratford Church, here take a peep At where the “‘ fathers of the hamlet sleep. They hold the place of honour for the dead, The family of Shakespeare at the head. Before the altar of this sacred place They have been given burial and grace. Your vague tradition is but a surmise ; The proof I offer is before your eyes. And oh, ye actors, brothers all in Art, Permit me just one moment to depart From this my subject, urging you some day To seek this sacred spot, and humbly pray That Shakespeare’s rage toward us will kindly soften. Because, you know, we’ve murdered him so often. I ask this for myself, a poor comedian : What should I do had I been a tragedian ? I could pile up a lot of other stuff, But I have taxed your patience quite enough; In turning o’er the matter in my mind, This is the plain solution that I find: It surely is—“ whoe’er the cap may fit ”»— Conceded that these wondrous plays were writ. So if my Shakespeare’s not the very same, It must have been another of that name. spec 13 14. 15. 16, 17. 18, a) 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. THE AUTHOR. MIXED MAXIMS. . As a human being, no one is unique; as an individual, every one must be. . Pessimism is debased phantasy; poetry is glorified vitality. . An harmony between natural verity, fact, and artificial fallacy is often miscalled “mystery.” . Chivalry is the mother-spirit in man. . Strength without chivalry is near akin to devilry. . “The age of chivalry” is a matter of temperament, not of tense. . Romance is not behind, but within. . Realised ideals are always the lower ones. . Humility is the highway to nobility. . The best tense—the perfect tense—lies in the future. . Selfishness is the soul of sin. . Motherliness, any more than selfishness, is not a matter of sex. Truth is the shell of the universe; love is its soul. Better an untruth “in love” than the truth in selfishness. Spitefulness apes truthfulness when used against the other man. Satire strives to alleviate what cynicism cares only to accentuate. Heartless humour is as worthless as is head- less wit. Pure wit is rare as genius; true humour varied as human hearts. Sympathy with vice sometimes poses as charity for the vicious. As love inspires the purest sanctity, so genius implies the rarest sanity. Providence provides opportunity ; man must supply capacity. There is no such thing as a true lovers’ quarrel. Jealousy is a soul-eclipse, when earthy self comes between. Love never entered a divorce court, for it never degraded. In a perfect life love is not lieutenant but general. The higher the woman the more of the child. Womanly women elevate, while womanish women deteriorate. A good daughter makes a better wife and a best mother. Harmony makes the divinity of marriage as of music.  THE AUTHOR. 19 30. Love owes nothing to any order of man; it is the order of the universe. PHINLAY GLENELG. ee ODE TO SLEEP. ——S—-_ I. A shadow thou upon some shadowy strand ! Thine is a starlit land. Far,—very far away ! A lotus-land of blissfulness and balm, Where reigns an endless calm, And all is dim and grey. 2. There on a couch with slumbrous poppies spread, Thou pillowest thy head, And noddest in the gloom ! The drowsy nightshade ever slumbers there And aconite may dare Put forth its purple bloom! 3. In the dead silence art thou weaving still, Weaving for good or ill, Those unimagined dreams Which mortals know when they shall take their rest, Called at thy sweet behest, To lie by Lethe’s streams! 4. For when our hemisphere has lost its sun, : When the day’s toil is done— A hush o’er land and sea— Then, dost thou range this tired world again, To carry in the train The spirits loved by thee! 5. Then, armed with poppies, and blue aconite, And mandrake creamy white, Thou summonest thine own! Thou leadest them thro’ glimm’ring weedless ways To thread the dreamer’s maze Of labyrinths unknown. 6. The son of labour feels thy wings, O Sleep Above his pallet sweep And knows his heaven is nigh! But yonder monarch on his bed of down, Despite his jewelled crown, Thou proudly passeth by ! F. B. Doveton. NOTES FROM PARIS. ITH what a sigh of relief must Emile \ \ Zola have laid down his pen, three or four days ago, after writing the word “ Finis” at the endof La Débacle, a story which, as he has often told me, has given him more trouble and exacted more toil than any other of his books. I would have given a good deal to see that laying down, and to have had a Kodak with me. I will wager it was not calmly done, and can fancy the nervous little man dashing his quill not unviciously on to the floor, with an “Ouf” and an ‘‘ Enfin.” He is always m a rage against his work as he works. In L’@wvre he has described his feelings towards the productions of his pen. <<< Ss That contradiction of feelmgs which is one of the principal sources of human unhappiness, manifests itself im us authors most vividly before and after this writing of the word “ Finis.” How anxiously looked forward to a consummation, with what relief and gladness effected, and then a reaction comes, and one feels as one who has bid farewell to a dear friend, as a mother must feel who has borne a child in her arms for long hours, and who, having set it down and let it go, regrets the sweet aching and frets against the unwelcome relief. I was much amused the other day, in turning over the leaves of a German magazine, which has done me the honour of publishing a novel of mine in German translation, to see that the trans- lator had altered my dénouement, and with it the whole import of my story. He makes my hero commit suicide, who, by my authority, was left thriving. This upset in toto the solution of the psychological problem I had worked out. The German publishers doubtless thought that having paid their money they might take their choice as to the ultimate disposal of my hero. I considered it “ cheek.” Se It is, however, the sort of “ cheek ” that authors whose books are reproduced abroad must get used to. The American pirates, for instance, seem to consider one’s work much as cooks con- sider a piece of meat—a dish to be set to the sauce which shall most tickle their customer’s palates. Not only do they change titles, but they revise and often rewrite parts of the text. Your child comes back to you, often unrecognisable, as though it had passed through the hands of those Spanish manufacturers of monstrosities about which Hugo wrote in “ L’ Homme Qui Rit.”  20 Hugo’s executors state that in their belief the Guernsey diary of the master, which was reported to have been found recently, is a ‘fake,’ was never written by Hugo, but at most by some fellow exile, Boswell to his Johnson. I don’t think Hugo was the man to keep a diary, for he had other uses for his daily thoughts. I was Hugo’s next-door neighbour in Guernsey years ago, living in the house adjoining Haute- ville House. Our gardens were side by side. I was a lad. The poet had excellent plums. A pen fastened to a fishing-rod did the trick. So differently did Youth on one side and Old Age on the other side of a garden-wall employ the instrument which is mightier than the sword. Hugo, by the way, used to work in a kind of conservatory on the top of his house, and scan- dalised the old maids of Hauteville, in the hot weather, by divesting himself—when in the fever of composition—of most of his garments. —<— In England the man who has written a book, unless this has been a commercial success, is considered rather an ass, and will hide the fact rather than make it known. The contrary is the case in France. To have published a book, no matter whether ten or ten thousand copies of it were ‘“‘ taken up,” is to a man’s credit—gives him a status and consideration. Many pass their lives, satisfied with the dim aureole “ d’avoir été édité,” round their heads. It is as good—in the literary cafés and circles—as the violet ribbon in the button-hole. In France the littérateur is not judged like the soap-merchant, by pecuniary results, and owes his gloriole to the mere fact that he has, or thinks he has, something to say. — We are constantly reading—and, some of us, writing—about the misdeeds and dishonesty of American pirates. But what about the reverse of the medal? Is it not a fact that American authors are shamefully plundered by English publishers? Do not scores of English journals annex without acknowledgment—and it goes without saying without compensation in any form —all the best work of the American periodical press? Soyons justes. One of the weirdest of our confréres in Paris is an old Polish nobleman, against whom Fortune has been hard-hearted, and who may be seen all day long at the Café de la Paix, working with THE AUTHOR. de quoi écrire, at one of the marble tables in the end room. A mazagran of coffee is always at his elbow. His productions are pamphlets of hu- manitarian tendency, and are couched in Russian of great colour and vigour. His output is enor- mous, and as he publishes at his own expense, he has doubtless a large public. Each pamphlet consists of three pages, and is tariffed at a franc. But the great of this world, from the Emperor of China to the Governor-General of Odessa, receive his works gratis through the post. I read something the other day in an English paper about Jules Verne being a great walker and athlete. Verne, asamatter of fact, is practically a cripple. Two or three years ago, he suddenly received a visit from a nephew of his, who, after a hasty “ Bonjour, mon oncle,” drew out a revol- ver, and blazed away at him. One bullet hit Verne in the leg, and he has been lame ever since. The nephew, who is now living in a lunatic asylum, afterwards explained that he was anxious to see his uncle a member of the French Academy, and that he had done what he had done in order to attract attention and sympathy to his beloved relative. Francois Coppée, like Dumas, has shaken the dust off his feet on to Paris. He has retired a la campagne, not to plant cabbage, but to write in peace and quiet. Happy Frangois. He has found a beautiful old-world house at Brunoy, with a big garden, and fields and trees all around. May the tender-hearted poet be happy here. He is one of the most sympathetic figures in contemporary literature. He has the great quality of heart in days when we all cultivate our gall-bags with the zeal with which the Strasburg goose-breeder culti- vates the livers of his flock. He is sweet, and tender, and gentle, and though he dons a red flannel shirt when he writes, as unaffected and natural as a village child. Pailleron’s Tuesday dinners for men only are functions, to be present at which should be the desire of all who want to taste at the fountain head that sparkling brewage which we call Parisine—a tonic bitter, but delightfully refresh- ing draught. Pailleron is all sparkle. His repartee is now couched in faubourg slang and crushes like a sledge hammer, now academic with the sting of a rapier. His great hatred is against the world of professors. Old Sorbonne never had a more bitter foe. Get him to talk about the sages who write for the serious review,  70H AUTHOR. 24 and you will hear satire as you could like to hear it spoken. Alexis Bouvier is dead. I can imagine the con- temptuous shoulder-shiuggings with which this item of news was dismissed in the literary cafés of Paris. No matter that he died broken down after a stagnation of two year’s duration, an unhappy man, whose last months were dragged out on the proceeds of a recent charity sale. He wrote for money, the unpardonable act of the writer in France. He had animmense public and delighted them with blood-curdling feuilletons, He did it for a living and died, without reputation, in the shadow of starvation. I can imagine nothing sadder than the last moments of a man of letters who has not chosen the good part, who has gone for money and who has failed. Chatterton died of arsenic in his garret. It was very sad, but how much sadder would it have been, if, instead of falling a victim to his pride and belief in him- self, he had come to die inthe same way and in the same place, after trying his best to make money, by using his pen, not as his fancy and ideal directed, but at the dictates of the public and the publishers. Play for a high stake and lose. Tant pis, one pays withoutregret But to be beaten, ruined at shove-halfpenny! Poor Alexis Bouvier, whom Providence held on this side of the frontier of that Promised Land towards which the eyes of all authors are always turned ! Paris, May 20. Rozert H. SHERARD. oe TO MUSIC. Tones of a dying chord whose mellow strain Burst into deepfelt music on mine ear, Song whose fine melody thrills through me, hear What your pulsations bring, relief from pain,— Hail! minstrels of the air when I would fain Sleep in the dim unconsciousness of care That drowns the musings of a wayward lyre Of weariness, a heart sick, world tired brain. Ah! Music, Music lend your minstrelsy, And lull me into soft, subduing sleep, Like some poor helpless babe that restless lies Soothed by its mother’s loving lullaby, And when my last hour comes, come song and keep Sweet fellowship with one who with thee dies. AntTHONY RUDYERD. os THE JEW IN LITERATURE. HE following address was delivered by Mr. Hall Caine as the guest of the new Jewish : community, “‘ The Maccabeans,” at a dinner at St. James’s Restaurant, Piccadilly, on the 10th ult., and is reproduced by permission of the author. Mr. Caine said :— “The position of the Jew in literature is a theme so full of suggestion that it is astonishing that more has not been made of it. There are, at least, two aspects which it might be regarded: First, the Jew as a creator of literature; and then, the Jew as the subject of it. Both points of view would be full of surprises. On the one hand we find an early Hebraic literature showing a literary genius which is perhaps not to be equalled by that of any other race. It may be that no Jew can ever allow himself to look at the great literature of his literary fathers with an eye so cold, and in a light so dry as this, but I want your indulgence while I say that the Old Testa- ment writings, as we have got them, contain some of the most perfect stories in the literature of the world. Separated from its spiritual and historical significance, regarded merely as a literary entity, purely as a group of characters and incidents, I do not know anything to compare in beauty, pathos, picturesqueness, tragic power, and subli- mity with (may I use the word without offence) the novel, the romance which tells of the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt, beginning with the sell- ing of Joseph by his brethren, and ending with the crossing of the Red Sea by the Children of Israel under Moses. We are first struck by the splendour of the literary genius of the early Hebrew, and next by the extraordinary eclipse of that genius in the Hebrew of the middle ages. Between the time, say of Josephus and our own century, there were, no doubt, Hebrew writers of great mark and influence; but am I altogether wrong in saying that, except in a few cases, their greatness was not creative, that it was mainly illustrative, explanatory, critical, and scholastic ? But if this is so, and you know best, there are abundant and adequate reasons for it. Jewish literary genius may easily have been choked by the odium of medieval malevolence. Creative powers had no force to spend on literature where the hourly necessities were those of flesh and blood. Nevertheless out of that darkness two Jewish names shine as stars. One of them is the name of a great philosopher, who, though not a believer in your ancient faith, was nevertheless a mind so tremendous that no Jew can help being proud of him—I mean Spinoza. The other is that of a wayward, wilful, heavv-laboured, sorely-  22 THE AUTHOR. afflicted child of genius, the ‘tearful trifler,’ who, like the leper of his own thrilling story, made joyful songs for the happy part of the world to sing while he lay himself in a lodging of Paris amid the odour of blankets and medicines ——an unbelieving Jew, but nevertheless a Jew whom all Jews must be eager to claim—I mean Heine. And now that the modern Jew has sur- vived the barbarism of medixval oppression, the literary genius that is in him is again beginning to show itself. During this second half of the 19th century the Jew has made his contributions to the sum’ of human knowledge. He is found in nearly every walk of literary activity. “ And now, if I am not plunging in dangerous waters, I would say something of the Jew as a subject of literature. Here again we are face to face with the old inveterate contradiction which always dogs the feet of the Jew in his literary character. On the other hand we have the ancient history of an heroic people—great in prosperity, strong in adversity ; on the other hand an abject picture of a sort of cuckoo race, building no nest of its own, and rearing its young in the nests of others—an excrescent nation that trails through the centuries with the stigma of the heretic and the leper combined. When we think of the Jew as a figure in literature, we first remember Shakespeare. What does Shakespeare do with the Jew? The answer seems to be an unwelcome one. He talks of him constantly as a sort of pariah dog; he uses his name as a metaphor for cunning and duplicity ; he casts the liver of a Jew —happily an unbelieving Jew—into the witches’ cauldron that is to work such woeful mischief, and, above all, he puts his full-bodied conception of the Jew into the person of Shylock. It may be that for these offences the modern Jew, with all his reverence for mighty genius, loves Shakes- peare a shade the less. But my own faith in Shakespeare is so vast, and my confidence in his prophetic gift so absolute, that it would hurt me to believe that in this matter of the right attitude towards the Jew he was not (as he assuredly was in everything else) at least three centuries before his time. We have to remember that Shakespeare, as a dramatist, had to earn his bread and butter by the favour of the populace, and that in the moral atmosphere of the people of his day (as seen in Marlow’s ‘Jew of Malta’ and elsewhere) the Jews were an accursed race, the enemies of mankind, and the especial foes of Christianity. And if any Jew feels sore that the greatest of English poets saw nothing in the Jewish character but greed and merciless vindic- tiveness, let him go to any theatre where the ‘Merchant of Venice’ is being played, and watch, not the play, but the effect of it on a Christian audience. Above all, if it should be his luck, as it was lately mime, to see Shylock in the person of Mr. Irving, his grievance against Shakespeare will be gone for ever. He will realise that the centre of human interest is this very man, who has been talked of as the incar- nation of evil. Every tender touch that will make straight to the heart will be Shylock’s—the knife and the scales, the talk of the flesh and the blood, will go for no more than a momentary creep of the skin; but the downfall of the broken creature, the taunts of the enemies who triumph over him, the demand of the judge that he shall turn Christian, his last word of poor human infirmity— I pray you give me leaye to go from hence ; I am not well, —and his final exit will leave one feeling only exhibited on the face of the spectators—a feeling of profound pity for the man who began with everything and everyone against him, who has lost all, the wife he loved, the daughter who was his sole treasure, and the wealth that had been his bulwark against the world. All the grand rhetoric about the quality of mercy, and all the exquisite poetry of the scene of the moonlight will be forgotten, and the last deposit of the dramatist will be a plea for justice to the Jew. Now, I cannot believe that an effect like that could have been produced by accident, or without the conscious design of the dramatist. In short, my strong conviction is that, though Shakespeare Imew that to please the groundlings of his time it was necessary to heap contempt on the Jew, et in his heart as a man and his brain as a seer he felt and saw that the Jew was basely dealt with, and that the future would justify him. Indeed, I feel so sure of this that I challenge contradiction on the point that during the 300 odd years in which the ‘Merchant of Venice ’ has been played the curtain can never have fallen on the fourth act of it without the balance of sentiment being on the side of Shylock. If that is so, we must talk no longer of Shakespeare as anti-Semitic. For three centuries he has been the friend of the Jew. It is a fact worth men- tioning that after Shakespeare and his contem- poraries, down to our own century, no great English writer seems to have felt the Jewish cha- racter strongly. I can remember no important portrait of-a Jew in Fielding or Richardson or Smollett. Richard Cumberland certainly wrote two plays, both on the side of Jewish sympathy, ‘The Jew’ and ‘The Jew of Mogadore,’ and Thomas Dibden wrote at least one play, ‘The Jew and the Doctor, with the design of vindi- cating the Jewish character. Then of other sort we have the usurous Jews of the comedies  2H AUTHOR. 23 of Sheridan, as well as their spendthrift Christians, one of whom, as you remember, rejoices in the probable discovery of the ten lost tribes of Israelites for the good reason that he has exhausted the patience of the other two. But perhaps the first effort on a high level, without apology or restraint, was made in the Isaac of York of Scott’s ‘Ivanhoe.’ After that came a small group of noble Jewish studies, including those of Disraeli (whose theories of the doctrine of race deserve more attention than they receive), and George Eliot, of whom, perhaps, we can only wish that her later genius had vitalised Daniel Deronda as her earlier genius had vitalised Adam Bede. But the studies of heroic Jewish character have been astonishingly few in English literature, and few of that few have had a general acceptance. Only sketches of grotesque Jews have been numerous and popular. The Fagin of Dickens, a wonderfully vivid and no doubt essentially realistic piece of art, has been the father of a large family. Why is this? Is it because the writers copy each other, having no knowledge of better types? And if so, is their ignorance altogether their fault or partly their misfortune ¥ Do the Jews, in their old inveterate distrust of the showman (and the imaginative writer is a sort of showman), in their dislike and fear of the man who, as novelist and dramatist, has pursued them through the centuries with odium and ridicule, shut themselves up from him and so make it difficult to see the nobler qualities which no man carries on his sleeve? Certainly it does sometimes seem that if the walls of the Ghetto are fallen the Jewish company is still undispersed. The invisible bulwarks about the Jew appear formidable to some Christians. It has been my personal happiness to know one or two Jews of the best type on intimate terms of friendship, and it has therefore been easy for me to see the ancient and heroic side of Jewish cha- racter. May I dare to say ina company of Jews that it would be wellif the Jew came oftener out of the Mellah into the light and free air of the world that is common to all men? The Jew is notoriously assimilative and clubable, and it would be easy for him, in England at least, to laugh the grotesque Jew out of all claim to be regarded as atype. The mention of Fagin recalls a very real monstrosity which we smile at nearly as often as we seea play of London life, but which really almost deserves our genuine indignation— the Jew of the modern stage. We all know the worthy gentleman in his little shabby hat and his long sack coat, with his nasal snuffle and his mincing walk. The silly old buffoon is never so high in histrionic rank as the low comedian, for that is a jester whom the public is expected to laugh with, whereas the Jew is the living gargoyle whom they are expected to laughat. His charac- teristics are cunning and cowardice, usually tinc- tured with the greenest stupidity. Every fool scores off him, and his latter end is usually one of battered hats and eclipsed eyeballs. I will not say that this foolish person is invented solely in order that the public may indulge itself with laughter at the Jews, but that, some butt of ridicule being necessary, it is safer in England to make him a Jew than a Quaker, or a Plymouth Brother, or even a Mormon. For the silly caricature itself, there must perforce be some recognisable original in life; but surely it is a poor thing if the senti- ment of the modern English people is prepared to accept no more serious type of Jewish character. We remember, with a thrill of the heart, the noble- spirited Jews of the age, and we ask ourselves if it can be true that the English playgoer is unable or unwilling to contemplate with delight the good man and philanthropist in the person of a Jew. We are assured that it is so. Some time ago a well-known actor called on me to ask if I could write a play that would fit him with an appro- priate part. I took time to consider, and then propounded a scheme that centred in a Jew. My Jew was an heroic Jew—he did great things in a great way, but he did them in the way of a Jew, for he was a Jew to the inmost fibre of his being. There lay the rock on which my craft foundered. The actor would have nothing to say to my Jew. ‘An heroic Jew on the English stage is an impos- sibility,’ he said. ‘We give that class of person to the man who plays eccentric comedy.’ Now, why was this? Was it merely that the public had never had anything better offered to them than the zany out of the broker’s shop in White- chapel? Or was it that the public would reject the heroic Jew because they had found nothing heroic in the Jewish character to go upon? | I concluded that there was no reason in the nature of things why the nobler types of Jewish character should not find acceptance in literature just as they find it in life, and I resolved at all hazards to make the experiment of trying an heroic Jew on the English public. I have not yet been able to try him on the stage, but I have, as you know, tried him in a novel, with results which surpass my expectations; and I believe that just as the heroic Jew has been accepted in fiction, so he would be accepted on the boards; and that the dramatist will do a good work who breaks down the absurd superstition that the English public will take nothing in the person of a Jew but the buffoon in a bad hat. “The Jews have, perhaps, always been objects of ridicule on the stage, if not from the time of Aristophanes, certainly through the middle ages,  24 in the carnivals and other festivals ; and they have ever been known, as in the Purim plays of the 16th and 17th centuries, to use the stage against themselves, their rabbis, and even to some extent their faith. It has been an accepted con- vention throughout the centuries in many lands that the religion and character of the Jew might with safety be held up to the laughter not of tolerance and good humour, but of something like hatred and contempt as the incarnation of impossible vices and the perpetrator of inconceiv- able crimes, but it is, nevertheless, strange that in those countries of Europe where hatred of the Jews goes farthest this indisposition (which the English actors are so sure of) to accept the heroic Jew is not to be found. Germany, where the party of the judenhetze is, unhappily, so power- ful, has received with applause many plays, both in the present and past, wherein the Jew rises to the heights of tragedy. ‘ Uriel Acosta,’ though not strictly a play of Judaic bias, nevertheless deals with Jewish characters and beliefs on a high level of serious acceptance ; and it is at once the lasting honour, and I will say the standing shame, of Germany, that one of the very greatest of her sons, Lessing (a powerful and lifelong friend of the Hebrew people), writing in the 18th century, espoused the cause of the Jew in two great heroic works, ‘Nathan the Wise’ and ‘ The Jews,’ with the most obvious and deliberate in- tention of undermining that same intolerance with which the Judenhetzes, coming a hundred years later, have disgraced their age and country. Indeed, if I were asked what writer in modern times had been the champion of the Jews in Christendom, I think I should say Lessing, and the weapon he used was the only one that is now possible in the warfare against intolerance and persecution. ee ON LITERATURE. I. Av vue Royat Lirerary Fund. T its annual dinner Mr. Lecky, the chair- man, made a speech, of which the following is an extract as it was reported in the Times : “ It was one of its peculiarities that there were in literature large departments that could never be made remunerative. Many of the qualities which they most desired to see imported into literature were directly opposed to the pecuniary interests of those who practised them. Tt was true now, as-it was long ago, that the books that lived were not the books by which THE AUTHOR. authors lived. Some books failed because they did not accord with the passing taste or fashion of the hour; some because their thought was in advance of the time. For a long period Carlyle found only a few readers of that “ Sartor Resartus ” which was now the most popular of his books. Browning totally failed to catch the ear of the general public till years after the publication of the very poems on which his reputation now mainly rested. At the present day he supposed there were more books published than in any other period of the world’s history ; but he also supposed that there never was @ period in literary history at which there was so much literary talent not employed in pure litera- ture. A great deal of our literary talent was employed in the production of the daily and weekly papers. No one could fail to be struck by the excellent writing which at the present day characterised scientific work. The writings of such men as Herschel and Lyell among the dead and Huxley and Tyndall among the living, afforded conspicuous examples of this excel- lence. A great French writer once said that literature would lead to anything provided that one abandoned it; and, in spite of all the charges that had taken place in recent times, he supposed that it was still true that no wise man would recommend a young man to devote himself to the higher forms of literature, unless he happened to possess an independent competence or a self- supporting profession.” Il. Av var Royat AcapemMy DINNER. The following is the report of Prof. Butcher’s speech at the Royal Academy dinner, as given in the Times :—“ Any one who in this age proposes the toast of literature has this singular advan- tage, that almost every one of his audience is pretty sure at some time or another to have committed himself to print; either he has written a book, or edited a paper, or, at least, produced a volume of poems. In the brillant assemblage here this evening there are, Limagine, those present who are so busy making literature that they must have but few moments left for reading it; there are also those who are making history, arid making it so fast that they have little leisure for studying history. Now, the makers of literature are at present largely occupied with recording or commenting on the sayings of the makers of history; and they find it, I fancy, no light task to keep pace with the makers of history, least of all in the Easter recess. But ‘litera- ture in this sense is probably not that which  THE the President was chiefly thinking of when he pro- posed the toast of ‘ Literature,’ and proposed it, if I may be allowed to say so, in such a way as most loyally to pay back to the Greeks, and in language which they themselves would have delighted to listen to, his debt of nurture to them. In the name of those authors, whom men call dead, I would thank him for the tribute of such praise; and I would also add a word of private gratitude for his generous mention of myself, who am merely the humble interpreter of those same authors, whom I believe to be living. Of literature there are many grades. A rail- way guide, or a peerage, or a Blue-book is not literature, nor even what is known as scientific literature. At what point writing becomes literature it is not easy to say definitely. But there are signs to-day that the truth discovered by tho Greeks is penetrating men’s minds—the truth, I mean, that the writing which does not awaken human thought, which does not engage the emotions or hold the affections, the writing into which beauty of form does not enter, is not literature, but the raw material of literature. I would not be supposed to suggest that a British popular audience, like some Greek audiences of which we read, is as yet in any danger of getting ear-ache or neuralgia from some defective harmonies of spoken or written prose. Still the feeling begins to prevail that he who would worthily pursue the calling of letters must have somethmg of the spirit of the artist, and that well-written books alone survive. That there is apt to be a weak side to literary estheticism, who candoubt? In ‘ Don Quixote’ we read of a certain author who was renowned for ‘the brilliancy of his prose and the beautiful perplexity of his expression.’ We seem to know the type. Let the phrase be but beautiful and rhythmical, musical and flowing, and it matters not if the fine words conceal emptiness beneath. A minor poet was described by an ancient writer as ‘a strange phantom fed upon dew and ambrosia.’ Him, too, we know. His sustenance is not upon the solid earth. He sings and soars; he loves and laments, he knows not what or why; harmonious and meaningless is his song. The cult of the meaningless is from time to time in the ascendant. You, gentlemen, who are Academicians are sometimes invited to become its votaries. Not long ago I was at an exhibition of pictures elsewhere. I stood in wonder before a certain portrait, which I could not understand. I begged a friend who was initiated into the principles of the school to explain it. The reply was, ‘Think away the head and the face, and you have a residuum of pure colour. Whether this doctrine is to be ac- AUTHOR. 25 cepted in painting, and particularly in portrait paimting, I do not know; but in literature at least it means sure decay. Think away the meaning, get rid of the context, and you have beautiful and pure form. Yes, form is essential, but not form without substance. Here, again, we come back to the Greeks as the models of the true literary spirit—the Greeks, who were able even to make science literary, and to produce a treatise on medicine, which bears the stamp of the great masters of language. They felt, indeed, that the writer is an artist, and not an artisan; that beauty is of the essence of literature, and that a formless work of literature is in truth a misnomer, being dead from the out- set. Yet the literary writer is not a maker of fine phrases or a singer in the void. Inthe great Greek authors the words used seem to be the direct reflection of the thing seen. Nothing comes between the eye and the object. They are words of vision. Instead of the approximate, the con- ventional, the insipid word, you have the precise and happily expressive term. Yet the phrase is never importunate. The style is not strained or self-asserting. It does not seek for itself a separate existence. And the secret of the matter hes in this, that the writer had something to say, and was not merely concerned as to how he said it. He was in close contact with realities. He touched the springs of national life. He used, while at the same time he ennobled, the native idiom of the people. It is the glory of Greek literature that of all literatures it is at once the most artistic and the most popular; and this supreme merit belongs hardly in a less degree to our own English literature. That is the true democratic spirit in things literary.. And our hope, our best hope, for the literature of the future would be that, as the democratic movement extends and calls forth enlarged intel- lectual sympathies, the old Hellenic harmony may be established between that eternal love of beauty on which all art and literature rest and that love of scientific truth which is one of the dominant marks of this century.” ee FROM THE PAPERS. —— i Friction MANnuracturED By THE YARD. EW YORK can boast of many curious institutions ; perhaps the most wonderful is a real and fully equipped literary factory. Mr. Edward W. Bok, the well-known literary critic, came across the place the other  26 THE day, and in the Philadelphia Weekly Times describes the remarkable industry. This literary factory (he says) is hidden away in one of the by-streets of New York, where one would never dream of finding anything in the shape of litera- ture. It employs over thirty people, mostly girls and women. For the most part these girls are intelligent. It is their duty to read all the daily and weekly periodicals in the land. These “exchanges ” are bought by the pound from an old junk dealer. Any unusual story of city life—mostly the mis- doings of city people—is marked by these girls and turned over to one of three managers. These managers, who are men, select the best of these marked articles, and turn over such as are available to one of a corps of five women, who digest the happening given to them and transform it to a skeleton or outline for a story. This shell, if it may be so called, is then referred to the chief manager, who turns to a large address book and adapts the skeleton to some one of the hundred or more writers entered on his book. Enclosed with the skeleton is sent a blank form, of which the following is an exact copy: To Please make of the enclosed material a —— part story, not to exceed words for each part. Delivery of copy must be by at the latest. A cheque for dols. will be sent you upon receipt of manuscript. Notify us at once whether you can carry out this commis- sion for us. Very respectfully, Now, the most remarkable part of this remarkable literary manufactory to me, was that manager's address book of authors upon whom he felt at liberty to call for these “written by the yard” stories. The book was handed to me to look over, for my private examination, of course. There were at least twenty writers upon that book which the public would never think of associating with this class of work—men and women of good lite- rary reputation, whose work is often encountered in some of our best magazines. “Not such a bad list of authors, is it?”’ laugh- ingly said the “manager” as he noted my look of astonishment. I was compelled to confess it was not. “Why, those authors to whose names you have pointed are glad to do this work for us. Their willingness is -far greater than our ability to supply them with ‘ plots.’ “ What in the world do you do with these stories?”’ I asked. ‘‘ We sell them to the cheaper sensational weeklies, to boiler-plate factories, and to publishers of hair- curling libraries of adventure.” Upon further inquiry, I found that very good prices were paid the authors, and that, of course, AUTHOR. even better rates were received by the “factory” from their customers. The fact is this business is of the most profitable character to its owners. Were it a stock company, a handsome dividend could be declared each year. The “ factory” does not care where its authors get their material from so long as the story, when finished, is cal- culated to please the miscellaneons audience for which it is intended. ‘Situations,’ and of the most dramatic and startling character must be frequent, and two or three murders and a rescue or two in one chapter are not a bit too many. Talk about writing stories to order! Here isa completely equipped factory which actually cuts them out with a hatchet! Patt Marui GAzerte. May 23, 1892. ——— II. A Curious EXPERIMENT. The case of the editor who wants to contri- bute an article to some other periodical than his own is acuriousone, For the time being he has put himself in the place of a contributor, and feels the pangs of a timid author. There was once a newspaper editor who was inspired to write an article of a light and enter- taining character, suitable for a magazine. He wrote it in his odd moments, and then set to speculating whether it had any particular value. Tt seemed to him that it had, but the reflection that he might be prejudiced in its favour troubled him. He had had precisely the same feeling when someone had brought him an article that he wanted to judge favourably. How was he to get his own impartial judgment of his own article? He thought about it some time, and finally decided that the only way to get the necessary conditions was to send himself the article through the post, to receive it with other contributions, and to treat it all the way through as if it were somebody else’s. The plan worked like a charm. The editor wrote a little note to himself to accompany the article, enclosed stamps for a reply or a return of the manuscript, and mailed the whole at the post-office. Towards the close of the day, when the editor was near the end of a lot of wearisome communications, and had got himself into the declining mood that comes with fatigue, his article arrived. After he had allowed it to lie for awhile he broke the seal and read it. Then he took a little slip, wrote on it reflectively, inclosed it with the manuscript in a big envelope, stuck on the stamp, sealed the envelope, and put it into the department marked “ post-office” in THE the tin box that hung by the side of the desk. Next morning he received the parcel back, and read with breathless interest this note, which accompanied the manuscript :— “ Unsuitable. Too discursive and trivial in its tone. Should have been elaborated with more care. Many passages not needed in the presenta- tion of the idea. Contains promise, however. Author is advised to try again.”—Leeds Satur- day Journal, March 5, 1892. TEE. PERSONAL. The literary editor or book-reviewer is some- times less bored than at others by his monotonous task. When he receives a letter from an obscure publishing-house, enclosing “personal gossip ”’ about the author of some forthcoming book, ac- companied by a promise to send “a cloth copy of the book, the moment it is issued, with the author’s autograph,” if only he will print the said gossip “in advance, as news,” he is easily able to conjure up a smile. And when he receives such a note as the following (written so recently as April 14), he can smile again—if he be of a cynical turn of mind: “If not out of harmony with any of your regulations, I will greatly appreciate the publication of something similar to the following ‘| among your literary personals.’ This is the a) 5: 6° Mire, , who contributed to the March , the charming little poem ‘ = which seems to have been very kindly considerec by the newspapers of the country, is the wife of , the well-known journalist and writer, whose verses are familiar to the readers of the and .’ The “@” comes from the “well-known writer and journalist’ whose wife’s “charming little poem” “seems to have been very kindly considered by the newspapers.” But this is not the way to secure “kindly considera- tion” for “charming little poems.” “Heaven defend us from our friends ’’—and husbands.— New York Critic. ——— LV Tuomas Moors. From the diary of Thomas Moore, p. 263 :— “19th. Some pleasant talk with Strangford about old times, the times when he and I were gay young gentlemen (and both almost equally penniless) about town, and that rogue C. was tricking us both out of the profits of our first poetical vagaries. The price of a horse (£30) which C. advanced, the horse falling lame at the same time, was all that Strangford, I believe, got AUTHOR. 27 from him for his ‘ Camoens,’ and my little account was despatched in pretty much the same manner. I remember, as vividly almost as if it took place but yesterday, C. coming into my bedroom about noon one day (some ball having kept me up late the night before), and telling me that, on looking over my account with him, he found the balance against me toabout £60. Such a sum was to me, at that time, almost beyond counting. I instantly started up from my pillow exclaiming, ‘ What zs to be done ?’ when he said very kindly, that if I would make over to him the copyright of ‘ Little’s Poems’ (then in their first blush of success) he would cancel the whole account. ‘My dear fellow,’ I exclaimed, ‘ most willingly, and thanks for the relief you have given me.’ I cannot take upon myself now to say how much this made the whole amount I received for the work, but it was something very triflmg, and C. himself told a friend of mine, some years after, that he was in the receipt of nearly £200 a year from the sale of that volume.” Oe CORRESPONDENCE. ———>+- > i WaAs THERE A Contract to PusLisH? R. FITZGERALD MOLLOY’S note on “ Magazines and Editors” reminds me of an experience of mine which raises a question of some interest. In 1883 I sent an article to the Saturday Review which was accepted and promptly published and paid for. Early in 1884 I submitted a second article to the Saturday, which was also accepted, and a proof of which I received and returned corrected. Time passed—a considerable time--but the essay did not appear. At last, being about to leave England, I wrote to state the fact and to ask the favour of payment. A cheque was promptly forwarded to me and duly acknowledged; but year after year went by without mv article appearing. In 1890, having returned to England, I wrote to the editor of the Saturday Review, inquiring whether it was intended to shelve my little essay definitely, and, if so, whether I might be permitted to resume my right of property in it, as I had kepta copy. The editor sent mea courteous letter in reply, which, however, did not answer my questions. Practically, it amounted to an expression of the opinion that, as I had been paid, I had nothing to complain of. This view, I know, pretty generally prevails in such eases; but, although I am myself an humble member of the editorial guild, I cannot agree  28 THE © with it. Surely publication is essential to the due fulfilment of the contract between editor and contributor. If it be withheld, ought not the latter, after a reasonable time, to be allowed to put his manuscript in the market again, if he has been wise enough to keep a copy? I do not see that he ought to be called on first to refund the purchase money, the breach of contract not being on his side. Moreover, he would have to take the chance that the lapse of time would have deprived his work of interest. In the case of my paid-for but unpublished contribution to the Saturday Review, however, the subject is one of more interest now than it was in 1884. I might give the ana the essay contained a new setting, but, ought I to be called on to take the trouble, and would the Saturday Review be entitled to complain, if I did take it ? Leita DERweEnt. [Leith Derwent” has fallen into a not un- common confusion. When a paper, such as the Saturday Review, consists entirely of unsigned articles, the editor is as much responsible for the opinions of each article as if he had written them himself. The opinions are those of the paper ; the paper is himself. He therefore has the com- plete right of altering, suppressing, adding to, changing, or abridging any article that is offered to him. This right has always been exercised without question by all editors in the case of unsigned articles. ‘(Leith Derwent” offered a paper which was set up by the editor, and the copyright of which was paid for, though it is doubtful whether the editor was legally obliged to pay for it. There the author’s rights over the paper ceased, except that, by the copynght law, he could republish it after twenty-eight years. But, says “‘ Leith Derwent,’ does not the print- ing of the article involve a contract to publish? Let us consider. Suppose the article was found to contain matter against the policy advocated by the paper, or libellous, or in any other way dangerous and hurtful, would the editor be held, in any court of law, obliged to publish it? Certainly not. As for dressing up the paper im a new setting, no one but the author can answer the question. | II. Macazines AND Epirors. Is this experience a common one? In the year 1888 I sent a short story to a well-known monthly magazine, whose list of contributors in- cludes almost every famous name in contemporary letters. Within three months I received a letter from the editor, offermg me one guinea for the AUTHOR. use of the story. I wasa very young author then, and not acquainted with the perfection of our postal service ; and, albeit the sum was miserably inadequate, I accepted. This was in June; the story was published and paid for in November. Now comes the strange part of the incident. Two months later, the proprietors of the magazine—a firm of reputation and standing—wrote to me, enclosing a cheque for £1 5s. as “moiety of sum received from America for the use of your story here.” Doubtless themselves retained the other moiety, and thus got my story for nothing, and made besides a profit of four shillings! The ques- tion arises, what right had they—seeing that originally they had only paid me for the use of the story in their magazine—to retain a part of any sum accruing to the author over and above? I sought advice; apparently there was no redress. I was not then a member of the society. Davip Lawson JOHNSTONE. SS Ii. TRANSLATIONS. Sir, May I ask you whether any agency exists through which some luckless translators may discover who may be at work upon the volumes they fondly hope to introduce to English readers ? When we have written to the foreign publishers, without receiving any intimation that we are forestalled, what other precautions can we take ? 1 have just had the pleasure of reading a review, in a literary newspaper, of “ Countess Erika’s Ap- prenticeship,” a pleasing German novel only sent us last Christmas, but which I made haste to render into English as soon as the publisher’s letter was received. Twice before this fate has befallen my poor pen, and once, en revanche, a poor lady met with a similar fate through me. It was only when my version of the ‘‘ Chancellor of the Tyrol” was out, that a despairing letter from a fellow-worker told me that a labour of months had been hers in vain—that she, too, had been fired by the desire to make English readers know that fine story. We should be gratified for any hints which might spare us so much labour in vain. Your obedient servant, DorotHEa RosBErts. May 7, 1892. [Translators would spare themselves much disappointment if they did not attempt work until they had obtained the leave and licence of theauthor. This once obtained, they are perfectly safe.—Hp1rTor. | : THE ING Tue JLirerary anp Art AGENCY. In the report of this case, published in your last issue, I see that “the Reverend” T. B.S. Harington is reported to have said that he had procured a situation through his agency for a person as secretary to the Association for pre- venting the Immigration of Destitute Aliens. As I thought this might possibly refer to one of my clerks, I have made inquiries upon the sub- ject, and [ find no one employed by this Associa- tion has had any dealings with Harington or his Agency. The statement therefore must have been a fabrication. W. H. Witkrns. Hon. Secretary. Association for Preventing the Immigration of Destitute Aliens, 158, Arlington Street, S.W. “AT THE AUTHOR'S HEAD.” SS Esmé Stuart has written a novel called “ Virginie’s Husband” (Innes and Co.). The author’s writing is well known and always welcome. Pure in style and thought, dainty and delicate in expression, clear of outline, and steady in purpose, this book is fully equal to her reputation. James Russell Lowell’s lectures on the English Dramatists will be published in the autumn by Houghton, Mifflin, and Co. We call attention to a book entitled ‘ Taxa- tion, 1891-2. A History,” an anonymous work published by Eden, Remington, and Co. It con- tains an account of the taxation of the country, the revenue, customs, excise, stamps, and duties of all kinds. There is an elaborate index, and the work will be found useful as a compendium of the whole subject. The death of Mr. James Osgood has been a great shock to many of us. In starting the firm of Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., in Albermarle- street, he was avowedly anxious to work on such lines as would be approved and agreed upon between himself and this Society. He was singularly candid, and always ready to discuss fairly and openly those points which cause friction and ill-feeling between author and publisher. O si sic omnes! AUTHOR. 29 We copy from the Athenxwn the announce- ments that Mr. P. W. Clayden is engaged upon a political history of the last six years; that Professor Huxley is collecting his recent essays, and that Mr. Samuel Butler is preparing a memoir of his grandfather, Head Master of Shrewsbury, which will present a picture of school life early in the century. Mr. Hamilton Aidé’s new novel, “ A Voyage of Discovery,” is issued by Messrs. Osgood and M‘Ilvaine. Mr. H. Savile Clarke’s contribution to the ““Whitefriars Library of Wit and Humour,” is called “A Little Flutter. Stage, Story, and Stanza.” Mr. Egerton Castle’s new book is a reprint of seven stories which have already appeared in magazines. It is a book to note, and to buy, and to read. A coloured woman has just published a novel in America, the first ever published by a member of her race. It is entitled “ True Love,’ and is fairly up to the average of such works. The authoress, Sarah E. Farro, is quite black of complexion, and is twenty- six years old. Her favourite authors are Holmes, Dickens, and Thackeray. She lives in Chicago, where she has had a high school educa- tion. London City Suburbs, by Percy Fitzgerald and William Luker, Jun., a companion volume to the beautifully illustrated ‘ London City,” issued last year from the Leadenhall Press, is announced to appear in the autumn, and the prospectus is now ready. A list of Sub- scribers’ names and addresses is to be printed in the work. The Queen has accepted the dedication. The fifteenth edition of an advanced mathe- matical work is some proof of the extent of mathematical studies. Thirty years ago Mr. W. H. Besant, F.R.S., D.S.C., produced the first edition of ‘“‘Elementary Hydrostatics, with Chapters on the Motion of Fluids and on Sound.” On an average each edition has lasted two years. Few books in science have so long a life. The publishers have always been George Bell and Sons. Mrs. John Croker’s new novel, ‘‘ Interference,” which has been running serially in India and England, will be published simultaneously in London (F. V. White), Canada, and America. It is also translated into German.  30 There is a complaint that the tomb of Theodore Hook in Fulham churchyard is crumbling to pieces. As is the tomb, sois the man. Theodore Hook has been crumbling to pieces for many years. Who, nowadays, reads “Jack Brag”? His collected essays and pieces are dreary reading ; his jokes are all old; his stories forgotten. No one can remember many stories very long unless they have got the humanity strong and warm. Compare the grave of Theodore Hook with that of Charles Lamb. The latter is neat, well cared for, well kept, because his memory is green and his works delight as much now as in his own generation. If we leave off visiting the grave of Theodore Hook, if we leave it to fall into decay, it is because we are forgetting the man and all he wrote. Mr. Charles Garvice has written, and Mr. George Munro of New York has published, a story entitled ‘Paid For.” This is a strong tale. Many of its situations are not very novel, but they are strikingly treated. It has been arranged, through the Authors’ Syndicate that Mr. James Payn’s new story, “A Stumble on the Threshold,” should run serially through the Queen, beginning in July next. The story will be published in the autumn simultaneously by Mr. Horace Cox and Messrs. D. Appleton and Co. Messrs. Chatto and Windus are holding back Mr. Walter Besant’s “ London” until October, in consequence of the probable near approach of the General Election. A very large number of publishers have made arrangements to hold over their forthcoming volumes for the same cause. The Authors’ Syndicate has also arranged for the serial publication of the following stories :— “Capt'n Davy’s Honeymoon,” by Hall Caine, in Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper ; ‘‘ The Countess Radna,’ by W. EH. Norris, in the Cornhill Magazine; ‘The Last Sentence,” by Maxwell Gray, in Great Thoughts; ‘‘ December Roses,” by Mrs. Campbell Praed, in Sala’s Journal. Mr. E. J. Goodman’s new mystery story, “The Fate of Herbert Wayne,’ will commence to run in a number of newspapers in July. The arrangements have been made by the Authors’ Syndicate. Mr. Hall Caine has practically re-written the new edition of the ‘ Scapegoat,” which has just been published by Mr. Wm. Heinemann Several chapters have been deleted and three new chapters added, and the story has been largely re-cast. THE AUTHOR. Mr. A. Egmont Hake has written a volume entitled “Suffering London, or the Hygienic, Moral, Social and Political Relation of our Voluntary Hospitals to Society,” which, with an introduction by Mr. Walter Besant, has just been published by the Scientific Press Limited. The volume undoubtedly throws a vivid light on the whole of the hospital question, and is sure to attract wide attention. Mr. Hake shows a wide and many-sided knowledge of all the elements of this great problem. Mr. William Toynbee’s English version of Béranger will be issued this month by Walter Scott Limited, in the Canterbury Poets series. Messrs. F. V. White and Co. will publish during this month a new novel by John Strange Winter under the title of ‘My Geoff; the Experiences of a Lady Help,” in one volume. at 2s. 6d. The story has been running as a serial during the last six months in Winter’s Weekly. A small illustrated volume entitled ‘“ The Cruise of the Tomahawk; the Story of a Summer Holiday,” is about to be published by Messrs. Eden and Remington. It is wmitten by Mrs. Leith-Adams, assisted by two friends, and gives a graphic description of life on the river. Mrs. Leith-Adams has also a new three volume work in the press. It is called “The Peyton Romance,” and will be published by Messrs. Kegan Paul, Trench, and Co. H.S.H. the Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, having accepted with approval the Prelude to the Idylls of the Queen (by William Alfred Gibbs), has also expressed a wish for the con- tinuation of this work. Part I. will now, therefore, be published by Messrs. Sampson, Low, Marston, and Co. early in June. The profits will be given in aid of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. A correspondent asks us to call attention to a novel called, ‘A Fellowe and his Wife.” by William Sharp and Blanche Howard. “Devil Caresfoot,” the stage version of Mr. Rider Haggard’s ‘‘ Dawn,” by C. Haddon Cham- bers and J. Stanley Little, is to be put up for a run in the provinces shortly, and its revival in London is talked about. Mr. R. Orton Prowse has written, and Messrs. Methuen have published, “The Poison of Asps,” a one volume story which shows considerable promise.  THE AUTHOR, 31 In our specification of the more noticeable books issued last month, we omitted to mention “‘ Golden Face:-A Tale of the Wild West,’ by Bertram Mitford. A stirring story full of dramatic inci- dent, based upon the state of affairs immediately preceding the Sioux War of 1876. Itis published by Trischler and Co. Mr. Leonard Merrick’s new two-volume novel, “The Man Who Was Good,” is announced by Messrs. Chatto and Windus. The Publisher's Circular is responsible for the rumour that Mr. Rudyard Kipling intends to reside permanently at Vermont, U.S.A. Messrs. Chatto and Windus have published Mr. Walter Besant’s new collection of short stories, “‘ Verbena, Camellia, Stephanotis.” The other stories included in this volume are “ The Doubts of Dives,” ‘The Demoniac,” and “The Doll’s House.” NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. ———— Theology. Aton, Henry, D.D. Comfort in the Wilderness. The last sermon preached in Union Chapel, Islington, on Sunday, April 10, by the late Henry Allon, D.D. With portrait. Williams, Moorgate Street, E.C. Paper covers, 6d. Auton, Henry D.D. The Indwelling Christ, and other Sermons. Isbister and Co., Tavistock Street. 7s. 6d. Barron, Epw. Pinper, M.A. Regni Evangelium; A Survey of the Teaching of Jesus Christ. Williams and Norgate, Henrietta Street. 6s. Bru, Cuartes D.,D.D. The Name above Every Name, and other Sermons. Edward Arnold, Bedford Street. 5s. Burns, WALTER. Anthems and Hymns. New and enlarged edition. Published by the author, at Rose- mary Street, Belfast. Cloth, 1s. 6d. CHURCH OF IRELAND, THE. By Thomas Olden,M.A. The National Churches Series, edited by P. H. Ditchfield, M.A. With maps. Wells Gardner, Paternoster Build- ings. D’Atvietta, Count G. The Hibbert Lectures on the Origin and Growth of the Conception of God, as illus- trated by Anthropology and History. Williams and Norgate. 10s. 6d. Dawson, Rev. W. J. The Church of To-morrow: a series of addresses delivered in America, Canada, and Great Britain. James Clarke and Co. 43s. 6d. Ho.isorow, Arruur. Evolution and Scripture, or the relation between the teaching of Scripture and the con- clusions of astronomy, geology, and biology, with an inquiry into the nature of the Scriptures and inspira- tion. Kegan Paul. Lay, Joun Warp. St. Matthew’s Gospel: Who Wrote it, and How Far may it be Considered Apocryphal ? Kegan Paul. 3d. Mactaren, AuEx., D.D. The Gospel of St. Matthew. Vol. 1. Hodder and Stoughton. 3s. 6d. MopERN CuurcH, Tax: A Journal of; Scottish Religious Life. Vol. 1. E. W. Allen, Ave Maria Lane. Murpuy, THomas. The Position of the Catholic Church in England and Wales durmg the Last Two Centuries: Retrospect and Forecast. Prize Essays. Edited for the XV. Club by the Lord Braye, president of the club. Burns and Oates. 2s. 6d. Or THE IMITATION OF CHRIST. Kegan Paul. RawnsuEy, H. D. Notes for the Nile, together with a metrical rendering of the Hymns of Ancient Egypt and of the precepts of Ptah-Hotep (the oldest book in the world). Heinemann, Bedford-street. 5s. In Latin and English. RoBERTSON-SmitH, W. The Old Testament in the Jewish Church: a Course of Lectures on Biblical Criticism. Second Edition, revised and much enlarged. A. and C. Black. Srrona,T.B., M.A. A Manual of Theology. A. and C. Black. Taytor, C., D.D. The Witness of Hermas to the Four Gospels. C. J. Clay and Sons, Cambridge University Press. THOROLD, Rr. Rev., A. W., D.D. 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Return of the Number of Agrarian Outrages reported to the Inspector-General of the Royal Trish Constabulary during the quarter ended March 31 (3d.). Ordinance made by the Scottish Universities Commis- sioners with regard to Libraries (1d.). Census of Ireland, Vol. I11.—Province of Ulster (8d.). Return to Army Officers’ Service (}d.). Foreign Office Miscel- laneous Series—Report on the History and Progress of Telephone Enterprise in Belgium (1d.). Report from the Select Committee on Greenwich Hospital (Age Pensions), with the proceedings of the committee (2d.). Returns as to Railway Accidents during 1891 (1s. 10d.). Return as to Equivalent Grant (Scotland) Distribution (14d.). Report on Mines for the Cornwall and Devon THE AUTHOR. District for 1891 (3d.). General Abstract of Marriages, Births, and Deaths Registered in England in 1891 (1d.). Reports of Her Majesty’s Inspector of Mines for (1) the East Scotland District (63d.) ; (2) the Newcastle District (4d.); (3) the North Staffordshire District (11d.). Return as to the amounts paid in 1891 under the Local Taxation (Customs and Excise) Act, 1890 (2d.) ; Financial Statement, 1892-93 (14.) ; Ordinances made by the British South Africa Company (1d.). Return as to the American Mail Service (1}d.). Colonial Report, Annual—Reports for 1890 on British Honduras, Labuan, Barbados, Mauritius, and St. Helena (id. each); for 1889, on Ceylon (13d.); and on Basutoland, for 1890-91 (2d.) Foreign Office Annual Series—Reports for 1891 on the Trade of Rosario (1d.); on the Trade of Santos and Immigration into Brazil (2}d.); on the Agricultural Condition of the Consular District of Mogador (1d.); on the Trade of Santo Domingo (}d.); on the Trade of the Philippines (13d.). Report for 1890-91 on the Trade of Palestine (1d.). Statement of the Trade of British India with British Possessions and Foreign Countries for the five years from 1886-87 to 1890-91 (1 1d.). Return by the Railway Companies of the United Kingdom for the six months ended December 31, 1891 (18.). Report on Mines in the South-Western District for 1891 (5d.). Census of Ireland, Vol. I1—Munster. Summary, tables, and indexes (1s.); Vol. TII.—Ulster, No. 5, Down (11d.). Public Income and Expenditure, Account for year ended March 31. 1892 (3d.). Public Expen- diture and Receipts for the same period (4d.). Return of the dates on which each Parliament was Elected and Dissolved since the passing of the Septennial Act, together with the periods that elapsed in each case between the Dissolution and the Meeting of the new Parliament (}d.). Accounts Relating to Trade and Navigation of the United Kingdom for April (7d.). Foreign Office Annual Series—Reports for 1891 on the Trade of the Consular district of Taganrog, Russia (2kd.); of the District of the Consulate-General at Antwerp (13d.); of Foochow (1d.) ; and of Ichang (5d.). Foreign Office Annual Series—Reports for 1891 on the Trade of Madeira (id.); of Pakhoi, China (1d.) ; and of the Consular district of Brest (id.). Mines, Miners, and Minerals, Return (}d.) Further paper relative to the present working of the “ Liquor Laws” in Canada (13d.). Government Contracts (Wages), Return (23d.). Report on the Ignition and Partial Explosion of Gelatine Dynamite at Nantywyn Lead Mine, Car- marthenshire, on March 28 last (1d.). 16th Annual Report of Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Explosives, for 1891 (}d.). Report of the Meteorological Council to the Royal Society for the year ending March 31, 1891 (s$d.). Education Department, Return relating to Blementary Schools (2$d.). Foreign Office—Annual Series, Report for 1891 on the Trade of Marseilles and Lyons (rd.). Miscellaneous Series, Report on the Native Industries of Japan (2d.). Special Report from the Select Committee on Railway Servants, Hours of Labour (1s. o}d.). Irish Land Commission, Return of proceedings during March (id.). Supplemental rules under the Redemption of Rent (Ireland) Act, 1891 (id.). Return as to Government Contracts with Foreigners (}d.). Universities Act, 1877—Statutes made by the Governing Body of Trinity Hall (d.). Report on the Circumstances attending the Ignition and Partial Explosion of Gelatine Dynamite at Nantymwyn Lead Mine, Carmarthenshire, on March 28, 1892; by Lieut.-Colonel Cundill, B.A., Her Majesty’s Inspector of Explosives ; Eyre and Spottiswoode (1d.).  ADVERTISEMENTS PORNO I TOO VOTO Ts 4 PS CHRONICLE. E Es Eas CSS SOOT TY Poo AONE LEADERS RE viven every week on current and interesting topics. “GAZETTE DES DAMES ” HHRONICLES all events of special in- terest to ladies. It also contains correspondence on the social subjects that are within the province of women. “MUSIC AND MUSICIANS ” REATS of all the Musical Societies, the Operas, and the new Vocal and Instrumental Music. “THE DRAMA.” RITIQUES of all Performances at the : London Theatres, Theatrical Gossip, C. PORTRAITS AND BIOGRAPHIES OF the most celebrated Personages, both men and women, of the paee and present ages, are frequently given. THE “WORK TABLE” iG devoted to designs and descriptions of all new and useful work. Orna- mental Feather Work, Fretwork, Solid Wood Carving, Church Embroidery, Crochet, Tatting, Leatherwork, Knitting, &c., &c., are all fully treated. SATURDAY. COLOURED FASHION PLATES RE given gratis with THE QUEEN of the first Saturday of every month. “THE PARIS FASHIONS” IVES Mlustrations and Descriptions of the Dresses worn in Paris at the Promenades, Balls, Fétes, and elsewhere EMBROIDERY, CROCHET, AND TATTING RE all treated by Ladies well qualified to dosso. | IO [Price 6d. THE NEW BOOKS HAT would be likely to interest Ladies are carefully reviewed. “LYRA DOMESTICA” (Gexzes Original Poetry. J Ace the NEW MUSIC is noticed. “THE TOURIST” Gus account of Travel and Places. “CAUSERIE DE PARIS” S aweekly letter from Paris, giving all the chit-chat and doings of that city. “THE COURT CHRONICLE” IVES all the fashionable movements at home and abroad. THE DOINGS OF THE UPPER EN THOUSAND A T Home and Abroad are chronicled. LETTERS {ROM Paris and Vienna, with Notes from Scotland, Ireland, and else- where, are given weekly. “NATURAL HISTORY” OR ladies also ferms a feature of THE QUEEN. COLOURED PATTERNS A given, gratis, monthly. “THE EXCHANGE” 1 a department of THE QUEEN that enebles ladies ‘and others to procure articles that they want for those for which they have no further use. Crests, Monograms, Seals, Stamps, Feathers, Coins, Objects of Art or Vertu, Patterns, Jewellery, or, in short, any of those mul- titudinous articles that interest, or are of use to, ladies, are readily disposed of. THE BOUDOIR S set apart for Notes and Queries on Etiquette and such-like. NOTES AND QUESTIONS, Woe their Answers, on every subject relating to Ladies, will be found in their respective departments. “PASTIMES ” eae Acrostics, Croquet, Chess, Acting Charades &c., &. “THE GARDEN” 1é a column set apart for instructions for Ladies’ Gardening. PATTERNS OF all kinds, both coloured and plain, including Traced Paper Patterns, Braiding Patterns, Cut Paper Patterns, Crest Album Designs, Wood-Carving De- signs, Berlin Wool Patterns, Fretwock Patterns, &c., &c., are given. THE QUEEN EE published every Saturday, price 6d., stamped 64d. “THE HOUSEWIFE” IVES practical instructions for the management of a household, useful and valuable recipes for cooking, pre- serving, pickling, &c. &c. “THE LIBRARY TABLE” (ae reviews of the New Books, Literary, Artistic, and Scientific Gossip, Notes and Queries about Authors and Books, &c. ORNAMENTAL WORK 0? every kind is fully discussed. LL interesting TOPICS are treated ed writers well-known in the literary world, ILLUSTRATIONS ORM a conspicuous feature of the paper. SUBSCRIPTION: Qos 7s.; Half-yearly, lds. Yearly, £1 8. OFFICE: 346, STRAND LONDON, W.c FORM OF ORDER. To Mr. Horace Cox, Bream’s Buildings, London, E.C. Please send me Tue QUEEN, commencing with last Saturday's number, and continue sending it until cowuntermanded. TI enclose £ : : x Subscription in advanee. Di w/e Name for Address  i : | / 40 ADVERTISEMENTS. Not Work, but Play. Leave the drudgery of the Pen—Soiled Fingers—Blotted and Obscure Manuscript, to those who prefer darkness to light. Quick, up-to-date writers use THE BAR-LOCK Why? TYPE-WRITER. Easiest Managed; Soonest Learned; Most Durable; Writing Always Visible ; does best work, and never gets out of repair. Chosen, by Royal Warrant, Type-Writer to the Queen. Only gold medals —Edinburgh (1890) and Jamaica (1891) Exhibitions; is used in principal Government Departments, and greatest number of English business houses, and by the Society of Authors. We send interesting supply of further information free. THE TYPE-WRITER COMPANY LIMITED. 12 & 14, Queen Victoria-street, London, E.C.; 22, Renfield-street, Glasgow. Local Agents in all Districts. THE AUTHOR'S HAIRLESS PAPER-PAD. (Tue LeapENHALL Press Lrp., E.C.) i Contains hairless paper, over which the pen slips with perfect freedom. Siepence each: 58. per dozen, ruled or plain. Miss RR. V. GILE, TYPE-WRITING OFFICES, 6, Adam-street, Strand, ‘W.C. ne Authors’ and dramatists’ Work a Speciality. All kinds of MSS. copied with care. Extra attention given to difficult hand-writing and to papers or lectures on scientific subjects. Type-writing from dictation. Shorthand Notes taken and transcribed. (ON Se ee ee FURTHER PARTICULARS ON APPLICATION. THE BOOK REVIEW INDEX—No. 1. An Index to the Reviews of New Books published during the current Quarter (since 1st March last). Ready, June 2, 24 pp., medium 4to. Price 6d., net, by post 7d. OWLES & READER, 58, Furer-strEET, LONDON, E.C. [NV. B.—Current reviews extracted and supplied.] MRS. GILT, TYPH- WRITING OFFICE, 35, LUDGATE HILL, E.C. (ESTABLISHED 1883.) 2 Authors’ MSS. carefully copied from 1s. per 1000 words. Plays, &c., 1s. 3d. per 1000 words. Reference kindly permitted to Walter Besant, E~q. Miss ae IST, 44, Oakley-street Flats, Chel-ea, S.W. Authors’ MSS. carefully transcribed, 1s. 3d. per 1000 words. Plays, &c., ss. per Act of 18 pages. Special estimates given for extra copies (Carbon) on application. Reference Kindly permitted to George Augustus Sala, Esq. Stickphast PASTE for joining papers and sticking in scraps: Sixpence and One Shilling, with strong useful brush. TO AUTHORS. The skilled revision, the honest and competent criticism, and the offering of MSS. in the American market, are the specialities of the New York Bureau of Revision. Established 1880. Endorsed by George W. Curtis, J. R. Lowell, and many authors.—20 W., Fourteenth-street, New York. HE AUTHORS’ AGENCY. Established 1879. Proprietor, Mr. A. M. BURGHES, i Paternoster Row. ‘The interests of Authors capably represented. Proposed agreements and estimates examined on behalf of Authors. MS. placed -with Publishers. ‘Transfers carefully conducted. Twenty-five years’ practical experience in all kinds of publishing and book producing. Consultation free. Terms and testimonials from leading Authors on application to Mr. A. M. Burghes, Authors’ Agent, 1, Paternoster-row. Printed and Published by Horace Cox, Bream’s-buildings, London, E.C. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 03 Issue 01 (June 1892) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 03 Issue 01 (June 1892) Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1892-06-01-The-Author-3-1 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/440/1892-07-01-The-Author-3-2.pdf be6b91dc3f25f232a3c06126497245cd PDF Text Text ���������������������������������������� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1892-07-01 Volume 3 Issue 2 Pages Page range in volume 41–80 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18920701 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin The Muthor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) GoMDUCTED BY WALTER SESANT. Vou. III.—No. 2.] JULY 1; F802. [Prick SIXPENCE. CONTENTS. PAGE PAGE Warnings ae a See es as mie ae oe .. 43 Feuilleton—Autobiography of an Article one ee ae sea DB How to Use the Society... ies ace ies wee oe oe ee Notes from Paris. By Robert H. Sherard ... ss oer Sa OD The Authors’ Syndicate... eae ae ae — ee .. 44 Sonnet. By Zitella Tomkins a os wee eS, ave ee OR Notices... eae ee noe cae ore Sen eee cee ap ae Women in Journalism oe see aes ae g's ee ser (02 Literary Property— Authors by Profession. By W. Minto ... te ee as a. 64 L.—A Publisher in Bankruptcy ee tae ves es ioe 468 Correspondence— Il.—Newspaper Copyright ... sr aS ee aoe meee I.—Useful Books =. aoe coe cos eae oe maa 6D I1I.—Newspaper Copyright and the Contributor ... Pe eee IL—The ‘' Higher Literature” coe ioe ies kos S00 IV.—Serial Rights... ave ee pes ae es pe eo ae T1I.—Another Side oy ee Boe eae bee ie 00 The Annual Dinner— IV.—Bodenstedt des Cas va tes ioe en cee te L—The Report ... ae Bs a ies — a =e) 00 V.—Press Copies ae eee eas nae bee oe wos’ OF e IL—The Times on the Society ... oe = a oes ae OL VIL—Editor or Proprietor... eee oe he aoe Eps Publisher’s Expenses cee ay es oe aes aes os 62 VIL—An Obliging Publisher ... a nas es 5 ens ee Press Copies .. cea mas oe ae ae ms Be cin OD VII1.—Literature and Independence ... cag a oes son 68 The American Societies... ae ee Yes e waa sox Oe ‘* At the Author’s Head” ... oe = ee es ais aoe OF Our Enemies ... 5 ee 55 ee tes oe ee san Oe New Books and New Editions... a see aaa a hes Ok Notes and News. By the Editor... ae te aoe ave Sen 8 PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1892 can be had on application to the Secretary. 9. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members. & 8. The Grievances of Authors. (The Leadenhall Press.) 2s. The Report of three Meetings on 5 the general subject of Literature and its defence, held at Willis’s Rooms, March, 1887. 4. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Coxuus, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 33s. 5. The History of the Societe des Gens de Lettres. By S. Squire Spricen, Secretary to the Society. Is. 6. The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c., with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. 7. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squire Spricer. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society’s offices, the various kinds of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3s. a. 8. Copyright Law Reform, An Exposition of Lord Monkswell’s Copyright Bill now before Parlia- ment. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Luny. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1s. 6d.  4 | | i ' | 42 ADVERTISEMENTS. THE LINOTYPE COMPOSING JIAGHINE. SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR BOOKWORK. Extract from the “ Printers’ Register,’ Dec. 7, 1891: “The result of the contest between four American composing machines—the Linotype, the Rogers’, the MacMillan, and the St. John Typo-bar systems—inaugurated by the American Newspaper’ Publishers’ Association, Chicago, has been announced. The Linotype showed the best results, composing on the first day of eight hours 47,900 ems, and nearly 49,000 ems on the second day. The matter chosen consisted partly of sporting, market reports, and cable news, which had to be read and corrected.” THE ABOVE SHOWS THAT 49,000 AMERICAN EMS, EQUAL TO 98,000 ENGLISH ENS, WERE SET IN EIGHT HOURS—GIVING AN AVERAGE OF 12,250 ENS AN HOUR, CORRECTED MATTER. AUTHORS’ CORRECTIONS Can be made on the Linotype Machine in about a quarter of the time occupied by hand-setting. To demonstrate this experiments were conducted by the well-known publisher, Mr. H. Rand. Into 9200 ens of matter from the daily press a large variety of errors were purposely introduced both in Linotypes and ordinary type. The Linotype matter was corrected in twenty-seven minutes, while the type matter occupied an hour and a half. THE ECONOMIC PRINTING & PUBLISHING CO. LIMITED, 39, BOUVERIE STREET, FLEET STREET, E.C., Having acquired the monopoly of Linotype Machines in London (excepting Newspaper Offices), are in a position to quote decidedly advantageous Prices to Authors for the Composition of Books by Linotype, and also undertake the Printing, being well equipped with Printing Machinery by the best makers. y  Che Huthor. (The Organ of the Incorzorated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vou. III.—No. 2.] JULY 1, 1892: [PRIcE SIXPENCE. for the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsvble. WARNINGS. Reapers of the Author are earnestly desired to make the following warnings as widely known as possible. They are based on the experience of seven years’ work upon the dangers to which literary property is exposed :— } (1.) NEvER sign any agreement of which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part, until you have proved the figures. (z.) Never enter into any correspondence with publishers, especially with those who advertise for MSS., who are not recom- mended by experienced friends or by this Society. (3.) Never, on any account whatever, bind yourself down for future work to any- one, (4.) Never accept any proposal of royalty until you have ascertained what the agreement proposes to give to the author and what to the publisher. 4) (5.) Never accept any pecuniary risk or respon- sibility whatever without advice. (6.) Nuver, when a MS. hes been refused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises they may put forward, for the production of the work. (7.) Never sign away American rights. Keep them. Refuse to sign any agreement VOL. III. containing a clause which reserves them for the publisher. If the publisher insists, take away the MS. and offer it to another. (8.) Never sign an agreement or a receipt which gives away copyright without advice. (9.) Keep control over the advertisements by clause in the agreement. Reserve a veto. If you are yourself ignorant of the sub- ject, make the Society your agent. (1o.) Never forget that publishing is a busi- ness, like any other business, totally un- connected with philanthropy, charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with business men. Society’s Offices :— 4, Portueat Street, Lincoun’s Inn FIELps. HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. 1. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books repre- sented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agreements and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The secretary will always be glad to have any agreements for inspection and note. The information thus obtainable is invaluable. 2. If the examination of your previous business transactions by the Secretary proves unfavour- able, you should take advice as toa change of publishers. 3. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the proposed form to the Society for examination. D2  44 ~ 4. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks, of every publishing firm in the country. Remember that there are certain houses which live entirely by trickery. 5. The outward and visible signs of the fraudulent publisher are—(1) a virtuous and benevolent wish to have the unquestioned conduct of your business left entirely in his hands; (2) a virtuous, good man’s pain at being told that his accounts must be audited; (3) a virtuous indig- nation at being asked what his proposal gives him compared with what it gives the author; and (4) irrepressible irritation at any mention of the Society of Authors. 6. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the inde- pendence of the writer. 7. Send to the Editor of the Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. THE AUTHORS’ SYNDICATE. R. Colles desires to inform readers of the Author— 1. That the Authors’ Syndicate is now m a position to take charge in whole or in part of the business of members of the Society. With, when necessary, the assistance of the advisers of the Society it will conclude agreements, collect. royalties, examine and pass accounts, and, generally, relieve mem- bers of the trouble of managing business details. All accounts opened between the Syndicate and members are duly audited. 2. That the establishment expenses of the Authors’ Syndicate are defrayed entirely out of the commission charged on rights placed through its intervention. This varies, and must vary, according to the nature of the services rendered, but it is intended to reduce the rates to the lowest possible amount compatible with effi- ciency. Meanwhile members will please accept this intimation that they are not ‘entitled to the services of the Syndicate gratis. THE AUTHOR. 3. That he undertakes to work for none but members of the Society. 4. That his business is not to advise members of the Society, but to manage their affairs for them if they please to entrust them to him. 5. That when he has any work in hand he must have it entirely in his own hands; in other words, that authors must not ask him to place certain work, and then go about endeavouring to place it by themselves. 6. That when a MSS. has been sent from pub- lisher to publisher, and from editor to editor, in vain, it is most likely impossible to place it. 7. That in the face of the present competition, authors will do well to moderate their expectations. To this it may be added, that where advice is sought, the Secretary of the Society, and not the Syndicate, must be consulted. On his behalf © members are requested— 1. To place on paper briefly the points on which advice is asked. 2. To send up all the letters and papers con- nected with the case, if it is a case of dispute. 3. Not to conceal or keep back any of the facts. pect NOTICES. HE Editor of the Author begs to remind members of the society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy — charge on the resources of the society if a great many members did not forward to the secretary — the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. He finds that, while the interest in the paper increases, and while it is acknowledged to be doing good service by its exposures and investigations, — there has been some tendency this year to forget the subscription. Perhaps this reminder may be | of use. With 800 members, besides the outside circulation of the paper, the Author ought to prove a source of revenue to the society. : “Io jem pelos i te oe {Co Fao a= Jee i nf 7 a i re THE AUTHOR. The Editor would also be very glad to receive papers and communications on all subjects con- ne ‘ted with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the society than to make the Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write ? All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of this Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. SS = Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office with- out previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly understood that the Society does not, under any circum- stances, undertake the publication of MSS. The Authors’ Club is now opened in temporary premises, at 17, St. James’s Place, St. James’s Street. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, &c. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? If they will do this, and remit the amount or a banker’s order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. —o Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the warning numbered (3). It is a most foolish and a most disastrous thing to bind yourself to anyone for a term of years. Let them ask them- selves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest or dishonest ? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign themselves into literary bondage for three or five years ?P oS How, we are asked almost every day, is the young writer to make a beginning? He should first get an opinion from one of the Society’s readers as to the merits and chances of his book. 45 It may be that certain points would be suggested foralteration. It may be that he will find himself recommended to put his MS. in the fire He should then, if encouraged, offer his MS. toa list of houses or of magazines recommended by the Society There is nothing else to be done. No one, we repeat, can possibly help him. If those houses all refuse him, it is not the least use trying others, and, if he is a wise man, he will refuse to pay for the production of his own work. If, how- ever, as too often happens, he is not a wise man, but believes that be has written a great thing, and is prepared to back his opinion to the extent of paying for his book, then Jet him place his work in the hands of the Society, and it shall be arranged for him without greater loss than the actual cost of production. At least he will not be deluded by false hopes and promises which can end in nothing. Several correspondents have asked whether Mr. P, F. Collier, who has already been mentioned in connection with an advertisement offering to give English authors an immense circulation, is a person to be trusted. There scems little doubt that he can do what he promises, which is to run a novel through his journal. What more he will or can do is quite uncertain We therefore repeat the warning given in our last number. Let authors be careful to secure the usual business arrangement in an agreement before sending their work across the Atlantic, either to Mr. Collier or to any other. SS The committee of the Lowell Memorial is now formed. The form of the Memorial has been decided upon, and the committee are now pre- pared to receive donations. Need we in these pages do more than chronicle the fact ? Lowell was so staunch a friend of the Society that every member ought to forward something towards this admirable and worthy object. Mr. Herbert Thring, secretary of the Society, is also hon. sec. to the Lowell memorial. Letters can be addressed to him. Among the men and women of letters on the committee are, in alphabetical order, Mrs. Lynn Linton, Mrs. Richmond Ritchie, Miss Anne Swanwick, Walter Besant, Augustus Birrell, R. D. Blackmore, James Bryce, Austin Dobson, Canon Doyle, Archdeacon Farrar, Edmund Gosse, Rider Haggard, R. H. Hutton, Professor Huxley, Dean Kitchen, Andrew Lang, W. E. H. Lecky, Sidney Lee, Sidney Low, Justin M ‘Carthy, Norman M‘Coll, James Martineau, George Mere- dith, Sir F. Pollock, and Theodore Watts.  46 THE The Globe (June 11, 1892) called attention toa very remarkable offer of the International Peace and Arbitration Association. This society had offered a prize of £50 for the best essay on peace, with the condition that all the essays offered should become their property. Who would believe that the ignorance as to hterary property was so deep and so extensive ? Here are a body of, apparently, honourable men banded together for an honour- able object. Yet they propose calmly to “ annex”’ an unknown quantity of literary property. Suppose that only ten of the essays sent in were worth as much as £10 each as their marketable value. This society actually proposed to keep this £100 in return for nothing! Would these gentlemen make the same offer with regard to desks say, or pictures, or cabinets, or statues ? Certainly not. But they did not understand that they were dealing with literary property, or that there was any such thing as literary property. Since this was written the society has rescinded their original resolution. They will return the unsuccessful essays. As an illustration of pre- vailing ignorance as to literary property, the above may remain. The Globe also did good service in the same number by making a rough classification of the books of the month. There are 240 new books. Of these 73 are works of fiction, mostly little story books. One out of every four books is meant for a student. That means that the literature of education is 25 per cent. of our whole literature, a fact useful to remember. To quote again from the Globe, mention is made of the way in which Richard Jefferies scattered his books among different publishers. The reason was that the returns from the sale of his books seemed to him so much out of propor- tion to the laudatory reviews that he thought himself ill-treated, and so changed his publishers. It is a great trouble therefore to get a com- plete list of his books. In the good time to come, when the relation of author to publisher shall have been equitably arranged, this trouble will not exist. Meantime, there are other sinners besides Jefferies. It is most difficult to get all the scattered works of Andrew Lang. Louis Stevenson’s books are here and there. So are Rudyard Kipling’s, so are Rider Haggard’s, so are Thomas Hardy’s, so are William Black’s. The dispersion of the Althorp Library is a national loss. The books will mostly go to AUTHOR. America. The sale is said to have been necessitated by the agricultural depression. No one seems ever to have sat down and calmly estimated what this depression means, and what it is doing to this country. It affects ourselves especially in increasing enormously the number and the com- petition of those who are trying to write. The professional incomes at home—tfrom glebe lands, from pew rents, in the law, in medicine, in teaching —have shrunk so terribly that the girls of the family are growing distracted with the desire, and the necessity, to earn money somehow——anyhow. The M‘Kinley Tariff is giving trouble as to the importation of books. They must be old books: their binding, also, must be old—at least twenty years old. Now, the binding is very often com- paratively new. What is to be done? Perhaps the simplest plan would be to declare boldly the. binding as well as the book to be more than twenty years old. The Literary Ladies’ Dinner was held on June 8, at the Criterion, Mrs. Graham Tomson was the president of the evening, and among those present were Lady Lindsay, Lady Violet Greville, Mrs. John Forsey, Mrs. Pennell, Miss Clementina Black, Miss Dora ‘Tulloch, Miss Hawke, Miss Beatrice Whitby, Mrs. Bennett Edwards. A dinner where the guests are all ladies seems to the undisciplined mind an insipid thing; but then undisciplined minds are not invited. If the ladies themselves did find it insipid they would not repeat it. There is a picture of the banquet in the Queen, showing champagne glasses in the usual position. The ladies, therefore, refreshed themselves in the customary manner. Miss Clementina Black is reported to have tendered a piece of advice so excellent that it must be repeated. It was, never to undersell men—or each other. ee ON LITERARY PROPERTY. I. A PusiisHER IN BANKRUPTCY. \ N 7E UNDERSTAND that many cases have recently arisen in which an author, having sold or otherwise parted. with his copyright to a publisher, has lost heavily by that publisher’s bankruptcy. Especially has this happened in cases where the sale has been wholly  IA AUTHOR, ‘© or partly on credit, and the bankruptcy finds the *» author in the position of unpaid creditor, with a «new debtor in the shape of a trustee in bank- ruptcy in the place of his publisher to look to for ¢ payment. The trustee in bankruptcy, or the | liquidator of a company, whose legal position is practically the same as that of a trustee in bank- ruptcy, claims to keep the copyright and make money out of it either by carrying on the pub- / lisher’s business, or selling it, but to substitute 1} the mere right to a dividend out of the bank- rupt’s estate for the right to payment in full. This is so hard upon the author, that at first we » could hardly think that the claim of the trustee ( in bankruptcy could be sustained in law. But on *) talking the matter over with more lawyers than f ) one, we have practically satisfied ourselves that the claim of the trustee in bankruptcy is in most cases good. It becomes, therefore, of consequence to con- » sider what is the best course for an author to | pursue. It is an awkward thing to suggest to i) the publisher, with whom ea hypothesi the author i is, and wishes to continue, on friendly relations, ) that he may one day become bankrupt, but as a | matter of business we think that in all publishing » agreements, where the author gives credit, it would | be well for him to stipulate that in case of the publisher's bankruptcy the copyright should ' revert to the author until the whole purchase “ money has been paid. The form of such a %@ stipulation may not be very easy to settle, but we ©) think that it would hold good if properly shaped, 4 it being a general rule attaching to the ownership | 19 of property, that the owner “ may, upon aliena- ') tion, qualify the interest of his alienee by a con- "dition defeating it on his bankruptcy, so that it ‘t will not pass to his trustee on bankruptcy :”’ (see "7 Williams on Bankruptcy, 5th edit., at Dp. 172.) ' There is, however, a very important exception ©) to the general rule that a bankrupt’s “‘ property ” 6% passes to his trustee, and that is that contracts ™ involving the personal skill of the bankrupt do o% not so pass. “It is not easy to say” (it is “© observed in Williams on Bankruptcy, p. 174), “what makes the personal skill of the bankrupt so of the essence of the contract as to entitle the other contracting party to refuse anything else ;” but an autho.’s contract with a publisher has been twice held by the courts to involve personal skill on the part of the publisher as well as of the author, so as not to be assignable, and the case of a sale of copyright, not for money down, but merely for royalties, seems to differ essen- tially from the case of a sale out and out. The whole question of the relations between an author and the trustees in bankruptcy of his publisher is as difficult as it is important, and is 47 concerns journalists as well as authors. We shall be glad to receive from our readers, especially from those who are learned in the law, any sug- gestions throwing light upon the question with a view to the amendment of the present practice so far as may be shown to be desirable. So II, ’ NewsparErR Copyricur. In connection with the important question of newspaper copyright, it may be pointed out that the Royal Commission on Copyright of 1878 re- ported to the effect that “much doubt appeared to exist, in consequence of several conflicting legal decisions, whether there is any copyright in newspapers,” and suggested that “in any future legislation the defect might be remedied by de- fining what parts of a newspaper might be con- sidered copyright, and by distinguishing between announcements of facts and communications of a literary character.” In compliance with the sug- gestion, it was proposed to provide, by the Government Bill of 1879 (introduced by the present Duke of Rutland when Lord John Manners), that all the clauses of the bill as to books published in series should apply to a news- paper, “so far as the newspaper should contain original compositions of a literary character, but should not apply to such portion of a newspaper as should contain news ;”’ and, further, “ that the publisher of a newspaper should, within one week after the publication of every number thereof, deliver a copy of that number to the trustees of the British Museum, and in default should be liable to the same fine to which the publisher of a book is liable on failing to deliver a copy thereof to those trustees.” Lord Monks- well’s Bill, which was read a second time in the House of Lords in the session of 1891, more elaborately provided that newspaper copyright should extend only to articles, paragraphs, com- munications, and other parts which are composi- tions of a literary character, and not to any articles, paragraphs, communications, or other parts which are designed only for the publication of news, or to advertisements, but added that “the making of fair and moderate extracts from a newspaper in which there should be subsisting copyright, and the publication thereof in any other newspaper should not be deemed to be infringement of copying if the source from which the extracts have been taken is acknowledged.” Inasmuch as the existing Copyright Act of 1845 does not mention a newspaper by name, and even the Newspaper Libel and Registration Act, 1881,  48 which requires registration of the titles of news- papers and of the names of all their proprietors, is absolutely silent on the question of copyright, a short amending bill incorporating, so far as deemed desirable, the legal effect of the late decision of Mr. Justice North in Walter v. Steinkopf appears to be urgently required.— Law Journal. Ss TI. NewspPaPer CopyRIGHT AND THE ConrTRIBUTOR. The comments and the controversy on the subject of newspaper copyright have been carried on, with one exception, in entire disregard of the rights of the contributor. In the court no notice wastaken of him; he was supposed to have no rights, or to have sold all his rights ; in fact, he was not considered atall. At last. a letter ia the Times of June 9 does really hint at such a thing as the rights of the contributor. What, in fact, does the contributor to a paper really sell? If there is no agreement tothe contrary he sells the exclusive right to publish for one day. That is all. The proprietor of the paper may claim to have bought the whole copyright of the paper, but, without an agreement to that effect, he would find it difficult to prove that claim. In most cases the contribution is of ephemeral value only, but there may arise instances in which great damage and injustice may be done to the writer by reproducing his work in other papers. Take, for instance, a series of articles writen for a magazine, to be afterwards published in volume form. Suppose those articles are copied whole- sale, the readers of the book are, of course, reduced in proportion. For instance, in the case of Mr. Rudyard Kipling’s papers, they are, presumably, to appear ultimately m volume form; the serial right, also presumably, is purchased by the Times. Now, the writer in selling that right to the Times certainly does not sell it to the wide wide world. It is true that the Tvmes goes over the whole world, but it is not true that the whole world reads the Times. This aspect of the case becomes more serious when we consider the present tendency of Jour- nalism to engage the services of well-known specialists who sign their names. Papers written by these men have more than an ephemeral interest and more than an ephemeral value. It is no longer the anonymous paper, whose authorship may perhaps be guessed from in- ternal evidence; it is a weighed, responsible opinion by one who has a reputation to support, that is placed before us. To reproduce this paper without permission, and whether with THE AUTHOR. acknowledgment or not, is not only a certain infringement of copyright which has been ac- quired by honourable payment, but it is also a probable injury to the writer of the paper. This view of the subject shows that many other persons besides the proprietor of a paper may be concerned in safeguarding these rights — the contributor first, the publisher employed by the author next, and the persons employed by the publisher—printer, paper maker, binder. If a series of articles, written for one paper, is copied by all the papers of the country, the volume which they were afterwards to form is simply destroyed. Instead, therefore, of talk about “tacit understanding of honourable reciprocity ” it seems to be the real interest of all papers alike to guard their own property with the greatest jealousy. And if this is the result of the recent controvery a long step will have been made in that respect for property which lies at the bottom of all order.” IV. SreriaL RicHTs. One of the unexpected results of the American Copyright Act is the difficulty with which it has surrounded the sale of serial rights. If a story is serialised in England and is not serialised simultaneously in the States, the American copy- right is of course seriously jeopardised. It is not clear that serials that run im England can be annexed by American pirates at their own sweet will, but, in order to protect the copy- right in both countries, the better opinion appears to be that formal publication in book form should take place before the serialisation commences in either country. This is imcon- venient, but it is certain; and in the midst of so much uncertainty, that is much. From this it will be seen that the sale of serial rights, always difficult, is becoming extremely complicated. It will not only be necessary in future to make arrangements a long way ahead—every story- teller knows that magazines and journals make their fiction arrangements twelve, twenty-four, or even thirty-six months in advance, and arrange- ments for 1895 have already been concluded in many quarters by many of the foremost writers— but, added to that, it will be necessary for the story to be complete and ready for the press six months before it commences to run as a serial. In other words, writers who have not completed their arrangements will have to choose between a long postponement of book publication on the one hand or the loss of their serial rights, or, if not, of their American copyright on the other. It OE JOS SE aka ioe THE is desirable that authors should understand the difficulties with which serialisation is surrounded : they would thus save themselves much disap- pointment. There seems to be a widespread notion that serials can be arranged for at any time and with no notice whatever; but it may be taken for granted that arrangements so con- cluded must be made on extremely bad terms, and authors have only themselves to thank if they do not take the trouble to ascertain the con- ditions of the market. This brings us to the elementary fact which cannot be insisted upon too strongly, or reiterated with too much frequency—that serial rights are the most valuable of all and of course the most important of all. It is impossible to generalise, but one successful novelist at least declares that his serial rights are to his book rightsas5 tol. It is ridiculous to imagine that editors will put them- selves out to meet the convenience of writers when, having regard to the importance of their Support, they are entitled to have their own arrangements considered. Authors who wish to make the most of their serial rights will do well to fall in with the conditions imposed. To arrange for book publication first and even to fix this date and then to expect that the story will be serialised successfully is ridiculous. It will probably be worth the writer’s while to postpone book publica- tion until serial arrangements have been properly concluded, or it has been conclusively proved that such arrangements are impracticable. A word may be said here as to the use of fiction in newspapers. There is no doubt that newspapers represent a most important and a growing market. The capacity of the press of the world is practically inexhaustible. At the present time nearly all the best fiction is pre-empted by the newspaper market, which has lately advanced with enormous strides in this direction. The periodicals will certainly have to look to their laurels if they are going to hold their own against the big provincial, Colonial, and American week- lies. Hitherto the newspaper market has been in the hands of middlemen who, it may be presumed, have found it not unprofitable, but the attempt which has been made hy the Authors’ Syndicate, and not without a promise of success, to bring authors into direct communication with the news. paper press, is at least worthy of recognition. The greatest misapprehension exists as to the method whereby a story can be syndicated. The fact that much inferior fiction runs through the columns of the provincial press is urged as a reason for believing that a ready market can here be found. But this is very far from being the case. One or two agencies exist which supply fiction by the yard and at any price you please VOL, III. AUTHOR. 49 from 1s. 6d. per column, and it is easy to under- stand that the quality of the wares they have to offer is not, to say the least, remarkably high. There does not at present exist any means of getting into the columns of journals of this character except through the instrumentality of the agencies mentioned. Arrangements with journals which only buy the best fiction in the market are an altogether different matter, and have to be arranged for with as much care as with the leading periodicals of the day. I£ it be remembered that for a story to be properly syndicated, contracts have to be concluded in America, Australasia, India, Africa, and through- out Great Britain and Ireland, it will be seen at once that much time must be occupied in carrying through negotiations. To sum up, therefore, the one thing needful to bear in mind in serialising stories is to con- clude arrangements a long time ahead, certainly twelve months, and better still, twenty-four months, in advance, or making allowance for the run of the story certainly two if not three years before final publication in book form. A few words may be added here as to the sale of serial rights, especially serial rights in short stories. Some editors who express a not un- natural predilection for dealing with authors direct, send out a form of receipt which contains the words “including copyright,” and this might of course operate, if not as an assignment, as evidence of a prior assignment. Authors will do well to consider, in making any arrangements, what rights they are really selling. It should be borne in mind that even the serial rights of a short story are often valuable, or become valuable. The use can be sold over and over again in all parts of the world unless it is limited to the organ purchasing it in the first instance, In no case should the copyright be thrown in as a sort of make-weight. Collections of short stories may in the near future be more popular than they are now, and in any case the copyright should on principle never be parted with except for an adequate consideration. One other matter which it is important to bear in mind, is, the desirability of a clear under- standing as to the time when the right of re- publication in book form or otherwise reverts to the author. In the absence of this authors may find valuable matter locked up in the pages of a magazine for twenty-eight years.  THE ANNUAL DINNER. HE annual dinner of the Society was held in , the Holborn Restaurant on Tuesday, the 31st of May. The chair was taken by Michael Foster, F.R.S., Professor of Physics in the University of Cambridge, and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. The number of those who sat down was 198, as many as the room would hold. At the last the secretary was obliged to refuse tickets. The following is a list: Major-General Alexander, C.B.;_ A. W. a’Beckett ; W. Allmgham, F.R.S.; Rev. Pro- fessor Bonney, F.R.S.; Walter Besant; Mrs. Walter Besant; H. C. Burdett; Miss Belloc and Guest; F. Boyle; Mrs. Brightwen; Mrs. H. Blackburn ; H. Blackburn; Mackenzie Bell; G. Theodore Bent ; Dr. Bridges; James Baker ; Mrs Batty; Aubyn Trevor Battye; Comtesse de Brémont; Miss Ella Curtis; Oswald Orawfurd, C.M.G.; Lieut.-Col. Campbell; F. H. Cliffe; Miss Lily Croft ; Edward Clodd ; Mrs. Clarke ; E. Clodd, jun.; Egerton Castle ; John B. Crozier ; Mrs. Cox; Miss Cox; W. Morris Colles; Mrs. Morris Colles; Thomas Catling; Mrs. Mona Caird ; Thistleton Dyer, C.B.; G. Darwin, F.R.S. ; Mrs. Darwin; Austen Dobson; G. Du Maurier ; the Daily Graphic ; the Daily News; the Daily Telegraph; the Daily Chronicle; C. F. Dowsett ; Sir G. Douglas ; John Dennis; A. Conan Doyle; A. W. Dubourg; Sir John Evans; Rev. Pro- fessor Harle; Eric Erichsen, F.R.S.; Miss A. Edwards; Mrs. Edmonds; W. Ellis; A. Esclan- gon; Mrs. Foster; G. K. Fortescue; Michael Foster, Jun.; Miss M. Foster; S.M. Fox; Basil Field; Percy French; Sir A. Geikie, F.R.S. ; R. Garnett, LL.D.; W. A. Gibbs; Francis Gribble; Edmund Gosse; Mrs. Gosse; Corney Grain; W. O. Greener; G. T. Grein; H. Rider Haggard ; Miss Hector; W. Earl Hodg- son; A. Egmont Hake; Mrs. Egmont Hake; Mrs. Harrison ; Mr. Harrison, John Hill; T. C. Hedderwick ; Miss V. Hunt; Rev. W. Hunt ; Clive Holland; Henry Harland; J. D. Hutche- son; Mrs. H. Hutcheson; Professor Huxley, F.R.S.; Prebendary Harry Jones; T. Heath Joyce; Mr. H. Jenner; Mrs. Jenner; C. T. C. James; Jerome K. Jerome; R. B Sheridan Knowles; H. G. Keene, C.LE.; Veva Karsland and Guest; Rev. J. A. Kerr; Mrs. E. Kennard and Guest ; Andrew Lang; Mrs. Lynn Linton; Norman Lockyer; J. M. Lely; Mrs. Laffan; Stanley Little; Rev. E. P. Larken; Mrs. Lefroy; Miss Low; A. H. Lewers; Professor Ray Lankester ; Miss Loftie; Helen Mathers; S. C. McKinney ; Mrs. Myall; E. Martin; D. S. Meldrum; Miss THE AUTHOR. H. McKerlie; Rev. C. H. Middleton Wake; the Morning Post; Charles Mercier; Rev. Prof. Momerie; Athol Maudslay; R. L. Nettleship: Mrs. Orpen; Mr. Orpen; J. A. Owen; Sir William Pole, F.R.S.; G. H. Putnam; Stanley Lane Poole; Mrs. S. Lane Poole; Arthur Pater- son; Richard Pryce; Norman Porritt; Mrs. R. Pennell; R. Pennell ; Pall Mall Gazette ; Mrs. W. H. Pollock; W. H. Pollock; Miss K. Beatrice Pownall; A. G. Ross; G. Rolt ; Sir R. Roberts; R. Ross; Mrs. J. K. Spender; Julian Sturgis ; George Sumner; Clement Shorter; Miss Stevenson; J. J. Stevenson; C. J. Smith; Miss C. J. Smith ; St. James’s Gazette; G. Anderson Smith; J. A. Steuart; Miss A. Sargent; Sir N. Staples; Douglas Sladen; the Standard; Dr. Sisley ; S. 8S. Sprigge; W. Baptiste Scoones; Rev. Pro- fessor Skeat; Ashby Sterry; G. W. Sheldon; Frank R. Stockton; G. H. Thring ; Mrs. Thring ; H. RB. Tedder ; Sir Richard Temple ; W. G. Thorpe ; the Times ; Mrs. Tweedie ; Alex. Tweedie ; A. W. Tuer; Dr. J. Todhunter; H. G. T. Taylor; E. M. Underdown, Q.C.; Rev. C. Voysey; Humphry Ward; Mrs. Humphry Ward; A. Warren ; Mrs. Arthur Warren; Mrs. Iltyd Williams; R. Whiteing; Arthur Waugh; William Watson ; Oscar Wilde. After the usual loyal toasts the chairman pro- posed “The Society.” In doing so, he said that the great public mmd which was taught so much and which learnt so little, seemed to be still a great deal in the dark about the Society of Authors. He was often asked, What is the Society of Authors? He asked the inquirers in turn if they realised the power of the individual author ; if they realised that he exercised a power such as few other individuals possessed. They might estimate it as they pleased. They might take the numerical estimate, or consider the value of his autograph after he was dead. Let them think of the power of the individual author. If he were great it was immense; if he were ordinary it was considerable; if he were weak it was something, But if they bore in mind the power of authors as a class, it was nothing compared with that of every other profession. That society existed for the purpose of giving authors as a body the influence and the power which were their due. The society was not wrong in making a sound financial basis one of the first objects of its labours. The present year had been one of unbroken progress. They now numbered no fewer than 780 members, and they had experienced the sincerest form of flattery—they were beginning to be copied. There had been established in America an authors’ society similar to their own. They had the pleasure of having as their guest that  THE evening the distinguished American novelist, Mr. Stockton, who had been active in promoting that society. During the past year they had lost some members, and he could not omit in this connection to recall the names of Lord Lytton, whom they all looked upon as a brother, and of Mr. Lowell, who took part in the earlier meetings of the society. It was true that men of science wrote a great deal. The list was numerous, but he doubted whether they were authors in the same sense in which one spoke of novelists, of poets, of historians, and of those who wrote those short outbursts of literature called essays, or by some persons trials. He would venture to suggest that they did not belong to the regular army of authors, and that at most they were volunteers. For there was one very marked distinction between men of science and other authors. The latter were paid for their labours, or expected to be paid. Men of science did not often expect to be paid; they had to pay. He wondered whether any of them ever went to the British Association for the Advancement of Science. He had been there, and had observed that the reporters of the newspapers, when any paper was being read that was not at all scientific, were very hard at work with their pens, which flew with enormous rapidity. But when any really scientific paper was read— and that did happen sometimes—they stopped ; and it was generally stated that “the remaining papers were of a strictly technical character.” Sometimes, however, a great writer appeared who combined literary gifts with a genius for scientific investigation ; and then such a work was pro- duced as “The Origin of Species.” (Loud cheers. ) The CHarrman next proposed the toast of “Science and Literature,” coupling with it the names of Sir Archibald Geikie, F.R.S., Mr. R. L. Nettleship, and Mr. Andrew Lang, who responded in turn. Mr. F. R. Srocxron, who was received with loud cheers, also replied to the toast at the in- vitation of the chairman. After speaking of the great demand in America for the works of English writers, he said that, though Americans wrote in the same language, they could never, he thought, expect to speak in the same language; at least he could not. He had a good many recollections of occasions which illustrated the truth of his statement. When he had called a cab, and had seated himself in it, he said to himself, ‘‘ The man who is driving me thinks, and says to himself, ‘the man inside here isan Ameri- can. Very likely in the course of his life he has bought a good many English books which have been pirated; and the authors of those books AUTHOR. 51 never received a cent. I will see what I can do to benefit myself at any rate where my fellow- citizens, the British authors, should have been benefited.’ ’’ When he got out of that cab he gave the man a shilling. The driver said ““Highteenpence.” He asked whether it was more than two miles from Charing-cross to Ludgate-hill. The driver looked at him and replied, “ Highteenpence.” He was impressed by the exceeding earnestness of the driver’s face, and he paid the sum demanded. They might regard that as an instance of retaliation. He thanked the company on behalf of American authors for the compliment they had received. (Cheers. ) The “ Health of the Chairman” followed. ele Tue “Times” on tHE Soctrerty. From the Times, June 1, 1892 :—“ Last night the Incorporated Society of Authors dined to- gether at the Holborn Restaurant, the chairman being Professor Michael Foster. Perhaps there is nothing remarkable in this bald announce- ment; but to any one who looks back for ten years upon the disjointed and disorganized con- dition in which literary men then were, and how their cliques and divisions seemed to make it impossible for them ever to combine, the news gives ground for reflection. It is something that a Society of Authors should have been well and truly incorporated, with a president and a com- mittee and a secretary, and, above all, a subscrip- tion list ; it is still more that it should have been already able to perform all that, by its mere existence and by taking action in a certain number of typical cases, this Society has per- formed. The vitality and comprehensiveness of the Society, of which Lord Tennyson is the president, were shown yesterday in more ways than one. In the first place, a man of science was in the chair, as though to show that, what- ever may be the higher relations between belles lettres and treatises on curves or nerves, authors have common interests, whether they write in symbols or in flowing periods. Again, the com- prehensiveness of the Society was shown by the presence of ladies at the dinner, which is more than has as yet been conceded by the Royal Academy. As to the speaking, none of it was quite so exhilarating as Mr. Corney Grain’s song ; but the chairman showed conclusively that a man of science might be amusing, and, thanks to an impromptu demand, the company was made happy by a speech from the author of “Rudder Grange.” The Society of Authors has not yet E2  52 had a long life, but it has done enough to make its value recognised and its power to a certain extent felt. This youngest of trade unions was as necessary as any other union; more 80, indeed, than almost any other, since from the nature of the case an author is generally quite unacquainted with the ways in which his wares may best be brought before the public. What he does not understand, the publisher promises to manage for him, with the result that has often been described by pens that have been dipped in the gall of dis- appointment. That the Society has met a want is shown by the growth of its members, which now reach the large total of 780 or thereabouts ; and that it has done no great harm to the respectable publishers is shown by the consider- able number of new houses that have come into existence during the last few years, all expecting to live by issuing books. The real good that the Society has done, and continues to do, consists chiefly in putting the relations between the writer and his agent—for a publisher is nothing else— on a businesslike footing. The mystery which used to surround the trade of publishing has been invaded; the author has learnt that there is nothing in the book trade which he has not a right to know, and that he is just as much entitled to a fair and square agreement as if he were selling a house or a field or a parcel of rail- way shares. It may be said that many of the leading firms have always recognised this obliga- tion on their part; but the real difficulty with which young authors, especially women, have had to contend, is the existence of a number of unscrupulous houses which prey on their ignorance and simply rob them. Thanks to the publicity which the Society of Authors gives, these firms, which only flourish in the shade, have been much. less prosperous of late, and have tended to disappear altogether. Again, although that great but imperfect boon to the British author, the American Copyright Act, would never have been passed unless the American author and printer had wished for it, it is true to say that the existence of a representative body like the Society of Authors had no small influence upon its passing. Ina word, the Society does, or can do, most of the things that a trade union can do for its members. There is indeed only one thing that the public commonly associates with a trade union which the Society has not yet suggested or encouraged. It has not yet ordered an author’s strike. Perhaps, with a view of limiting the literary output, such an order, periodically issued, might not be an unmixed evil.” al a THE AUTHOR. PUBLISHERS’ EXPENSES. N that excellent paper the Critic of New York (May 14) there is a paragraph which embodies a fallacy constantly being re- peated. Yet it is a thing so patent that one is astonished to find anybody led away by the thing. It occurs in a column called the “Younger,” and is apparently written by a lady. After reproducing a little sum from the Author in which the respective shares of author, pub- lisher, and bookseller were set down under certain royalty arrangement, the author getting 24 cents (translated_ into Americanese), the bookseller 28 cents, and the publisher 36 cents. Then the “Lounger” intelligently remarks as follows :— There is an old saying that there are none so blind as those who won’t see. Mr. Besant is one of these blind men, for he won’t see that the 36 cents is not spent by the publisher in riotous living. Books are not manufactured and then stored away on the publisher’s shelves. They must be put into circulation to sell, and that is one of the heaviest of the publisher’s expenses, not to mention the little items of advertising, rent and salaries. I am always glad when an author makes money, but Iam not indignant when a publisher makes a little something. He takes great risks, much greater than an author would care to take, I fancy. No one, to begin with, is indignant when a publisher makes a “little something.” On the contrary, though the writer insinuates that we are indignant when the publisher gets his little something—poor, helpless lamb !—we are continually, whenever we speak on the subject, impressing upon everybody that the publisher must receive what is equitable for his services, and that these services are substantial. Next we are continually impressing upon people the truth—not evolved from imagination, but arrived at by seven years’ experience of the management of literary property—actual living experience— by agreements, letters, revelations, such as no single person can possess, and no other body of persons have ever attempted—that the (English) publisher, as a rule, never takes any risk at all. With the exception of a few houses which now and then do take a risk—there are no risks taken. By risk, I mean the chance of not getting back the small sum of money invested in the production of a book. This, I say, is not theorising or speculation—it is fact. Next, about this eighteen pence—this share of 36 cents. What does a publisher get paid for ? Is the book his book? Not at all, unless he buys it outright. It is the author’s property. Why is he to get anything out of it at allf Why is he to take any share in a work in whose creation ane AUTHOR. 53 he had no part ? For services rendered. He says: “T will publish your book. I must be paid so much for it.” Since he does not do everything himself, as John Ruskin’s publisher used to do, he must have his machinery. Are we to pay him first for his machinery and then for himself ? Certainly not. Do we pay the carrier so much for taking a parcel and so much more for the cart and horse? Do we pay the lawyer so much for his work and so much more for his rent and his clerks, and the red tape and the ink? In busi- ness of all kinds the machinery does not count. If it is too expensive it can be cut down. The first carrier was a messenger who carried parcels under his arm. Then he started his cart. But he was paid no more for his cart. That is exactly the position of the publisher. And that is the common sense of the matter. It is only a question of the proportion which is justly due to the publisher. W. B. PRESS COPIES. Ss N the subject of Press copies our correspon- dent, H. Haes, returns to the charge. He proposes that if books are sent for review, those which are reviewed shall be paid for, and those which are not reviewed shall be sent. back. He thinks that by asking for a review the author sacrifices his own dignity. He also says that reviews of books are of interest to readers, other- wise they would not appear. His letter will be read with much interest, and may give rise to not a little discussion. Another way of putting the question, however, is this: An author desires, above all things, to get a hearing. How is he to do this? How is he to get people to ask for his books at the libraries, the shops, and the stalls? He may advertise in the papers—keep on advertising— which is extremely costly ; he may send the book for review, and trust not only to the favourable review, but also for a more telling advertisement, containing that favourable review. Lastly, he may trust to the book making its own way by being talked about. The last, when once it happens to a fortunate author, causes his book to run swiftly to the uttermost corners of the globe, Still another way of putting it is as was attempted in'August of last year. The passage was as follows (Author, August, 1891, p. 94) :— “Unless the Editor were supplied with copies of new books he and all authors would be at the mercy of the critic, who wonld go round the world of letters and the outer offices of publishers, begging and extorting books on the promise of a favourable review. This would be a tyranny unendurable. It may be said that a gentleman could not do such things. If the reviewer had to cadge about in order to find his own copies for review, very few gentlemen would be left in the profession. The extortion of books under promise of a favourable notice is sometimes done even now. Here followeth fact. There was a man, about twenty years ago, a clergyman and the lecturer for a well-known society, who persuaded a certain geographer that he was a great man on the London press, and actually got from him a parcel of atlases, maps, and books on a promise of favourable notices. He wrote no notices and he sold the parcel for £25.” The distribution of press copies is certainly a thing that requires prudence, and some knowledge of the position of newspapers. Some publishers pitchfork copies of books in all directions with- out asking what kind of notice, whether favour- able or unfavourable, they are going to get. If, for instance, one knows beforehand that one will have a notice of three lines among a batch, and that the chances are three to one that it will be a spiteful notice, what earthly reason exists for wasting a copy worth so much good money upon such a paper? This department of the publishing business requires very careful overhauling. Another thing may be noted. A book is not necessarily open to criticism because it is pub- lished. If a copy is sent for review, the author must take whatever is given him, good or bad. He can only complain when the review misrepre- sents or falsifies his work. On the other hand, if he refuses a copy toacertain paper, and that paper abuses his work, it is as if one should say of a baker that his bread is adulterated, or of a doctor that he is a quack. An action for libel might certainly be brought, and would probably prove successful. Considering all these points, it certainly seems that the present system needs modification only in certain omissions. Where the reviews are inadequate, contemptuous, or spiteful, the books should be withheld. In the good time coming, when authors will take a more personal share in the conduct of their business, they will stipulate beforehand the papers which are to receive the copies. ee  54 THE THE AMERICAN SOCIETIES. Two Rrvau Socrerrss. \ | ENTION has already been made of the existence of two American associations, one called the Society of Authors; the other, the Association of American Authors. The former, of which Mrs. Katherine Hodges is secretary, was founded about a yearago. The latter, of which Mr. Todd is secretary, was founded early this year. The aims and objects of the two societies are identically the same; the prospectus of the latter appears to be based upon that of the former. The headquarters of both seem to be New York. The membership of the former is 200; that of the latter is not known. The former has many branches scattered about the country; notably one at Washington, which has recently celebrated its birth by a_ great function. The latter numbers among its members Mr. W. D. Howells. All this is perhaps to be lamented ; if, however, there should be found support sufficient for the maintenance of two distinct societies, they might possibly do good to each other by an honourable rivalry. It would ill become us to attempt any interference or advice with our American brethren. But, this, at least, may be said. The interests at stake should be considered before all other points. Surely Mr. Howells and other American leaders might be trusted to know how these interests can best be served. The most prominent names of the younger society are Col. Higginson, Miriam Conway, A. W. O. Howells, Dudley Warner, and Mrs. Moulton. Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes is reported to be a well wisher to the second society. Tur AmERICAN PROSPECTUS. Tux following is the original prospectus of the second society. “The undersigned, believing that the interests of American authors and literature demand the organisation of a society of American authors on the same basis as the very successful English and French societies, invite you to meet at the Berkeley Lyceum, 23, West 44th-street, New York, on May 18, at 12 m., to organise a society of ‘American Authors,’ of which all literary workers, both men and women, may become members, with annual dues not exceeding 5 dols., and having these general objects :— “rst. To promote sociality and a professional spirit among authors. “ and. To settle disputes between authors and AUTHOR. publishers, by arbitration, or by an appeal to the courts. “2rd. To advise authors as to the various methods of publishing, and see that their con- tracts are so drawn as to protect them in their legal rights. “ ath. To co-operate with publishers in bringing about better business methods between author and publisher. “sth. To secure minor reforms, such as an extension of copyright, carriage of literary pro- perty through the mail at the same rate as other merchandise, and in general to advance the interest of American authors and literature. “W. D. Howells, Thomas W. Higginson, Charles D. Warner, Moncure D. Conway, George W. Cable, Julian Hawthorne, James Grant Wilson, Charles Burr Todd.” General James Grant Wilson, on behalf of the Genealogical and Biographical Society, which controls the Lyceum, welcomed the members, and nominated Colonel T. W. Higginson as chairman of the meeting. The latter, in accepting, disclaimed any ill-feeling against publishers, and declared himself and his associates to be animated simply by a desire to protect authors. OUR ENEMIES. IL—A Lonpon Eprror. HERE has been another and quite a new iL set of charges invented against the society. This time by a writer calling himself “Qondon Editor” in the National Review. He formulates a curious collection of charges. Practi- cally, they may be reduced to one—that we are secretly purposing to make literature a “ close pro- fession” and to drive out of it all but ourselves. This is very funny. Malignity could hardly be more perverse. Last year we were charged with encouraging bad writers and increasing the output of bad books. This year we are accused of doing exactly the opposite. What does it mean—this continual and never-ending misrepresentation ? Tt means the wriggling of the man whose fraudulent and secret profits have been exposed. This exposure has touched his pockets. The great discovery of our real intentions is — presented very curiously by the writer of the article. The whole work of the society, says the discoverer, is to have a dinner once a year 5 to keep a watch on fraudulent publishers, and to keep new comers out of literature. The second, he rays, has been so well done that — foe AUTHOR. 55 publishing is now as honest a trade as any. There - remains the third. Now, supposing it to be true—which is not the » case—that we have been so successful as to con- » vert the dishonest to ways of honesty—the temp- ‘station to dishonesty would still remain. The i property whose interests we defend would still remain, and the defence would be still a necessary. The society would have to remain. But itis a special note of those who write articles and paragraphs against the society that they never allow the existence of literary pro- spects. Hither they do not know that there is such a thing, or they are silent for interested reasons. We have called attention to this vast interest # im paper after paper. Weshall continue to do so. We will do more. We will attempt to obtain sifigures which shall give some approximation to | the reality of the property in question. As regards the stuff about a “close profes- sion,” we need not waste time over it. Two points sonly need be mentioned. In his haste to pick up » stones the writer makes one most unfortunate little ‘mistake which betrays his animus. He says that vhe has been “conning the long list of its »members.” Of course he imagined, when he made that statement, that there must be such a “list available for everybody. Now, there is no wsuch list at all. The last list of the members was printed four or five years ago, when there » were only 200 or so. Weare now 800. The only 4 list is in the hands of the secretary, who shows it © to no one, The second point is an assertion made in the “last page but one of the article. It is that “people “are ceasing to buy books because books "are generally bad.” The exact opposite is the “truth. Whether books are good or bad, people * are buying them more and more. The trade increases daily ; new publishers are always * coming into the field. And this fact is quite “consistent with the other statement which the ‘writer advances, viz., that journalism is more “and more attracting the brightest intellect of the 1% day. & II.—A Boston Enemy. The American Society—or Societies, if there ‘tare still two—is attracting quite the same sort of »‘ treatment and criticism that we have ourselves received. First, itis anew thing, therefore absurd. Secondly, nobody wants it; and the members ‘fouly number so many. Such and such a great ®©man is uot a member ; therefore it is not wanted. * Thirdly, it is not practical; therefore it is not wanted. Fourthly, no author of weight has any real grievance against the better class of American publishers. We know all these arguments. The last, especially, used to be very commonly used over here, but it is used no longer. One might just as well say that there are no pickpockets in Oxford-street, therefore policemen may as well be abolished. The real argument for the foundation of such a society—that literary property is an enormous interest, that it belongs to the creators, that it must be defended on the behalf of the creators—is not met or even alluded to. aa ee NOTES AND NEWS. UT of our Sixty Minor Poets we have lost one whom we would fain have kept with us. The author of “ Ionica”’ is dead. It was but yesterday that the little book appeared which made him known to all of us. His first volume, however, had come out in 1858. The second—our friend —of 1891, was a reprint of the former, with additions. He lived in a small house at Hamp- stead, very near my own; yet I have never met or spoken to him. And now, alas! I never shall, for he is dead. In his own words, in “ Heraclitus :”’ And now that thou art lying, my dear old Carian guest, A handful of grey ashes, long, long ago at rest, Still are thy pleasant voices, thy nightingales, awake, For Death he taketh all away, but these he cannot take. We have William Cory’s nightingales. There is an eloquent and graceful tribute to his memory in the Speaker of June 18. In a reported interview Mr. Grant Allen is reported to have said, in speaking of the material rewards of literature, that I ‘make a great deal” of the fifty modern English writers whose incomes are over a thousand pounds a year. This is a little misapprehension. I do not make much of the fact, nor do I glory in it, nor do I see in it any special recommendation to the literary career, seeing that in any other profession that man succeeds poorly indeed who cannot make an income of a thousand. But the fact was stated in order to do something—if only a little—to lessen the contempt in which the profession of letters—as a profession—lies. Fifty people in it, actually making each a thousand a year! As a matter of fact, there are more than fifty who do so. But the assertion was received at first with universal derision; everybody laughed  56 at it. Fifty authors with’ a thousand a year each! Authors! Fancy, authors! Ludicrous! Impossible! There was not, everybody felt, so much in the whole trade. Even when the truth is told it is a poorly paid profession. Even if an equitable arrangement were arrived at, once and for all, the great prizes would still be very few. Yet there seems little cause for lamentation over that. Since there are so few prizes there can be few prizemen; the mass of those who follow letters must either remain poor or they must follow some other pursuit. Let us assure them, if we can, of their independence and their self- respect. Then their poverty will be a com- paratively small evil. — Another literary monument is gone. Those who knew Grub-street—now Milton-street—will remember a quaint little square which stood on its western side. It was a poor kind of square, standing round a paved court; vehicles—except the coster’s barrow—could not enter there. The houses were small and mean; yet they had the eighteenth century air. The rest of the street was built up with vast warehouses. This alone remained of the glorious past. Into this corner had been driven the real associations of Grub- street. One knew every room in every house. In this starved Boyes; in this, Otway. Here two translators occupied one room, and shared one bed, one blanket, and one shirt. Johnson knew this square. Goldsmith often came here, when he had any money, to give it away among his poorer brothers. Very few of them went about the streets in complete absence of anxiety concerning the sheriff’s man and the Compter. Sunday was a day of relief. Here Smollett made the acquain- tance of my Lord Potatoe. The square was fragrant with the memories of the starveling bards. Sham travellers abounded here who had never been beyond Greenwich; Greek scholars who knew not the alphabet; essayists on polite society who never advanced beyond a sixpenny ordinary. But now the square is gone, and a great warehouse stands upon the spot. Grub-street is, indeed, no more. I hear that a young writer in a weekly paper speaks of the air being dark with the sky signs set up by the Society of Authors. Sky signs are illegal; does he mean that the action of the Society is illegal? Whether he means this or not does not matter. What he does mean, besides, is as plain as the biggest sky sign ever elevated above the roofs. Let us wait. When the time comes for the work of this young writer to be in request by the reading public—let us hope that it will be THE AUTHOR. in very large request and that the time will soon come—he will either be able to congratulate him- self on the sky signs which have kept him, as well as others, out of pitfalls and traps; or he will bemoan his unfortunate lot that, by neglect- ing these friendly sky signs, he has had to undergo the loss and humiliation—especially the latter—of being robbed without the power of redress. The man who really likes to feel that he has been fraudulently entreated is not known to exist. Let us note, meantime, that those who cry out the loudest upon the mercenary spirit shown in the resolution to safeguard literary property belong to one of four classes: Either they are those who as yet are too young to have any; or those who have gone through a life of failure without being able to acquire any; or those who think that literary property means a ten pound note; or those who desire vehemently to join in the plunder. Of these four classes the third is the noisiest and the most numerous. What is the good, they think, of talking about literary property? There is not any such thing; there can’t be any such thing. ‘“ Why,’ they say, “my own publisher could only give me ten pounds for my last book—and a book well reviewed, Sir —a book that sold 300 copies! Absurd!” An invitation has been sent to certain writing persons of this country—to myself among the rest—asking them to join in contributing to a memorial designed to celebrate, on the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America, the services rendered by Columbus to mankind. Hach contributor is to choose his own special topic. The subject means, in other words, the services rendered to mankind by the discovery of America. This is rather a large subject, and I, for one, have not felt able to comply with the invitation. The discovery has added sixty millions of those who speak the English language; if these sixty millions were allied by commercial and other bonds of brotherhood and friendship with our own thirty millions, there would be something worth rejoicing over, because the Anglo-Saxon race would then be absolutely master of the situation and impregnable. What country or combination of countries could stand against a federation already a hundred millions strong, and increasing with a rapidity previously unknown in history? But an English-speaking America, where no President can be elected until he has first insulted the English nation in order to catch the Irish vote, is not a country over which we can be expected to rejoice quite hearti'y. I shall wait for the 500th anniversary. By that time I hope to find the Irish question settled somehow, and THE AUTHOR. 57 the United States in firm alliance and brother- hood with ourselves. Ihave received a copy of the “ Book Review Index.” Apparently it is the first copy—Vol. 1., No. 1.—but no number appears in the title page. It consists, apart from a few notes of no great significance, of a list of books published during the last three months, each accompanied by an index to the papers which have noticed it. For instance. ALONE ON A WIDE WipE SzEa—By W. Clark Russell— (Chatto and Windus).—Glas. Her., 10 March; Athen., 19 March; Scot. Lead., 17 March; Man. Guar., 29 March; Scotsman, 14 March; Leeds Mer., 28 March; Sat. Rev., 2 April; Standard, 16 April; Nat. Obs., 2 April; Bookman, April; Spectator, 30 April; Acad., 14 May ; Morn. Post, 9 May; Novel Rev., April. Those writers, therefore, who desire to know where they have been reviewed may buy the Index and ascertain for themselves. In looking through the pages the question arises what books have been most reviewed during the quarter? The answer to this question does not prove more or less popularity, because publishers vary in their practice of sending out books for review. The following results, however, are not without interest: Lord Tennyson’s “The Foresters,” heads the lists with 82 reviews; Rudyard Kip- ling’s “ Barrack Room Ballads” follows with 49 reviews; ‘after him comes Owen Meredith’s “March” Edwin Arnold’s “ Potiphar’s Wife,” and Charles Booth’s “‘ Temperance,” and “ Faces and Places” by H. W. Lucy, each with about 40 reviews; and then a whole shower of books each with its 30 reviews. Some of them are quite unknown books. Now those who want to see the reviews would have to buy this Index first, write next to all the papers to order a copy and pay for each copy. Thus one of those which had forty reviews would have to pay forty pence for posting letters with 7s. enclosed for copies, and 6d. for the Index. That is to say, it would cost him half-a-guinea for getting his reviews with all the trouble of writing and collecting. Now the ordinary service of cuttings would cost him only a guinea for a hundred slips, and at no trouble to himself. A paragraph appears in the Publishers’ Circular quoting at second-hand certain remarks attributed to Mr. Gosse on the modern novel. He is reported to have said that “in the old days the novelist was not a professional writer, but a man of affairs who turned aside to amuse himself by weaving romance. But now it isa continual, professional, VoL. III. commercial grinding out of novels-—a never ending flow of rubbish.” If Mr. Gosse said this, he talked rubbish. It would be a fair and logical conclusion to say—therefore Mr. Gosse did not say this. But, perhaps, with some softening, some exceptions offered in an unquoted context, he said something to the effect that a good deal of “commercial grinding” goes on. That is quite true. ‘Commercial grinding” always goes on whenever the article produced has a commercial value. The ‘commercial grinding” of magazine articles, for instant, is incessant. The only way to stop “commercial grinding” is to stop the commercial value, not only of novels, but of every other form of literature. But to brand the modern novel en bloc, as the production of a “continual, professional, commercial grinding ”’ would be monstrous and preposterous. As for the novelist having been at any time a man of affairs “ who turned aside to amuse himself by weaving romance ”’—when was that?— Were Defoe, Fielding, Smollett, Goldsmith, Scott, Dickens, Thackeray, Wilkie Collins, Reade, George [liot, men of affairs who occasionally turned aside to amuse themselves by weaving romance? Or even, to go to other countries, were Hawthorne, George Sand, Balzac, Dumas, men of affairs who occasionally, &e.? If the editor of the Publishers’ Circular had asked himself these simple questions, he would not have been so ready to cry out upon the wares upon which his clients and supporters grow rich. For my own part, whenever—which .is every other day—I see these sweeping charges made upon the modern novel, I always ardently desire to subject the critic to an examination in the very works which he thus ventures to denounce. His contempt for the modern novel would be found to be in exact proportion to his ignorance of the modern novel. In other words those who ery out the loudest against the modern novel are the people who read it the least. ————— > A modern novelist writing or the assumption that Mr. Gosse did really make these remarks, which I do not believe, says: ‘“‘ When there is nothing else to talk about, the editor of a maga- zine always puts in someone to have a fling at the novelists. Very well; it shows the attention paid to the novel. But their attentions sometimes prove a little too pressing. Could not the editor,” my correspondent adds, “occasionally take a turn at the poets and the critics and the essay- ists’ There are many novelists who would be pleased to give a little consideration to the practitioners in these branches, if only out of gratitude for kindness showed to themselves ; and, really, fair play seems to demand that the modern. EF  58 poets, too, should receive a portion of the love and admiration which they lavish upon the modern novelists.” The Speaker questions my contention that there is no genius at this moment who is starv- ing. He asks, with the careless inaccuracy which is now so common in paragraph writing, “ What does Mr. Besant mean by ‘real genius?’”” Now, I did not use the word real. I said “ genius ” without the adjective “real” at all. I also said that there were no applications at the Royal Literary Fund when I was a trustee from men or women of “literary position.” Now, says the Speaker, of course there were not, because “literary position”? means an income. My point, exactly—an income from literature means literary position ; if you have genius you very soon get that income. Then he goes on tosay: “ By ‘ real genius’ he implies apparently ‘ successful genius ; ’ if you have a bank account, you are a ‘real genius,’ if not, you are an ‘unfortunate man of _letters.’” Quite so. Put an adjective which he did not use into the mouth of a speaker and then you can make a man talk any rubbish you like. Again, therefore, I repeat. While I was on the council of the Royal Literary Fund there were many applications from men and women who were unfortunate men and women of letters. There was never one from any person, man or woman, who had done good work. I speak of two years only, and give this experience for what it is worth. Never once was there an application from any man or woman who had done good work. From which and from other information I infer that the world is swift to recognise good work. Well, “but,” it may be objected ; “ what about poetry ?” The world does not buy poetry. Poets—minor poets—do not try to live by their verses. Happily, that phase of starved literature has vanished. The unfortunates are chiefly unsuc- cessful novelists, about whom a great deal might be written, and the unlucky tribe of those who live by compiling books. ‘This is a tribe growing rapidly smaller, because, first, journalism offers much greater attractions, and because the made- up books—books which nobody wants — are becoming more and more discredited. A man who will turn you out a volume on Arctic Dis- covery, having never seen an iceberg; or a book on Malay lands, having never seen the Narrow Seas ; or a History of Japan, having never been there; is rapidly finding that the man who has experienced the pleasure of Arctic discovery, or has lived among the Malays, or knows Japan and THE AUTHOR. the Japs, has cut him out altogether. I do not say that the Fund has not often relieved the wants of good men. I only say that the condi- tions of things are changed, and that those who now apply are unfortunate because they are failures. A publisher sends me a delightful little corre- spondence. A young aspirant placed in his hands last yeara MS. which he refused to publish. The young author, after the manner of most young authors, could not possibly accept the decision of the publisher. The man was prejudiced; the man did not know his own interest ; the man was a fool to refuse sucha splendid thing. Therefore, the author published the book himself, and paid for it. He now writes to tell the publisher that he has sold exactly twelve copies, and has about 2000 copies on his own hands. What does the society advise ? Never, never, NEVER pay for the produc- tion of your work. Young author, you well pay for it. You cannot believe that no one wauts your work. You will pay—you will learn by experience. The books of the month are Stevenson’s “Wrecker,” and William Black’s “ Magic Ink.” WaLtER BuEsant. eS FEUILLETON. Tue AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN ARTICLE. AM an Article. I consist entirely of words: | twelve thousand wordsare used up in making me. Hach word contains so many letters. In an average of six letters to a word—the author of my being uses a good many long and Latin words —I have used up seventy-two thousand letters. I do not state this with any boastfulness, but that you may know and understand that I am a long and a serious Article. I was brought into the world about three years ago. My birth, I have been told, was difficult, long, and painful. The sufferer, on many occa- sions during the long agony of travail, declared that I should_be the death of him; that he should never get me finished; that he wished he had never thought of me; that if he had known what a trouble I should be he never would have thought of me; that no one knew the sufferings of one who brought forth an Article ; that if men only did know, nobody would undertake the trouble- some andaccursed task of literature or production of Articles: with much more to the same effect. But the moment his’ Article—I myself—was born, he  THE AUTHOR. 59 began to frisk and frolic, to dance and prance about the room, patting me—the Article—ten- derly, saying that there never was such an Article known since the world began; that there was the reputation of a lifetime in that Article; with many other extravagances common, I believe, to mothers with tender infants, hens who have just laid an egg, and authors with their newly- produced articles. I was a very sober, steady, even solemn, Article. I bristled with figures, statistics, and quotations. Acts of Parliament were considered in my pages. There can be no doubt that I was an Article demanding patient attention. Not one of your flippant, humorous, comic papers; not written to make the world laugh; but to make grave and serious statesmen ponder and consider. I had reason to be proud of myself; in fact I was proud of myself. Not only was I a sober and serious article, but I was written out, in a legible and beautiful hand, upon thick and costly paper. It was easy to see from my externals alone that Iwas an Article of which the author was justly proud—a noble Article—an aristocrat among Articles. My parent, after a careful survey of the various magazines then before the public, resolved, first, that he would not allow any American journal to have me—British by birth, British I should remain in the magazine where I was to appear. Hetherefore forwarded me toa shilling magazine called Burdock’s, after the illustrious Burdock, publisher, who owns that organ. The reasons which influenced him were, first, the fact that the magazine was comparatively new, and therefore presumably not so overladen with papers as some others; and next, a je ne seas quot of profundity, or gravity, peculiar to that organ. Nothing frivolous had, so far, been seen in this paper. Accordingly the author of my being sent me on to Burdoch’s. It was my first journey. The editor took me out of my wrappings and banged me on the table. I observed that there were many other MSS. lying about before him. He looked at the title—my title—all of my kind enjoy a title—and then he turned over the pages and looked at the signature. He thought a little and then he wrote in the corner at the right hand of the left page three mysterious letters— “U. B.D.” This done he tossed the MS. aside, and took up another, which he also tossed aside, Presently a boy came in and picked up the papers. He glanced at the letters in the corner and carried away all which lay in the same pile. I know not what he did to the others, but as regards myself he rubbed out the letters with a piece of greasy indiarubber, which left an indelible stain on the white paper; he then filled up a printed form which stated that the subject of the article was not suited to the pages of Burdockh’s Maga- zine, and that the editor sent it back with thanks. He then tied me up—his fingers were at once greasy and inky and muddy—and when I returned home my condition had already altered greatly for the worse. My parent received me with strong words. He cursed Burdock’s; he wished it might never prosper; he wished it might die; he read one of the cursing psalms over it. When this had calmed him he sat down and wrote to the editor of the Marlborough, offering a paper on the subject—my subject. Next day the editor replied on a printed form, that he was unfortunately too full to admit any new articles for the moment. My parent, a choleric young man, used the same language concerning the Marlborough as he had used concerning Burdock’s. Only he ab- stained from reading the cursing psalm. He also wrote off, the same day, to the editor of the Berkeley, who answered promptly, on a printed form, to the same effect. It appeared, in fact, as if nobody wanted me— nobody—wanted—Me! This was incredible. My parent tried three or four more editors with a similar result in every case. Their space was completely full; they could accept no more paper for the present. At last, however, a more favourable reply came. This editor liked the subject and would willingly read the paper. I was sent to him. This editor turned over the pages carelessly and then wrote a note. Hesaid that the paper pleased him very much, but that he thought it should receive a little hghter treatment ; something of the sportive vein; a touch of the humorous should be introduced. If the author would do this, the editor would gladly publish the article. The author received his MS. back again. Heavens! how grimy I was beginning to get already. But this was nothing compared with what followed. For my parent began to cut me to pieces ; he took out the stately Acts of Parlia- ment; he suppressed quantities of the most beautiful figures; and he put in comic anec- dotes. Thus disfigured and with the loss of all my original nobility, I went back to the editor. What follows is a bad dream to me whenever I think of it. For he put me on a shelf; ona high shelf in a dark and dirty room where gas was burned all day long, and where they used bad coal in a bad grate, the dust of which flew about all day, got down the throats of the office boys and killed them swiftly, and covered up all the  60 hopeless MSS. My editor put me up there and left me there, and forgot me there. I lay there a year—forgotten by everybody, even by my parent, who by this time had other children to look after. I was quite forgotten. I lay there helpless, wondering why I had been born at all; why any of my companions had been born ; hidden below an inch of black dry dust, that got between the leaves and made me grimy through and through. One day the editor looked in. “ What are these?” he asked. “Take them down and send them back to their authors. No! T shall write nothing. Least said soonest mended. The writers will come along to-morrow with more stuff just the same. I shan’t make any apology to any of the crew.” So I returned again tomy parent. Nowin my absence a thing had happened. The very points advocated by him in Me had been advocated by a great statesman. He, therefore, took me again in hand, wiped off as much as he could of the grime, took out the funny things and put back the figures. ‘ Now,” he said, when he had added a clean title page—upon my word the wash and the clean title page was as refreshing as a bath and a clean shirt to a man— we will try them all over again.” He sent me once more to Burdock’s. This time the editor, who had entirely forgotten the previous rejection, looked me through and sent me to the printers. The author corrected the proof. “Now,” I said, ‘I shall surely come out.” I waited—in a drawer this time—for six months. Then another thing happened, for an Act of Parliament was passed embodying all the suggestions. The author wrote to the editor asking how long he was to wait. The editor sent me back for alterations. Again I was pulled to pieces and rewritten. Then I came out at last. Two years anda half since I was first sent in. What attention I received on my appearance I know not. No Article ever knows. It must have been great, though, because Burdock’s died that very month. Burdock’s was killed by Me! oe NOTES FROM PARIS. N returning to Paris from fooling round on a bicycle in some of the prettiest country imaginable, I find on my bureau table a volume of 636 pages, on the fly-leaf of which is a dedication in autograph from “son devoué con- frére, Emile Zola.” This is the long-waited-for THE AUTHOR. “La Débicle,” by far, the most important work that the great master has yet put forth. It is not my place to criticise this extraordimary and epoch- making novel which should certainly be read by everybody who has any interest in literature, and I accordingly content myself by subjoining the descriptive notice, which the amiable publishers Messrs. Charpentier and Fasquelle, enclose in each press-copy, with a priére d’insérer. It gives a brief description of the work, as well as certain indications of the enormous success that this book | is destined to achieve. “ Jamais un livre d’Emile Zola n’a été aussi im- patiemment attendu que ‘La Débacle,’ qui sous sa couverture jaune envahit depuis ce matin toutes les vitrines des libraires. “Son succts anticipé est tel, que le jour méme de la mise en vente, les éditeurs Charpentier et Fasquelle répandent dans le public, pour les seules demandes d’avance, soixante-six mille exemplaires. Cet engouement ne sera certes pas décu, car ’époque néfaste de 1870-71 a inspiré au Maitre une ceuvre grandiose et terrible, com- parable aux épopées antiques. Dans ce roman qui captivera également les femmes, l’auteur a choisi ses personnages principaux surtout parmi les plus humbles, ce qui rend plus frappants encore les tableaux de désorientation, de carnage, d’héroisme et de désolation décrits en des pages superbes. Malgré l’étendue inusitée de cette ceuvre, ‘La Débicle’ est contenue en un seul volume de la Bibliothéque-Charpentier.”’ To understand the familiar expression, dear alike to authors and to publishers, about a book “going off like hot cakes,’ one ought to stroll on the boulevards the day of the publication of one of Zola’s novels. Already early in the morn- ing the trottoir shelves of the booksellers are yellow with piles of copies—mountain-high—of the new work, and hour by hour these piles dwindle down, and are renewed by panting book- stall clerks. A new animation is given to the boulevards, and in every hand may be seen the yellow back, so that a new colour is given to the streets. An impressionist painter might make a very striking picture out of the subject, ‘‘ Paris on a Zola morning,” and for this he would need not much more than his tube of light yellow. Zola’s works are never packed up in paper and string, but carried off hastily, as for immediate consumption, and this, in the eyes of the book- sellers’ clerks, means far more as a sign of his immense popularity than the sale of ever so many thousands. The purchasers can’t wait till they get home to have a taste, and even to-day I saw tardy buyers walking down the streets turn-  THE AUTHOR. ing over the leaves. ‘‘ La Débacle” is not, how- ever, a book to be so lightly read. It is a work for the study. Professor Minto prefaces a highly interesting account of the earnings realised by various authors of the past, which appeared in a recent number of the Speaker, with a good-humoured criticism of my “ inconsistency ” in blaming the habit of speaking about authors’ incomes and earnings which certain journals indulge in, in the same number of the Author in which I had given certain particulars about the remuneration earned by a number of noted French authors. It does look inconsistent to be sure, but, at the same time, is not the Author entre nous, and may we not talk about our own affairs between our- selves? If this is not a good excuse, I may pos- sibly defend myself that the incriminated para- graph was perhaps the outcome of the anger of the Author Jekyll against the Journalistic Hyde. Jekyll might very justly be incensed at Hyde for not holding his tongue, because the author and the journalist by their very natures work on different lines. The journalist must say every- thing, whilst with the author ne pas tout dire still remains the great art. Apropos of authors and journalists, I was rather amused at reading in a recent American magazine an article by a_ well-known lady novelist in which writing about the “ Penalty of Greatness” she animadverted, in no measured language, on the custom of interviewing, which she described as a nuisance, an impertinence, and so forth. She added something about the “great writer being forced to divulge his private affairs to the newspaper hack.” It is high time that writers of books should cease their de haut en bas ways, their sneering little ways towards their con- fréres of the press. There is far more good writing in the daily press than in all but very few novels, and it is beyond dispute that a leader by such men as Sala and Lang, not to mention many other names, shows as much literary skill and artistic sense as many pages in the best con- temporary fiction. And as to hacks this term is foolishly inappropriate as applied to writers for the Press, inasmuch as most journalists make far better incomes and have a much higher and older time of it than all but very few writers of books. Many men who would make very good writers of books prefer to remain journalists because their talents lie in quick work and their hankerings are after quick returns. Some, doubtless, also prefer the immeasurably larger public that the news- paper as compared to the volume assures them, 61 A good article is far more read and far more noticed by the larger public than nearly any book, ——+ >—__~ “The great. writer” by the way is almost in- variably delighted to see the newspaper hack and to shovel out his experiences and opinions for his purpose. Zola, for instance, or Daudet, or Rénan can always be interviewed at any length, and the same may be said of almost all French writers. Poor De Maupassant, on the other hand, invari- ably refused to be interviewed.” The journalist Hyde, maugre the author Jekyll, wants to give a few more particulars about the earnings of the writers of the roman- Jeuilleton which have come his way since last month. Jules Mary, for instance, makes his 60,000 frances with one of his thrillers, and in this way. His price for the use of a serial by a paper is 30,000 francs. The publishers who bring the story out in penny parts after its appearance in the paper pay him for such use a further sum of 25,000 francs. The book is then published in volume form, which brings in the balance of 5000 franes. Besides these sums he always turns a pretty additional penny by authorising its reproduction in the country newspapers. M. D’Ennery charges fifteen pence a line for his feuilletons, but prefers dramatic work. His novel, “An Angel’s Remorse,” brought him 70,000 francs. De Montépm also works “A la ligne” and makes 70,000 frances a year with one novel. Times have changed since the days when the editor .of La Constitutionel was thought to be going out of his mind when he paid Eugene Sue 6000 francs for the serial rights of “ Les Mystéres de Paris.” <I Richebourg, who is still one of the most succes- ful feuilletonists, was originally employed as a clerk in the offices of the “ Societé des Gens de Lettres.” His duty was to make up the author’s accounts with the provincial papers, and to pay over the large sum to which the members were entitled. He was paid for this work £80 a year. One day, struck by the large profits which the feuilletonists seemed to earn, he began reading some of ths feuilletons, for which he had paid over such large sum-. It then struck him that he could write as good stuff if not a jolly sight better. He tried it, succeeded, and in a very short time had increased his income thirty- fold. He is now a millionaire and has shed more blood in and caused more tears to flow over his pages than perhaps any living writer.  62 Jean Moréas, who by many is considered the first poet in France, is one of the most curious personalities in contemporary French literature. Of arestless temperament, he is constantly moving his chattels from one quarter of the town to another. I bave found him on the heights of Montmartre, and in remote Montrouge. Asa rule he is very mysterious about his address, and, being irrevocably noctambulist, is very rarely seen except at nights. He was the founder of the Symbolist school of poetry, and is now engaged in forming the Ecole Romane, the members of which are recruited amongst the dissidents fiom the former School, which was split into parties by the quarrels provoked by Huret's book on the literary movement in France. Moréas may sometimes be seen between the hours of ten o’clock and four in the mornmg, either walking the Boulevard St. Michael or sitting in some little frequented marchand de vin’s shop. His three or four disciples are always with him, and itis interesting to see how they hang upon his lips. Moréas is a thorough poet, and, as he walks along with his eyeglass fixed, he mutters his rhymes aloud. He publishes very rarely, and only after long elabo- ration His books, which are published in very small editions, are out of print, and copies fetch phenomenal prices. He is an excellent swordsman and has great personal courage. Iwas his second in one of his duels against Darzens, and really adwired the pluck with which he fought during an hour and a half. Rosert H. SHERARD. Paris, June 24. eae SONNET. ON HEARING A FRIEND PLAYING REMINISCENCES OF WAGNER. Hark! in my soul, how those sweet concords flow ; Liquid and clear; like tardy summer rain, That drops—and stays—then hurries down again, The while soft winds begin to stir, and blow. I seem to see, beneath the still moonlight A Rhineland town; and, by some ancient tower, Two lovers who have known foul envy’s power Fled for communion in the quiet night. But all too fast the trancéd moments fly ;— They must not linger, murmuring heart to heart ; They hear the watchman’s solemn measured cry ; Yet cannot tear those passionate lips apart. The deep toned tower clock tolls the hour supreme, And music dies on love’s enraptured dream. Ziretua F. TomKIns. Acton, 1892. sree THE AUTHOR. WOMEN IN JOURNALISM. with modern journalism is the rapidity with which women have pressed into its ranks during the last ten years. When, a few months ago, the idea of a club for women journalists was promulgated, even its promoters felt some doubt as to whether there were a sufficient number of women engaged in newspaper work to make such an institution financially possible. But such fears were dissipated within a month of the time that the idea found articulate expression; and at this moment the Writers’ Club (within less than a year of its foundation) is a flourishing concern, with some hundreds of members, all of whom are engaged in literary, and the majority in newspaper work. These numbers constitute a sufficiently startling fact when we remember that journalism as a pro- fession for women is only a thing of yesterday; and in that consideration of it two aspects immediately present themselves to 2 thoughtful person :— (1.) Is the effect produced on journalism by this invasion of women a salutary one ? (2.) Is journalism a desirable method for women to earn their living ? With regard to the first question the answer must necessarily be of a cautious character, and will to a great extent depend upon the attitude taken up towards modern newspaper literature by the individual who answers it. Those who look upon the present condition of the press with unalloyed satisfaction, and those who consistently maintain in the face of anything in the way of proof or evidence that the influence of women in journalism, as in everything else, is necessarily a good one, will probably regard the situation from the optimistic point of view only. Those, how- ever, who prize that vigour and virility of senti- ment and writing which characterises the best masculine pens ; who deplore the personalities, gossip, and feminine tone which find so prominent a place in many of the papers; who value style and scholarship and humour, all of which stand a chance of being neglected if not lost, will see reason for regret that so. much of the literature of the day is written by women. Nowhere, in the opinion of the present writer, can this deteriorating and demoralising influence be seen to better advantage than in the society papers, which, however, it is only just to say are as much read by men as by women. There area large number of so-called high class society periodicals, the greater part of which con- sists of the vulgarest gossip and personalities N | OT the least striking feature in connection Ave > ibe a ia THE AUTHOR. 63 about the conversation, mode of life, and move- ments of persons who are in no sense of the word “‘ public ;’ who have distinguished themselves in no legitimate way, and often in no way at all outside existing; and whose “smartness,” or fastness, or money alone, make them the object of this rubbishing tittle-tattle. Whilst, however, a good portion of this literature is as harmless as it is stupid, the same cannot be said of the very latest development of feminine enterprise in the press, which seems likely to have a flourishing existence before it. This takes the form of a “lady’s letter,’ and is written ostensibly by a lady of fashion whose fastness not only goes to the verge of disreputability, but some way beyond it. She purports to give an account of her week’s doings, which generally include visits to music halls and other places not usually considered classic ground for decent women. Somewhere or other there is one “ Charlie’”’ or “ Jack ”’ in tow, and this accommodating husband invariably figures in the description so as to give the thing presumably an air of propriety. Let any im- partial person peruse some of this bare flippant worthless stuff now becoming so general, and ask himself whether it can have anything but a vicious effect on the brainless young persons (it is to be supposed they are young) who read it every week. But, even if these society papers are left out of account, it must be apparent to any one who has an intimate acquaintance with current newspaper literature, that the ewig weibliche strain is far too predominant, and that the hysterical and emasculate attitude taken up in some quarters on certain social and other ques- tions is a direct result of this feminine influence, Of course a large amount of respectable journalism is done by women, and is read by women; and the proof of this is to be found in the existence of so well written and ably conducted a paper as the Queen; and in the successful launching of the new paper for women, Hearth and Home, which has papers on purely literary topics written in excellent style. But (with the exception of a few individual women who have made their literary reputation elsewhere) the better sort of newspaper work, which includes leader writing, reviewing, and miscellaneous literary articles is not in the hands of women at all, whose main busi- ness is concerned with paragraphs and articles about social functions, the shops, fashions, cookery, home decoration, and reports of lectures, meetings, weddings, and so forth. To write successfully upon cookery and art decoration requires a certain amount of technical knowledge, and women who are well up in these subjects find a ready market and very good prices for Carried on legitimately their literary wares. —that is to say, without puffs and bribes—this seems a very suitable and desirable field for the action of the feminine pen. But—and this brings me to the second part of my inquiry—can much be said in praise of the work of the ordi- nary lady journalist, which involves the constant wear and tear of reporting, night work, severe physical strain; which necessitates, if she is to get on, an astounding exhibition of audacity and push, and which perpetually compels her to place her natural impulses of reserve and unaggressive- ness in the background, which includes the inter- viewing of persons who are not gentlemen, and the formation of promiscuous acquaintance ; and which, above all, forces her to write about worth- less trivialities, which, if she have any better sort of aspiration or literary taste, she heartily des- pises. As a set-off against these disadvantages, it must be admitted that a woman possessing but average intelligence and quickness (even if her education be of the most limited kind), can make a very fair living out of this sort of journalism; whilst a woman with moderate ability, with good education and a facile pen, and a quick eye, can make double the income earned by her scholarly sister who has graduated at Newnham, and become a high school teacher—which is only another way of stating that journalism is the one profes- sion, vocation, or trade, or whatever its enemies like to call it—in which the work of men and women is paid for at precisely the same prices. So far as I know, the real genuine life of the woman journalist has yet to be written, and would afford interesting and fresh ground for a female Thackeray, if she ever arises. What a pity it is that some enterprising Press lady does not herself give us her experiences, and “betray the secrets of the prison house.” We might then get a solution of the problem that has puzzled a good many of us, as to the reason that certain ladies, whose scholarship is as little evident as their shy- ness, are in the happy position of realising large incomes. A recipe given me by an artless and pretty young lady journalist, might be of some use to the future novelist : ‘ Oh, it’s quite easy to get heaps of work if the Editor ’s ‘gone on you.’”’ It must be remembered the speaker had charming eyes and lips, but how about the women who are not young or attractive? For them there is nothing but hard work, unflagging alertness, per- severance, and patience. If they have not sound nerves and good health, God help them! x YZ.  64 AUTHORS BY PROFESSION. (Reprinted from the Speaker by kind permission of Professor Minto.) The first man who is known to have called himself an “author by profession’? — ‘ book- seller’s drudge,” or “‘ Grub-street hack,” was the less dignified and more common designation— was one William Guthrie, who wrote for the Gentleman’s Magazine before and along with Samuel Johnson, and produced some historical works of considerable merit. “Sir,” said his great contemporary of him, “he is a man of parts. He has no great regu'ar fund of know- ledge; but by reading so long and writing so long, he no doubt has picked up a good deal.” But seeing that Guthrie eked out his income from the booksellers by soliciting and taking the pay of the Government, we had better leave him with this compliment. The Society of Authors would not be proud of him ; his modern analogue is to be found in the “reptile press’ of Germany. The first great “author by profession,” the first man who made a living by his writings and at the same time a classic reputation, was Samuel Johnson himself. His independent and practical spirit first put the profession or trade of author- ship on a sound footing, and substituted the capitalist for the patron. One of the letters recently published by Mr. Birkbeck Hill is a curious evidence of his business-like spirit. He writes to a correspondent and mentions various literary schemes suitable for “an inhabitant of Oxford.” But he adds: “I impart these designs to you in confidence, that what you do not make use of yourself shall revert to me uncommuni-’ cated to any other. The schemes of a writer are his property and his revenue, and therefore they must not be made common.” A prior claim might be made for Pope, on the strength of two lines in one of his “ Imitations of Horace ”’— “ But (thanks to Homer) since I live and thrive Indebted to no Prince or Peer alive.” Pope certainly made more money out of his books than Johnson. Johnson got ten guineas for his “ London,” and 1500 for his Dictionary, whereas Pope made 8000 out of his translations of Homer. But Pope held the profession of authorship in high disdain. He was what, on the analogy of “ gentleman-farmer,” might be called a “ gentle- man-author.” He professed to write for the passing of time and the improvement of man- kind. The first authenticated sale of copyright by an THE AUTHOR. author is commonly said to be Milton’s sale of “ Paradise Lost” to Simmons. But money had often passed between publisher and author long before this. Fuller, the witty author of “The Worthies,” avows as one of his objects in publishing, “which he is not ashamed publicly to profess,” “ to procure a moderate profit to him- self, in compensation of his pains.” “ Hitherto,” he boasts, no stationer hath lost by me.” He published, however, by subscription ; that is, he had to act as his own commercial traveller. This was under the Commonwealth: Fuller, a Royalist clergyman, was driven to seek some “honest profit” out of books by the troubles of the times. But a century earlier there were men who made their living, or part of their living, by books, and yet made a certain name for them- selves in literary history. They were not all so fortunate as Sir Thomas Elyot, the author of the “The Governour,’ who, when accused by his friends of “neglecting his profit” in writing books, mentioned this to his readers, and assured them that he desired only their “gentyll report and assistance agaynst them which do hate all thynges which please not their fantasyes.” There were others who felt moved to write, and yet were under the necessity of trying, like Fuller, to get some compensation for their pains. How was it done in the days before copyright developed into a marketable commodity? The printers were protected by royal privilege, and it would seem that our earliest men of letters, from soon after the introduction of printing, eked out a livelihood as correctors of the press. This was a recognised resort for the poor scholar. In the times of persecution under Mary, several of the Protestant refugees settled at Basle, and this, Strype tells us, they did “upon two reasons. One was because the people of that city were especially very kind and courteous unto such English as came thither for shelter; the other, because those that were of slenderer fortunes might have employment in the printing-houses there, the printers of Basil in this age having the reputation of exceeding all others in that art throughout Germany, for the exactness and elegancy of their printing. And they rather chose Englishmen for the overseers and cor- rectors of their presses, being noted for the most careful and diligent of all others. Whereby many poor scholars made a shift to subsist in these hard times.” One of these was John Foxe, the historian of the martyrs, who obtained employment with the printer Oporinus (Herbst), to whom he offered his services in what Strype calls “a handsome epistle,” “wherein he desired to be received by him into his service, and that he would vouchsafe  LHE AOTHOR. 65 to be his learned patron, being one that would be content with a small salary.”’ Another early instance of the printer acting as learned patron is found in the case of Thomas Wilson, author of the first English treatises on logic and rhetoric. In the preface to his Logic (1552) he says :—“ Notwithstanding I must nedes confesse that the printer hereof, your Majestie’s Servaunt, provoked me firste hereunto, unto whome I have ever found myselfe greately beholdyng, not onely at my beyng in Cambridge, but also at al tymes els, when I most neded helpe.” This honourable printer was the famous Richard Grafton, of whom many creditable things are recorded in the chronicles of printing. Grafton’s partner in more than one of his enter- prises, notably in the printing of the New Testa- ment and the Bible, was Edward Whitchurch; and perhaps the very first authentic example of the author by profession was a “-ervant”? with Whitchurch, This was William Baldwin, an Oxford man. who lived by the press, not asa casual resource, or while waiting tor church pre- ferment, but till at least thirty years after taking his degree, his only other ascertained employment being some share in the preparation of entertain- ments for the Court. Baldwin is said to hive set up with his own hands the type of his metrical version of the Canticles ; but that, nevertheless, he held what might be called a good literary position is proved by his share in the “ Mirror for Magistrates.” When Wayland, a printer of Mary’s time, projected a continuation in English verse of Boccaccio’s “ De Casibus Virorum Illustrium,” it was to Baldwin he went with the idea; and the modest Baldwin, though he would not undertake the work single- handed, seems to have had no difficulty in getting men of note to work under his editorship. This is an interesting example of the early relations between authors and publishers. Caxton was often his own author; but he was soon followed by others wh:, though they could not write themselves, could see where there was an opening for talent. Ido not know of any instance where the printer has suggested his subject to a man of genius, and I rather doubt whether any such instance is tv be found; but the sagacious foresight of the printer has undoubtedly often been profitable in this way to authors of talent. Thomas Wilson is not the only author who has been “ greately beholdynge” to a publisher for a timely suggestion, though not a few may have found their employer, as Johnson found Cave, a “‘penurious paymaster.” This also was in the nature of things. W. Minto. CORRESPONDENCE. Ee Usrrut Booxs. Me I suggest that the very valuable list of books, useful to authors as works of reference, published in the Author, would have an enhanced value if those kind enough to submit the lists of their favourites would append price, which they would no doubt willingly do if you drew attention to the want of such information by others as well as J. D. Hurcrsson. <a iT, Dors tHe HicHer Literature Pay? Most phrases, in these days, are but shams. But if there should happen to be some truth in the phrase ‘‘ Republic of Letters,” I may, perhaps, be permitted to question, with Repub- lican freedom, certain dicta of our honoured editor. He “can see no ‘higher form’ of literature at all, unless it be poetry.” And philosophy—in which, of course, the whole round of the sciences is included—he declares to be, “so far as he can discover,” no higher a form of litera- ture than “essays, or biography, or fiction.” Literature, then, is to be judged by what it con- tributes to human amusement, not by what it contributes to human progress. And the essayists, and biographers, and novelists of, say, the last three hundred years, are all, as authors, on a level of equality with—if, indeed, considering the greater amount of amusement they have given, not ona much higher level than—such philoso- phers as Bacon and Newton, and Hobbes, and Locke, and Hume, and all the scientific dis- coverers put together down to Darwin and Spencer, classics though their chief works will certainly remain long after— Rudyards cease from kipling, And Haggards ride no more. I trust that I may be allowed to record my strong protest against judging literature, in the large sense of the word, by a standard so low as that which places “essays, and biography, and fiction” on a level with works m which the laws of the universe, and of man’s nature and history are being progressively revealed. Our editor is also certain that “the :eading public is wise enough and clever enough to dis- cover the great genius, and even the little genius, as soon as ever he appears.”” And in verification of this assertion, he “instances Messrs. Stevenson,  66 Rudyard Kipling, and J.M. Barrie.” That such a thing exists as philosophic and scientific genius, as distinguished from the sort of genius that “the reading public can discern as soon as ever it appears,” is not recognised by oureditor. Had it, indeed, been recognised, our editor’s contention in his “‘ Notes” for June could not have been main- tained for a moment. That contention is, that there 1s no possibility now, in the wide bounds of the Republic of Leiters, of the existence of such an unfortunate as ‘“‘a neglected anda starving genius.” Possibly this may be so, if the term “genius” is limited to those who have a genius for amusing. Butif the term is used in its larger, and indeed, ordinary sense, to include philosophic and scientific genius, I say that, under present conditions in this country, genius, if it takes up philosophy or science, will almost certainly en- counter both ‘‘ neglect and starvation,” if it is not, by private fortune, made independent of the discernment of ‘the wise and clever reading public.” For what are the facts? Not a single one of all the men of philosophic and scientific genius abovenamed or alluded to, could have pursued those philosophic and scientific researches which are the chief glory of English literature, had it not been for private fortune, or the aid of private friends. “If a man,’ says our editor, “is a writer of ‘solid’ literature, he is a professor or lecturer, a fellow of his college, a teacher of some kind.” Possibly, if it is very ‘“ solid literature,” this may be so. But if it is highly original literature, immensely advancing human thought, and hence social progress—yet, for that very reason, neither decorously dull, nor prettily “amusing ’’—the author of it, a Darwin, or a Spencer, for instance, will have no change of a professorship, and, if he is without private fortune, will have but the dire alternative of starvation, or abandonment of his work. Except; perhaps, he were a mathematician, hardly one of the great thinkers and discoverers, to whom English literature chiefly owes its place among literatures, was a professor, or would probably— notwithstanding “the wisdom, and cleverness, and quick discernment of the reading public ”»— have been allowed to become a professor. For consider these two significant facts : The late Lord Giffard, in 1887, bequeathed £80,000 to found, at the Scottish Universities, four Lectureship on Natural Theology, in nominat- ing to which he enjoined, in the most express language which it was possible to use, that these lectures should be made the means of stimulating the freest scientific discussion on religious sub- jects, even to the denial of the existence of a God, if that should be the conclusion of any mani- THE AUTHOR. festly earnest thinker. What has been the result? Not the encouragement of new thinkers, as intended by the testator, but an ampler endowment either of orthodox Christians or of men whose scientific opinions have been before the world for the last thirty years and more, and which are now, to say the least, very seriously questioned, if not altogether overthrown by the later results of scientific research. Or consider another fact, of which the reader will find fuller particulars in a paper by Lord Rayleigh, Sec. R. S., in Mature, 12th May, 1892. Nearly half a century ago (1845) the now received scientific theory of gases was anticipated by a Mr. J. J. Waterston. But his paper—now, at length, published by the Royal Society im full—was, at the time, reported on as nothing but nonsense, unfit even for reading before the Royal Society. “Little chance for such a genius of gaining his living as a ‘ professor.’ ”’ J. S. Sruart GLENNIE. [Granted the fact that scientific research does not by itself suffice to keep a man ; there remains the additional fact that this is recognised, and that no scientific man tries to live by research. So that there is no such thing as a scientific genius who is starving. I did not say that there could be no such thing, but that there is not, any more than there is a starving poet. I venture to reassert my claim that there is no kind of literature higher than another, unless it be poetry.—W. B.] III. ANOTHER SIDE. In the Author for April was a _ story— imagined of course—about a plain yuung writress —I use the adjective as we say “a plain man,” un homme moyen—who attained to constant publica-. tion and high pay by nobbling editors in a— what shall I say ?—physiological manner. It was a good story. Every story is good until another is told. And the teller of the other story in this case is “ Georges de Peyrebrune ” (whose legal status is Mme. Mathilde-Georgina-Hliza- beth de Judicis) in “Le Roman d’un Bas Bleu” (Ollendorff, 1892). This new novel is supposed to disclose the Confessions of another young littératrice who is by no means so plain and down- right as our own young person, and who declares that whenever a (French) journal or a review is. directed by men, no authoress can get anything inserted without “submitting to the exigencies of these gentlemen.” Is this the moment to quote our pseudo-Yorick, and say: “They order this matter better in France?” ‘That is not what  THE AUTHOR. 67 Mile. Sylvere du Parclet says in this realistic novel. If we believe her, every (French) editor’s sanction is “the grotto of a satyr,” and the inter- views between Mlle. Sylvére and the autocrat of the grave and learned Revue des Universités, with his fine tawny beard and his inflammatory grey eyes, are of the most stirring actuality. Sylvére, of course, rises superior to the occasion, to all the occasions; but the depressing result is that virtue is her own and only reward, for the word goes about, and “no newspaper, no maga- zine, will accept anything more from her.” All she has to do is to disappear from literary life. But before doing so, she determines to have her revenge in writing this novel, of which the real authoress in the flesh is now—may one be indis- creet enough to stater—in her 46th year. She has written some sixteen successful books, several of which have passed through the Revue des Deux Mondes. One supposes la moralité, or shall we say the morality of all this, lies in the fact that neither story, neither the French nor the English, is true. Both can’t be, surely? TV. BopENSTEDT. Germany is not forgetful of her writers. The grave has hardly closed over her poet Frederich von Bodenstedt, when a committee is appointed in Wiesbaden, his home, to collect funds for a national memorial to the creator of Mirza Schaffy, the poet-philosopher. In the appeal sent forth from this committee is the note, that Bodenstedt will live in the minds of Ger mans of all shades of politics or thought; but, “a nation only honours itself when it shows itself thankful to its mind- heroes, even after the grave has received their mortal remains,’ Frederich von Bodenstedt had a marvellous knowledge of English literature; a list of his works on Shakespeare would fill a column of the Author, and in his last letter to me, he refers to the demand for a new edition of his translation of Shakespeare’s Sonnets; and I well remember, the last time I was with him in his study in Wiesbaden, his outburst of sarcasm and anger when a Halle Professor asked him his opinion as to the Bacon authorship of Shakes- peare. His powerful brain (he had an immense head) and abnormal memory made him a most interesting conversationalist ; but perhaps I may be allowed to speak of him more fully at another date. James Baxur. Vv. Press Copies. As, from a reference in this month’s issue of the Author to a letter of mine which appeared in the last August number, advocating the abolition of presentation copies of books to the press, it might appear that there are insurmountable objections to the proposal bemg carried out, I would like to be allowed to state my case again, and perhaps strengthen it in the light of further experience A journal is conducted for the profit of its owner. He does all he can to interest his readers, and enhance its circulation. Reviews of books are inserted because it is believed that they will interest the readers, and thereby assist the sale of the paper. Some books that are sent to be reviewed are not reviewed, because it is believed that an account of them would not interest the readers. The readers of the paper (the public) are the persons considered in deciding whether a book shall be reviewed or not. The author of the work is not considered, because the review is not written for his benefit. The review is written for the benefit of the paper, the profit of the proprietor, not for that of the author. The author may benefit by the review. The review may be unfavourable to the author, even inju- rious. To say that the object of the review is the injury of the author is as much reason as to say that the object is his benefit. The result of the review to the author, its benefit or detriment to him, is accidental and incidental. Books are now given to journals for review so that the author may benefit by the publicity thus obtained. He does not always obtain this pub- licity. The publicity is not always to his benefit. By presenting copies to the press, the author or publisher asks for the benefit of publicity. The proprietor of the journal gives or refuses it ac- cording as he thinks it will interest his readers or not—will or will ‘not advance his own interests. The author or publisher does not take up an in- dependent position. The newspaper proprietor would be bound to come to him for the sake of the interests of his paper, his own interests, if the author or publisher did not run after him. The author or publisher sacrifices his position and his dignity. He seems to think that only he gains through the review, whereas the journal gains as much through him as he does through it. The author or publisher, when he advertises a book, does not plead that the announcement is for the benefit of the paper or the public, and should therefore not be charged for. That would be as reasonable as the plea that the review is for the benefit of the author, and therefore should  68 be paid for (by presentation of a copy of the book). No matter how the anomaly of asking for a review has come about, the position is now a false one, and the review is not areturn service for the presentation of the book. That there is not always a review in return for it proves that. Were journals to purchase the books they want to review, there would no longer be the scandal of presentation copies of books, both reviewed and unreviewed, being sold by the needy or greedy into whose hands they fall. The Author should be the sole exception in favour of a press copy, because it is the organ of the authors’ own organisation, and to present a copy for review by its own organisation would be furthering the author’s own interests. The proposal is this. Let copies be sent to the press, exactly as is done now. Let the books that are not reviewed be returned to the sender. Let the books that are retained for review be paid for by the proprietor of the journal. Thus can the anomaly of “ press copies’ be abolished, and the independence of authors and of the press be more firmly established. H. Hazs. [The question is referred to on p. 53.] VI. Epitor OR PROPRIETOR ? In the year 1888, I was asked by the editor of a paper well known and widely circulated in Ireland, to write a weekly letter for it; the payment to be a guinea a week. I wrote for three months, and then sent a note to the manager to remind him. In answer to this I got a cheque fo the amount due, and (as I knew the editor personally) I wrote to him to say I had received the money. He was just then in Paris, and replied as follows: “I am glad you have had your cheque from It is ‘sure henceforth to be sent regularly every quarter. . . . ‘Out of Town’ would now be a good title to your letters. I read your last one here, and thought it very good.” Now comes the curious part of the story. Hardly had I received the editor’s letter from Paris before an intimation was sent me from the manager that no more letters would be required till the following spring; it was then Autumn, and somehow it was clear tome that I was “chucked.” I wrote to the editor again, but only got a vague and unsatisfactory answer. Can anybody explain the matter ? [The explanation is that the proprietor of the paper was also the manager. The editor should have explained that his power was limited. ] THE AUTHOR. VIL. An Opiicinec PUBLISHER. Here is an incident that may amuse and perhaps instruct your readers : A woman of fashion, wealthy, and a widow, having no occupation, and desiring distinction, resolved to become an author. Having taken the first. step towards the fulfilment of her desire, and written hundreds of pages of balderdash, she submitted them to a publisher—a man of fair repute, well known and much beloved. So greatly was he struck by the excellence of the story and the certainty of success, that he generously offered to produce it for the sum of £150 payable on or before date of publication. This sum was willingly given to so gracious a benefactor. The young novelist’s knowledge of the literary world may be gauged when ’tis mentioned she, anxious for a good review in the Morning Post, actually wrote to the editor asking what his price was for a favourable notice ! In due time her book was born and damned. This she was assured was the fate of all first novels, and, nothing daunted, fearing nothing, she wrote a second story. As proof of the paternal kindness of publishers to young authors it may be stated that the same publisher consented to produce the second novel on the same terms as the first. Before this arrangement was completed she wisely bought herself a husband—and she published no more. Firzerratp Mo.Luoy. VIII. LivERATURE AND INDEPENDENCE. I should like to be allowed to say that I concur cordially in Mr. Lecky’s view, that young men without independent means should not attempt the higher forms of literature. The more distinct their literary success, the more certain (while they remain nameless) will be the refusal of their work on every hand. And for this reason. In all the higher forms of literature, imaginative and other, there is ever a didactic or philosophic vein—a tone of freedom, privilege, and authority —and this the public will not receive from any writer who has not already made a name. <A certain degree of commercial success, which has no necessary identity with literary success, gives him the required status. One must not, unless or until one is somebody, presume to teach; what is power in the acknowledged man is pretentiousness in the unacknowledged. It has been asked, what are the higher forms of literature, and what the i hd eed Oe ee THE AUTHOR, lower? The higher forms of literature are the intellectual forms, those which are exhibited in works which appeal to brain and culture in the reader. The reader in whom these properties are non-resident will lay aside such works as tedious and unprofitable ; he does quite right ; to him they are unprofitable, and he represents ninety-nine hundredths of the reading public. The higher form of literature, whether embodied in poetry, history, the drama, or the novel, is always immediately recognisable by this stamp of intel- lectuality. It is intellectual, and appeals to the intellect ; where there is no intellect to respond it is an inert factor, and this explains the coldness of publishers towards works which are truly worthy of production and fit to live—for intellec- tual readers form a pitiful minority. To speak of fiction, it may be said without offence that the large majority of novels have no discoverable intellectuality, and these—for the distinct reason of their inferiority—often sell in tens of thousands. I would suggest, at any rate, to any young man meaning to attempt the higher forms of litera- ture, that he first attempt that yet ‘“ higher” form recommended by your able Paris correspon- dent as a passport to literary acceptance, by standing on his head on the point of Cleopatra’s Needle for twenty-four hours! He might, after achieving that distinction, be as ironical as Thackeray, as sanguine as George Eliot, as dog- matic as Carlyle, and society would bow to his decisions. O tempora! O mores! C. Davenport JoNEs. Doc: “AT THE AUTHOR'S HEAD.” “ My Stewardship,” by E. McQueen Gray (Me- thuen). This is a book of which one is induced at first merely to say that it carries one on with increasing interest to the end. But it is more. The book is a seriously subtle revelation of a character grown, by long indulgence, solitude, and disappointment, soured and selfish to the last: degree. The lady concerned relates the tale, and with it, reveals herself. It is a remarkable study. “The Desert Ship,” a novel, by Jno. Bloundelle- Burton, author of “ The Silent Shore,” and ‘“ His Own Enemy,” is now running as a serial in Old and Young. Arrangements are being made for its production also in Australia and the United States in a similar manner, as well as in volume form in London, The story has already 69 attracted attention from some of the London newspapers. Professor Max Miiller’s lectures on “India” are to appear in a new edition. Mr. Gifford’s lectures will also advance to a new edition of the first volume, and the first appearance of the fourth volume (Longmans.) The “Idylls of the Queen,” by William Alfred Gibbs (Sampson Low and Co.) is just ready. Whatever profits may accrue from the sale of the book are to be given to the fund for help- ing wives and children of our soldiers and sailors. John Bickerdyke has just completed, for Sampson Low, Marston, and Co., a revision of the late J. G. Ffennell’s ‘Book of the Roach,” an exhaustive work, concerning the most popular of the British fishes. The new edition to which an introductory chapter and numerous other additions have been made by the editor, will first appear, in serial form, in the Mshing Gazette. The “ Book of the Roach” was published about twenty years ago by Longmans, and is still the only work devoted to the subject. Since its publication roach anglers have increased amaz- ingly. There are in London alone about 12,000 working men anglers, members of clubs, and who one and all are roach fishers. Of Miss Augusta A. Varty-Smith’s novel “Matthew Tindale,’ Mr. Gladstone writes :— It is not commonplace or conventional. Were it a jailure I should say magnis tamen excidit ausis. ‘Matthew Tindale’ is a great conception power- fully expressed. I think the verdict was wrong, but with being able to suggest any easy or satis- factory escape from the situation.~ It cannot, I think, be doubted that the writer capable of con- ceiving and setting out Matthew is possessed of a gift.” Mr. Edric Vredenburg is at present engaged on a story that will shortly appear as a serial in the Weekly Dispatch. Lady Fairlie Cuninghame publishes “A Wan- dering Star” with Messrs. Ward and Downey. Mr. G. H. Jennings has produced (Horace Cox, Law Times Office) the Third Edition of his “ Anecdotal History of the British Parliament.” The Dictionary is arranged under the heads of Statesmen. For instance, under the heading “Sir Robert Peel,’ there are eleven pages of anecdotes, covering the whole of the career of this great minister. An excellent reprint of an old friend.  79 Mr. E. J. Goodman’s “The Best Tour in Norway” is now ready. The publishers are Sampson Low, Marston, and Company. The illustrations and the map are beautiful—the narrative is bright, clever, and picturesque. It ought to be a handbook for the route followed. “Suffering London” is an appeal on behalf of voluntary hospitals by A. Egmont-Halle. The book has already gone through nearly five thou- sand copies—which, in a rough-and-ready way, speaks for it. There is a preface, giving in brief the history of medieval hospitals by Walter Besant. The fact that the “ Vision of Martyrs,” by the Rey. James Bownes, has gone into another edition shows that religious poetry, at least, is not dead. Besides the larger poem the little volume contains hymns and other verses filled with the religious spirit. In the“ Fairy Ballad Book” theauthor of “ Endy- mion’s Dream ” has told five-and-twenty stories —are they all old?—in verse. They are fairy stories, told quite simply. It ought to become a favourite with children. “Songs of Universal Life.” By Marcus 8. C, Rickards, M.A., F.1.S., is published by J. Baker and Son, Clifton. They are verses written by one who is a true lover of nature, one who would make of the common objects which he sees around him a ladder to the higher philosophy. The poetry is simple and unstrained; the thoughts rise at times to an unexpected level. “Conversations with Carlyle,” by Sir Charles Gavin Duffy, K.C.M.G., appeared originally in the Contemporary Review. They are conversa- tions which took place as far back'as 1845. They were preserved by being written down every da while the memory was fresh. The book is like another volume added to the “ Past and Present” and “Sartor Resartus.”’ The Cassell Publishing Company, New York, have just brought out a one volume novelette, “By a Himalayan Lake,” which appeared as a serial in.the Pictorial World, by “An Idle Exile.” This author’s - “Indian Idyls,” and “In Tent and Bungalow,” collections of short stories of Anglo-Indian sport and society, have already been published this year by the same firm, and have beer very flatteringly noticed by the American Press in all parts of the country. “Twelve Men of To-day” (Chapman and Hall, 1s.) is a portrait gallery of twelve “ celebri- ties.” Literature is represented by Sir Edwin Arnold and Rudyard Kipling. THE AUTHOR. Messrs. Methuen, publishers in this country of “In Tent and Bungalow,” have in the press for the coming season a children’s illustrated book by “An Idle Exile,” entitled « Only a Guard. room Dog,” descriptive of soldiers’ adventures in the Egyptian War and in India, Mrs. Edith E. Cuthell’s new yachting serial “The Wee Widow’s Cruise,” is to run this summer in the Lady’s Pictorial, and she has just completed for Cassell’s Magazine two serials, One, “The Story of a Glamour,” will appear shortly. “The Robber Baron of Bedford Castle,” a story of the 13th century, founded on an old chronicle, by Mrs. Edith E. Cuthell and the Rey. A. J. Foster, will be published this season by Messrs. Nelson. The collection of “ Black and White”’ drawings (with the results when reproduced by various processes), may be seen on any Wednesdays in June and July, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. in Mr. Henry Blackburn’s studio, 123, Victoria- street, Westminster. The “ Jolly Pashas,” the Story of an Unphilan- thropic Society, is Mr. John A. Stewart’s new volume. It forms part of the “ Whitefriars Library of Wit and Humour” (Henry and Co.), This little library now numbers fifteen volumes, some very good, some not quite so good. This book belongs to the former kind, Mr. Powis Hoult’s Dialogues on the “ Efficiency o of Prayer” should have been noticed in the last _ number of the Author. The book represents a controversy between four combatants—two who affirm and two who deny.. There are in all eight dialogues. It does not require the appreciative memoir of the author by Henry James to create curiosity as to the literary work of the late Wolcot Balestier, presented to the world by his friend Mr. William Heinemann. Here are three or four stories, all that is left—except his book collaborated with Rudyard Kipling. The little ook is called “The Average Woman.” Mr. Alfred Sidgwick has published, through Longmans, his new book called ‘“ Distinction; and the Criticism of Beliefs.” This announce- ment should have been made last month, but was omitted by accident. Dr. Farrar’s Sermons, called “In the Days of — my Youth,” preached to the boys of Marlborough in the seventies, have gone into their ninth edition (Macmillan and Co.), Litt? 1 Wealden Painters ©1892.” COS tis THE Mr. J. Stanley Little has issued a pamphlet from the office of the West Sussex Gazette, Arundel, and the Artist, London, entitled ‘‘ The at the Summer Exhibition, Mr. Little traces the growth of the small band of English romanticists settled in the “Weald of Sussex, Surrey, and Kent, and giving a Mark Fisher, A. D. Peppercorn, Wm. Hstall, and G. Lion Little as its leaders, he has shown how -the Norwich, Nottingham, and Barbizon schools - are the natural fathers in an artistic sense of the oo = Kage SS pom. Bh ag a ae m Se fh vot Sey s&s bers itt bE at al wh « entitled ‘‘ Gods and Men.” school of the Weald. Mr. Arthur Dillon has issued a book of verses The volume contains his drama, “King Cophetua and the Beggar ; Maid.” A committee has been formed which has for its object the placing of a memorial tablet of the slate Mrs. J. Dallas-Glyn in the Shakespeare Museum at Stratford-on-Avon. ‘The memorial is to consist of a medallion in white marble, the execution of which has been entrusted to Mr. A. » E. L. Rost, a son of the Oriental scholar. 'scriptions may be paid to Mrs. J. Morgan | Richards, 56, Lancaster-gate, W., who is acting Sub- as hon. treasurer. Heinrich Heine’s “Italian Travel Sketches,” | translated by Elizabeth A. Sharp, has just been issued in the Scott Library Series. When Mr. J. Stanley Little first urged apon the people of Sussex, and especially upon the ) citizens of Horsham, the desirability of celebrating in a becoming fashion the centenary of Shelley’s birth, the proposal fell flat. Now, however, there is every prospect of something being done. Public meetings have been held and a representative committee appointed, and a manifesto is to be issued to the English-speaking people, backed by signatures of eminent men of letters, asking for help in the founding of a Shelley Memorial Library and Museum. There is also to be a public meeting on August 4 at Horsham. The Forum for July will contain an article by Mr. Walter Besant, on “The Encouragements of the Literary Life.” Mr. Frank Mathew makes his first appearance in the Jdler with a very powerful Irish story, “A Connemara Miracle.” The members of the Idlers’ Club have settled in their customary airy fashion, the best way to reach the North Pole. Guy de Maupessant contributes a short, but laughable, tale, and Mr. James Payn is at his best in the story of his first book, which would appear to have been “The Family Scapegrace” AUTHOR. ay although most people pin their faith to “ Lost Sir Massingberd.” A new feature is “ People I have never met,” by Scott Rankin. Apropos of the Jdler music hall articles, Mr. G. B. Burgin is the author of a story showing that narrowmindedness is still rife in the Land of Cakes. A little village, far up in the Highlands, some few months ago, took to its rugged bosom a young Free Church minister. Of course the feminine members of the congregation evinced a deep interest in all his movements ; they felt it their duty to watch over him and “keep his title clear, to mansions in the skies,” the more so that the Manse itself was a trifle out of repair, and leaked a good deal in rough weather. Certain old dames noticed that the new minister bought the Jdler regularly at the village shop. .They had never heard of the magazine in question. All they knew about it was that it sported a salmon-pink cover. Fearing that the minister was falling from the paths of rectitude by per- using such a flightly-looking publication, they determined to purchase a copy and to sit in judg- ment on it. The magazine, unfortunately for the minister, opened at the portrait of Miss Lottie Collins. After a moment of silent consterna- tion, the old lady who held it, carefully dropped the magazine into the fire with a groan: “ Losh me, the hizzie,” she exclaimed in tearful tones. “‘ What’s the Free Kirk come to now!” The minister, however, has not yet resigned. ee NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. Theology. Barnpriage, Purp. The Day-Dawn from on High. Some thoughts on Pre-Christian religions completed in Christ. J. Masters and Co. Paper covers. Cunyne, Rev. T. K. Aids to the Devout Study of Criticism. Part I—The David Narratives. Part I.— The Book of Psalms. TT. Fisher Unwin. 7s. 6d. Fraser, Ruv. Donaup. Sound Doctrine: a Commentary on the Articles of the Faith of the Presbyterian Church of England. Publication Committee, Presbyterian Church of England, Paternoster-square. GLApsTong, Riaur Hon. W. E. The Impregnable Rock of Holy Scripture. Revised and enlarged edition. Isbister and Co. 3s. 6d. Goopman, Grorar. The Church in Victoria during the Episcopate of Bishop Perry, first Bishop of Melbourne. Seeley. Haywoop, Sir Joun. A Brief Course of Prayers and Meditations. Written by Sir John Hayward and first published in 1616, with a few Introductory Words by Canon Robert C. Jenkins, M.A. W. P. Birch and Co., Folkestone. Paper covers, 6d.  72 MacLaREn, ALEXANDER, D.D. The Gospel of St. Matthew. Vol. II. Hodder and Stoughton. 3s. McCiymont, Rev. J. A. The New Testament and its Writers. A. and C. Black, Edinburgh. Paper covers, 6d. Nyx, G.H.F. The Church and Her Story, with Ilustra- tions. Griffith, Farran. Paper covers, 1s. 6d. net. Rivineton, Rev. L. The English Martyrs, or Where is Continuity P A Sermon. Kegan Paul. Paper covers, 6d. Ryuze, H. E. The Canon of the Old Testament: an Essay on the Gradual Growth and Formation of the Hebrew Canon of Scripture. Macmillan. 6s. Sincnair, ARcHDEAcON. The Church: Invisible, Visible, Catholic, National. Archdeacon Sinclair’s charge at St. Sepulchre’s, May 24. Elliot Stock. Paper covers. StaTer, W. F. The Faith and Life of the Early Church. An introduction to Church history. Hodder and Stoughton. 7s. History and Biography. BaLestieR, Woncott. The Average Woman. With a Biographical Sketch by Henry James. W. Heinemann. 3s. 6d. BEAVER, ALFRED. Memorials of Old Chelsea; a new new history of the Village of Palaces. With illustra- tions by the author. Elliot Stock. £1 118. 6d. Bowen, CuarENce W. The History of the Centennial Celebration of the Inauguration of George Washington as First President of the United States. Edited by D. Appleton and Co., New York. CuayDEN, P.W. England under the Coalition: the Political History of Great Britain and Ireland from the General Election of 1885 to May, 1892. Fisher Unwin. tos. 6d. DororHy WALLuis: an Autobiography. With an intro- duction by Walter Besant. Longmans. 6s. Gasquet, F. A. Henry VIII. and the English Monasteries. 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Ancient Monu- ments—Order in Council, dated May 9, 1892, declaring certain monuments in the County of Glamorgan to be ancient monuments to which the Ancient Monuments Protection Act, 1892, applies (}d.). Annual Colonial Reports—Newfoundland, 1890 (id.); Ceylon, 1890 (13d.) ; Lagos, 1889 (23d.); Straits Settlements, 1890 (2d.). Foreign Office Annual Reports—Servia, 1889-90 (2d.); China (Hankow), 1891 (13d.). Eeclesiastical Commissioners for England, 44th report, with an appendix (4}d.). Alkali, &c., Works, 28th annual re- port by the Chief Inspector (6d.). Crofter Colonisa- tion, third report of Her Majesty’s Commissioners ap- pointed to carry out a scheme of colonisation in Canada of crofters and cottars from the Western Highlands and. Islands of Scotland, with appendices (13d.). East India (Home Accounts) (6d.). Eyre and Spottiswoode. Sea and Inland Fisheries of Ireland, report of the In- spectors of Irish Fisheries for 1891 (1s. 4d.) Alexander Thom and Co., Dublin. Return to an order for copy of Treasury minute upon the proposals for the development of the Telephone System in the United Kingdom (14.). 39th report of the Charity Commissioners for England and Wales (1s.). Third report from the Committee of Public Accounts (1}d.). Returns as to Endowed Chari- ties in the county of Stafford (4d.), of Essex (32d.). and of Somerset (4d.). Foreign Office Annual Series :—Re- ports for 1891 on the Trade of the District of Erzeroum (Turkey) (1d.); of Wuhu (China) (1d). ; and of Fiume (Austria-Hungary) (1d). Endowed Charities (Hunting- don), the particulars of which are recorded in the books of the Charity Commissioners, but are not re- corded in the General Digest of Endowed Charities in that county, 1863-4 (12d). Elementary Education (Schools “‘ Warned ’’) Return, by counties (1d.). Eyre and Spottiswoode. Foreign Office Miscellaneous Series: British Trade in Morocco (2d.) Foreign Office Annual Series: France (Cherbourg) 1891; Italy (Cagliari), 1891, 1d. each. Harrison and Sons. Annual Colonial Reports: Mauritius (Sey- chelles and Rodrigues), 1889 and 1890, with Report on the Island of Aldabra (3d.); Bermuda, 1891 (1d.) ; St. Vincent, 1891 (14d.); Gambia, 1890 (1d.); British Guiana, 1890 (2d.); Trinidad and Tobago, 1890 (2d.); Falkland Islands, 1890 (1id.). Solicitors’ Apprentices (Ireland), Commissioners’ report (23d.) Land Purchase (Ireland) Acts, 1885 and 1888, return of proceedings to March 31, 1892 (1d.) High Court of Justice (Assizes), return of the time occupied by judges at assizes in 1891 (in continuation of Paper  “8 THE AUTHOR. No. 282 of Session 1891) (1d.) Suppression of Slave- raiding in Nyassaland (4}d.). Metropolitan Water Supply—Report for April, 1892. Boiler Explosion Acts, 1882 and 1890—Report of Preliminary Inquiry (6d.) 22nd Annual Report of the Deputy Master of the Mint, 1891 (7d.); report by the late Major Fest- ing of his Mission to Bumban-Limbah (Sierra Leone) in 1887 (83d.). Report on Admiralty Surveys for 1891 (23d.). Harwich Harbour, Accounts, (1d.). Return as to Endowed Charities in the county of Anglesey (id.); of Buckingham (23d.); of Chester (33d.) ; of Cornwall (23d.); Colonial Reports, annual, Lagos, 1890 (13d.); Hongkong, 1890 (13d); Grenada, 1890 (13d.) Leeward Islands, 1890 (23d.) Merchant Ship- ping, 1891 (53d.). New Forest Rifle Range, report of the Hon. T. H. W. Pelham (3d.). Greenwich Hospital, statement of income and expenditure for the year 1892- 93 (2d.), Eyre and Spottiswoode. Irish Land Com- mission, return of Judicial Rents fixed during January and February, 1892 (62d.). Census of Ireland, 1891, vol. 4, Province of Connaught, No. 4, county of Roscommon (11d.), Alexander Thom and Co., Dublin. Kast India (Silver Question), Return of Correspondence (id.); British Columbia (Loan), Treasury Memorandum (13d.); Suez Canal (Purchase of Shares), Accounts showing the sums received from the Khedive of Egypt; the charge for principal and interest on the money raised in respect of the purchase of the shares; and the amount of principal outstanding on March 31, 1892 3d.). Public Accounts, Fourth Report from the Com- mittee (2d.). Royal University of Ireland, Accounts (¢d.)._ Treasury Chest—Account between April 1,1889, and March 31, 1891 (2d.). Local Loans Fund— Accounts, 1890-91 (2d.). Militia Regiments—Return for 1891 (1$d.). Census of Ireland—Part I., Vol. IL., Munster, No. 1., Clare, 1s. 3d. Foreign Office, Annual Series: Reports for 1890 on the Trade of Wurtem- burgh (id.); Report for 1891 on the Trade of the Consular District of New Orleans (1}d.). Miscellaneous Series: Reports on projected extension of the Tunisian Railway System (}d.) ; Translation of New Bulgarian Law on Mines (1d.) Reportfrom the Select Committee on the Elementary Education (Teachers’ Superannua- tion), with the proceedings of the Committee (33d.) ; Report from the Select Committee on the Salmon Fisheries (Ireland) Acts Amendment Bill, with the proceedings of the Commtttee (1d.) Alien Immigration —returns for May ($d.); Accounts relating to Trade and Navigation, May, 1892 (6d.); Endowed Schools Acts Foundations (England) (9}d.). Eyre and Spottis- woode. Census of Ireland, 1981, Part I., Vol. IV., Province of Connaught, No. 2, County of Leitrim (7d.), No. 3, County of Mayo (1s. 2d.). Thom Dublin. Twentieth Annual Report of The Local Government Board, 1890-91 (4s. 4d.). Trade of the United Kingdom with Foreign Countries and British Posses- sions, Annual Statement for 1891 (3s. 43d.); Sea Fisheries (England and Wales), Sixth Annual Report of the Inspectors (1891) (1s. 4d.); Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (England and Wales), Twenty- first Annual Reports of the Inspectors (1891) (1s. 3d.) Foreign Office Annual Series. No. 1045; France (Nantes). Harrison and Sons (1}d.) Register of Tem- porary Laws now in Force (2}d.). Union of Benefices (Metropolis) Act, 1860—Schemej of the Hecclesiastical Commissioners for effecting a Union of the Benefice of of All Hallows the Great and All Hallows the Less in the City of London, and the Benefice of St. Michael Royal and St. Martin Vintry, in the City of London (13d.); Parliamentary Constituencies (2d.); Board of Agriculture—Report on Recent Experiments in Checking Potato Disease (gd.). Royal Navy—List of effective ships (down to sloops) (2d.); East India (Salaries) — Return for 1889-90 of the number of all persons receiving from the revenues of India annual allowances (whether salary or pension) over 1000 rupees, and showing whether they were Europeans, Eurasians, or natives, and whether resident in India (1d.); Town Holdings— Report from the Select Committee (4d.). Foreign Office Annual Series—France (Algeria), 1890-91 (23.); France (Saigon), 1891, (1d.) ; Spain (Bilbao), 1891 (134d.) ; Hayti, 1891 (1d.) Papers relating to the Mombasa Railway Sur- vey and Uganda (1s. 53d.). Progress and Condition of India during the year 1890-91, 27thnumber (2s. 23d.), Eyre and Spottiswoode. Patents, Designs,and Trade Marks, ninth report of the Comptroller-General, for the year 1891 (334.), Darling and Son. Railway Rates and Charges Provisional Order Bills, reportand proceedings of the Select Committee (6d.). London County Council (General Powers) Bill, report and proceedings of the Select Committee (14d.). Belfast Corporation Lunatic (Asylums, &c.) Bill, report and proceedings of the committee (1d.). Foreign Office Annual Series, Peru, Trade of Mollendo, 1891. Greece, Trade of Syra, 1891 (1d. each). Foreign Office Miscellaneous Series: Austria-Hungary, The Condition of Labour in Hungary (3d.). Russia, The Iron Industry of the Province of Ekaterinoslav for 1891 (}d.). Annual Series: France (Tahiti), 1891 (1d.). Navigators’ Islands (Samoa), 1891 (¢d.). Africa (Oil Rivers), 1891 (3d.). Harrison and Sons. Metropolitan Water Companies, Return of Accounts (2}d.). Christ’s Hospital (Sons of Naval Officers) Correspondence (13d.). Statute Law Revision, Report from the Select Committee (1d.). Greenwich Hospital, Supplementary Statement of Estimates for 1892-3 (3d.). Scotch Education Department, Returns for 1891 (23d.), Eyre and Spottiswoode. Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts, 1878 to 1890, Return for 1891 as regards Ireland (g3d.), Alexander Thom and Co., Dublin. Post Office Savings Banks, Accounts for 1891 (jd.). Education Department, Minute of May 31 establishing a code of regulations for evening schools (1d.).—Parliamentary Papers: Boundary Questions in Zululand, Correspondence (1s. od.). Theatres and Places of Entertainment, Report of the Select Com- mittee (23d.). East India (Financial Statement) for 1892-93. Eyre and Spottiswoode. Foreign Office Annual Series.—Turkey (Smyrna and District), 1891 (13d.). China (Tainan), 1891 (1d.). Spain (Corunna and District), 1891 (23d.) Miscellaneous Series: Germany (Hamburg). Progress of Trade for 1841- 1890 (13d.). Mexico, Henequen Hemp Industry in Yacatan (1d.). United States, Earnings of Labour and Cost of Living in the Consular District of Chicago (3d.). —Public Accounts, Third Report from the Committee (13d.) Telegraphs Bill, Special Report and Report from the Select Committee (4d.). Military Lands Consolidation Bill, Report from the Select Committee (id.). | East India Accounts and Estimates, 1892-1893, Explanatory Memorandum by the Under-Secretary of State for India (5$d.), Eyre and Spottiswoode. West Africa, Arrangement between Great Britain and France (3d.) Zanzibar, Papers relating to Slave Trade and Slavery (14d.)., Harrisonand Sons.—Convention between Great Britain and the Netherlands defining Boundaries in Borneo, signed in London June 20, 1891; ratifica- tions exchanged at London May 11, 1892. Harrison and Sons (#d.). ;  ADVERTISEMENTS. 72 1 The Society of Authors (Sucorporated). PRESIDENT. Tue Rigor Hon. tHE LORD TENNYSON, D.C.L. COUNCIL. > Pm OX) [ «A I Str Epwin ARNOLD, K.C.LE., C.S.I. ALFRED AUSTIN. J. M. Barris. A. W. A BECKETT. RosBERT BATEMAN. Srmr Henry Berens, K.C.M.G. WALTER BESANT. AUGUSTINE BIRRELL, M.P. R. D. BLACKMORE. Ruv. Pror. Bonney, F.R.S. Lord BRABOURNE. James Bryce, M.P. Hau. CAINE. P. W. CLAYDEN. EDWARD CLODD. W. Morris CouueEs. Hon. JoHN COLLIER. W. Martin Conway. F. Marion CRAWFORD. Austin DOBSON. A. W. DusouRe. EpMUND GOSSE. Tuomas Harpy. J. M. Lewy. OswALp CRAWFURD, C.M.G. Tue Ear. or DESART. J. Eric ERicuseEn, F.R.S. Pror. MicHaEL Foster, F.R.S. HERBERT GARDNER, M.P. RicHarp GARNETT, LL.D. H. Riper HAGGARD. JEROME K. JEROME. RupYARD KIPLING. Pror. E. Ray LANKESTER, F.R.S. Rev. W. J. Lortin, F.S.A. Pror. J. M. D. MEIKLEJOHN. GrEoRGE MEREDITH. Herman C. MERIVALE. Rev. C. H. MippLeTon-WakeE F.L.S Lewis Morris. Pror. Max MULLER. J. C. PARKINSON. Tue Eart or PEMBROKE AND MonrT- GOMERY. Sir FREDERICK PoLiock, Bart., LL.D. WALTER HEeRRIES POLLOCK. A. G. Ross. GEORGE AUGUSTUS SALA. W. BaprTisTE ScOONES. G. R. Srms. J. J. STEVENSON. Jas. SULLY. WiturAm Moy THomaAs. H. D. Traut, D.C.L. Baron HENRY DE WORMS, E.R.S. EDMUND YATES. MP., Hon. Counsel—E. M. UNDERDOWN, Q.C. Solicitors—Messrs Frnup, Roscoxz, and Co., Lineoln’s Inn Fields. Secretary—C. HmerBERT THRING, B.A. OFFICES. 4, PortucaL STREET, Lincoun’s Inn Freips, W.C. ‘ Sfandaro ”’ TYPE - WRITING OFFICE, 1, Charles-st., Neweastle-on-Tyne. ee ALL KINDS OF COPYING EXECUTED WITH NEATNESS, SECRECY, & DESPATCH. WwOoRK DONE. GRAPHOSTYLE TERMS ON APPLICATION. NOW READY, Super-royal 8vo., price 15s., post free. CPROCKHFORKD'S CLERICAL DIRECTORY 1892. Being a STATISTICAL BOOK of REFERENCE For facts relating to the Clergy in England, Wales, Scotland, Treland, and the Colonies; with a fuller Index relating to Parishes and Benefices than any ever yet given to the public. Crockrorp’s CLERICAL Directory is more than a Directory ; it con- tains concise Biographical details of all the ministersand dignitaries of the Church of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and the Colonies. TWENTY - FOURTH ISSUE. Horace Cox, ‘Law Times” Office, Bream’s-buildings, E.C. A BOOK FOR MEMBERS AND CANDIDATES. Now ready, Third Edition, with Additions throughout, in demy 8vo., 700 pages, price lds. AN ANECDOTAL HISTORY OF THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT, From the EARLIEST PERIODS to the PRESENT TIME, With Notices of Eminent Parliamentary Men, and Examples of their Oratory. Compiled from Authentic Sources by GEORGE HENRY JHNNINGS. CONTENTS : Part L—Rise and Progress of Parliamentary Institutions. Parr IL—Personal Anecdotes: Sir Thomas More to John Morley. Part IL.—Miscellaneous. 1. Election. 2. Privilege; Exclusion of Strangers; Publication of Debates. 3. Parliamentary Usages, &c. 4. Varieties. Appenpix.—(A) Lists of the Parliaments of England and of the United Kingdom. (B) Speakers of the House of Gommons. (C) Prime Ministers, Lord Chancellors, and Secretaries of State from 1715 to 1892. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS OF THE PRESENT EDITION. ‘The work, which has long been held in high repute as a repertory of good things, is more than ever rich in both instruction and amuse- ment.’’—Scotsman. “Tt is a treasury of useful fact and amusing anecdote, and in its latest form should have increased popularity.” —Globe. “Jt is a work that possesses both a practical and an historical value, and is altogether unique in character.”—Kentish Observer. «We can heartily recommend this work to the politician, whatever may be his party leanings.”—WNorthern Echo. 1 Orders may now be sent to Horace Cox, ‘ Law Times” Office, Bream’s-buildings, E.O.  . | } 80 ADVERTISEMENTS. Not Work, but Play. Leave the drudgery of the Pen—Soiled Fingers—Blotted and Obscure Manuscript, to those who prefer darkness to light. Quick, up-to-date writers use THE BAR-LOCK TYPE-WRITER. Easiest Managed; Soonest Learned; Most Durable; Writing Always Visible ; does best work, and never gets out of repair. | | Wh 9 | Chosen, by Royal Warrant, Type-Writer to the Queen. Only gold medals i —Hdinburgh (1890) and Jamaica (1891) Exhibitions; is used in principal Government Departments, and greatest number of English business houses, and by the Society of Authors. We send interesting supply of further information free. THE TYPE-WRITER COMPANY LIMITED. 12 & 14, Queen Victoria-street, London, E.C.; 22, Renfield-street, Glasgow. Local Agents in all Districts. THE AUTHOR’S HAIRLESS PAPER-PAD. MRS. GILL, (Tue LeapennaLtL Press Lrp., H.C.) 35 LUDGATE HILL. Ec : (ESTABLISHED 1883.) oo Contains hairless paper, over which the pen — slips with perfect freedom. Authors’ MSS. carefully copied from 1s. per Siwpence each: 58. per dozen, ruled or plain. 1000 words. Plays, &e.. Is. 3d. per 1000 words. Miss R. Vv. GILL, Reference kindly permitted to Walter Besant, Esq. 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Lzxs, GREAT Lowell, and many authors.—20 W., Fourteenth-street, — MALVERN. New York. HH AUTHORS’ AGENCY. Gstablishod 1879, Proprictor, Mr. A. M. BURGHES, 1, Paternoster Row. ‘The interests of Authors capably represented. Proposed agreements and estimates a examined on behalf of Authors. MS. placed with Publishers. Transfers carefully conducted. Twenty-five years — ‘ practical experience in all kinds of publishing and. book producing. Consultation free. Terms and testimonials from — leading Authors on application to Mr. A. M. Burghes, Authors’ Agent, 1, Paternoster-row. Printed and Published by Horace Cox, Bream’s-buildings, London, H.C. eae words. Plays, &c., ss. per Act of 18 pages. Special J Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 03 Issue 02 (July 1892) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 03 Issue 02 (July 1892) Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1892-07-01-The-Author-3-2 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/441/1892-08-01-The-Author-3-3.pdf 05f38485759edb5f70f79309910f99d0 PDF Text Text ������������������������������������ Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1892-08-01 Volume 3 Issue 3 Pages Page range in volume 81–116 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18920801 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin The HMutbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vou. 111 —No. 3.] AUGUST 1, 1892. [Prick SIXPENCE. GCONTENTS. PAGE | PAGE Warnings we eae oc ae ia Soy vee wee Ss On a Birthday. By F. B. Doveton ua me oo ae a 08 How to Use the Society... kee Bee a soe = eae More Maxims ... ee ae ay oes ee ee ae 99 The Authors’ Syndicate... Ses ase See e ae ees Mr. Saintsbury on the English Novel ... ne he See wz 100 Notices... — Ss a ase ee mee Se So 0 8D Women in Journalism— Literary Property— 1.—By Mary Francis Billington ie ee Sy Bye ae 0 1.—A Publisher in Bankruptcy ees One Ses Mi e388 2.—By Grace Gilchrist ... ... a aes es oss ws 104 2.—A Charge of Plagiarism ... ae me Sate ye SOF 3.—By L. ES. .. oe ae ees ts ae aes ae Ae 3.—Yet not a Plagiarism — ei Pe a Se ce 88 The Criticism of Novels. By Henry Creswell... ees ae .» 105 The ‘‘London Editor” Again... oe ee es ue a 88 Correspondence— The New Civil Pension List oes se oe See aes Be 1.—The Authors’ Fund a3 es < wer Ree se 106 The Shelley Centenary as Se a oe sa oe oo) 2.—Neither—Nor ass sy ne vee ae ee ee L0G L’Association Littéraire es sas ose ses oe A eo 3.—Praised, yet Refused aus se eee os oe see LOT The Lame Boy in the Woods. By Mackenzie Bell ... as Se Oe 4.—A Case of Honour ... as ee Oe oe es sec LOT Notes and News. By the Editor... ie es ose mss cae 5.—Another Case of Honour... ee ay nee fe om 107 Feuilleton— 6.—An Agency for Literary Work ... wi os Any Bee ies 1.—The Publisher’s Reader ... oe ae ae ue oe OB ‘At the Author’s Head” ... Be se as age oe ... 108 Notes from Paris. By Robert Sherard Osborne ae es eee OT | New Books and New Editions... os oe me Xe .» 109 PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1892 can be had on application to the Secretary. 9. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members. 3. The Grievances of Authors. (The Leadenhall Press.) 2s. The Report of three Meetings on the general subject of Literature and its defence, held at Willis’s Rooms, March, 1887. 4, Literature and the Pension List. By W.. Morgis Couuzs, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 33s. 5, The maety of the Societe des Gens de Lettres. By S. Squire Srricaz, Secretary to the ociety. Is. 6. The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c., with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. sat 7. The Various Methods of Publication. By 8. Squiru Spriccx. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society’s offices, the various kinds of agreements proposed by Publishers to ‘Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of frand which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements, Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3s. ; Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell’s Copyright Bill now before Parlia- ment. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lety. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1s. 6d. co  ADVERTISEMENTS. THE INOTYPE COMMPOSING JIAGHINE, SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR BOOKWORK. “A MIGHTY BUT PEACEFUL REVOLUTION.” OPINIONS OF VARIOUS NEWSPAPERS ON THE LINOTYPE. For full List of Experts’ Reports and Opinions apply to the Company’s Secretary for Pamphlet. _“It will do away with type, and composition, and distribution, as now practised, will be known no more.”— Manchester Courier. “Saves 70 per cent. in cost of composing, and from three- fourths to nine-tenths in time.” —Sheffield and Rotherham Independent. “It bids fair to revolutionise the present system, especially of newspaper production, for which it seems peculiarly well adapted. The instrument is one of the most beautiful and ingenious pieces of mechanism ever introduced in connection with the art of printing.” —Scotsman. “ The absolute saving of distribution, which is reckoned as equivalent to one quarter of the cost of composition, is an important factor in the economy of this machine. : With it comes emancipation from the frequent errors arising from faulty distribution. To pye matter is impossible. Unquestionably the most remarkable machine ever invented in the art of printing.” —The Printers’ Register. “Tt stands to reason that an invention that economises as well as expedites work, without aiming a blow at those who had previously done without it, must be a success.” —Echo. “ The rapidity and accuracy of the process impressed Mr. Gladstone very powerfully, or, as he expressed it himself, it ‘staggered ’ him.”—Daily Chronicle. “One of the most remarkable machines ever invented.” — Engineer. “A steam-driven, type-composing and casting machine which really promises to bring about a revolution in the composing-rooms of newspaper and book printing offices.” —Home and Colonial Mail. “ This remarkable invention promises to revolutionise all our ideas as to type-setting by machinery. It dispenses with movable type, and substitutes matrices in which the letters are cast in solid lines.”—Leeds Mercury. “One of the most remarkable labour-saving Machines ever devised in an age remarkable for such inventions.” —Western Mail (Cardiff). “The work never stops, line after line is added with astonishing smoothness and regularity.”—Newcastle Daily Chronicle. “Has come into existence to create amazement, where surprise hitherto found a home. “The Linotype, to be brief, is a machine which does away with the present expensive and slow method of type-setting. It performs all the work of a compositor automatically, with greater precision and with far more rapidity. The most important feature of the patent, however, lies in the enormous saving it effects in the cost of setting, while a no less startling fact is that the labour of ‘ distributing,’ or the putting of the type back into cases, is dispensed with.”— Admiralty and Horse Guards Gazette. “ Printing without types. A marvellous machine that makes fresh types for every line. The advance of industrial science is so rapid that this machine must, sooner or later, come into extensive use.”—Evening News and Post (London). THE ECONOMIC PRINTING & PUBLISHING CO. LIMITED, 39, BOUVERIE STREET, FLEET STREET, E.C., Having acquired the monopoly of Linotype Machines in London (excepting Newspaper Offices), are in a position to quote decidedly advantageous Prices to Authors for the Composition of Books by Linotype, and also undertake the Printing, being well equipped with Printing Machinery by the best makers.  Che Fluthbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) PONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vou. IIIl.—No. 3.] AUGUST 1, 1892. [Prick SIXPENCE. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed: or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. WARNINGS. ——— Sprcran Warnine. — Readers are most URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements immediately after signature. If this precaution is neglected for three weeks, a fine of £10 must be paid before the agreement can be used as a legal document. In almost every case brought to the secretary the agreement, or the letter which serves for one, is without the stamp. The author may be assured that the other side never neglect this simple precaution. The stamp duty varies from 6d. up to 10s. or more, according to the form of agreement. The Society, to save trouble, undertakes to get all the agreements of members stamped for them at no expense to themselves except the cost of the stamp. Reapers of the Author are earnestly desired to make the following warnings as widely known as possible. They are based on the experience of seven years’ work upon thedangersto which literary property is exposed :— (1.) Never sign any agreement of which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part, until you have proved the figures. (2.) Never enter into any correspondence with publishers, especially with those who advertise for MSS., who are not recom- mended by experienced friends or by this Society. VOL. IIT. (3.) Never, on any account whatever, bind yourself down for future work to any- one. (4.) Never accept any proposal of royalty until you have ascertained what the agreement proposes to give to the author and what to the publisher. (5.) Never accept any pecuniary risk or respon- sibility whatever without advice. (6.) Never, when a MS. has been refused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises they may put forward, for the production of the work. (7.) Never sign away American rights. Keep them. Refuse to sign any agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the publisher. If the publisher insists, take away the MS. and offer it to another. (8.) Never sign an agreement or a receipt which gives away copyright without advice. (9.) Keep control over the advertisements by clause in the agreement. Reservea veto. If you are yourself ignorant of the sub- ject, make the Society your agent. (10.) Never forget that publishing is a busi- ness, like any other business, totally un- connected with philanthropy, charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with business men. Society’s Offices :-— 4, PortuGaL STREET, Lrncoun’s Inn FIEvDs. —————s ac bo  84 HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. 1. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books repre- sented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agreements and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The secretary will always be glad to have any agreements for inspection and note. The information thus obtainable is invaluable. 2. If the examination of your previous business transactions by the Secretary proves unfavour- able, you should take advice as toa change of publishers. 3. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the proposed form to the Society for examination. 4. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks, of every publishing firm in the country. Remember that there are certain houses which live entirely by trickery. 5. The outward and visible signs of the fraudulent publisher are—(1) a virtuous and benevolent wish to have the unquestioned conduct of your business left entirely in his hands; (2) a virtuous, good man’s pain at being told that his accounts must be audited; (3) a virtuous indig- nation at being asked what his proposal gives him compared with what it gives the author; and (4) irrepressible irritation at any mention of the Society of Authors. 6. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the inde- pendence of the writer. 7. Send to the Editor of the Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. ec THE AUTHORS’ SYNDICATE. R. Colles desires to inform readers of the Author— 1. That the Authors’ Syndicate is now in a position to take charge in whole or in part of the business of members of the Society. With, when necessary, the assistance of the advisers of the Society it will conclude THE AUTHOR. agreements, collect royalties, examine and pass accounts, and, generally, relieve mem. bers of the trouble of managing business details. All accounts opened between the Syndicate and members are duly audited. 2. That the establishment expenses of the Authors’ Syndicate are defrayed entirely out of the commission charged on rights placed through its intervention. Thig varies, and must vary, according to the nature of the services rendered, but it is intended to reduce the rates to the lowest possible amount compatible with effi- ciency. Meanwhile members will please accept this intimation that they are not entitled to the services of the Syndicate gratis. 3. That he undertakes to work for none but members of the Society. 4. That his business is not to advise members of the Society, but to manage their affairs for them if they please to entrust them to him. 5. That when he has any work in hand he must have it entirely in his own hands; in other words, that authors must not ask him to place certain work, and then go about endeavouring to place it by themselves. 6. That when a MSS. has been sent from pub- — : lisher to publisher, and from editor to editor, in vain, it is most likely impossible to place it. 7. That in the face of the present competition, — authors will do well to moderate their — expectations. To this it may be added, that where advice is — sought, the Secretary of the Society, and not the Syndicate, must be consulted. On his behalf members are requested— 1. To place on paper briefly the points on which advice is asked. 2. To send up adi the letters and papers con- nected with the case, if it is a case of dispute. 3. Not to conceal or keep back any of the facts. .  THE AUTHOR. NOTICES. FaFYNHE Editor of the Author begs to remind oa members of the society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy ‘charge on the resources of the society if a great semany members did not forward to the secretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. He | finds that, while the interest in the paper increases, }-and while it is acknowledged to be doing good reservice by its exposures and investigations, + there has been some tendency this year to forget the subscription. Perhaps this reminder may be ‘of use. With 800 members, besides the outside “ circulation of the paper, the Author ought to 74 prove a source of revenue to the society. The Editor is always glad to receive papers ++ and communications on all subjects connected .with literature from members and others. io) Nothing can do more good to the society than -> tomake the Author complete, attractive, and ‘6 interesting. Will those who are willing to aid ' 4 in this work send their names and the special i subjects on which they are willing to write ? All persons engaged in literary work of any «) kind, whether members of this Society or not, “. are invited to communicate to the Editor any 4 points connected with their work which it would “| be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read “© are requested not to send them to the Office with- “> out previously communicating with the Secretary. ‘2 The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and ly’ MSS. are read in the order in which they are 4 received. It must also be distinctly understood 4) that the Society does not, under any circum- stances, undertake the publication of MSS. The Authors’ Club is now opened in temporary premises, at 17, St. James’s Place, St. James’s Street, Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, &c. — i me COs Will members take the trouble to ascertain * whether they have paid their subscriptions for ) the year? If they will do this, and remit the © amount or a banker’s order, it will greatly assist } the Secretary, and save him the trouble of ® sending out a reminder. go O5 x Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the warning numbered (3). It is a most foolish and a most disastrous thing to bind yourself to anyone for a term of years. Let them ask them- selves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest or dishonest ? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign themselves into literary bondage for three or five years ? : How, we are asked almost every day, is the young writer to make a beginning? He should first get an opinion from one of the Society’s readers as to the merits and chances of his book. It may be that certain points would be suggested foralteration. Itmay be that he will find himself recommended to put his MS. in the fire. He should then, if encouraged, offer his MS. to a list of houses or of magazines recommended by the Society. There is nothing else to be done. No one, we repeat, can possibly help him. If those houses all refuse him, it is not the least use trymg others, and, if he is a wise man, he will refuse to pay for the production of his own work. If, how- ever, as too often happens, he is not a wise man, but believes that he has written a great thing, and is prepared to back his opinion to the extent of paying for his book, then let him place his work in the hards of the Society, and it shall be arranged for him without greater loss than the actual cost of production. At least he will not be deluded by false hopes and promises which can end in nothing. ———— Here is an advertisement which we have great pleasure in reproducing, name and all, for nothing. Why should not a woman make plots for stories? It is very certain that there are many novelists who cannot make plots for themselves, and try to do without: “Home Work.—Good Plots for novels for Sale.—Apply Miss Smallwood, The Lees, Great Malvern.” Some time ago a lady wrote offering plots at half a guinea. This seems a ridiculously small sum for a plot. Perhaps those of Miss Smallwood are priced at a higher figure. Mr. Andrew Lang, in the National Review for July, gives away a most excellent plot, a plot so good that it is recommended to any novelist who can command the local colouring and the Scottish language. Are the plots advertised provided with characters ? Are they divided into chapters? One would like a little fuller information.  86 To that poor derided thing, the novel with a purpose, Mr. Andrew Lang, also in the July number of the National Review, addresses words of comfort. He calls attention to certain novels with a purpose which have not, somehow, done so very badly. Such are “ Don Quixote,” ‘“ Uncle Tom’s Cabin,’ ‘Sandford and Merton,’’ “T’Assommoir,”’ “Nicolas Nickleby,’ ‘ Bleak House,” ‘‘ Old Mortality,” for instance. Then he shows how Fielding, Thackeray, Goethe, are con- stantly preaching. The fact is thatthere is nothing the whole world loves so much as preaching—in the active sense ; but the novelist is the only man who is allowed to preach without taking orders. The mere possession of a purpose does not, by itself, make a novel a consummate work of art: so far I do not mind going—I can even conceive such a thing as a dull and dismal novel with a purpose. But, on the other hand, its possession of a purpose does not thrust a novel beyond the pale, does not make it taboo, does not entitle us to say, “Tt’s pretty ; but is it art?” These are the taboos which critics invent when they simply happen not to like a book, when, as we said, there is a pre-established discord between their tastes and the author’s taste. Let us try to be more honourable and sportsmanlike in criticism. Let us record our impressions. ‘This book bores me.” “This book amuses me.” Nothing else is genuine. The committee of the Lowell Memorial is now formed. The form of the Memorial has been decided upon, and the committee are now pre- pared to receive donations. Need we in these pages do more than chronicle the fact? Lowell was so staunch a friend of the Society that every member ought to forward something towards this admirable and worthy object. Mr. Herbert Thring, secretary of the Society, is also hon. sec. to the Lowell memorial. Letters can be addressed to him. Among the men and women of letters on the committee are, in alphabetical order, Mrs. Lynn Linton, Mrs. Richmond Ritchie, Miss Anne Swanwick, Walter Besant, Augustine Birrell, R. D. Blackmore, James Bryce, Austin Dobson, Conan Doyle, Archdeacon Farrar, Edmund Gosse, Rider Haggard, R. H. Hutton, Professor Huxley, Dean Kitchen, Andrew Lang, W. E. H. Lecky, Sidney Lee, Sidney Low, Justin M‘Carthy, Norman M‘Ooll, James Martineau, George Mere- dith, Sir F. Pollock, and Theodore Watts. THE AUTHOR. LITERARY PROPERTY. I. A PusLisHeR In Banxruprcy. HE conclusion to be drawn from the article in last month’s Author on the effect of a publisher’s bankruptcy, seems to be this: that every author should consider the possibility of such an event happening when he parts with his copyright or with any portion of it. It is sug- gested that to hint at bankruptcy in dealing with a publisher would be invidious ; possibly it would, but so would it be to hint at death, though per- haps in a less degree; death being inevitable and so not discreditable ; and if there is anything in the point made in your article with regard to the personal skill of the publisher being part of what is bargained for, assuredly there should be a clause in every contract determining the fate of the wrk in question, in the event of the pub- lisher’s decease ; and if death is to be considered, why not bankruptcy r—‘ And in the event of the death or bankruptcy of the said A. B.”’ One can imagine it becoming a common form, though some skill will probably have to be exercised in drawing it. But, common form or not, it will often be omitted, and if it is omitted, what then? I submit that if the author has parted with his copyright, and the purchaser has ac- quired it (and this will be the first, and often a very knotty, question to be determined), then, if he has sold it for a fixed sum, not yet paid, he can only prove as a creditor for what is owing to him. If he has sold it for a royalty, he can prove for an amount to be assessed as damages for what he has lost. He has selected a mode of payment which has resulted unprofitably to him. ‘tis very unfortu- nate for him that the publisher has failed, but can any legal member of the society of authors regarding the matter as a lawyer, and without sympathy or prejudice, contend that the author can “‘sell” his copyright, and yet attach to a valuable piece of property, which certainly is “saleable,” a condition onerous to all future assignees of it? If this is possible, then no doubt it can be shown that the trustee in bankruptcy may disclaim such an asset. It may, however, be found that what was believed to be a sale of the copyright was only a licence to publish upon certain terms. Such a contract as this may no doubt be within the cases mentioned in your article (Stevens v. Benning, 1 K. & J. 168; Hole v. Bradbury, 12 Ch. Div. 886) in which it was expressly held that the copyright had not passed to the publisher.  THE Tt must not be forgotten that minute differences of wording may make the difference between a sale and no sale, that agreements between authors and publishers are often highly informal, and seldom contemplate every possible contingency, and that each case must stand by itself, by whatever general principles its decision is guided. I have assumed that the case of hardship suggested in your article is one where the property in the copy- right has passed before the bankruptcy took place. There is one hard case of not infrequent occur- rence which suggests itself while one is on this subject— What happens when a magazine fails, which has accepted an article (but not published or paid for it) ©” I should be inclined to think that if it could be established that the contract was that publi- cation should precede payment, it would be held to follow that the copyright intended to be sold remained the property of the author till the publication took place. This opinion, too, may provoke contradiction or discussion. ArcHig FAIRBAIRN. Temple, July 22. Tel A CHarGsE or PLAGIARISM. (Before Mr. Justice Wrieut, without a jury.) GODFREY V. BRADLEY AND CO. This was an action brought by the administra- tor of the late Mrs. Mary Rose Godfrey, authoress of a three-volume novel called “‘ Loyal,” to recover damages fo« infringement of copyright. “ Loyal ie was written by Mrs. Godfrey in 1870 and 1871, and published by 'Tinsleys in 1872. In 1874 the defen- dants published in the London Journal, weekly periodical, a story called ‘Mad Marriage.” Between May and November, 1888, the defendants published a reprint of “Mad Marriage, of which the plaintiff complained, on the ground that the plot in ‘Mad Marriage” was substantially the same as that in “ Loyal,” the scenes and incidents of the stories being the same, and in many places the language being identical. For the plaintiff Mr. Edmund Routledge and Mr. Spender were called, and said they had read the stories “ Loyal” and “Mad Marriage,” which were substantially identical, and if the parts of ‘Mad Marriage” which had been taken from “Loyal” were eliminated, the merit of “Mad Marriage” as a story would be gone. For the defence it was proved that ‘‘ Mad Marriage” had been written by Mrs. Fleming, an American lady, and was published in the Mew York Weekly; and that AUTHOR. 87 the former proprietor of the London Journal paid Mrs. Fleming £300 for it. Several witnesses were also called to show that the two stories were not identical, the minor characters being different. . Mr. Justice WricHt, in giving judgment, said there was no doubt as to the fact of the piracy, although the defendants no doubt did it innocently. There were a succession of similar scenes, and exact similarity of language to corresponding characters in corresponding situations. That showed that the comcidents of the plot were not accidental. This coincidence of the plots was very different to mere similarity of literature usually found in novels. The main plot of “Loyal” had been incorporated into ‘“ Mad Marriage.” As to the nature of relief that should be granted, no doubt the American authoress would say she had worked up the English copper and added her own gold. But, whatever she might say, there was no doubt she was seriously indebted to the author of “ Loyal.” Tt was not apparent that the plaintiff had suffered any substantial damage, and he thought the justice of the case would be met by a judgment for £50 with costs, the defendants being by agreement at libe ty to go on publishing already printed numbers ot the London Journal containing the story of ‘ Mad Marriage.” Mr. R. T. Reid, Q.C., and Mr. Cababé were for the plaintiff; Mr. Channell, QC. and Mr Wilkinson for the defendants. The secretary of the Society of Authors was subpeenaed in the above case as a technical witness, and stated as his opinion, after reading both books, that “Mad Marriage” was not such a substantial copy of “Loyal” as to amount to infringement of copyright. The case was decided by the judge almost entirely on the similarity of the plots.— From the Times of July 23. The case of Godfrey v. Bradley and Co. presents many points of interest. In the first place we must remember that nothing is so easy as to bring forward charges of plagiarism, while nothing is more difficult to disprove. Further, nothing is so likely to happen in the present multiplication of novels than the adoption of the same leading idea by two or more writers at the same time or at different times. Everyone will remember cases in which this novel or that novel has been shown to possess the same plot as some other. Livery novelist of any distinction can auote letters received by him, charging him with the appropriation of a plot, of a character, of a situation, of a whole group of characters and situations. In most cases, the charge is,  88 brought by a writer of whom the world has never heard, against a writer who is successful. One novelist states that he has been accused of theft by a dozen different people, concerning whom he knows nothing, and whose works he has never seen or heard of. Another novelist was once accused of stealing from a well-known work by a poet of the last generation, which is as much as if one were to steal Barnaby Rudge or Samuel Weller. We are, therefore, very deeply con- cerned in the matter. If resemblance of plot and character is to be taken as constituting plagiarism, then all novelists are liable to be hauled before the High Court of Justice, and condemned in costs. And nothing can well be more disastrous to novelists, poets, or dramatists, than a decision against the author in such a charge, except upon the clearest possible evidence. In the case above reported Mr. Thring was invited by a well-known novelist, not concerned in the case, to read the two books called respectively “ Loyal” and ‘Mad Marriage,” and to give his opinion as to whether the latter could be called a copy of the former. He accepted, not knowing that the plaintiff was a member of the Society ; he could not very well guess the fact, because the author of the first novel was deceased. After reading both books, he came to the conclu- sion that, though there were some points of similarity in the plot—for instance, the sacrifice that one brother makes for another is the same motif in both books—yet, by the existing con- ditions of copyright law, and by cases recently decided. by the courts, the case was not one which could legally be called an infringement of copy- right. This opinion, on being subpeenaed, he stated in court. The case was given against Mr. Thring’s opinion, but he continues to think that the points of similarity which certainly exist may be explained im one or two ways, without admitting plagiarism at all. For instance, the author of the second work may never have read the first work at all, or she may have read the moézf in a review, and remembered it, while she forgot the circumstance of having read it; or both might be due to a common origin. Thus it was proved by several witnesses that the minor characteristics were different. And it does not appear from the decision of the judge, as given by the TZimes, that he had himself read both books. Mr. Thring’s action, which was authorised perhaps hastily and without ascertaining that the plaintiff in the case was a member of the Society, was wholly prompted by a laudable desire to forward the interests of the Society and its members from the point of view set forth above. —S THE AUTHOR. IIl. YET Not A PLAGIARISM. The following extract from a letter received by the editor of this paper may show how ideas floating in the air may take root in different minds and produce similar fruits: “How did this idea come into my head when I was in the back blocks of New South Wales some five or six years ago, and when I had never heard of your book or the writer? Your bookis said to have originated the People’s Palace, and my book is entitled ‘The: People’s Palace,’ and I never heard of that building or its name until I came back to London three years ago. When ITheard the name I thought that was coincidence enough, but when my curiosity led me to read the book in which the idea was first put forward—but you can perhaps imagine my feelings. You have even named your hero Harry, the same as mine.” oc “THE LONDON EDITOR” AGAIN. I N the National Review c.f July there is an article by myself in reply to the ‘“ London Editor’s’”’ misrepresentations and attacks In that reply I point-d out what has already appeared in the Author, that he had examined a list which had not been published, and which he could not possibly have seen. Very well. Hereis his reply, added to my article as a postscript :— It does seem.odd that “A London Editor” should have spoken about conning a list which no mortal eyes but those of Mr. Besant and his immediate colleagues have ever beheld. But the error is one of expression merely ; no dis- regard for truth was involved in it. Although the list of the society’s members is now concealed, it is not impossible to con it with the mind’s eye. It was published four or five years ago; every year since then we have had a sample of it in the printed lists of those who attended the annual dinner ; and the sum total of the members has been declared from time to time. Therefore—especially when we consider that there is constantly published a list of the council, on which list the names of the most representative members of the society appear—there is nothing very dreadful in the slip of which Mr. Besant makes so much. He said in his article distinctly: ‘“ When one cons the long list of the members ’’—those were his words. I say, ‘There is no list of the members. You cannot con a thing which does not exist. In saying this you deliberately give readers to understand that you have the present list of members 1n your hands. Nobody from your words could understand anything else. And you could not have the list m your hands because it is not published.”  THE AUTHOR. Very well. He now says that he knows who the members are. How? First, by an old list, when we were about 200 in number, which was printed some years 0. F econd, by the printed lists of those who attend the annual dinner, about a hundred and eighty in number, at the most. Did he cut out those lists, two of which had, when he wrote, appeared in the Author? Or did he remember them ? Third, by the list of the council, which contains forty-five names. From these data he pretends to know the 850 members of the society. I fear that this paragraph will be set down as —to say the least—evasive. As regards the rest, he evades all the points, and leaves my answer untouched. In fact, what I had to say was so simple and straightforward that there was nothing to answer, except to deny damaging and malig- nant assertions disproved by every document put forward by the society.—W. B. T, “Tt is a little difficult to understand why the efforts of a large body of representative English men and women of letters to vindicate the dignity of their profession, and to secure greater protec- tion for literary property, should provoke the wrath of any member of their own calling. Dis- honest publishers— who, happily, are not a very numerous body—may be expected to love the Society of Authors no better than the thief does the policeman; and even the honest publisher, being human, may occasionally feel disposed to censure it as meddlesome; but why should any writer lift his pen against it? Whether he is a member or not, it is working for his benefit, and the more completely the society succeeds in the attainment of its objects, the more reason will he have to be glad of the day when it was called into existence. If the supposed writer be not a member of the society one would imagine that he would be all the more gratefully disposed towards it. Here are some 800 menand women of letters subscribing their annual guinea in order that his property, as well as theirs, may rise in value and his calling in public esteem. Is it possible for him to do otherwise than entertain a hearty desire for the success of their labours? One would be tempted to reply that it is not, were it not that in the June number of the National Review there appeared a paper subscribed “ A London Editor,” to which Mr. Besant replies in the new issue of the same magazine. The anony- VOL. III. 89 mous editor in question was careful indeed to state that he wrote in general sympathy with the Society of Authors, but he contrived in his criti- cisms to dissemble his love of the society so successfully, that it is not surprising its chairman should have credited him with a desire to kick it downstairs. Mr. Besant, accordingly, handles his critic without the gloves in the July number of the National Review and delivers a succession of telling blows. The assailant thus converted into the assailed is permitted by the editors of the Review to subjoin a rejoinder to Mr. Besant’s reply; but he would probably have been better advised had he refrained from doing so, He cannot attempt to deny that he is convicted of grave inaccuracies ; and his sneers at the annual dinner of the Society of Authors are as pointless in themselves as they are beside the point at issue. Why should not the society in question hold its yearly dinner as well as any other body of crafts- men in art or science? It has long been the reproach of the literary calling that its members were more divided by petty jealousies and more incapable of union than those of almost any other profession. If an annual dinner helps to extinguish feud and to promote the recognition of a common interest, it is to be hoped that that of the Society of Authors will long continue to draw together as numerous and representative a company as it did a few weeks ago.” —Salisbury and Winchester Times, July 16. ee THE CIVIL LIST. 1. HE Civil List Pensions for the year ending June 20th, 1890, are now announced. They include grants as follows: Literature : Miss Amelia Edwards (for services in literature and archeology) ; three daughters of the late Rev. F. H. Scrivener (Greek Testament scholar) ; Mrs. Garden, daughter of the Ettrick Shepherd ; Mrs. Freeman, widow of Professor Freeman, the historian ; Edward Walford; Henry Bradley (of the New English Dictionary). Science: Mrs. Bettany, widow of G. T. Bettany ; Mrs. Carpenter, widow of Dr. Philip Carpenter ; T. W. Levin (philosophy and mental science) ; George Gore, F'.A.S., chemistry ; H. D. Dunning (political economy). Thrust into the list where they do not belong, except by what used to be called a job, the widow of a consul, who has besides a larger grant than any person connected with letters; and three i  go THE AUTHOR. daughters of the late head of a Government department. A further exainination of the list shows that to be the widow of a consul is to be assessed at a pension of £120 a year, while to be the widow of the greatest historian of the day only entitles one to a pension of £100. Itfurther shows that there is some malign influence at work in connection with this list, which not only includes cases never con- templated in the Resolution by virtue of which this grant is annually made, but also excludes persons who achieve eminence (but not fortune) in fiction and belles lettres. Now, among the applicants of this year was a lady whose novels have gained her a very high place among contemporary artists. The case was so strong and so splendidly backed that it seemed as if it must command success, No, she is a novelist; fiction is not literature. Let her starve. Let the pension which should be her’s be given to the widows and daughters of men in the Civil Service, who have nothing whatever to do with literature, science, or art. Further, we remark that out of seventeen pensions eleven are granted to widows and daughters and six only to living people; that eight are bestowed on litera- ture, five on science, and none at all on art; that four are robbed of their original intention and given away outside. We observe lastly that poets, dramatists, actors, novelists, essayists, and journalists, are not represented at all on the list. Yet, even with these objections, the list is the best that has appeared for years. II. In the list above quoted it was stated that the pension was granted to Miss Amelia B, Edwards in recognition of her services to literature and archeology and in consideration of her in- adequate means of support. The Academy states that Miss Edwards received the pension thinking that it was in recognition of her ser- vices to archeology ; that she never put forward any claim on the ground of poverty; that she had means quite sufficient, and that she never understood that she had any claims on the ground of services to literature. In fact, though Miss Amelia Edwards wrote during a period of sixteen years, namely from 1864 to 1880, half a dozen novels, all of them reaching and maintain- ing a high level, she was not in any sense a great writer, nor could she be rightly spoken of as having rendered great services to literature. SHELLEY CENTENARY. ERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY was born at Field Place, near Horsham, Sussex, on Aug. 4, 1792. The Centenary of his birth is, therefore, close at hand. As Shelley was the foremost man Sussex has given to the world of letters, the county has naturally taken the lead in organising a centenary cele- bration. Meetings have been held at Horsham, and the following influential committee, fully representative of the town and neighbourhood, has been appointed: Mr. R. H Hurst, J.P., D.L. (Chairman West Sussex Quarter Sessions), the Rev. C. J. Robinson (Vicar of Horsham), the Rev. R. Bowcott (Vicar of Warnham), the Rev. A. F. Young, the Rev. J. J. Marten, the Rev. C. M. Greenway, Mrs. Prewett, Miss Sadler, Mr. E. J. Bostock (chairman of the Local Board), Mr. Henry Mitchell, Mr. J. F. A. Cotching, Mr. T. Kirsopp, Mr. A. Agate, Mr. H. Churchman, Mr. J. Harrington, Mr. S. Price, Mr. William Sharp, Mr. J. Stanley Little, and Mr. J. J. Robinson. With these are associated the president and hon. secretary of the Shelley Society, Mr. W. M. Rossetti, and Mr. T. J. Wise. At a meeting of this committee, held on Friday, June 17, it was decided that, both on general and local grounds, the most fitting memorial to the poet would be a ‘Shelley Library and Museum,” to be established at Horsham. It is intended that the institution shall absorb existing libraries, and that it shall be governed in such a manner as to secure the support of all sections of the com- munity. The library will include, in addition to — general literature, all such works as may be specially connected with Shelley. In the museum a home will be found for such personal relics of the poet as the committee may be able to acquire. The present opportunity of honouring and perpetuating Shelley’s memory in the place of his birth, is one of which students and lovers of his poetry in every continent will be eager to take advantage. For this purpose funds are needed, and this appeal is issued in the confi- dent belief that there must be many who would wish to enable the committee to give complete and substantial expression to an aim, so thoroughly in accord with Shelley’s message . to the world. Subscriptions may be sent to the hon. secre- — taries, J. Stanley Little, Buck’s Green, Rudewick, Horsham, Sussex; and J. J. Robinson, West S Sussex Gazette, Arundel, Sussex. Cheques should be crossed “London and County Banking  THE Company, Limited, Horsham Branch,” and made :payable to “The Shelley Memorial Fund.” We have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient Servants, Frederick Leighton. Noel Paton. Onslow Ford. Henry Irving. W. B. Ripon. FE. W. Farrar. Walter H. Pollock. Walter Crane. Edmund Clarence Stedman. EK. Lynn Linton. Hallam Tennyson. Thomas J. Wise. Tennyson. ) Coleridge. / William Morris. c Edward Dowden. Stopford A. Brooke. a Richard Garnett. AY W. M. Rossetti. Leslie Stephen. Andrew Lang. Theodore Watts. William Sharp. H. Buxton Forman. Gabriel Sarrazin. Walter Besant. R. H. Hurst, Chairman, J. J. Robinson, ) Hon. Jas. Stanley Little, “On behalf of the Shelley Centenary Committee at Horsham. Secs., | It is suggested that a Shelley library and / museum should be erected at Horsham, the poet’s ‘ai birth place. It is unfortunate that no place can _» be found for a monument to the poet which is free aofrom unhappy associations, whether Horsham, ‘4 Oxford, London, or Italy. Since we cannot bring “any remedy to this misfortune, we must endure it. «. Aninstitute, something like the Shakespeare house Jat Stratford, would be an excellent form of ‘memorial. It is to be hoped that the committee ‘© will let us know before long how much money “ithey require. A mere invitation to give some- sidthing is not the best way to get anything. 1oW Would such an institute cost a thousand, two -o@ thousand, ten thousand pounds ? —_———_—__——— oc THE ASSOCIATION LITTERAIRE. of HE secretary of the Association Littéraire et Artistique Internationale, which boasts =. Of having Victor Hugo for its founder, rt writes to the Times (July 14, 1892), disclaiming "4 any connection with the person Morgan, and his “merry company. Surely that disclaiming was 9 needless. No one ever dreamed of connecting «if this Association with the person now awaiting 4 trial. It is, however, difficult to understand what of the Association does or proposes to do for the AUTHOR. of interests of literature and of literary men. It holds a congress every year. This year it will be held at Milan. Two or three years ago it was held at London. They ignored this Society altogether, which was one reason why not a single man of letters attended the Congress. The following, however, is the programme for the Milan meeting. In case any of our members find themselves at Milan during the third week of September, they may be interested in the proceedings :— r4® CONGRES INTERNATIONAL — MILAN 1892. PROGRAMME DES TRAVAUX. 1. Etude complete de la Convention de Berne et des modifications A y introduire en vue de la Conférence diplomatique qui doit se réunir a Paris en 1893 ; Littérature. — Thédtre. — Musique. — Arts graphiques. — Architecture. Rapporteurs: MM. Frédéric Baetzmann, Victor Souchon, Alcide Darras, Charles Lucas, Henri Morel, Harmand, Mettetal, Buloz, G. Maillard, Rothlisberger, G. Giacosa, Charles Panattoni, Augusto Ferrari, Jules Lermina, c. 2. Des rapports existant entre la protection de la propriété intellectuelle et le développement des littératures nationales. Rapporteur: M. Max Nordau ; 3. Projet de loi sur le contrat Rapporteur: M. Eugéne Pouillet ; 4. De la statistique internationale des ceuvres littéraires et des régles 4 formuler pour I’¢tablisse- ment de ladite statistique. Rapporteur: M. Rothlisberger. PRoGRAMME DES Fites ET SOLENNITES. Excursion sur le lac de Céme et banquet organisés et offerts aux Congressistes par la municipalité de Milan. Concert offert par la Société des Auteurs Italiens. Excursion et banquet pique-nique a la Char- treuse de Milan. Réception au Palais de la Ville. Inauguration au Palais de Brera du monument élevé A la mémorie de ‘“ Paolo Ferrari,’ auteur dramatique, ancien président de Y Association littéraire et artistique internationale au Congres de Rome (1883). Les séances du Congrés auront lieu dans les Salles du Conseil municipal, au Palais de la Ville de Milan, du samedi 17 au samedi 24 septembre 1892. Des salles seront réservées pour la réunion des Commissions. Une séance préparatoire aura lieu le vendredi 16 H 2 d’édition.  g2 septembre, dans l’aprés-midi. Les membres du Congrés sont instamment priés d’y assister. Le centre de réunion amicale est établi dans les salles dela Société la Famigha Artistica auprés du Palais de la Ville, quis’est mise cordialement 4 la complete disposition des Congressistes. Le Congrés se compose : 1. Des membres de l’Association littéraire et artistique internationale ; 2. Des membres de la Société des Auteurs italiens ; 3. Des adhérents au Congrés présentés par deux membres de 1’Association ou par la Société des Auteurs italiens ; 4. Des délégués des Sociétés Frangaises et étran- géres, désignés par le bureau de ces Sociétés et porteurs de pouvoirs réguliers. Les dames sont admises. Les cotisations sont fixées : Pour les membres de |’ Association et pour les délégués des Sociétés (non Italiennes) 4 la somme de 20 francs. Pour les adhérents présentés (non Italiens) a la somme de 30 francs. Pour les membres Italiens s'adresser au Comité italien, a Milan. Comité Italien: — Président, M. Giovanni Visconti-Venosta, président de la Société des Auteurs; vice-président, M. Enrico Rosmini ; secrétaire, M. Augusto Ferrari; membres, MM. Carlo Baravelli; Arrigo Boito; Enrico Fano, sénateur ; Giuseppe Giacosa; comte Emilio Gola; Leone Fortis; Luigi Gualda; Ulrico Hepli; Giulio Ricordi; Edoardo Sonzogno; Emilio Treves. spec THE LAME BOY IN THE WOODS. Each season hath its sadness, but for me Summer hath most of all. I scarce know why, But though its sylvan beauty soothes my soul And brings sweet reveries—though the happy birds, Discoursing music, stir my mind with dreams, With melodies, with thoughts of deep delight, Yet still there lurks within the summer’s heart, Or in mine own, a pain—a deep, wild pain— Which, even amid still Autumn’s ravages I never feel, nor yet in Winter’s storms. Is it, I ask, that Summer’s voiceless spell, Her loveliness of copse and lea and flower Is all too soon dissolved—that blossoms fade When Summer’s glory dies? Ah, no; Ah, no! It is that Summer’s mocking gladness lends To loss a sharper sting when I recall The joy of buoyant health and tireless limbs Which others feel—a joy that knows not me. Macxenziz BELL. oct THE AUTHOR. NOTES AND NEWS. R. CHURTON COLLINS has published (Macmillan and Co.) a Plea for the recognition of English Literature at the Universities. That is to say, he would separate literature from philology, and place the former on a proper footing. The thing has already been advocated by Goschen, and by John Morley, by Mr. Churton Collins in the Quarterly Review, by Matthew Arnold, Jowett, Pater, and Froude. The plea is not one to which | we ought to turn a deaf ear. I venture to ~ invite all who are concerned in the cultivation of literary taste; all who desire that the noble literature of our country should be properly taught, and systematically studied; to procure this book and to read it carefully; perhaps the reader may have it in his power to forward the views advanced ; in any case he can lend the book, and get it talked about, which is the surest way of advancing a book. More than ever is sucha study as is advocated by Mr. Collins wanted at the universities. We have, growing up among _ us, an ever increasing number of readers— those who have learned to look upon reading © as a necessity, one of the simple wants of life, Formerly only those read much who had received _ some kind of literary training. Their minds were filled with literary traditions. These new readers — have no literary traditions—no knowledge of — literature. How then would a school at Oxford — influence the new class of readers? In this way. — It would fill the country with professors and teachers of literature; these professors and teachers would spread abroad a knowledge of the =< thing itself as an existent and an important sub-— ject; they would also, quite naturally, take over those critical duties on. the local papers, which are now relegated as often as not to the youngest recruit. Criticism based on recognised standards of style, on trained knowledge of structure and form, and on learning exact and broad, would place litera ture in quite a new light to the average reader. There are a thousand reasons, in short, why @ — school of literature must be founded, most 0 which will be suggested by an examination 0 this important little book. - I am sorry to notice the death of John Mac gregor whom I have known for five-and-twent, years. During the last few years of his life h had retired to Eastbourne, where his power rapidly declined. John Macgregor was a man 0 singular activity, both mental and physical, an  THE AUTHOR. _was also a man of great pluck and perseverance. «4 What he did for the cause of poor and friendless -‘lads was extraordinary ; what he tried to do with shis “Pure Literature Society’—I believe it J>excludes Dickens on account of a strong word or . two which has been discovered in that generally «+ blameless novelist—was even more extraordinary. - He wrote two or three books of travel, but his + literary gift was not great; he held the narrowest views of religious doctrine, but he held them quite clearly. They were sharply outlined in his own = mind, and I believe they never changed. From _ jhis point of view they were quite logical ; he was | a leader in that declining school of which the + late Lord Shaftesbury was the most complete «7 representative. John Macgregor, who knew his ‘own value, partly because he really had done aie things considerably in the philanthropic world, baand partly because many people took care that - -he should not forget the fact, was one of the '« first to introduce the canoe; he was generally / to be seen onthe bank before the University race. -}, Let me add that he was a gentleman in every sense / 4 of the word; a gentleman born; a gentleman b bred; and a gentleman who hated things base ba and mean with the contempt which one should + bestow upon all things reptile. I learn, from a i short notice in the Athenzum, what I did not ron know before, that he formerly wrote for Punch. < | It is astonishing to think that John Macgregor + could ever have written a single line for that periodical. It must have been a long time ago. Was there not once a short period when Punch was—well—not quite so funny as usual ? ee The other day I bought for fourpence and tried “9 to read, but with only partial success, the ‘‘ Pur- gatory of Suicides.” It is not an inviting poem. 41 I thought that the author had been dead a long a) time. Yet he was living, and he died in the vl middle of last month, having attained to the age » 16 of eighty-seven. The death of Thomas Cooper has caused quite a revival of old Chartist ‘6; memories. The survivors of the leading spirits «) in that movement are now very few. _ Its history sea has never been written, though Carlyle furnished »+ a contemporary commentary upon it. Sa Mr. Louis Stevenson appears to find the climate 1, of Samoa conducive to industry. Two more © volumes of his are announced to be published in 61) the course of the next month, a History of Samoa “ae and a volume containing two stories (Cassell). «ff Three volumes, with “The Wrecker,” and“ Across sd) the Plains,” and “David Balfour,” which is to 29% begin in the autumn, make up a very good show 93 for the year. His friends, however, have not yet begun to ask for less. A club conference, sitting the other day in judgment on his recent works, unanimously agreed that “The Wrecker” is as good as anything he has ever done. The writer of the interview with Mr. Gosse, from whom a line was quoted last month, begs us to state, in justification of his own accuracy, that he read over his report twice to Mr. Gosse. His accuracy was not in any way questioned, but it is quite possible to say things in conversation, and even to listen to a report of words which mean more than one would commit to the printed page. With this reservation we quite accept the accuracy of the interviewer. Se In the new and current number of Longman’s, Mr. Andrew Lang refers to the Author. “Is it not,” ne asks, “a little careless to assert that a half-crown book costs twenty-six shillings?” Surely, but how does the question affect the Author? I have looked carefully through the July number, and cannot find that any such state- ment has been made. Next, Mr. Lang refers to my complaint—not mine alone, but that of every- body who wants to complete the works of a favourite author—on the scattering of books among various houses. He says that different publishers issue different kinds of books. True, But in the case of popular and distinguished writers, I do not know any publisher who would not willingly issue all the books, whatever the subject, which that writer might choose to put forth. Again, after a word or two on certain late contributions to the Author, he asks what is meant by saying that “ Mr. Gifford’s Lectures ”’ are to be published ? What is meant, indeed? This is a question that has been asked by many. The writer of that unlucky paragraph has already received nearly as terrible a punishment as he deserves, and the editor who passed the blunder without notice consents to be set down as—what- ever the reader pleases to call him. ———— In the same magazine and the same number, everybody will read with delight Mr. Grant Allen’s Biography of Lucy and Eliza One out of the twelve essays forming Mr. George Saintsbury’s latest book has been noticed elsewhere, at some length, for reasons there explained. There are, however, at least four of  94 the remaining essays which very closely concern ourselves—that is, those who are presumably the most deeply interested in literature. They are essays on English prose style, on modern English Prose, on the Young England Movement, and on the Contrasts of English and French literature. I hope that we may find room to consider their essays in our next number. Is there any reader of recent verse who can name the author of the following ? A MEETING. “T can recall so well how she would look— How at the very murmur of her dress On entering the door, the whole room took An air of gentleness. “ That was so long ago, and yet his eyes Had always, afterwards, the look that waits And yearns, and waits again, nor can disguise Something it contemplates. “May we imagine it? the sob, the tears, The long, sweet, shuddering breath ; then, on her breast, The great, full, flooding sense of endless years Of heaven, and her, and rest.” — The following comes from Texas, which is a long way off : “Dear Sir,—Could you send me for preserva- tion in my collection, letters or other papers, written or signed by the following distinguished persons? Notice letters would be of greater interest than the signatures alone. If portraits or photographs can be sent also, they would be highly appreciated, adding very much to the interest of my collection.—Sincerely yours, + 3 * One is naturally so very desirous of adding to the interest of a stranger ina foreign land. That may be taken for granted! And it is so sweetly reasonable for that foreign collector to invite com- plete strangers in another land to strip them- selves of valuable and interesting autographs ! And how about our own collections ? The letter is remarkable for another reason. It is type written in very small type, all capitals, on a tiny sheet of notepaper. I have long expected the arrival of the small type-writer, and here it is. The whole letter is not more than an inch and a half long by three inches broad. How delightful it will be to get rid of the great square letter size, sometimes on thick paper! Does this invention come from Texas? In that case I think I must show my gratitude and send a letter or two for preservation in this alien’s valuable collection. — THE AUTHOR. The Dundee Advertiser has a few remarks about the “‘ Notes from Paris”’ and Mr. Sherard’s remarks on Zola. The article suggests that I shall probably decline responsibility for Mr, Sherard’s notes. [ certainly might do go, The article also speaks of Zola as the “ unspeak- | able,” as ‘‘ vicious and abominable ;”’ as a novelist -who has all the “ wickedness and more of the wit of either Fielding or Smollett.” I really was of opinion that in the genius of Zola the world had come to an understanding that it was agreed on all — hands that Zola has very great genius. I thought it was also understood that there were things in — his novels which render them wholly unfit for school girls or young people. As we are not all school girls, as the members of our society may at least be allowed to recognise genius, to admire genius, to be interested in reading about them who are endowed with this rare and precious quality, it was, one submits, pleasing to read in Mr. Sherard’s notes, the enthusiasm of a young writer for genius, and the enthusiasm of Paris— not School Paris—for a new book by that man of genius. And does the writer preach or teach no morality? Does he in that most terrible of alltem- perance tracts—‘ L’ Assommoir ’”’—teach drunken- ness ? One might go farther and claim that inthe — rigid fidelity of his “vicious” scenes he disgusts the reader with vice. One need not, however, seek to defend Zola in his realistic moods. There are things in him—as there are in a dissecting room—which some eyes cannot gaze upon. Allow — for this; keep his books from the school girl, and acknowledge the genius of the writer. It is significant of the way in which opinion is drifting that the Hospital is advocating the creation of medical peerages. “ Why,” asks this paper, “should an eminent physician, such as Jenner or Paget, be less worthy of a peerage than the lawyers, soldiers, sailors, and statesmen, who have been raised to the Upper House.” Why, indeed? And in another paper one reads the report — repeated with approval — that the President of the Royal Academy is to be created a peer. It is, however, added, as if the circum- stance would make the thing easier, that the president is unmarried. Hereupon, one naturally asks why the son of an artist should be less worthy to succeed to a peerage than the son of a brewer or of a soldier? . We are gradually coming round, it will be observed, to the opinion that national distinctions, if they are to be re- tained at all, must be given for national services ‘of all kinds; thatthe present method of scatter- ing abroad these distinctions brings them into contempt; and that, though it is good for a com-  THE AUTHOR. 95 ~ mercial nation to honour success in commerce, it is bad to refuse honours to those who advance -. that nation in literature, science, and art, and every | other liberal profession. Therefore, I repeat what {1 [have already advanced more than once, that, if _ national distinctions are contemptible, we ought -to do everything in our power to get them i} abolished ; but if they are desirable and honour- ‘able, they should be bestowed only in return for services to the country; and that all honourable «> services of every kind must be equally recognised. Watter BESANT. FEUILLETON. I. Tur PusLisHeR’s READER. . THNHINGS were going very badly with Tom | Denny. They had been going very badly with him for some time. It was not his fault. It was certainly his mis- “4 fortune. His contributions to literature were not © appreciated ; the publishers refused to be bothered » with his manuscripts. It was not his fault, as we » said before; his style was easy, his stories were ; ingenious, and his opinions were sound. But he was in advance of his time—he said so himself; and this, with publishers, and even more with editors, is worse than being behindit. Even stale news is more marketable than prophecy. The public prefers overripe fruit to unripe. So, while the plagiarists and dealers in literary réchauffeés, and other time-servers, were thriving, our friend Tom Denny was positively starving. The only satisfaction he could cherish was that he was alone; he had no wife, no children, to starve in company with him. Until now he had proudly refrained from lean- ing upon friends and acquaintances for support in his profession ; a profession, the true appren- tices to which always hope a vain thing, namely, that mere merit alone will unlock the barred gate of the road leading to success. But as every successful writer can tell, while merit is some- thing, a touch of luck is everything, towards deflecting the needle of fortune from “stormy” to “ change,” “ fair,” and “ set fair.” : One day, during a period of great distress, and feeling as if he was throwing away the independ- ence of spirit to which he had hitherto clung, Tom set out to ask advice, and (if need be) help, from an old schoolfellow, whose literary fortunes were the very reverse of his own. George Davenport had chambers in the Temple. Although in the swing of his morning’s work, he received Tom with a hearty welcome. “Haven't seen you for an age!” he com- plained. Tom apologised for his neglect of an old friend, and allowed the other to talk upon commonplace subjects for a minute or two. Then he braced himself for the effort, and commenced to explain the state of his affairs. “JT may as well make a clean breast of it! You know, George, that I have no regular income ; and my relations are so aristocratic that literary pursuits are far, very far, beneath their con- tempt.” “ Brutes!’? muttered George Davenport. “ Well, I have worked till my health is gone. I have written till my pigeon holes and shelves are filled up. I have put into my work all that my conscience demands, and my powers allow. My manuscripts have been presented everywhere, and have been of late almost everywhere “declined with thanks.” Only two or three of them are in the publishers’ hands now. I have come to the end of my strength, of my spirit, and of my purse. I have absolutely nothing to live upon, and consequently nothing worth living for, and I dare not contemplate, nor suggest the result in prospect, if—if I cannot persuade some kind friend to give me a hand,” “Good heavens, man! Is it as bad as that? a Tom made no reply, and hung his head to hide the mist in his eyes. George Davenport looked at his watch, and clicked the lid sharply as he restored the gold repeater to his pocket. He made no reference whatever to the subject upon which Tom had spoken to him. “Are you in a hurry?” he inquired. “ Have you anything particular to do?” Tom shook his head in reply, as if he had nothing more to do in this life. “Don’t run away,” proceeded Davenport. “Stop with me, and have some lunch and a chat over old times.” Tom seemed too dispirited to offer any opposi- tion, He was hungry, moreover, poor soul, having scarcely known what a good meal was for months past. Meantime, so pessimistic was his judgment, that for a moment he suspected his friend of offering hospitality as a set-off against an intention to refuse help. In this he soon admitted himself wrong. Lunch was served. Davenport dismissed his man-servant, who had laid the table. He waited till Tom had began to enjoy the healthy stimulus of wholesome food, and then for the first time reverted to the object of Tom’s visit. 96 “Can you review books?” he asked. “Why, of course you can; I ought to have known better than to ask.” “ Any fool can review a book—after his own fashion !”’ “ Precisely,” said George Davenport, with a twinkle in his eye. ‘“ That is just how I review them. You can do much better. By the bye, why don’t you read for a publisher? The pay is not princely ; but it’s bread and cheese, after all.” “Why don’t IP Chiefly because I cannot get within a hundred miles of a publisher, so to speak. Besides, I hate the publishers!” “So does everyone! Butthey areuseful. For example, they employ me occasionally. They sent me half-a-dozen unpublished manuscripts to read for them a month ago—I haven’t had time to at- tend to them yet, though they are comparatively short—authors anonymous—unspeakable trash, no doubt. Stay! I glanced at one of them. It was not so very bad—rather clever, indeed—and quite an easy and inexpensive sort of volume to bring out. If the whole book is as interesting as the first page I should recommend the publishers to accept it.” “« What is it called ?” “T really cannot remember—it is a_ type- written thing.” Tom sighed. His manuscripts, too, were type- written ; but nobody recommended the publishers to accept them. “Now, Tom,” exclaimed George Davenport, ‘I wish you would do me a favour. I have been fearfully busy lately, and I really cannot find time to wade through the bundle of manuscripts. No doubt the publishers are growing impatient— to say nothing of the unfortunate authors.” “ Poor authors !”’ thought Tom. “Now, if you will do the work for me, you are welcome to the pay, and I shall be awfully obliged to you.” “ T shall be delighted,” Tom responded, seeing through his friend’s delicately-veiled device to assist him out of his difficulties. “ Well, you area good chap,” said Davenport, continuing to assume that the favour came from Tom. “And look here—I’ll give you a cheque row—I might be away, or ill, or dead, don’t you know, when you bring back your report.” Tom could only thank him, press his hand, and hasten to begin the work. The cheque was but a small one, not large enough to suggest that he was in receipt of charity, but large enough to stave off the spectre of starvation. Once at home, he sat at his table, and opened the parcel of manuscripts to which his friend had meted out such scant mercy. THE AUTHOR. He removed the brown paper covering. On the top of the pile lay the type-written sheets alluded to by Davenport. On reading the title, Tom Denny started and grew pale. He ran his eye nervously over the first few lines, and threw himself back in his chair with an exclamation of astonishment. What was there in this manuscript which aroused in him such strange emotions ? Why did he bury his face in his hands ? An hour went by, but he had not turned a page, The precious time had been spent by him in musing, muttering, and malediction! He seemed to have lost the power of work—to be labouring under some inexplicable form of indecision, in- spired by the type-written leaves. At last he roused himself and flung aside the offending manuscript. Seizing upon the next one in order, he applied himself vigorously, heart and soul, to the duty of mastering its value and transferring his judgment of it to paper. This doue, he attacked the third likewise and so on with the rest. Having thus treated all but one, namely, the typed one, he returned the lot to their brown paper covering, and went to bed. Whether he went to sleep or not, it is impossible to say for certain. But one thing is clear; when he went to breakfast next morning he wore a smile on his lips, and moved with the air of a man who had squared some difficulty and is at peace with conscience. Before twenty-four hours had elapsed from his entermg Mr. Davenport's chambers on the previous day, Tom Denny re-entered that gentle- man’s room, with the bundle of manuscripts under his arm, and a conscientious type-written report upon their merits and shortcomings, together with some sound advice as to their publication or the reverse—all ready for despatch to the firm of publishers, if approved by Davenport. “My dear old fellow!” exclaimed that gentle- man, “I really cannot spare time to read what you have written about these things, I am sure it is all right and just what the publishers want!” “Do you not know who any of the authors are?” “ Not I, and I don’t want to know.” The bundle was sent on to the publishers without the MSS. or the reader’s opinion being so much as looked at by Davenport. Two day later Tom Denny received a note from the publishers who had his MS. ‘“ Dear sir,”. ran, “we should like to see you concerning the MS. with which you have favoured us. If you a could conveniently call any afternoon this week between three and five we should be very glad to  THE - see you.—Your obedient servants, SMILES AND SwEETBEAM.,” Tom smiled. Tom read the letter time. Tom laughed. He called the very next day. He was received by Mr. Smiles himself, the senior partner. ‘‘ We have received, Mr. Denny,” said the great man, “an opinion on your MS. which lifts your work quite above the average of MSS. submitted to us. He says, in fact ’”’— here he took up a type- written paper—“humph, ‘ plot quite fresh and original; characters strong ; humour abundant; situations strong; grip of the story from the opening page.’ Well, sir, this opinion induces us to make you an offer which you will not, I think, refuse. We will take the whole risk of this story ; we will publish it at our own expense and in our best style ; and we will give you, when the first five hundred copies of the three-volume edition are disposed of, a ten per cent. royalty. Does this suit you?” Of course it suited him. That it was a one-sided and an iniquitous proposal he found out after- wards. All he wanted at this moment was a start. And he got it. For the opinion was correct. Tom Denny did no more than justice to his own offspring. And Tom has now got both feet up the first half-dozen rungs of the ladder, but Messrs. Smiles and Sweetbeam will get no more of his work. a second ee NOTES FROM PARIS. hundredth edition of “La Débicle” will be on sale on the Paris boulevards. It is Zola’s most brilliant success, and this fact is the best answer that the admirers of Zola can 4a the time these lines appear in print the give to -tement often made in England, that Zola’s p larity is mainly due to the nastimess of thes 2s he depicts and to the coarseness of the lang. xe he uses. There are no nasty scenes though iaany terrible ones—in “ La Débacle,” and the language is throughout, singularly free from vulgarity. Apropos of Zola, I see that a certain paper published in Dundee has been attacking the Editor for allowing “(a certain Mr. Sherard”’ to eulogise this master in these columns. The attack on Mr. Besant leads up—after various sneers at myself and at my little ways—to an assault on M. Zola. Enviable M. Zola to be so so hated! The Dundee man calls him ‘“ the most cochon of novelists,” “the unspeakable Zola,” VoL. III. AUTHOR. 97 “vicious and abominable,” “ filthy,” ‘the in- tolerable novelist.” Next to being well under- stood to be completely misunderstood is the best thing, and could I trouble Zola with such trifles as these, I am sure he would be hugely amused to listen to a translation of this dia- tribe. As a matter of fact there is no sweeter, cleaner-minded man than Emile Zola, few more refined amongst those who have had little chance of culture, few as artistic by temperament, and fewer as good, as lovable, as dignified, and as admirably-lived. Zola has set himself the task of recording certain phases of life in a certain period of history, and speaks the truth absolutely. The pictures are photo- graphic just as his conversations are phonogra- phically reported. It is the world that is cochon, not Zola. As works of art his books may be attacked; but they will always remain as ethno- logical, philological, and sociological documents of the highest importance to the student of French history in the third quarter of the nineteenth century. What a dreadful place Dundee must be! T was at an inn the other day which was once visited by a Scotch gentleman, who, when asked by the landlady to dictate her his name, so that she might write it down in the register, uttered syllables of which it was impossible for her to essay the writing down. She expressed her difficulty, and the gentleman then laughed and said, “Oh, write it down in French, ‘ Gauthier ’Ecossais”’ Under this pseudonym did Sir Walter Scott figure on a book of the Hotel du Grand Cerf, at the Grand Andely, in Normandy. The inn is one of the most picturesque of houses of entertainment, and though, as an inn, it has only existed 150 years, as a house it dates from the 15th century. The principal room, now modern- ised into a café with electric lights, a billiard table, and so forth, boasts a fireplace, at. which, as Hugo wrote, “a whole oak is used to warm us.” It is a queer old place, full of lovely old oak carvings. Gauthier !Ecossais must have found it entirely after his own heart. A mile off stands, on a prominence dominating the Seine, the Chateau Gaillard, built by Richard Coeur de Ton. When the stronghold was afterwards taken, craven Lackland, skulking in Poitou, whined out, ‘‘ Now, I have lost Normandy.” Se A familiar figure to those who sit out on the terrasses of boulevard cafés is that of a man who, as he walks along, cries out in doleful tones, ‘ Here is the Ruin of the publishing trade. Here I  98 is the Despair of authors. At sixpence each. At sixpence.’ He is commonly known as “La Ruine des Editeurs.’’ A jovial fellow withal, by no means showing like a prophet of woe. His busi- ness is to buy up publisher’s remnants, and to retail them to his best advantage. Thanks to his clever patter, and to his skill in selecting only books with “fetching” titles, he is always able to dispose of his bundle of yellow backs before midnight. I took a petit verre with him the other night at a marchand de vins, in the Rue de la Paix, and learned that it was “a bad day on which he did not make his couple of louis.” How many authors here cansay the same! He looks on literature only as merchandise,” and “never read a book; not he.” He had something else to do. I consulted him as to titles, but, with the eyes of Dundee upon me, I dare not print what he said on his subject. I was speaking to a very prominent French poet the other night and elicited from him the opinion that there are only three French poets worth reading, Racine, La Fontaine, and himself. As to novelists, he considered them singly and severally so beneath contempt as not to be worth discussing. He describes Zola as “ nothing at all,” Flaubert as a mauvais écrivain, which ‘“ was already something, Zola not even bemg an écrivain at all,” and said that the only French novelist who had ever shewed any talent was Eugene Sue. It was owing to Sue, by the way, that literary gents are-not looked upon as at all eligible for membership to one of the swellest clubs in Paris. Since Sue’s election and enforced resignation, professional hommes de lettres have always beet black-balled at this house. Not that Sue made himself particulary objectionable, but he talked too much “shop” and flaunted his trade too much in the face of his dandy club-mates. A certain duke was taken faint, it is recorded, at the sight of him correcting some galley proofs on the green velvet of the table de jeu. Balzac hated clubs and “life” generally, though he did have a short period of boulevardomania, when he dressed as a fop, and sported the famous turquoise-studded walking-stick, As a general rule Frenchmen of letters eschew society and its pleasures, and inso- much are wise in their generation. — > To-morrow we shall see to his last rest in Pére Lachaise cemetery, one of the most sympathetic of contemporary French litterateurs, Léon Cladel, who died yesterday at Sévres after a THE AUTHOR. long and painful illness. Cladel’s work affords a striking example of how even the most disinherited of fortune can attain mastery in an art, the best equipments for which will always be a careful education, a wide culture, and other mental luxuries which are not usually within the reach of the very poor. Cladel was a self-made man. Not that he made himself a rich man—God forbid, seeing what was his trade, but. he made himself an admir- able stylist, and proved himself to combine a most perfect artistic temperament with the greatest and kindest of hearts. His books, which are a!l strongly impregnated with socialistic tendencies, are but little known to the large public, but are the delight of connoisseurs. His collection of stories: ‘‘ Les Va-nu-pieds,” his famous “ Jaques Patient,” which ruined the fortunes of that anti- Empire publication ‘‘ L’Kurope de Francfort,” and his novel “La Féte Votive,” are acknowledged masterpieces. He leaves in MS two novels; “ T.N.R.I.,”’ which is conceived in somewhat the same spirit as was Swinburne’s “Before a Crucifix,” and ‘“Juive Errante,” which is a biting satire on the vices and follies of the day. Bold, too true, and partant, too bitter even to find a publisher, Cladel was a most generous man, and he was very fond of animals in general, and of dogs in par- ticular. Now there is never much wrong about a man who is indifferent to money, and who is kind to the humble, and who is good to dogs. ———— Cladel always said that he owed all he possessed in craftmanship of style and grace of diction to Baudelaire, who, by the way, did him the honour of writing a preface to one of his first books. Zola is not going to write any novel about the Lourdes pilgrimages. He has already begun to write the novel which will close his “ Rougon- Macquart” series, and which is to be called “ Le Docteur Pascal.” The MS. is to be completed at the end of the year, and the serial publication of the new novel will commence in the early part of 1893, in La Revue Hebdomadaire, From what I have heard of the plot and the motive of “Le Docteur Pascal,” I am afraid it promises to be rather tedious. I have noticed in one or two papers the innuendo, dpropos of Oscar Wilde’s “ Salomé,” that Mr. Wilde is not sufficiently acquainted with the French language to have been able to produce this chef d’euvre himself, and that it was written largely in collaboration with one or other of his nunierous French literary friends. What can an author who lives in England do against abomin-  te Mi 4 THE able attacks of this kind? As a matter of fact, Mr. Wilde is as admirable a French as he is a Greek, a Latin, an English scholar, and “Salomé ” was written from end to end exclusively and entirely by him. I can say this, as I saw him write most of it, and had the privilege of reading the draft MS. I may add that before it was copied out for the printer our mutual friend Mr. Marcel Schwob, editor of the literary supplement of “ L’Echo de Paris,” read it over lest any slips had been made, and that Schwob told me that the French was perfect throughout. No, the enemies and critics of Oscar Wilde must just swallow the fact that, after achieving triumphant success in the language of the country in which he resides, he has succeeded in writing in French a one-act play which was considered so perfect in style, language, and conception, that the greatest trage- dienne of the century, Sarah Bernhardt, to write for whom is the dream of every playwright in the world, was proud to be allowed the privilege of . producing it. Roserr H. SHERARD. Paris, July 22nd, 1892. Poe ON A BIRTHDAY. = Another stone passed, and so much nearer home, Where the vanished ones are. O’er life’s stormy sea, ’mid the darkness and foam, There is rising a star, A beacon most bright, that is lighting me on To a haven of rest, Where weeping for joy, in God’s garden, anon, I shall fall on her breast. Her breast that of yore was my Heaven below, When the blue skies of life Were clouded with care and the shadows of woe. When I shrank from the strife My head pillowed there ; those long tresses of gold Would fall down like a screen To shut me close in from the clamour that rolled Through the world, and its spleen. * * * * Must be up, doing now, for the day’s waning fast, And the night is at hand. The twilight is closing around me at last, On a verge do I stand! The fetters of flesh are all falling away, Larger outlook the soul, As it spurns in its rapture its casket of clay, Within sight of the goal !— Hush! World sounds grow fainter, as fainter the light; I must face the “‘ To-be”’ ! Oh watchman out yonder, say what of the night That’s the question for me. Will it break in a shower of glory unknown AsI spring to the shore, Or clasp me for aye in some shadowy zone When the journey is o’er? Exeter. F, B. Doveton. AUTHOR. 99 MORE MAXIMS. 1. The half truth is the devil’s own truth. 2. One syllable is enough to slander, more than enough to slay. 3. A little word may curse a whole life. 4. The truest fact oft hes in “ fiction.” 5. The realities of life are not confined to its waste products. 6. Deceit is to be distinguished from depth by inconstancy. 7. Character is not always to be judged by the ayes or the noes. 8. To a practised ear the voice reveals the soul. g. The smiling eye suggests the sleeping anger. 10. Jealousy is to the lover what jaundice is to the liver. 11. The best cure for jealousy is true love. 12. Who marries for kindness, marries in blind- ness, 13. Who loves only to get, loves not as yet. 14. Conditional love is counterfeit love. 15. In love there is no conditional mood nor im- perfect tense. 16. True love shows in deference; pure love in reverence. 17. Many love positively, some comparatively, but few superlatively. 18, Chivalry is the masculine of charity. 19. Creed is much, conduct is more, but character is most of all. 20. Who knows what is true, learns what is just. 21. Who understands woman may regulate man. 22. To understand woman, the heart must lead the head. 23. First catch your heart; then capture your public. 24. Selfishness is not the basis of life, but the basest. 25. Society can cure insanity of soul when itself gane enough. 26. There is no talent to compare with a best nervous system. 27. The best cure for gout is a new pair of grand- fathers. 28. To a practised eye the expression reveals the mind. 29. Petty pity is cousin to contempt; divine pity to chivalry. 30, To show justice one must know everything. PHINLAY GLENELG.  100 MR. SAINTSBURY ON THE ENGLISH NOVEL. most and leader of living English critics— has published a collection of essays, among which is one on the present condition of the English novel. One may not agree absolutely with every point of the essay, but it is undoubtedly a chapter which should be read by every one interested in the welfare of a great department of English literature ; a department, as I think, going to become much greater, and to obtain much more importance in the future than ever it has enjoyed in the past. To begin with, the thanks of all living novelists are especially due to the writer for treating the subject without making it personal. I hardly know any other writer who could treat the subject on general principles without personal illustrations. Indeed, one hardly remembers any essay in the English language on the novel which is not a personal essay. We have articles from time to time on this man’s novels and that man’s novels— indeed, out of the large proportion of articles shown in the last number of the Author to be devoted to literature in the magazines more than the half are devoted to this novel or that novel. No one has treated the novel by itself as a form of litera- ture, nor has anyone ever attempted to consider it as possibly subject to laws and canons, and is capable of being criticised as a work of art. It is not many weeks since a certain weekly paper scoffed and sniffed at a certain writer for claiming a place for fiction among the fine arts. Mr. Saintsbury is the first critic, so far as 1 know, who seriously recognises the fact that the novelist, whether he is a good novelist or not, does actually follow, cultivate, and profess a fine art as much as the poet, the player, or the painter. This is a distinct step in advance, because the critic who recognises that’ he has to deal with an art, will, if he is worthy of being called a critic, begin to ask what are the elementary principles of that art, and how it differs from other arts, what are its limitations, what its achievements, with other pertinent questions. With these preliminaries, then, how does Mr. Saintsbury think that the present English novel stands ? First. of all, there is, he says, considerable improvement in the structure of the modern novel; “the average writing is better, and, generally speaking, a distinct advance has been made in the minor points of craftmanship.” At the same time he finds that, though the novel of the present day is largely devoted to character, tr accomplished critic—perhaps the fore- THE AUTHOR. there are few characters which live in the memo as certain old scenes live, such, for instance, as those of Partridge at the play, of Harry Esmond and the Prince. One is constrained to admit a certain truth in this criticism. But at the same time one may suggest that Tom Jones and Esmond were read when one was eighteen or thereabouts, and that there are certain more modern scenes which, if read at the same age, might have remained as clearly distinct. In short, we get, says Mr. Saintsbury, ‘a better turn out of average work, but we do not seem to get the very best things.” For my own part I am quite satisfied with this opinion. The same causes which have produced the better turn out of this day will operate to produce a still better turn out to-morrow, and yet a better turn out for the day after to-morrow. So long as the cultiva- tion of any art is advancing, so long there is hope for it. When it begins to decline in technique then its critics may begin to lament. The return to the earliest form of writing, to the pure romance of adventure, on which the critic dwells, is, he thinks, interesting and important. The multiplication of books on manners, which change very slightly and very slowly, produces in the end feebleness of strain. But an appeal to the passions and emotions which underlie manners can never lose its freshness, because the passions always remain. Always we must return to th: romance for freshness. “As for what we hear about the novel of science, the novel of new forms of religion, the novel of altruism, and Heaven knows what else, it is all stark naught. The novel has nothing to do with any beliefs, with any convictions, with any thoughts in the strict sense, except as mere garnishings. Its substance must always be life, not thought, con- duct, not belief, the passions, not the intellect, manners and morals, not creeds and theories. Its material, its bottom, must always be either the abiding qualities or the fleeting appearances of social existence — guicquid agunt homines, not quicquid cogitant.” As regards the last ten years there has been, Mr. Saintsbury points out, a great stir among the dry bones. A great deal more trouble has been bestowed upon style, plot, general management, and stage carpentry. ‘ Even that other symptom of the uprising of novelists against critics, and their demand that every newspaper shall give at least a column to the sober and serious laudation (for nothing else is to be thought of) of every serious work of fiction is, though rather a gro- tesque, a cheering and healthy sign.” Mr. Saints- bury should really give references. One would willingly find a place in the Author for discussion on: such a demand, but inquiries have failed  ' So far, then, there is advance. THE AUTHOR. hitherto to discover where it was made or by whom. There are, how- ever, disadvantages. The “ Young Person ” 1s too -. much with us, sometimes causing reactionary plunges into the fields which are supposed to be forbidden on account of this wonderful creation of the imagination. Generally, however, this bogey ties the hands of the novelist. There is, again, a tendency to ignore the story ; to present an endless | description of the process rather than the result ; 4 there is a tendency to mistake mannerism for Ei va Try pop? ope CIS Pe genius ; ina word the modern novelist is too much of a Martha and too little of a Mary. In the writer’s words: “He seems to be beguiled by the dictum—true and important enough in itself—that novel writing is an art. It is, and afine art. No doubt also all art has its responsibilities. But the re- sponsibilities of different arts are different, and the methods of discharging them are different too. What makes the art of literature in general the most difficult of all is the fact that nowhere is it more necessary to take pains, and yet that nowhere is mere painstaking not merely so insuffi- cient, but so likely to lead the artist wrong. ee It isa pity that a novel should not be well worked; but some of the greatest novels of the world are written anything but well.” There are other points touched upon in this remarkable essay. One is the fact that novelists take themselves seriously—a thing which Mr. Saintsbury permits, with a little contempt natural in one who has reviewed novels for twenty years. Yet if the writing of novels is the occupation of a life, surely the man who employs all the life that is given to him in this way should respect his profession, if only out of self-respect, to say nothing of the improvement produced in the work itself by such respect. Again, there is the danger of giving way to the demand for more work—and always more—in the case of a popular writer. It stands to reason that there can be in every generation very few good artists in any line. But the public demand is growing greater and greater for this particular line of art. Therefore they have to be contented with a good deal that is poor stuff. What remedy is there for this evil ? Plainly, none at all. There are two points in which this essay seems to me defective. It is natural with a reviewer who has read and reviewed every kind of novel for many years, to estimate his average from the whole of the stuff that has passed through his hand. I think that here he is wrong, and for this reason. The reviewer does not know—what we at the society’s offices do know—the immense number of novels which are published at the authors’ own expense, and after they have been lol refused by every house which respects its own title age. The reviewer does not know—what we do know—that there are houses which live by publish- ing this trash. When published it has no influence whatever ; no circulating libraries take this trash ; no sane persons buy it ; no one sees it on the book- stalls. The novel is printed; it is advertised ; copies are sent for review ; editors give out their copies for review; the review is contemptuous ; the book is dead. Such a book ought never to be reviewed ; it ought never to be weighed in considering an average. When we speak of the learning and science of Cambridge, do we give a thought to the Poll? So when we speak of the average novel, do we consider the wretched feeble- ness which hardly ventures to offer itself toa contemptuous reviewer? Again, what does Mr. Saintsbury mean, after acknowledging that fiction is a fine art, by saying later on that the novel is rather 2 low form of literature? How cana fine art be a thing which can be called low? Again, it has been argued that it is a waste of time and force to review merely for purposes of slating the poor feeble things that are never really bornatall. For,if the reviewer is to pass a judg- ment on them, thatis needless—they are condemned at the outset; if he is to instruct these authors, that is useless—these authors cannot learn ; if he is to derive lessons for other authors from their pages, it is impossible; you might as well derive a lesson in drawing from a child’s artless sketch of a pig; if he is to make readers laugh—well—it is not dignified, though it is certainly tempting. But, says Mr. Saintsbury, who is to know before- hand what is good and what is bad? Well, anyone who has read Mr. Saintsbury’s signed work in the Academy and elsewhere, may be perfectly certain that if he had a pile of seventy novels, and was asked to review the best, he would pick out that best work in ten minutes. First of all he would toss aside all those published by certain houses ; next he would take up those written by unknown names; It 18 astonishing how easily, in most cases, one arrives, with unknown names, at the verdict of condemna- tion ; lastly, there would be the novels by the writers whose names he knew beforehand. A great deal more might be said, both by Mr. Saintsbury and by anyone commenting on his remarks. Enough has been said to show that this is an essay well worthy of being studied by novelists for the suggestions it offers in their art: and for “crib purposes, by certain criticasters, who at present have as much know- ledge of the art of Fiction, on which they undertake to write, as of that other art of painting, whose works they are equally ready to pass in review. These gentlemen will find it  102 very much in their own interests to read the essay ; some parts they will not, perhaps, at first understand ; but they should persevere, and most things come in the end to the patient student. There are a few Latin phrases here and there, but they will perhaps have some acquaintance who can translate these for them; and there are a few references to past and modern literature which they may leave unexplained. W. Bz DO WOMEN IN JOURNALISM. FE HE article contributed by “X. Y. Z.” to the July number of the Author on the subject of “Women in Journalism” propounded the two following questions :— “Ts the effect produced on journalism by the invasion of women a salutary one?” ‘Is journalism a desirable method for women to earn their living ?”’ The replies made by the writer are so curiously inconclusive that some practical woman member of the fourth estate is bound to attempt a more adequate answer to them, and I take upon myself the task, as I hold that, reduced by the same tests as are employed by men to define a profes- sional status, there are at present only very few women who have the right to be called journalists at all, while those of us who can fairly and fitly claim the title have won it in a manner to make us jealous of its dignity. When the project of a woman’s “ Press Club ”’ was first broached I was asked to supportit. I opposed the movement strenuously on several grounds, chief among them being that such a title ought not to be used unless its promoters were prepared to make the conditions of member- ship strictly professional and to exclude the mere chance paragraphist or free lance whom one was scarcely anxious to meet upon the ground of club equality. That condition being made, and under the name none other was possible, it would have been utterly impracticable to have made any club . a success upon so small a membership roll as would then have been eligible. I believe every- one concerned regarded me as “mean” and “nasty” for taking this line, but they saw the justice of my contention, and ultimately adopted the vaguer, wider name of “ Writers” for the institution, which, so far from numbering ‘“ some hundreds,” as stated by “X. Y. Z.,” only has 170 members, of whom the majority are certainly not journalists, as laid down by, let us say, THE AUTHOR. the Institute of Journalists or the Newspaper Press Fund. To support a negative answer to the first ques- tion, the writer falls foul of the “ ladies’ letter” of the society paper, and calls in the Queen as an example of what a woman’s paper ought to be, forgetful apparently of the fact that this really leading journal is entirely directed and con- trolled by a lady gifted with that rarest of powers even in a man, the true editorial genius. To the clever lady who first perfected the “letter”? form—and it is scarcely necessary to say that I allude to “ Madge” of Truth, whose society and doings are irreproachable, whose dresses are always in good taste, and whose gossip is invariably bright and interesting—all credit for an original idea well worked out is due. But here comes in the pity of it. Women, not journalists, as “‘ Madge” in her own line dis- tinctly is, attempted to imitate it and woefully failed. The unsuccessful novelist, the would-be actress, the demz mondaine even tried their hands at it, mistaking vulgarity. for originality, and impro- priety for wit, till the notion has been utterly done to death, and it is a foolish policy on any editors’ part now to adopt it, with its air of affectation, triviality, and irresponsibility when applied to the criticism of dress, books, pictures, music, and plays. There is an inconsistency of statement between the writer’s lament over the feminine influence which has brought about “that emasculate and hysterical attitude taken up in some quarters on certain social and other questions,” and the asser- tion a few lines further on that, ‘‘ the better sort of newspaper work which includes leader writing, reviewing, and miscellaneous literary articles, is not in the hands of women at all.” Supposing this to be the case, where would female thought have any directing scope at all? Asa matter of fact, neither proposition is correct, and the latter one especially needs qualification so far as the particular interests of women are concerned. Compared with men, women are not newspaper readers. To verify this, it is only necessary to stand at the bookstall of any great terminus and watch the relative number of the sexes who buy papers, and then to note that nine out of ten of the women who do so at all, will waste their penny on some miserable novelette, or one of those hateful messes of old jokes and American “ bits,” which unfortunately thrive while better papers fail. The modern editor is, however, waking to the fact that a very large field of feminine concerns has been long left unexplored. If full reports of football matches and athletic meetings help to command a sale for a paper, why should not records of women’s industries, efforts, and amuse-  THE AUTHOR. ments also assist in maintaining that proprietorial pride—a good circulation ? There it is, therefore, that I hold that women have a perfectly legitimate work to do in journalism. Looking back through the files of the Daily Graphic, I find columns and columns of special work that I have done for the paper on nursing, servants’ registry offices, working women’s movements, shop girls, women’s institu- tions, not to mention the frequent discussion of matters of dress, needlework, cookery, jewellery, involving, if women’s support is to be catered for, the sympathetic treatment which it would be unreasonable to expect from a man. Such subjects as these, as well as all that are akin to them in things domestic, together with the broader life of art and work which widened education has made possible to the sex, are in their way as worthy of newspaper notice as sport, finance, or even the Services them selves. Andsol would see women as women on the press. I do not welcome them there as mere reporters, taking their shorthand note, and doing mechanical work at pay below that of men. It is not pleasant to think of them in police courts, or being jostled in the crowd at agreat fire. But they will find that if they come in to the profession through this crowded doorway that they will be forced to accept starvation wages, and that the men will show neither chivalry nor mercy to them, for, as a blunt Kentish reporter once put it to me ata function at which there was royalty, a pretty sight, and a lunch, “ T’m d——d, Miss, if I’d do the police reporting and the Methodist meetings at our paper if they sent out a woman just to pick one’s few plums like this.” According to “X. Y. Z.” the profession is not a desirable one for women, because “ the ordinary lady journalists’ ” work involves, inter alia, the constant strain of reporting, night work, the chronicling of trivialities, and “ the interviewing of persons who are not gentlemen.”’ This is really a very comic catalogue of objections. Reporting, as I have shown, is a mistake at all on women’s parts, but it is fortunately only done by them at present to a very limited extent, and the “strain” about it is no greater than that of a female elerk or telegraphist. As women are not sub-editors or leader writers at the great morning dailies, night work need practically never affect them at all, unless they are in my own almost unique position of “special correspon- dent,” a post in which I know no other of my sex at present, except that most womanly of women, Mrs Crawford, the Daily News Paris correspondent. As to the recording of small events, I can only recall how Sir Edwin Arnold one day at the outset of my career, when I 103 thought it rather, shall I say, beneath my dignity, to goto a ragged school prize distribu- tion in the East-end, recited to me almost im the words of the Acts of the Apostles, the vision of St. Peter who, falling into a trance, beheld a great sheet let down, upon which were all sorts of clean and unclean beasts. ‘‘ What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common,” said the Voice to the Apostle, and_ the “ great sheet” of the newspaper was, according to the view of the editor of the Daily Telegraph, an opportunity for the writer to present the humblest httle inci- dent in a manner neither “ common nor unclean.” Against the undesirability of acquaintance with “persons who are not gentlemen” may surely be set the unrivalled opportunities the profession affords for making advantageous and pleasant friends. One is not editorially required to add every secretary one may chance to meet to one’s visiting list, and one may at least discriminate when duchesses, demonstrators, and dustmen may all have to be consulted. Thanks to the calling, 1 number among my friends, men and women whom it is a privilege to know, and who, but for it, I should probably never have met. “ The real genuine life of the woman journalist has yet to be written,” says “X.Y. Z.,” with something of a sneer at the incomes made by ladies “ whose scholarship is as little evident as shyness.” My own, at least, would offer nothing either romantic or sordid. Brought up ima far- off Dorset rectory, I had no“ yearnings” to leave, but I did write some “turnovers” for the Globe which won some encouraging praise from Captain Armstrong, while three or four articles op the then newly enfranchised agricultural labourer offered to the Echo brought me a proposal from Mr. Passmore Edwards that I should joi his staff on a trial of three months, I came straight from a village of 200 inhabitants into London—and I have stayed. Iwas invited to join the Daily Graphic from its start, and there I have been ever since. Hard work, and some sense I think of acquiescence in office routine and discipline, have been my pathways all along, and those I believe are the only ones to a woman’s success in the pro- fession. But the gifts one must possess at the outset are so peculiar, that I believe the true journalist is born and not made. If a man does not own them, he plods patiently on in set grooves, and makes and leaves no mark, Sound health, an almost abnormal faculty of observation in the minutest detail, quickness to suggest, readiness to act, must be coupled to an absolutely indefinable flair or instinct for the work, ina man. To these qualities a woman most add a quiet reserve and tactfulness if she is to stand alone and maintain her womanly dignity in a big bustling office full of  104. It is sheer nonsense to talk of “getting 9:99 men. plenty of work if your editor is ‘gone on you, for in journalism the reading public is the final court of appeal. One stands or falls on one’s own merits, and the proprietoys could not afford to allow an editor to “go” in the direction of the loveliest woman in the world unless her work was good. It has been proved, over and over again in the case of men, that unusual academic distinction is no condition of journalistic success. Bright human sympathy, common sense, facility of expression, and a sense of humour, are gifts worth more in Fleet-street than the profoundest know- ledge of the classics or the most erudite re- searches into the eastern languages. The field for women’s work in journalism is a limited one I admit fully. Very few possess the qualifications, too, to labour in it, as those necessary for success are by no means distinctively feminine attributes. But to the rarely met ones who have these, who view the work from its worthier side and its higher possibilities, who realise that the justification of their presence in the profession is that they should appeal primarily as women to women, and, above all, who possess a real intuitive temperament for the calling, it offers a career that the most ambi- tious need not reject. Mary Frances BILLINGTON. Milford House, Strand, July 14th, 1892. ——<— II. Might I be permitted to say a few words in answer to, and in defence of, “ Women in Jour- nalism,” contained in the Author for July. In this the writer seems to think that women’s influence in journalism is mostly of a nature to be deplored and censured, as feeble, trivial, and devoid of humour. “Is the invasion of women into journalism a salutary one?’”? Why, since women read the newspaper, should they be called invaders because they beara part in the writing of them? There was a time, early in the eighteenth century, when it was deemed an invasion into a man’s province for a woman even to read a news- paper! And who can doubt that their influence is salutary, when glancing at the coarse satires and lampoons of Queen Anne’s and the Georgian reigns, by the Wilkses and Walpoles of those eras? When the great bulk of the middle class women did not read, men wrote for each other, with the result that no woman of to-day can ever take much pleasure in the perusal of the master- pieces of Fielding or Smollett, Sterne or Swift, which no doubt abound in masculine humour, decency alone being absent. It may therefore THE AUTHOR. be safely admitted that womanly influence is a good thing for journalism and_ literature generally. “Ts journalism a desirable method for women to earn their living?” And then the writer pro- ceeds to insinuate how much that is derogatory to modest womanhood there must always be in the mode of a journalist’s life, the seeking of interviews wish all manner of people, and the making of ‘“ promiscuous acquaintances.” That argument applies equally well to the life of an actress or a singer. She, too, must often inter- view “(men who are not gentlemen,” and rely a good deal on personal charm and fascination for promotion in her profession; but not more so than the society girl who looks for social advance- ment by the making of a wealthy marriage, and, as Byron cynically puts it, dances “ for a liveli- hocd.” The root of the evil being the economic dependence of woman on man. But, may it not be that woman journalists and workers begin to feel the stirrings of a healthy professional ambi- | tion which will carry them through the disagree- ables of interviews with flirtatious editors—a rather minor evil, seeing that the author must most often submit the MS. to the editorial eye, unseen. Perhaps we all of us, men, as well as women, realize in the struggle for existence. How salt his food who fares Upon another’s bread, how steep his path Who treadeth up and down another’s stairs. The society papers are mostly in the hands of women, it is true, and are full of vulgarity and personality, but then, unhappily, so is Society. Women do but hold up the mirror to it with an unsparing hand, having less to conceal than men, they are morally more fearless. The world does not so much need a female Thackeray to satirize the woman journalist ; we need, indeed, a female Christ to preach a new Gospel to women. to leaven the great mass of her sex. and thereby regenerate society, of which journalism is the faint echo. Gracr GILCHRIST. Penzance, July 19. III. The writer of an article on the above in the Author for July deplores, with ample show of reason, what he calls the invasion of women upon journalism. .While fully admitting, and equally deploring the ‘deteriorating and de- moralising influence” of which he writes, I would submit that the cause should be sought a little farther back. The press-woman has one  THE AUTHOR. thing to do before all. She must satisfy her editor. The mischief arises out of the low esti- mate held by editors of so-called society papers in regard to women’s intelligence and women’s interests generally. Very few of these papers are really edited by women, although in the case of some specially feminine journals they are nomt- nally. But—then there is a manager. Editors get what they want, vulgar gossip and personali- ties. Three in six of the women so employed are consciously degrading their own powers, their better sense, in the work they prepare for the journals. Itis a case of “natural selection” by the editor. Of all women who present themselves as candidates for employment the well educated, quiet, thoughtful, from whose pens nothing vulgar is to be expected, will meet certain rejec- tion ; while the forward, flashy, frivolous girl, whom nothing astonishes, nothing abashes, is as sure to find acceptance in the editorial for all she says and does. At no period of the world’s his- tory were women more refined, more cultured or more gifted than are the women of England to- day. And yet the journals teem with mere inanity, and worse. In catering for his feminine readers the editor’s notion is that fashions and highly-spiced tittle- tattle are all that is needed. Doubtless he finds a market, but the women journalists are not alone to blame. i Es. ec THE CRITICISM OF NOVELS. side and on the other about reviews of novels; the wrongs of the author and the grievances of the reviewer have alike been amply ventilated ; and yet: something seems to remain which may be said, neither by way of attack nor of apology on either side, but with a simple aim of looking broadly at what the criticism of current fiction is, and of asking what is expected from a painstaking critic. That the reviewer is not always painstaking— that he is not always in a position to express his opinion independently—that he is sometimes in- competent—that he is very often ill-paid—and other facts of the same sort, are beside the subject of this paper, though no one should forget them. But for the present “let it be granted,” as Euclid likes to say, that the reviewer is painstaking, free, competent—an ideal critic. It is then that the real difficulties clearly come to light. And, first of all, what is asked from the reviewer? The reply seems ready—a fairly un- \ GOOD deal has been written both on one 105 biassed and competent opinion of the value of the book before him. Be it so. Only, in point of fact, this is not always exactly what is wished. The publisher wishes for an advertisement. He will much prefer lukewarm praise, out of which a few lauda- tory lines can be extracted, to a high encomium of the work, couched in terms that he cannot quote in his advertisements. The author wishes for an advertisement too. How much of his vexation at an adverse review is occasioned by finding nothing done for his book no one knows—least of all him- self. Men cannot read their own minds about such matters. But the author also desires appreciation. ‘‘ Poets and parents,” as Aristotle has remarked, “love their own productions,” and the author feels kindly disposed towards the reviewer who shows himself appreciative, very much as the mother does towards the stranger who admires her offspring. Presumably, neither mother nor author can avoid this little weakness. Still, “this also is vanity.” It seems, however, pretty clear that if author and publisher suppose that they wish only for an unbiassed and com- petent opinion of the value of their book they are deceiving themselves. And the author probably deceives himself more often than the publisher. But let the case be assumed of a really super- human author, one to whom adverse criticism presents no indigestible qualities, even one who, well knowing that Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see Thinks what ne’er was, nor is, nor e’er shall be, desires to see pointed out all the errors of his work This wonderful man opens the pages of the review, which his confiéres dread, prepared to hail with delight, instead of indignation, the admonitions of the critic who will teach him to know himself. Probably he finds the admonitions. How much they teach him is another question. But, is it not odd that he should find them? ‘True, every- one has become so accustomed to these pieces of excellent advice addressed to authors by reviewers that no one pauses to ask “Why these words of counsel in the author’s ear here, in public print?” Only consider, Whom is the critic addressing? Is his aim to inform the public whether this new book deserves their attention or not? Or his aim to be to authors a schoolmaster of their craft ? Even if the latter be his mission the columns of the public press seem an odd medium through which one literary man should give another his ‘deas about how his book ought to have been written. Still this queer practice prevails. Presumably custom must be suppo-ed to be its sanction, and it is not likely to be  106 THE altered whilst to give opinions about what a book should have been is so much easier than to say exactly what it is. Even, however, should the imagined ideal reviewer confine himself to writing of the book, leaving the author alone, other problems still remain. Is the critic to serve the public as a guide to what they like, or as a guide to what they ought to like? These two things are not the same. To guide the public taste to what they ought to like is plainly the reviewer's higher office. It is by no means what his readers always desire, and the critic must consider his readers’ wishes, as must everyone who writes, otherwise they will read some one else. But neither is the man to be envied whose task is to tell the public what they will like. In this matter the public much resembles a woman: a charming creature, but a little renowned for not knowing what she wants; or rather who knows only that she wishes to be agreeably taken by surprise. No other writer is really in a position so impossible as the critic to whom the “ general reader”’ says: ‘Tell me what I shall like.” What he will like is sometimes nothing but what he has read before ; sometimes something entirely new; sometimes something that can put him in a good humour with himself; generally something which he fancies other people think it clever to like. If the unlucky reviewer of tales renounces this hopeless task of telling people what they will like, then he is reduced to telling them what they ought to like. For that they are seldom thank- ful, and he is himself confronted with new diffi- culties. Heis asked to measure the actual merits of each work put into his hands. But no one is able to suggest the standard by which the work is to be tried. Here is a formidable difficulty, because every measure means a standard of measurement. What is the standard in the case of a novel? For history and science the critic has astandard. That book is best which conveys the greatest amount of accurate information put in the manner most convenient to those for whose use itis intended. But what standard (beyond one of style, about which the public are sublimely indifferent) can be proposed for works whose raison d’étre is to please a taste which varies hardly less than the fashion of dress. Some- thing may be suggested respecting a true reflec- tion of life as it really is, if any such thing as a true reflection of life as it really is could be. But it is evident that in every form and school of fiction the view taken of the facts of life, is more dominant than the facts themselves, and, conse- quently, the fashion of the thought of the day reigns supreme, All that the cleverest critic can AUTHOR. do, therefore, is to indicate works likely to meet the fashionable taste, and this fashionable taste is ambiguous, shifting, undefined, casual to a degree. C’est souvent du hasard que nait l’opinion, Ht c’est opinion qui fait toujours la vogue. To hit this shifting mark if he can is the task of the reviewer of novels. Sometimes he misses it. The only thing wonderful about that is that people can be found to wonder at his doing so. One word more. Of how many novels might it be said with truth—* Neither good nor bad ; just like hundreds of others; and, whether you take to amuse you this or one of them, cannot matter a straw.” That would be a fairly unbiassed and competent opinion upon many works of fiction. Also one that no one, author, publisher, or novel reader, would like. And the author and publisher certainly have occasion to be grateful to the reviewer for not saying it, when it is so often all that there really is to be said. Henry CRESSWELL. ee CORRESPONDENCE. I, Tue Avutuors’ Funp. S an illustration of the value of an honour- able loan office to honourable authors, I refer the reader to Thomas Moore’s Diary, June 19, 1839, from Earl Russell’s Life of him, vol. 7, p. 263. Those interested in the general question of accounts as between authors and publishers, will find a striking cor:espondence on the point from Wordsworth to Rogers, on pages 402 to 415 (inc.), of “ Rogers and his Contemporaries by Clayden,” vol. 1. C. S. OaKLey. II. NuitHer—Nor. THE Atheneum (June 24), in criticising a recent novel, finds fault with the expression “ Neither Helena nor Caliphronas were present” as being ungrammatical. Old-fashioned purists will pro- bably agree with the critic: but we believe the modern tendency in favour of the plural; and, further, we believe the modern tendency to be logically justifiable. The phrase is exactly equi- valent to ‘“ Both Helena and Caliphronas were absent,” in which nobody would dream of ques- tioning the correctness of the were. say ‘‘Ni l'un ni l’autre ne sont.” The French Is the critic oe THE AUTHOR. “ Neither he nor I am on the prepared to say list?” or the still more uncouth “ Neither of us am on the list,” which would hardly be improved by substituting 7s for am. An occasional dis- cussion in the Author on points of grammar like the one here submitted might be instructive. H. MC. ET. PRAISED—YET REFUSED. About two years ago I finished a novel, and forwarded it to a publisher for his consideration. In three months I received a letter from him, in which he said that he “fully appreciated the undoubted merits of the story,” but regretted that at the present moment he was compelled to decline it. T then sent the MS. to another firm, who kept it for nine months, and then, after I had written to them once or twice, returned it with the infor- mation that they could not see their way to taking the risk of producing an edition. The third publisher to whom I sent it retained it for over six months, and then, after expressing his regret at his engagements being too numerous to undertake its publication, offered to publish it at my expense. Two of the above three firms evidently con- sidered the book good enough to be published, but I suppose that the fact of my name being but very little known made them decide to de- cline it. Another MS. of mine was also spoken highly of by some publishers—they enclosed me their reader’s report—and declined. I formerly laboured under the delusion that if a reader reported favourably on a MS., it was sure to be accepted. Many young authors will no doubt agree with me that, dispiriting as it is to have our MSS. returned with the information that “our reader’s report is not such as would encourage us to undertake its publication,” it is far more dis- heartening to have them praised and yet refused. KaLoun. LY. A Case or Honour. In the year 1881 two short stories were sub- mitted to the editor of a Glasgow paper. These were accepted and duly appeared. Through some oversight no pecuniary acknowledgment was ever made, and the author, being then new to the work, did not think of pushing herclaim. In the mean- time the paper changed hands, and under all the circumstances, it seemed a forlorn hope to 107 approach the new editor on the subject. But seeking the advice of the secretary of this society, and receiving his opinion that there could be no legal claim, though there might be a moral one, the matter was laid before the editor in that light, and a handsome cheque was promptly sent to the author. When experiences concerning the shabbi- ness of editors are so numerous, it seems only just that an unexampled case of generosity should be made public. Y. AnotHER Case oF Honour. Here is another encouraging story. Four years ago a writer sent a MS. to the editor of a certain magazine. The paper was acknowledged and accepted. But from time to time the editor sent an apology; he was crowded out; at last he sent back the paper itself with the following letter : «The editor of much regrets the long detention of Mr. ’s MS. Other matter of more general interest have seemed from month to month to claim precedence. He begs, there- fore, to return the MS. with apologies. A cheque for a guinea is sent in acknowledgment.” VI. Aw Aaunoy ror Lirerary Work. Mention has been made in the Author of a certain agency for finding situations for ladies and others, as governesses, secretaries, journalists, &e. This agency undertook for a fee of 5s., to register the names of persons seeking em- ployment, and to advertise their requirements in the Zimes, Morning Post, Standard, Daily News, and other papers. Many persons appear to have paid their money, without ever asking themselves the two simple questions, (1) How far 5s. would go in advertising in “ influential” papers? (2) Whether editors, publishers, em- ployers of all kinds were in the habit of con- sulting this registry? However, the following letter seems to show that such an agency need not necessarily be a “bogus’’ coucern. The writer says: “There are others, besides myself, who feel that it is worth expending 5s. on the chance of getting employment. If anyone would poimt out a more exemplary agency we should, of course, patronise it ; till then, I am afraid we, victims though we be, shall go in tribes to the less commendable ones. We are not able to gain any knowledge of matters literary (I am leaving out the artistic side altogether), which anyone with the smallest acquaintance with the literary  108 world would be able to do. We object to advertising, and probably, should we do so, we should advertise in the wrong papers. We should as soon think of flymg as walking into an office and asking if our services were required, and it would certainly cost us five shillings in postage to attack probable and improbable employers through the post ; besides, that course is more repugnant to us than risking five shillings in the business. Indirectly I obtained an intro- duction through an agent to a paper—a thing which I have no cause to repent; however, I know, as a matter of fact, that there is a large opening for such an agency, and could it be conducted in a thorough manner, I feel sure it would be successful. Those in the charmed circle of literary life have no idea what a howling wilderness it appears to those outside, nor how ignorant the outsider is and incapable of managing his own affairs, especially if he is not born with the gift of pushing himself.” * * * [Certain other letters are held over for want of space.—Ep. | De “AT THE AUTHOR'S HEAD.” ae HE Association of American Authors,” a whose secretary is Mr. Charles Burr Todd, has now issued the first Book of Constitution, Bye-laws, &c., with its first list of members. It is not stated whether any amalgamation has been effected or offered with the first society, but apparently this new association has attracted by far the better class of writers. Among the members we observe the names of George Cable, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Charles Dudley Warner, Julian Hawthorne, Edward Bellamy, William Dean Howell, Moncure Conway, Elizabeth Ward, Mary Wilkins, Louise Chandler Moulton, J. Chandler Harris, Margaret Deland, Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Ella Wilcox, John Bigelow, among many others. There are ninety- three members in all. They propose having a dinner in October. Mr. Reginald E. Salwey, author of ‘“ Wild- water Terrace,’ publishes this month, through Messrs. Hurst and Blackett, a new novel, in two volumes, called ‘‘ The Finger of Scorn.” Kossuth, we learn from an evening paper, though nearly ninety years of age, is still writing his own memoirs. He reads and writes without glasses, he is not deaf, and he lives in Turin. THE AUTHOR. A new edition, in eight volumes, is to appear of _ Lord Tennyson’s complete works. Mr. J. Stanley Little contributes an article entitled “A Pan-Anglican Alliance” to the current number of ‘Greater Britain,’ wherein — he presents for consideration an alternative — scheme of national unity should imperial federa. tion prove to be impracticable. “More Kin than Kind,” is the title of Mr. Loftus Tottenham’s new novel, which has just been published by Messrs. Hurst and Blackett. The output of the month has been limited by the excitement of the general election, now happily over. There are few new books to notice, and still fewer to announce. Among noticeable books are Cotton’s “ Mountstuart Elphinstone” (Clarendon Press) ; the new edition of Herrick’s — Poems with Swinburne’s Preface (Laurence and Bullen); Birrell’s “Res Judicate;” Round’s “Geofirey de Mandeville;” and Saintsbury’s Essays (noticed elsewhere). Mrs. C. E. C. Weigall is now writing the serial story in the Quiver, ‘A Lincolnshire Lass,” and she has just completed a serial for Cassell’s Magazine, which will shortly appear, entitled “A Romance of Man.” A short story by her will also appear in an early number of Winter’s Weekly. Mr. Mackenzie Bell contributes to the Christian Leader a poem founded on a supposed incident of the earlier Puritan period. Mr. Edward Clodd has written a memoir of his friend Mr. H. W. Bates, which will be pre- fixed to a reprint of the very scarce first edition of the Nationalist onthe Amazons. Some hitherto unpublished letters from Darwin, Wallace, and Dr. (now Sir) Joseph Hooker will be given in the memoir. Another royal poet. It is Queen Natalie of Servia, who writes “The Poem of the Crowned Child.”’ The crowned child is, we suppose, her own son. The name of Mrs. Macquoid’s new novel is “ Appledore Farm.” It will be published in the autumn. An article by Mr. J. Ellard Gore, F.R.A.S., on “The Secret of the Heavens,” appears in the Gentleman’s Magazine for July, and another on “Life in Other Worlds” in the Monthly Packet for the same month. . “The Life of Jack Wilton,’ by Thomas Nash, will be republished with an essay on Nash and his writings by Edmund Gosse.  Tah AUGLHOR. “The Language of Monkeys.” We have heard ~ a good deal about this grand discovery. The dis- ~ecoverer has made a book about it, which will 44 appear very shortly. ' Another Carlyle book. This time the “ Letters , } of Geraldine Jewsbury to Mr. Carlyle,” edited by <} Mr. Alexander Ireland. A new edition of Murray’s ‘“ Handbook for ob Norway” has been issued, edited by Mr. Thomas i) Michell, H.R.M. Consul at Christiania. Mr. Lehmann’s “ Ailesbury Election and other i papers,” from Punch, will be issued by Messrs. © Henry and Co. \ A new novel by the author of “The Leaven- os worth Case.” It is called “ Cynthia Wakeham’s Jf Money,” and will be published by G. P. Putnam’s oe Sons. A new and enlarged edition of Treloar’s, |* «“Ludgate Hill,” is preparing. Mr. James Sully has been appointed Professor io of Philosophy of Mind and Logic at University 69 College, London, in succession to Professor Croom € 4 Robertson, resigned. : Mr. Joseph Hatton has written a novel bearing di the title of “Under the Great Seal.” Mr. Andrew Tuer’s proffered prize of £100 for 7g guessing the title of a story has not been awarded. VY No one guessed the right title. Professor Nichol has written a ‘ Life of Car- yf lyle” for John Morley’s English Men of Letters. {| It was supposed that the series had been closed. “ A Son of the Fens,” by T. H. Emerson, is a 4 book which will delight anybody who loves i; the talk and the doings and the opinions 6 of those who live nearest to the earth. Mr. 7 Emerson is doing for Norfolk what Jefferies b did for Wiltshire. His “Pictures of East A> Anglian Life,” ‘“ Wild Iife on a Tidal 7 Water,” and “Life on the Norfolk Broads,” are ‘s already known, and well known. This book, which 4 isan autobiography in the Norfolk tongue, will * meet with many readers and many admirers. “ Bast and West, or Alexander’s Death,” is the title of a book of verse written by the author of the “Fairy Ballad Book” (G, Bell and Sons). The tragedy which gives the title to the book is followed by a collection of poems on general topics, some of which are very pretty and graceful, both metres and rhymes being of the simple kind. Perhaps a little study of the recently-introduced metres might be of advantage to this writer, who shows already that she possesses the true poetic oift. 109 Miss Anna Swanwick will immediately produce a work entitled “ Poets the Interpreters of their Age” (George Bell and Sons). Mr. William Alfred Gibbs has produced a volume of verse, in continuation of the “ Prelude,” by the wish of H.S.H. Princess May ot Teck. It is published by Messrs. Sampson Low and Ca: and all the profits, if any, derived from the work, will be given to the fund for helping wives and children of soldiers and sailors. All those interested in that fund are hereby, therefore, invited to purchase copies. Those who are interested in modern poetry may order the book as a strong-spirited, and in some respects, a noble poem. “Wife Yet no Wife” is the title of the new novel about to be published by Mr. John Cole- man, author of “The White Lady of Rose- mount,” “Players and Playwrights,” &c. CH: J Deane, Wine Office-court, Fleet-street.) It will appear first in three-volume form. The tale is one of adventure, romance, and push of the present day. The scene is laid alternately in England, India, and Monte Carlo. NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. + Theology. Buxton, Mrs. Sypney. Side Lights upon Bible History. With illustrations. Macmillan. 5s. Coaatn, F. E., M.A. Man’s Great Charter: an exposition of the first chapter of Genesis. James Nisbet. Mason, A. J.,D.D. The Faith of the Gospel of Christian doctrine. New edition. gs. Od. Mocarra, M. A. Stories from the Life of Our Lord: for children of the Church. Illustrated by Wyndham Hughes. Mowbray and Co. Newsout, Rev. W. C. E. Penitence and Peace, being Addresses on the 51st and 2grd Psalms. Longmans. 2s. 6d. Newman, JoHn HENRY. Lectures on the Doctrine of Justification. Sixth edition. Longmans. 35. od. Prrrson, ARTHUR T., D.D. The Heart of the Gospel. Twelve sermons delivered at the Metropolitan Taber- nacle in 1891. Passmore and Alabaster. 2s. 6d. Prescorr, Rev. P. Wesleyanism’ and the Bible. Bible League. Paper covers, 6d. Putrir Commentary, THE. Edited by the Very Rev. H. D. M. Spence, D.D., and by the Rev. Joseph 8. Exell, M.A. With introductions by Archdeacon Farrer and others. Hzekiel, vol. 2. Exposition by the Very Rev. E. H. Plumptre, D.D., and the Rey. T. Whitelaw, D.D. Kegan Paul. A manual Longmans. The  110 Sanpay, W.—Two Present-Day Questions: 1, Biblical Criticism ; 2, The Social Movement. Sermons preached before the University of Cambridge by W. Sanday, D.D. Longmans. History and Biography. AuuiEs, Mary H. History of the Church in England, from the beginning of the Christian Era to the Acces- sion of Henry VIII. Burns and Oates. 6s. CuurcH or En@Lanp, THE: its Growth and Progress during the Present Century. Reprinted from the Daily Graphic. Simpkin, Marshall. Paper covers. 3d. CLIFFORD, IsaBeLLA G. C. The Descent of Charlotte Compton, Baroness Ferrers de Chartley, Baroness Compton, daughter of James Compton, Fifth Harl of Northampton, and Elizabeth Shirley, Baroness F. de Chartley. By her great-granddaughter. Methuen and Co. tos. 6d. Compton, THroporr. A Mendip Valley, its inhabitants and surroundings, being an enlarged and illustrated edition of Winscombe sketches. With original illus- trations by Edward Theodore Compton, and a chapter on the geological history of the Mendips by Professor C. Lloyd Morgan, F.G.S. Edward Stanford. ros. 6d. Large paper edition, limited to 100 copies, 21s. Dranz, Avausta T. Letters of Archbishop Ullathorne. Arranged by. (Sequel to the Autobiography.) Burns and Oates. GREEN, J. R. A Short History of the English People. Illustrated edition. Edited by Mrs. J. R. Green and Miss Kate Norgate. Vol.1. Macmillan. 12s. Haut, JosepH. Chapters in Anglo-Irish History, relating to Romanism and Protestantism. C. H. Kelly. Is. 6d. Innes, ALEXANDER. The Life and Adventures of Chris- topher Columbus. David Bryce and Son, Glasgow. JoHNsON, SamvueEn. Lives of the English Poets—Butler, Denham. Dryden, Roscommon, Sprat, Dorset, Rochester, Otway. Cassell’s National Library. Cassell’s. 6d. Kinesrorp, Wittiam, LL.D. The History of Canada. Vol. 5. (1763-1775). With maps. Kegan Paul. Lecxy, W.E.H. 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Hyre and Spottiswoode.  ADVERTISEMENTS. 1T5 ) The Society of Authors (Bncorporated). PRESIDENT. Tue Rieut Hon. tHE LORD TENNYSON, D.C.L. © Str Epwin ARgno.p, K.C.LE., C.8.1. . ALFRED AUSTIN. J. M. Barrie. A. W. A Beckett. of Ropert BATEMAN. 1 Sir Henry Berene, K.C.M.G. Wo WALTER BESANT. ‘A AUGUSTINE BIRRELL, M.P. Ho R. D. Buackmore. (a Rev. Pror. Bonney, F.B.S. of Lord BRABOURNE. 44 James Bryce, M.P. ‘4 Hawt Carne. P. W. CLAYDEN. COUNCIL. OswaLpD CRAWFURD, C.M.G. Tue Ear. oF DESART. Austin Dosson. A. W. Dusoure. J. Ertc ERIcHsEN, F.R.S. Pror. MicHar. Foster, F.R.S. HERBERT GARDNER, M.P. RicHAaRD GARNETT, LL.D. EpMuUND GOSSE. H. Riper HAaGa@arD. Tuomas Harpy. JEROME K. JEROME. RupyARD KIPuine. Pror. E. Ray LANKESTER, F.R.S. Rey. C. H. MrippLETON-WAKE F.L.S. Lewis Morris. Pror. Max MULLER. J. C. PARKINSON. Tue EARL OF PEMBROKE AND Mont- GOMERY. Str FREDERICK PoLtock, Bart., LL.D. WALTER HEREIES POLLOCK. A. G. Ross. GrorGE AUGUSTUS SALA. W. BarristE Scoongs. G. R. Sms. J. J. STEVENSON. Jas. SULLY. i EDWARD CLODD. J. M. Ley. W. Morzis Couues. Hon. JoHN CoLuiER. W. Martin Conway. F. Marion CRAWFORD. Rev. W. J. Lortrs, F.S.A. Pror. J. M. D. MEIKLEJOHN. GrorGEe MEREDITH. HERMAN C. MERIVALE. Wiiiiam Moy THomas. H. D. Traut, D.C.L. Baron HENRY DE Worms, F.RBS. EpMUND YATES. MP., Hon. Counsel—E. M. UNDERDOWN, Q.C. Solicitors—Messrs FiEup, Roscor, and Co., Lincoln’s. Inn Fields. Secretary—C. Herpurt Trine, B.A. OFFICES. 4, PortuaaL STREET, Lincouin’s Inn Fretps, W.C. NOTICE TO THE PROFESSION. he “ Standard” TYPE-WRITING OFFICE HAS REMOYWYED TO 31, Douglas Terrace, Newcastle-on-Tyne. $$$ ——_—_—_——_ ALL KINDS OF MSS. COPIED WITH CARE BY EXPERT TYPISTS. WE GUARANTEE THE SAFE RETURN OF ALL MSS. STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL. MODERATE RATES. WRITINGS PER POST RECEIVE EVERY ATTENTION. MESDAMES BRETT & BOWSER, Ty PESTS, SELBORNE CHAMBERS, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR. Authors’ MSS. carefully and expeditiously copied, 1s. per 1000 words. Extra carbon copies half price. References kindly permitted to Augustine Birrell, Esq., M.P. Twenty-fourth Issue, Super-royal 8vo., price 14s., post free. ROCKFORD’S CLERICAL DIRECTORY 1892. Being a Statistical Book of Reference for facts relating to the Olergy in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and the Colonies ; with a fuller Index relating to Parishes and Beneflces than any ever yet given to the public. Horace Cox, ‘Law Times” Office, Bream’s-buildings, E.O. A BOOK FOR MEMBERS AND CANDIDATES. Now ready, Third Edition, with Additions throughout, in demy 8vo., 700 pages, price 15s. AN ANECDOTAL HISTORY OF THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT, From the EARLIEST PERIODS to the PRESENT TIME. With Notices of Eminent Parliamentary Men, and Examplss of their Oratory. Compiled from Authentic Sources by GEORGE HENRY JENNINGS. CONTENTS : Part L—Rise and Progress of Parliamentary Institutions. Part Il.—Personal Anecdotes; Sir Thomas More to John Morley. Part IlL—Miscellaneous. 1. Election. 2. Privilege; Exclusion of Strangers; Publication of Debates. 3. Parliamentary Usages, &c. 4. Varieties. APPENDIX.—(A) Lists of the Parliaments of England and of the United Kingdom. (B) Speakers of the House of Commons. (C) Prime Ministers, Lord Chancellors, and Secretaries of State from 1715 to 1892. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS OF THE PRESENT EDITION. “The work, which has long been held in high repute as a repertory of good things, is more than ever rich in both instruction and amuse- ment.”—Scotsman. “Tt is a treasury of useful fact and amusing anecdote, and in its latest form should have increased popularity.” —@lobe. “Tt is a work that possesses both a practical and an historical value, and is altogether unique in character.”—Kentish Observer. “« We can heartily recommend this work to the politician, whatever may be his party leanings.”—WNorthern Echo. if” Orders may now be sent to Horace Cox, ‘ Law Times” Office, Bream’s-buildings, E.0. i | | | 116 ADVERTISEMENTS. Leave the drudgery of the Pen—Soiled Fingers—Blotted and Obscure Manuscript, to those who prefer darkness to light. Quick, up-to-date writers use THE BAR-LOCK Why? Easiest Managed; Soonest Learned; Most Durable; Writing Always Visible ; does best work, and never gets out of repair. THE AUTHOR’S HAIRLESS PAPER-PAD. (Tar Lzapennatt Pruss Lrp., E.C.) Se Contains hairless paper, over which the pen slips with perfect freedom. Siwpence each: 58. per dozen, ruled or plain. Miss R. V. GILT, TYPE-WRITING OFFICES, 6, Adam-street, Strand, W.C. ee Authors’ and dramatists’ Work a Speciality. All kinds of MSS. copied with care. Extra attention given to difficult hand-writing and to papers or lectures on scientific subjects. Type-writing from dictation. Shorthand Notes taken and transcribed. Og oa FURTHER PARTICULARS ON APPLICATION. Beware o: the Party cffer ng ‘mitations of Macniven and Cameron's Pens. THE FLYING “J” PEN. — ee ™ 8) Ga aan a Writes over 150 words with one dip. “Seems endowed with the magician’s art.”. Soli everywhere. 6d. and 1s. per box. «> Sample box, with all the kinds, 1s. 1d. by Post. MAGNIVEN & GAMERO\, Waveetey Works, EDINBURGH HE AUTHORS’ AGENCY. [Established 1879. Proprietor, Mr. A. M. BURGHES The interests of Authors capably represented. Proposed agreements and estimate examined on behalf of Authors. MS. placed with Publishers. Transfers carefully conducted. Twenty-five years practical experience in all kinds of publishing and book producing. Consultation free. Terms and testimonials from leading Authors on application to Mr. A. M. Burghes, Authors’ Agent, 1, Paternoster-row. 1, Paternoster Row. Chosen, by Royal Warrant, Type-Writer to the Queen. Only gold medals —Edinburgh (1890) and Jamaica (1891) Exhibitions ; is used in principal Government Departments, and greatest number of English business houses, — and by the Society of Authors. We send interesting supply of further information free. THE TYPE-WRITER COMPANY LIMITED. 12 & 14, Queen Victoria-street, London, E.C.; 22, Renfield-street, Glasgow. Local Agents in all Districts. TYPE-WRITER. MRS. GiILE, TYPE-WRITING OFFICE, 35, LUDGATE HILL, EC. (ESTABLISHED 1883.) Authors’ MSS. carefully copied from ts. per 1000 words. Plays, &c.. 1s. 3d. per 1000 words. Reference kindly permitted to Walter Besant, Esq. Miss PATTEN, TYPIST. 44, Oakley Street Flats, Chelsea. S.W. Aurnors’ MSS. CarEFULLY TRANSCRIBED. REFERENCES KINDLY PERMITTED TO GzorGE AvausTus SaLa, Esq. Partic«lars on Application. Stickphast PASTE for joining papers and sticking in scraps: Sixpence and One Shi ling, with strong useful brush. TO AUTHORS. The skilled revision, the honest and competent criticism, and the offering of MSS. in the American market, are the specialities of the New York Bureau of Revision. Established 1880. Endorsed by George W. Curtis, J. B. Lowell, and many authors.—20 W., Fourteenth-street, New York. Printed and Published by Horace Cox, Bream’s-buildings, London, E.C. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 03 Issue 03 (August 1892) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 03 Issue 03 (August 1892) Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1892-08-01-The-Author-3-3 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/442/1892-09-01-The-Author-3-4.pdf 63b75facddc68e2a9d9743fbabcfa3d4 PDF Text Text �������������������������������� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1892-09-01 Volume 3 Issue 4 Pages Page range in volume 117–148 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18920901 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin The Muthor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CPOWDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vou. IIT'—No. 4.] SEPTEMBER 1, 1892. [Prick SIXPENCE. CONTENTS. PAGE PAGE Warnings ae cas eos i ahs = ni me fe 9 In the Lower Ranks ... ee a ie bes na ee as Lee How to Use the Society... aa ais ee oo wee an L20: What is Read— The Authors’ Syndicate ... pe wee as 85 oo s5, 12 1.—Brentford Free Library ... aoe os wae ae «.. 136 Notices... oe ae = sae oon yet ae eee way ded 2.—The People’s Palace Library... ae 3 ace swe 186 Literary Property— American Independence _... on BP aes wale a eee. 1.—Lee v. Gibbings_... ae ee ae sas enh ao IL The Experiences of a Shy Woman oe one eS ee +.» 188 2.—Quinton v. Arrowsmith ... 2 Women in Journalism a cos eon tne as son .-- 139 Correspondence— Fraudulent Authors ... an see oe us ore me cs 126 1.—Long Oredit ... Be oe ie ee 2. 140 Feuilleton— 2.—Does the Higher Work Pay? ... ows. ve ewe 140 A Writer of Novelettes See ieee es vee teeny 129 3.—Praised, but Refused see ase igen were 4d The Athenzwm on Construction in Fiction... ee as we. 132 ‘© At the Author’s Head” ... = =e oe ae aw ee EL The Story of a Mistake .... i. See a ee ee sae 158 New Books and New Editions... aes ae eee aed ce ae PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1892 can be had on application to the Secretary. ®. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members. 3. The Grievances of Authors. (The Leadenhall Press.) 2s. The Report of three Meetings on the general subject of Literature and its defence, held at Willis’s Rooms, March, 1887. 4. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Coxuus, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, g5, Strand, W.C.) 3s. 6, The History of the Societe des Gens de Lettres. By S. Squirm Spricaz, late Secretary to the Society. Is. 6. The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c., with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. 7, The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squire Spricer. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society’s offices, the various kinds of agreements proposed by Publishers to ‘Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3s. o Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell’s Copyright Bill now before Parlia- ment. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lety. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1s. 6d.  ADVERTISEMENTS. THE LINOTYPE GOWPOSING JIAGHINE. SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR BOOKWORK. “A MIGHTY BUT PEACEFUL REVOLUTION.” OPINIONS OF VARIOUS NEWSPAPERS ON THE LINOTYPE. For full List of Eeperts’ Reports and Opinions apply to the Company’s Secretary for Pamphlet. “Tt will do away with type, and composition, and distribution, as now practised, will be known no more.”— Manchester Courier. “ Saves 70 per cent. in cost of composing, and from three- fourths to nine-tenths in time.’—Shefield and Rotherham Independent. “Tt bids fair to revolutionise the present system, especially of newspaper production, for which it seems peculiarly well adapted. The instrument is one of the most beautiful and ingenious pieces of mechanism ever introduced in connection with the art of printing.” —Scotsman. “The absolute saving of distribution, which is reckoned as equivalent to one quarter of the cost of composition, is an important factor in the economy of this machine. With it comes emancipation from the frequent errors arising from faulty distribution. To pye matter is impossible. Unquestionably the most remarkable machine ever invented in the art of printing.” —The Printers’ Register. “ Tt stands to reason that an invention that economises as well as expedites work, without aiming a blow at those who had previously done without it, must be a success.”’—Echo. “The rapidity and accuracy of the process impressed Mr. Gladstone very powerfully, or, as he expressed it himself, it ‘staggered’ him.”—Daily Chronicle. * One of the most remarkable machines ever invented.’’— Engineer. “A steam-driven, type-composing and casting machine which really promises to bring about a revolution in the composing-rooms of newspaper and book printing offices.” —Home and Colonial Mail. “ This remarkable invention promises to revolutionise all our ideas as to type-setting by machinery. It dispenses with movable type, and substitutes matrices in which the letters are cast in solid lines.”—Leeds Mercury. “One of the most remarkable labour-saving Machines ever devised in an age remarkable for such inventions.” —Western Mail (Cardiff). ‘The work never stops, line after line is added with — astonishing smoothness and regularity.”—Newcastle Daily Chronicle. ‘Has come into existence to create amazement, where surprise hitherto found a home. “The Linotype, to be brief, is a machine which does away with the present expensive and slow method of type-setting. — It performs all the work of a compositor automatically, with — greater precision and with far more rapidity. The most important feature of the patent, however, lies in the enormous saving it effects in the cost of setting, while a no ~ less startling fact is that the labour of ‘ distributing,’ or the putting of the type back into cases, is dispensed with.”— Admiralty and Horse Guards Gazette. “ Printing without types. A marvellous machine that — The advance of — industrial science is so rapid that this machine must, sooner — or later, come into extensive use.”—Hvening News and Post — makes fresh types for every line. (London). THE ECONOMIC PRINTING & PUBLISHING CO. LIMITED, 39, BOUVERIE STREET, FLEET STREET, E.C., Having acquired the monopoly of Linotype Machines in London (excepting Newspaper Offices), are in a position to quote decidedly advantageous Prices to Authors for the Composition of Books by Linotype, and also undertake the Printing, being well equipped with Printing Machinery by the best makers.  Che HMuthor, (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vou. III.—No. 4.] SEPTEMBER 1, 1802. [PRIcE SIXPENCE. for the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible, oct WARNINGS. Specran Warnine. — Readers are most URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements immediately after signature. If this { _—~precaution is neglected for three weeks, a fine of £10 must be paid before the agreement can be used as a legal document. In almost every case | brought to the secretary the agreement, or the | letter which serves for one, is without the stamp. f The author may be assured that the other party 1 to the agreement never neglects this simple pre- » caution, The stamp duty varies from 6d. up to 10s. or more, according to the form of agreement. (] The Society, to save trouble, undertakes to get f all the agreements of members stamped for them ‘= at no expense to themselves except the cost of the 2 stamp. Reapers of the Author are earnestly desired to make the following warnings as widely known as possible. They are based on the experience of seven years’ workupon the dangers to which literary property is exposed :— RB a oe (1.) Never sign any agreement of which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part, until you have proved the figures. (2.) Never enter into any correspondence with publishers, especially with those who advertise for MSS., who are not recom- mended by experienced friends or by this Society. VOL, 111, (3.) Never, on any account whatever, bind yourself down for future work to any- one. (4.) Never accept any proposal of royalty until you have ascertained what the agreement, worked out on both a small and a large sale, will give to the author and what to the publisher. (5.) NEVER accept any pecuniary risk or respon- sibility whatever without advice. (6.) Never, when a MS. hes been refused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises they may put forward, for the production of the work. (7.) Never sign away American rights. Keep them. Refuse to sign any agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the publisher. If the publisher insists, take away the MS. and offer it to another. (8.) Never sign any paper, either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright, without advice. (9.) Keep control over the advertisements, if they affect your returns, by clause in the agreement. Reserve a veto. If you are yourself ignorant of the subject, make the Society your adviser. (10.) Nuvur forget that publishing is a busi- ness, like any other business, totally un- connected with philanthropy, charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with business men. Society’s Offices :— 4, Portueau Srrent, Lincoun’s Inn Fiaxps. 72ees Kk 2  120 THE AUTHOR. HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. 1. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books repre- sented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agreements and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The information thus obtained may prove invaluable. ’ 2, If the examination of your previous business transactions by the Secretary proves unfavour- able, you should take advice as toa change of publishers. 3. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the proposed form to the Society for examination. 4. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks, of every publishing firm in the country. Remember that there are certain houses which live entirely by trickery. 5. The outward and visible signs of the fraudulent publisher are—(1) a virtuous and benevolent wish to have the unquestioned conduct of your business left entirely in his hands; (2) a virtuous, good man’s pain at being told that his accounts must be audited; (3) a virtuous indig- nation at being asked what his proposal gives - him compared with what it gives the author; and (4) irrepressible irritation at any mention of the Society of Authors. 6. Remember always that in belonging to the © Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the inde- pendence of the writer. 7. Send to the Editor of the Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. eee THE AUTHORS’ SYNDICATE. R. Colles desires to inform readers of the Author— 1. That the Authors’ Syndicate is now in a position to take charge in whole or in part of the business of members of the Society. With, when necessary, the assistance of the advisers of the Society it will conclude agreements, collect royalties, examine and pass accounts, and, generally, relieve mem- bers of the trouble of managing business details. All accounts opened between the Syndicate and members are duly audited. 2. That the establishment expenses of the Authors’ Syndicate are defrayed entirely out of the commission charged on rights placed through its intervention. This varies, and must vary, according to the nature of the services rendered, but it is intended to reduce the rates to the lowest possible amount compatible with effi- ciency. Meanwhile members will please accept this intimation that they are not entitled to the services of the Syndicate gratis. 3. That he undertakes to work for none but members of the Society. 4. That his business is not to advise members of the Society, but to manage their affairs for them if they please to entrust them to him. 5. That when he has any work in hand he must have it entirely in his own hands; in other words, that authors must not ask him to place certain work, and then go about endeavouring to place it by themselves. 6. That when a MS. has been sent from pub- lisher to publisher, and from editor to editor, in vain, it is most likely impossible to place it. 7. That in the face of the present competition, authors will do well to moderate their expectations. To this it may be added, that where advice is sought, the Secretary of the Society, and not the Syndicate, must be consulted. On his behalf members are requested— ' 1. To place on paper briefly the points on which advice is asked. 2. To send up all the letters and papers con- nected with the case, if it is a case of dispute. 3. Not to conceal or keep back any of the facts. ect  THE NOTICES. HE Editor of the Author begs to remind mewbers of the society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the society if a great many members did not forward to the secretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. He finds that, while the interest in the paper increases, and while it is acknowledged to be doing good service by its exposures and investigations, there has been some tendency this year to forget the subscription. Perhaps this reminder may be of use. With 800 members, besides the outside circulation of the paper, the Author ought to prove a source of revenue to the society. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects con- nected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the society than to make the Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write? All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of this Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Kditor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office with- out previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly understood that the Society does not, under any circum- stances, undertake the publication of MSS. The Authors’ Club is now opened in temporary premises, at 17, St. James’s Place, St. James’s Street. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, &c. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? If they will do this, and remit the amount or a banker’s order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. AUTHOR. 121 Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the warning numbered (3). It is a most foolish and a most disastrous thing to bind yourself to anyone for a term of years. Let them ask them- selves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest or dishonest ? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign themselves into literary bondage for three or five years P How, we are asked almost every day, is the young writer to make a beginning? He should first get an opinion from one of the Society’s readers as to the merits and chances of his book. It may be that certain points would be suggested foralteration. Itmay be that he will find himself recommended to put his MS. in the fire. He should, if encouraged, offer his MS. to a lst of houses or of magazines recommended by the Society. There is nothing else to be done. No one, we repeat, can possibly help him. If those houses all refuse him, it is not the least use trying others, and, if he is a wise man, he will refuse to pay for the production of his own work. If, how- ever, as too often happens, he is not a wise man, but believes that he has written a great thing, and is prepared to back his opinion to the extent of paying for his book, then let him place his work in the hards of the Society, and it shall be arranged for him without greater loss than the actual cost of production. At least he will not be deluded by false hopes and promises which can end in nothing. The address delivered by Mr. Edmund Gosse at the Shelley Centenary will be published in our October number, corrected by the author, ee LITERARY PROPERTY. I. Lee v. GIBBINGS. HIS case promised ‘to raise a somewhat important question to authors, namely, whether, where an author has sold his copyright in a work, the work can be published ina condensed or popular form without stating that itis in fact condensed from the original work. The question arose upon the recent publication of a condensed edition of Mr. Sidney Lee’s “ Autobio- graphy of Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury.” The facts of the case were briefly these. In 1886 the plaintiff, Mr. Sidney Lee, now editor of the  122 THE “Dictionary of Biography,” prepared, at the request of Mr. J. C. Nimmo, the publisher, and at an agreed price, an edition of the “ Autobio- graphy of Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury,” who lived in the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and Kings James I. and Charles I. and II., and dis- tinguished himself as Ambassador to the Court of France, and a man of letters. Mr. Lee’s work contained a preface, a table of contents, an introduction, a bibliographical notice of the cir- cumstances under which the text was originally printed, explanatory notes, a continuation of Lord Herbert’s life from the point at which his auto- biography terminated until his death, also an appendix and an index. A certain number of copies were issued, but the work did not command any great sale. In May last the defendant, Mr. William Walter Gibbings, publisher, of Bury- street, Bloomsbury, announced the publication, at the price of 5s., of a smaller edition of the work, to form the third volume of a series called “ The Memoir Library,’ but omitting, in part or in whole, the preface, introduction, table of contents, bibliographical notice, and index of the original. On the title-page of this smaller edition Mr. Lee was stated to be the editor, and the date of publication as “1892.” It appeared that the defendant had purchased from Mr. Nimmo the remainder of the original work, omitted the parts already mentioned, and then published the smaller and cheaper form of the work, but without any intimation that it was taken from the original work of Mr. Lee. The plaintiff .complained that the omissions from a work of so serious and scholarly a character were so important as to be injurious to his reputation as an author and scholar, and accordingly he issued the writ in this action, and now moved for an interim injunction to restrain the defendant from publishing or selling any copies of the “ Autobiography of Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury,” edited by the plaintiff and published by Nimmo in 1886, with any material alteration or omission, and containing any representation to the effect that such copies had been prepared for publication by the plaintiff. Mr. Justice KexewicH gave judgment as follows:—There are two aspects of this case, one of which had better be left alone; but the other must, to some extent, be regarded. The one which I think had better be left alone, is what I may fairly call the moral side. The defendant’s evidence is directed almost entirely to that. Instead of giving me facts—and the disputed facts are extremely few—I have a considerable amount of evidence, which, of course, has occupied a long time in reading, ‘respecting what is called the custom, or more AUTHOR. strictly, the habit of the publishing trade, and there is more than something about common sense. Those affidavits, hke many other affidavits, might, with great advantage, have been omitted altogether. Certainly they might have been cut down within the narrowest possible limits. No doubt the same observation is, to some extent, applicable to the affidavits on behalf of the plaintiff, but not to the same extent. Whether a jury would take into consideration the moral side of the case or not, it is not for me to prophesy. I certainly cannot. Ican only regard it from the legal point of view, and I refrain from making such remarks as occur to me on the moral side. The legal side of the case is one of consider- able interest, and not at all free from difficulty. I regard the defendant for this purpose as the owner of the copyright of this work. He is not, Iam aware, the owner of the copyright, but he has purchased the unpublished sheets of the plaintiff’s work, and as regards those unpublished sheets he stands in Mr. Nimmo’s place, and is the owner of the copyright. He has Mr. Nimmo’s assent to their publication. He has even Mr. Nimmo’s assent to the publication in the present form, and he, therefore, though having no right to multiply copies in the sense of printing further copies and publishing anything else but these sheets, can deal with these sheets as he pleases pro- vided he gives the plaintiff no cause to complain. He thinks fit—that is to say he finds it con- venient to his trade—to publish the plaintiff's work in a mutilated form. The word “ mutilated” may or may not imply something in derogation of the work or of the defendant’s manipulation of it, but strictly speaking the form is mutilated. The index is left out. Ido not myself attribute very great importance to that in such a work as this, but I only speak for myself in saying that. There are other parts left out, including the introduction, and I should certainly say that the omission of the introduction to such a work as this was very nearly leaving out the principal part of the work. Then the date is altered so as to give the impression that it isa new work. I am told that is not so; that nobody would sup- pose it was a work published in 1892 because the figures “1892” are on the title page. I suppose that there are some people who would regard “1892” as meaning nothing; I confess to be amongst those who would have regarded it as meaning that the work was published in 1892 and not in 1886; but that is a question of injury to the plaintiff to which I will come presently, and not otherwise a mutilation of the plaintiff's work. The omission of the intro- duction does seem to me to be a very cogent  fr f it [t So fey SO es $ [ [ s 3 { i t t I THE instance of mutilation. Is the defendant entitled to do that? There is no law compelling a man to publish the whole of the work because he has the copyright in the whole. Nor can he be prevented from publishing extracts from the work. Whether it is right for him to publish extracts without saying they are extracts, or whether he can publish a work in a mutilated form without indicating in the least that there has been that mutilation is a question to my mind of some difficulty. The question resolves itself into this—does he thereby injure the author's reputation? For that, what is the author’s remedy in law? His remedy in law is, I think, undoubtedly libel or nothing. Injury to reputation is the foundation of the remedy in an action of libel. It is what you have to prove in order to get your damages, and if one endeavoured, which I am not intend- ing to do, to frame the innuendo in an action of libel by the plaintiff against- the defendant, it would necessarily point to the injury of the reputation of the author here, by informing the public that this mutilated work was really the work of the plaintiff, whereas in fact his work was something far superior; and that this would be discreditable to him. That would be neces- sarily the general line of complaint. It comes, therefore, to a question on this part of the case whether I ought to grant an injunc- tion now to restrain a libel before that question has been before a jury, which is the avowedly proper tribunal for the purpose of determining whether a libel exists or not. The jurisdiction of the court to restrain a libel is undoubted. It has been affirmed over and over again, even in those cases in which the court has refused to grant an injunction, in particular the last case of Bonnard v. Perryman. Of late years there has been no such thing as an injunction to restrain a libel except in the recent case, where Mr. Justice Chitty distinguished trade libels from other libels, and granted an in- junction, a decision with which, within the last week or two, I have had occasion to express my entire concurrence. But with that exception, as far as I know, the court has not of late granted an injunction to restrain a libel before the point has been submitted to a jury—ain other words, on interlocutory application. Now ought this to be an exceptional case? I see no reason for making an exception in favour of a case such as this. The balance of con- venience does not seem to me to point in favour of granting an injunction, because, though the sale of the work will no doubt go on, and though if it goes on it is injurious to the plaintiff's repu- tation—the injury will be continued—yet the AUTHOR. 134 injury must to a great extent be done by the mere publication ; and, after all, success in the ultimate result would be quite satisfactory to the plaintiff. I mean, if it were eventually deter- mined that the plaintiff was right and could sus- tain an action for libel against the defendant by reason of this publication, then, not by the damages awarded, but by the mere verdict of the jury, he would have, I will not say rehabilitated, but maintained his reputation at the level at which it before existed. It cannot be suggested that the mere sale of a few copies more or less would place him in any worse position if even- tually he succeeded, and of course if he did not, then he has no reason to complain. Now, on the balance of convenience, I think I ought not to grant an injunction, especially it being, of course, understood that I express no opinion whether it is a libel or not. That is really the reason why the court in these cases does not grant an injunction, because, if it granted an injuction, or even if it refused it on the other ground than the one I have mentioned, the court would be obliged to express an opinion, and the court ought not to express an opinion on a matter that is to be left to a jury. But the plaintiff's case has been put by Mr. Renshaw on another ground, which strikes me as extremely deserving of attention, though I do not think I ought to grant an injunction on that ground at the present moment. He says this is like the case of Clarke v. Freeman, and Clark v. Freeman may be considered for this purpose, as decided quite differently from the way in which it was decided. In that I follow him. Ido not think that after the observations of Vice-Chancellor Malins, Lord Cairns, and Lord Selborne, on that case, I ought to hesitate to regard it as really erroneously decided, and I do not think that, having regard to Lord Cairns’ observations on page 310 of the 2nd Chancery Appeals, in the case of Maxwell v. Hogg, I ought to doubt what the proper decision should have been in Clarke v. Freeman or on what gronnd that proper decision would have been rested, because he says distinctly, speaking, be it remembered, in the Court of Appeal, “It always appeared to me that Clarke v. Freeman might have been decided in favour of the plaintiff on the ground that he had a pro- perty inhisown name.” The question of whether a libel was a fit subject for an injunction either on motion or at the trial, was not discussed in Clarke v. Freeman. It is not discussed by Lord Justice Cairns; itis not discussed by Lord Selborne, and it is not discussed by Vice-Chancellor Malins ; but they disapprove of the decision, and Lord Justive Cairns says, because the plaintiff hada property in his own name the name was invaded  124 THE AUTHOR. by the action of the defendant, and the plaintiff could therefore restrain the defendant from doing what he did on that ground, Thatis entirely independent of libel. Now can I decide this case on that ground in favour of the plaintiff ? I think not; and I think not because, when you come to test that argument, according to my present opinion, you really come back again to the question of libel in this case, though you would not have done so in Clarke v. Freeman. The pluintiff’s case on this part of it is, ‘“‘ that the defendant is publishing as my own what is not my own, that is to say, I am the author of an entire book; the defendant is pub- lishing only part of it, and such part that really he is not publishing my work at all; he is bringing out what I never sanctioned as my work, and which cannot be fairly represented as my work, and therefore I complain of him using my name in connection with a book that is not mine.” It comes back to this: Is the book the plaintiff’s or not? It is avowedly only part of it ; but it is such a substantial part of it that it may be fairly called the plaintiff's. It is so unless the mutilations are such as to give the plaintiff a right of action for libel. £0 that, try it as you will, it comes back to the same point, and I think, therefore, I should be doing wrong in seizing hold of the doctrine, not of Clarke v. Freeman, but which ought to have been supported. in Clarke v. Freeman, to give the plaintiff relief, which ought, on the other hand, to be denied him because he is really bringing an action of libel. I therefore, on those grounds, must refuse the motion, without expressimg any opinion whether what has been done is injurious to the plaintiff's reputation or not. This is really the whole question in the case. Tf the case is tried out there is nothing else to be tried, and therefore the proper way to deal with the costs isto make the costs of both parties costs in the action. The following is an extract from a letter by Mr. Lee which appeared in the Atheneum of the 13th ult. announcing tbat he had discontinued the action :— “ Lee v. Gibbings. “ My object in taking legal proceedings was to publicly show that I had no responsibility in the issue of the mutilated volume. The notices of the case in the Press have adequately relieved me of any suspicion that may have arisen on that score. But the judgment in the case secured for me, and I hope for other authors similarly placed, something more. Mr. Justice Kekewich held, despite the contentions to the contrary of Mr. Gibbings, his witnesses, and his counsel, that my work had been seriously mutilated. ‘The omis- : sion of the introduction to such a work as this,’ _*, he said, ‘was very nearly leaving out the a principal part of the work; this does seem to me,’ he continued, ‘to be a very cogent instance of mutilation.’ “The alteration cf the original date to 1892 was, in the judge’s opinion, calculated ‘to give the impression that it is a new work.’ “The court further laid it down that the right ey of a purchaser who purchases the copyright of O38 a work from the author to make changes in it, Don is subject to the limitation that he must give the , 8 author ‘no cause to complain.’ : “Some friends have urged me, in the interest : x of myself and my fellow authors, to carry the | 8 case to a final hearing. But I have already |x involved myself in much expense, and I am unwilling to incur more. I could not expect to recover very substantial damages, and I should be certain to suffer anxieties which must interfere with my usual avocations. I have done a little towards asserting the legal right of an author to some humane consideration at the hands of a publi her to whom he has parted with his copy- right. Iam content to leave the matter where it stands, and have instructed my folicitors to discontinue the action.” The points involved, to repeat, were the fol- lowing: 1. Mr. Lee wrote a life of Lord Herbert of Cherbury, which, together with certain introduc- tions, notes, explanatory matter and indices, he sold to Mr. Nimmo for asum of money. 2. Mr. Nimmo produced an edition of the work. 3. Mr. Nimmo sold, or transferred, to Mr. Gibbings, the remainder stock of the book. 4. Mr. Gibbings reproduced it in another edition, but without the introduction and other structural parts of the work. 5. Mr. Lee brought an action to restrain the publication of this mutilated form of his work, It is a perfect illustration of the chaotic con- dition of literary property that this action should have to be brought, and that counsel should be able to maintain the right of producing a mutilated copy of a work as the work itself. However, the important point is this: when one sells a work—any kind of work—does one sell that work alone—as it is—indivisible—or does one sell the power of issuing garbled, mutilated, incomplete, altered forms of that work with the original author’s name still attached? In other words, in selling a novel does one sell tpsissema verba—the work just as it is—without power of alteration, or does one sell the power of altering,  Sn Seen any ag a» ME Fy une AUTHOR. adding, condensing, any part of it? In sellinga poem, does one sell the right of publishirg it, with such alterations as the proprietor may see fit to add—a new rhyme here and there, the addition of a couplet or so to a sonnet—any- thing? It is not enough to say that no respect- able publisher would commit such acts. Respect- able publishers die; for other reasons they sometimes sell copyrights. What protection has the author? None, it appears, so far. Mr. Lee very wisely and, so far as concerns the common good, very nobly undertook to bring the point to an issue by taking his case into court. What has he got by it ? 1. Mr. Justice Kekewich, whose judgment we have given above verbatim from the note of the society’s shorthand writer, laid it down that the right of a publisher who purchases a copyright is subject to the limitation that he must give the author “no cause to complain’? But this is a very small thing. For who can decide what may constitute a ‘cause for complaint.” Perhaps he himself might decide that an additional couplet tacked on to a poet’s sonnet is not a ‘cause for complaint.’”” This admission, certainly, advances us a very little way. 2. The injunction sought was refused on the ground that the plaintiff's only remedy was a libel against Mr. Gibbings. Mr. Lee publishes in the Atheneum certain opinions of publishers. Mr. Murray stated that “itis calculated to damage the reputation of a literary man that a book edited—he includes, per- haps, written—in one year should be republished in another year in a mutilated form, and as though it were a new piece of editorial work.’ Mr. F. Macmillan is said to have expressed the same opinion. Mr. George Smith was more guarded. He said, “It is unusual to publish as anew book a muti'ated edition of an old book printed many years previously, and in my opinion it is an injustice to an author to print a new title page to such a mutilated work with a later date on it than that which appeared in the original edition.” Of the three publishers not one stated as his Opinion that the owner of the copyright has no right to make alterations or suppressions. Yet this is the real point at issue. The very guarded wording of the evidence of Mr. Murray and Mr. George Smith seems on the other hand to indi- cate that they think they have the right. We are left, therefore, as before, save for the little help gained by throwing light upon the doubt and confusion which wrap the subject. It still remains to bring a case before the court which shall decide this point. No one can com- VOL, III. 125 plain that Mr. Lee finds it necessary to withdraw from further prosecution of the case. He has incurred heavy expenses and grievous interrup- tion to his own work; he would probably have re- covered very small damages. Still, it is a most grievous thing for all concerned that the action should have been abandoned. All that has been substantially gained is that the publishers have received a warning that similar actions may result in similar mulctings by way of law expenses. Meanwhile, it remains for us to stipulate by clause of agreement that the sale of copyright includes the right of reproduction of the actual book complete in all its parts, and that without suppression, alteration, or mutilation of any kind. On Aug. 20 letters from Mr. Nimmo and Mr. Gibbing appeared in the Atheneum. We have nothing to do with Mr. Nimmo’s letter, which does not touch our point. That of Mr. Gibbings, however, fairly and squarely claims the right of mutilation. He says: “T may say that I understand Mr. Lee’s feel- ings, and sympathise with them so far as he is grieved that an important part of his work relating to Lord Herbert, and with which he doubtless took great pains, has been cut away. I believe such excision to be within the rights of a copyright holder, and, in fact, that such holder (who is not necessarily a publisher, be it remembered) can “ mutilate”? an author’s work, which, as the judge held, “may or may not imply something in derogation of the work and its manipulation.” This puts the case quite plainly and fairly. The defendant in the case says, “I have the right to excise what I please in my copyright.” If this is so, authors have not the least protection. Yet who could imagine that in parting with his copyright he was parting with himself—his name —his fame—his reputation—everything? This is the pomt which must be brought before the courts of law and settled somehow. i, Quinton v. ARROWSMITH. HIS was a case tried before Mr. Justice Wills in which the author charged a publisher with negligence in carrying out his agreement. The book was a ‘“ commission book,” z.e., one in which the author paid for the printing while the publisher undertook the management of the book. The author found that the book was not put out on the railway stalls, nor was it, as he considered, properly advertised. There were certain minor points L  126 THE AUTHOR. about commission. In the end the plaintiff lost his case. Perhaps it was not to be expected, in a case involving literary property, that either side should show any perception of the real point at issue. Nor was any perception of that point displayed. For the reai poimt was simply this. Did the defendant, when he undertook the sole management of the book — its “ publica- tion””—include all that is ordinarily understood by publication ? What is the “publication” of a book? It includes, without doubt, print- ing, binding, sending out press copies, and notification in some way or other, to the trade. Does it also include advertising for the general public? ‘The plaintiff clearly thought it did. The defendant, as clearly, thought it did not. That was the point which should have been pressed. Everything turned upon that. What would have been the result had it been pressed, had it been put forward as the chief point, the sole point, we do not venture to say. Perhaps —we do not say—the verdict would still have gone against the plaintiff. But that and nothing else was the real question involved. The minor points of which so much was made, the trade terms and commission, and so forth, had really nothing to do with the case. Anybody who knew the trade could have told the plaintiff that from 10 to 15 per cent. is a common publisher's commission, not in the least exorbitant. These things should have been kept out altogether, and the case should have been tried on the single broad question. The defendant undertook the publication of the book. Did that include adver- tising it? Probably, had he so understood it, he would not have undertaken it. Probably, had he not so understood it, the author would not have given his work into the defendant’s hands. There was a little playing about the question, but it was never pushed to the front. The defen- dant’s counsel asked the plaintiff if he was aware that the defendant had brought the book to the notice of 1400 retail booksellers. But he did not, according to the report before us, ask the defendant himself if that was so, and how he had done it. The defendant himself explained that he did not “ specially advertise” books of this kind, meaning commission books, and added, with amusing frankness, that while it paid him to do so at the authors’ request in his own periodi- cals, he did not see how it paid the author. The real question, itis repeated, was whether or no the defendant undertook, or should have undertaken, advertising as an integral part of publication. Clearly he did not, in his own mind. Clearly, also, the plaintiff thought that he did, or should have done, And the question, never seriously advanced, remains undecided. The judge, on the conclusion of the case, remarked that it should never have been brought into court. On the issues pressed, perhaps not. On the real question at issue, the case was a very proper one to be brought into court, but it should have been a friendly action. This kind of commission book is issued every day by certain London houses. In all cases the author is charged with the advertising, which is considered a part of the cost of production. A clause in the agreement generally makes that point safe from dispute. Lucky for the author if the money is spent in real advertising, and not in holes and corners, so that the publisher shall pocket all, and the public see no advertisements, and the author get no advantage. So we come back to the same stale point—the original agreement, All this litigation, all this worry, would have been sayed had there been a simple clause inserted in the agreement, defining what the publisher was prepared to do in the way of making the book known, and what the author would be expected to do. ao FRAUDULENT AUTHORS. HE following is taken from the Buokseller of July last. I am sorry to say that though I am called upon by name I did not see it until to-day (Aug. 18th), when it came to me from America. Our society meets with scant favour from either organ of the trade. This, as has been pointed out over and over again, is rather unfortunate for the trade, because those little trifling exposures we have found it necessary to make from time to time in the course of our existence, affect none but fraudulent persons, — whose fraudulent interests we should expect to see defended in the police-courts, and nowhere else. It is a pity, indeed, that another and a separate journal has not long since been started devoted to the interests of these gentlemen. It might be called “ The Fence, Conducted for Fraudulent Publishers, by Jonathan Wild (great great grandson of Jonathan the Great).” The Society of Authors.—‘ The society isacquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publishing firm in the country.” This we learn from the organ of the aforesaid society, conducted by Mr. Walter Besant. Does Mr. Besant know anything of the tricks of fraudulent authors? Authors, of a certain stamp, are ready enough to confide their woes to any friendly ear, or to print them as the opportunity offers. A publisher, on the other hand, when he has been taken in by an author, mostly keeps his own counsel. He has no wish to be regarded as a simpleton. Therein lies the difference.  THE AUTHOR. Do we know anything of the tricks of fraudu- 1 lent authors? Very little, it is true. But let us is) take up the question, and consider in what various *) ways an author may commit frauds upon a v4 publisher. 1. He may trick him with a work copied, stolen, 1) or made up of one or more previous works. .£ Against plagiarism a publisher would seem to be o9 powerless. But he can, and he does, take the ordi- *] nary precautions of employing—it is a part of 1) his machmery—a reader of education and culture. 'T This is always a certain protection—the memory 1) of some readers in the matter of novels and plots | is extraordinary. But he may still be taken in. i Heis, however, otherwise protected. First, by the ™ critic, who loves, above all things, to expose a real case of plagiarism; next, by the fact that he v2 generally knows something about the author and if his social position ; and, thirdly, by the fact that * exposure, sooner or later, is certain, and that any ‘ writer convicted of real unmistakeable literary a) theft is thereby ruined for life. The position of ae an editor who may accept copied and stolen i articles or stories, and publish them in his m@ magazine, is much more precarious. For him a} there is no protection, except the certainty of ih discovery and exposure. 2. He may land the publisher in-an action, or a iq prosecution, for libel, obscenity, or blasphemy. + This can hardly be called a trick, but itis a danger. i In recognition of this danger many publishers most ‘q properly insert a clause in the agreement, holding ‘ them free from damages in case of such actions. rd id £0 = I know a case in which a publisher was threatened by a certain firm with an action for libel unless he withdrew, instantly, a single passage, reflecting “9 on their business, from a newly issued novel. H He recalled the whole edition, took out the page ‘ and substituted another. The whole operation “w was performed, I believe, in two days, and cost ‘@ about £200. I know not whether the publisher ™ called upon the author to pay back that £200. “| If he did not he ought to have done so, and the » author ought voluntarily to have made that repa- | ration, even though he had not intended a libel. ‘4 No writer can possibly object to such a clause 1 of protection. _ _ 3. An author may trade upon a name acquired @ by good work, and send in hasty, unconsidered ' rubbish when a proper price has been paid for | good work. That is certainly a danger, and, it ' would at first seem, a great danger. Publishers are, however, protected by the author’s own jealousy of his name. It is quite as easy to destroy a hame as it is difficult to build it up. I have, however, heard publishers complaining that so- and-so, being engaged beforehand, at a consider- able price, gave them after all only a work which VoL, II. a 127 proved a comparative failure. Well; but there is this to be said. An author is not always at his best. Did he, in this case, give the best that was in him? Was therescamping? Perhaps he thought he was actually giving work as good as any he had ever done. Or, again, the public is capri- cious ; not every work by the same man succeeds to an equal extent. Conceding the danger, the difficulty is to bring home the offence. How could one prove scamping and haste and care- lessness ? The author who can be guilty of these things is equally capable of denying them. One can quite understand a disappointment, a com- parative failure; but deliberate fraud in this direction is surely very, very rare. 4. An author may contribute a serial to to a journal which is totally unfit for its pages. This has been done on more than one occasion. One remembers that Charles Reade’s “Terrible Temptation” appeared in a household magazine, which suffered, it was said, greatly in conse- quence. It is, indeed, hardly a story quite to be recommended for reading aloud at the family tea-table. Again, when Charles Lever’s ‘“ Day’s Ride ” appeared in ‘‘ Household Words,” Charles Dickens took it into his head that it was unfitted for the paper, and announced—which was a thing unprecedented—that the story would be con- cluded on such a date. And if one should find a real old-fashioned Jolly Roger, swearing and swaggering, drinking, kissing the girls, and talking of bona robas, through the pages of the ‘Monthly Packet,” the world would stand agape, but those behind the scenes would know what it meant. Here again, one is protected by the common sense, as well as by the jealousy of authors over their own name; andI am sure that publishers will acknowledge that, as a rule, whenever an author, old or young, gets a chance he is zealous to acquit himself as loyally as he can to the magazine or the publisher who accepts his work, Isay,asarule. There may be, here and there, exceptions ; there may be abuse; but, as a rule, writers give honest work—their best work— for honest pay. 5. An author, again, may misrepresent the pecuniary value of his work. I have heard it asserted that men do sometimes declare that they have received for a previous work a sum of money very far in excess of the truth. This may have been done; the profession of letters does not necessarily convert a dishonest man into an honest one. Against this danger, however, a publisher is guarded by the customary rule in every kind of business. not to accept such assur- ances without proof. But misrepresentation as to pecuniary value may be made without intention or guile. Every- L 2  128 body knows the extraordinary ignorance of people about the details of publishing. Nothing used to be more common—it is not now so common, thanks to our society—than to hear an author declare with every sign of sincerity and unblush- ingly, that he knows that Messrs. A. and B. sold “thousands upon thousands” of his book for which he got no more than so much. Pressed for proof, he says that his bookseller told him there was a brisk demand, or that it was on all the stalls, or that all his friends bought copies, or that it was well reviewed in the Stoke Pogis Review. They simply know nothing, these people; we do our best to teach them. They say thousands, mean- ing many; they say many, Jumping at conclu- sions without any facts; their vanity is pleased by the mere imagination of a success which has been denied them. And, of course, there have been known such things as fraudulent returns, which make authors suspicious. And, again of course, authors have been kept designedly in ignorance of their own business. 6. There has been, in my own experience, one instance, and only one, in which fraudulent practices have been seriously charged against an author who was a member of the Society. In this case, which was instantly brought before a committee specially convened, the person accused was called upon to explain. He did not. He ceased to be a member of the Society. 7. A publisher may suppose the pecuniary value of a writer to be more than it really is. There are certain writers who refuse to treat except on the simple principle of purchase. One knows many men who take up the position that they must have a sum of money down for their work, and that the subsequent commercial history of their books concerns them nolonger. Thisis a very intelligible position. Given a reasonable amount of fair play it is perhaps a more comfort- able position than that of an equitable royalty. The difficulty is that of arriving at the sum which is equitable. It can only, in fact, be arrived at by a knowledge of previous sales. Now here follows a case in which a very distinguished man, and a voluminous writer, is concerned. He is dead, but those who loved him are not dead, and therefore his name must be concealed. He wrote many volumes; he sold them all; he frequently changed his publishers. He would not publish except for a sum of money down. He always got that, or some less, sum of money. He never knew, or inquired, or cared, about the circulation of his books. When he had a new one ready he offered it to his last publisher, who either refused him altogether or offered a great deal less than for the previous work. He either accepted the offer or he took his THE AUTHOR. work elsewhere. Now, what he did not know— what his successive publishers did not know until they learned by experience—was this: none of his books ever paid the publisher. They were all— perhaps not quite all— losses. Whether this << means a real loss of the money invested, or whether oe it means a loss in the sense of not proving a a remunerative sale, I do not know. This man was not in the least sense fraudulent, He was a highly honourable gentleman, scrupu- lous in all his dealings. He said, ‘Give me so- much; make what you please for yourselves. IT 8 | don’t care what you make.” His publishers . were deceived by his great name and by his long © list of published works, not by him at all. 8. There are many other ways in which an — author may cheat a publisher, but they seem to « be antiquated. The eighteenth century presents =» many examples of literary frauds. There were travellers who never went beyond the walls ofthe =—«-_" city ; scholars who translated Euripides without =" out knowing the Greek alphabet; divines who © wrote commentaries on Hebrew Prophets without —* being able to read Hebrew; historians who made histories of foreign countries without knowing more than their own language. These, and such things, need not be considered. They belong to a bygone time. 9. My conclusion from such experience as I have indicated, and such considerations as I have set down, is that publishers have singularly little to fear in the matter of frauds. Incom- petence they can protect themselves against, Unpopularity they can ascertain before hand. Plagiarism—rare — difficult to prove —is not necessarily, even when alleged, a bar to success. Why, some people actually alleged plagiarism against “She!” That most magnificent creation of modern fiction swept past the charge without the least notice ; nor did it affect her popularity in the smallest degree. Scamped work. Well, one should know the general character of a man before having any dealings with him. Libel— actions for injury to public morals. These may partly be guarded against by clauses in the agreement. Overpay—but this is matter of business. Very few publishers ever do risk their money by buying books. The purchase of books — for considerable sums is practised by three or | four firms only. The subject proposed by the Bookseller may be — larger than I think. Perhaps it cannot be exhausted in a single paper. I will therefore call upon those gentlemen who have been our secretaries, and may know more than myself, if there is more to be learned, to supplement these remarks from their own experience. we  THE: AUTHOR. FEUILLETON. A Writer or NoveLeEtTtTeEs. a RANCES CHATELAIN,” otherwise Mrs. Gertrude Bradshaw, gave a sigh of relief, and placed her pen on the rack. She had finished her day’s work, and there was nothing more to do save to rest and chat with the girls. But before she gathered up the sheets of foolscap and covered them with the blotting paper she read her last paragraphs aloud : “Slowly, but surely, came the knowledge of the horrible death in store. Jocelynde went to the casement, threw it open, then returned to Truesdale’s side. She was trembling fearfully ; for between the window and the prospect dull volumes of smoke were rising, as 1f the lower story were a mass of flames. Her lover’s eyes were open now; she bent until her lips almost touched his ear. “«¢ We shall die together,’ she said. ‘ You have given up your life for me. Will death be so terrible—coming whilst we clasp hands?’ ” Mrs. Bradshaw’s eyes reddened ; a few tears crept downwards. Jocelynde’s peril was a very real thing to her creator. A fragment of an old song, however, heard from the next room, brought back her usual smile. “Three thousand and twenty-eight words to- day,” she said, “three thousand to-morrow, and then ‘The Mad Wooer’ will be finished. Ten guineas for it, and the nineteen hundred and ninety pounds changes to two thousand, and I can go back to my proper work. Thank God my task is so nearly done!”’ The door opened, and a plaintive voice came in. ‘Mother, dear, do cease writing. The kettle is boilmg—Bessy is getting tea ready.” The authoress rose and hurried from the table to throw her arms around the neck of her eldest daughter Sylvia, a thin, tall woman of thirty, who was quite blind, although her eyes were as pretty as her mother’s. Mrs. Bradshaw was little and stout, so that she had much difficulty in embracing her; but Sylvia bent as low as she could. “T am coming now, child,” she said. just wait a minute.” She put the sheets neatly under the blotting paper and closed the ancient book on heraldry, which stood on a reading desk, and was valuable as a treasury of good names—Hornesey, Hunstan, Meres, Tourney, Guevero, Wyan, Fulnerby, Boraston—most of them she had utilised. Then she wiped her gold pen (a marriage gift thirty- five years old), and covering the inkpot, left the “There, 129 study and went to the parlour, with Sylvia’s arm encircling her waist. The parlour was low-ceiled, with mullioned windows. Mr. Bradshaw had bought Balburgh Hall a few years before his death ; and, although it was only a shred of the ancient mansion, his widow had chosen to spend the remainder of her life there. Quaint pictures hung on the painted walls; Bartolozzi’s ‘‘Fortune Teller” and “Psyche” were there, with wood carvings of naked little boys fastened between; Liverpool plates were scattered about, and above the high oaken mantel-shelf was Adam naming the Beasts, a needlework miracle performed by Mrs. Brad- shaw’s mother in her thirteenth year. The most noticeable feature of this was a human-visaged lion; very disproportioned, and, like Thersites in the Interlude, afraid of a horned snail. A round table spread with grotesque china stood near the fire ; everything shone with clean- liness. Bessy, the younger daughter, a fantas- tical girl, who copied her gowns from old engravings, knelt on the hearth with a toasting fork in her hands. She turned her reddened face and laughed gladly. “You must be nearly starved, mother!”’ she cried. She sprang up and wheeled the sacred arm chair to the verge of the fender. Mrs. Bradshaw sat down, and Sylvia drew forward her own hassock and nestled at her mother’s feet. Very tiny feet they were; infinitely more suited to a child than to a matron of fifty-six. Bessy poured out the tea and they talked for an hour. When the table was cleared, the curtains were drawn and the fire stirred; for it was dusk, and rain pelted on the windows. Mrs. Bradshaw became very silent; she had over- worked herself of late, and felt very weary. After a time Bessy took out her needlework, and Sylvia went to the cabinet piano—a family instrument, with high front of sea-green silk, quilted round an immense golden tassel. She began to extemporise, with the excessive intro- spection of the blind. When Sylvia was in the mood for playing she could sadden every- body, for her music was so devoid of hope. She melancholy grew until her sister rebelled against it, and made her play a fairy-like valse of Jensen’s. Mrs. Bradshaw sat looking at the red coals, for to night, now that her purpose of the last fifteen years was so near consummation, she made all her principal memories come out of their hiding places. She craved keenly for the promise of fame that had attended her early womanhood, and somehow the craving brought a glitter to her eyes and a brighter smile to her lips. Once again was she puffed with the young novelist’s pride,  130 THE AUTHOR. And she was admired—praised by those whose praise was worth most, commended by the great. She glanced furtively at Bessy and saw her watching interestedly. Poor Mrs. Bradshaw blushed; it is not always agreeable for one’s own children to understand. The girl had read her through and through, and it was not for the first time that she had been caught thus. Bessy went to a small book-basket, that held only four volumes; she took them down; held them slanting in the lamp-light to see if any dust had settled since morning; and, clasping them like so many babies, came to her mother’s chair and knelt on the floor. Their writer thanked her witha kiss. ‘“ Love for Ever’ was the first book. She opened it, and sought the place where her own lover had begged to interpolate his description of herself. Here it was: ‘A slim, dainty maiden; her cheeks pink-flushed; her dull, black hair rippled like oats in a midsummer wind.’ How that face had changed! The forehead and chin had be- come doubly massive; the eyes had sunk into caverns; and the once rich hair was thin and grey. Her battle with the world had made her unlovely. The books were bound in calf—white once, but fawn-coloured now. None had ever brought any money; but in those days she did not care. They were works of genius; fresh and breezy, with an untainted touch. She turned over the pages of all. The second—“< A Holy Witch ”’— was written just before Sylvia’s birth. She had read the manuscript to her husband, and they had both cried, she wiping her eyes first. In this, ‘‘ Alnaschar’s Bride,” she had felt the divine ecstasy too strongly, and had selfishly begged for solitude, so that he had repined. Yet, after all, she regarded his jealous complaint that she gave him too little of her time, as her greatest triumph. Her last novel, ‘‘The Honeysuckle Knave,” had been praised most, but she passed over it quickly, for soon after its publication her husband had died, and, by no fault of his, had left her nothing save the tumble-down house and a thousand pounds. She had an annuity of a hundred and fifty pounds, and from the time of his death she had renounced, with the intention of making some provision for her daughters, the writing that did not pay for the writing that paid. Sylvia had become blind in her twenty-first year, but she bore her trouble very patiently. Bessy, who was ten years younger, was some- thing of an authoress herself, and had published several pretty little tales for children. “Frances Chatelain” had. done conscientious novelette-work, and, as her publishers respected the hack whose copy was always clear and in- teresting, she had been invariably successful, The time had come now when she might choose her own subjects, and with the broadened view of a lady of large experience, treat her stories so that, besides being artistic and healthy, they would appeal to all classes. ‘Children,’ she said at last, ‘“‘I have some- thing to tell you to-night. I intended to wait till to-morrow, but I feel so happy that I must share my news with you.” Bessy leaned on the back of.the chair, and stroked her mother’s head. Sylvia sat again on the footstool, and took her hands. Mrs. Bradshaw was silent for some minutes; she had rarely spoken of her writing, and now her words would only come with an effort. “T have nearly finished my last novelette,’ she said, ‘‘ and thereby left myself free to follow the real bent of my talent. You may, perhaps, have thought me careful of the money I earned ” (here Sylvia threatened her hands), ‘but it has all been for you. If I were to die soon you would find yourself comfortably off. Out ot what I got by writing I have saved two thousand pounds, . and, with this house and the small capital I had before, you will each be worth about that sum. When your father died, his affairs, owing to another man’s unscrupulousness, were deeply involved; I set everything straight, kept his name so that we are proud of it, and determined that my little ones should not suffer. After to-morrow I shall not write another line for money, and we shall be merry as the day is long.” Sylvia and Bessy cried, and fondled her—the undaunted mother liked fondling. As soon as all the tears were dried she went to the piano—a journey she made at most once a year—and, sitting there, sang “The Token.” Her voice was worn and husky, yet, as she varied its expression, you would have wanted to laugh and to sob both at once. Oh, it was pathetic! Upon his ’bacca box he views, Nancy the poet, love the muse, “Tf you loves I, as I loves you, No pair so happy as we two.” But she faltered and broke down. “ Girls, I’m not crying,” she said, defiantly. ‘“ Come, it’s bed- time now. Light my candle, Bessy.” Feeling that it was a kind of holiday night they escorted her, one on either side, to her chamber, and waited until she was in bed before giving the usual embrace. She lay awake; she was exhilarated, and her brain would not quieten. Her room was panelled, with a little praying closet in one wall,—how often had she utilised its description !—and some-  THE AUTHOR. how grotesque shadows seemed to lurk in the corners. She turned from side to side, but not finding rest she rose at last, and, having wrapped herself up in a large shawl, drew up the blind, and sat in the window-recess, near the wide open lattice. Beneath lay a gardenful of budding lad’s- love and sweetbriar. The rain had released their odours, and the perfume suggested thoughts of Arcady. It was quite fine now; the moon was rising over the odd roofs of Balburgh, and in the far distance the line of the tide receded. So the world of letters lay before her again, and this time she was certain to conquer. If only he were here to share the fame and the glory! It was too exciting; she felt that she could not bear to be alone any longer, and she went to the next room, and stooped over Sylvia’s pillow to kiss her closed eyes. Then she did the same to Bessy, and returned ; her heart singing a solemn thanksgiving to God for her daughters. Early in the morning her restlessness became so tiresome that she determined to dress, and work at the novelette. If it were finished before noon, they might take a drive, yes—hire a pony and a wicker-work pheton, and have tea at the coastguard’s near Bluff Head. She descended the stairs quietly and lighted her lamp. When she had consulted her notes for the last chapter, she dipped her pen in the ink and began to write furiously. She had a singular habit of counting her words. At four o'clock, as the “long-sleeved” veteran in the lobby chimed, she had disposed of the lunatic abductor and murderer, and written a thousand ; at half-past five she had helped Lady Jocelynde and her lover Truesdale from the burning house, just as the agonised father drove up in his brougham. That meant another thousand. She had to depict a dawn after they were saved, and seeing from her window the morning sun just tinging the clouds, she did it with pre- Raphaelite exactness. ‘At eight she completed the following para- graph; of the order which, according to estab- lished custom, should follow the climax of a novelette : “Fortune, for having given Jocelynde so large a share of calamity in so short a time, has striven since to atone by granting her a most happy and placid married life. The shocking story of her misadventures only rests in her memory like a faded dream, and out of the wealth of her wedded peace she can spare a thought of pity for her mad wooer.” The pen fell from her tired fingers, and her head sank forward. Half an hour later Bessy found her in this posture, ~~ 131 “Qh!” she cried, maternally. “I did not know you were downstairs. It is wrong of you to hazard your health. Why, you’ve finished it! How could you?” Mrs. Bradshaw, looked up, laughing gently, “Yes,” she said, “my last novelette is done, and I’m a free woman.” Breakfast was ready soon, but the worker could eat nothing. She sat, idly sipping coffee, and toying with a piece of bread. Bessy remon- strated, to receive the reply, “ My dear, ’m not hungry. Ill lie down for a few hours. I have not slept at all in the night, and my head aches. Don’t tell Sylvia when you go up, for she’ll only be uneasy.” She returned to bed and fell into a heavy sleep, in which she dreamed of a perfectly rounded story that had never been written before, with a plot that probed to the core of holiest passion. She had written it herself, and men and women praised her; and her bosom swelled with joy in the thought of the good she had done to human- kind. Sylvia and Bessy thought it the grandest book in the world. When she woke they were standing at her bed- side. Some time passed before she could realise that she had not produced this marvellous work, but when the truth came a curious look of amuse- ment appeared on her face. “Children,” she said, “ I’ve had a most enjoy- able dream. I was the author of a story that began as a green-sheathed rose-bud, and unfolded until it became a flower of unparalleled beauty, radiant with life, and so sweet that everybody loved it. And at the very height of its loveliness it was endowed with eternal freshness.” She let her head fall back to the pillow. Her eyes were sparkling ; her features had_lost their look of a man’s features in miniature. Bessy went for some cooling drink, Sylvia lay on the bed and put her face beside her mother’s. Later in the day the old doctor came and felt her pulse. “Youve been working too hard,” he said pleasantly. “ You must rest in bed for a few days.” Downstairs he told Bessy that her mother’s brain was slightly over-wrought, and that she must be kept very quiet. He had not the least doubt that all would go well. Somebody was to stay with her always, and no business—he apolo- gised—professional affairs—must worry her. Meanwhile she was talking to Sylvia. ‘You know in my dream I felt very proud of the story, but I am sure I was not so proud as I shall be when Iam really writing it. I intend to put you and Bessy in, to make you the darlings of an old woman.” 132 THE In the night her illness took a serious turn, and she forgot again that the masterpiece was not written, and held conversations with divers celebrated people ; introducing her daughters, and ingeniously putting aside compliments; thanking the critics for their flattering and tender usage ; pleased with everybody and everything. The time crept on slowly. It was the first illness she had ever had, but her daughters went about their task of nursing as cleverly as if they had been trained. Early on the fifth morning she rose in bed suddenly. ‘The book, Sylvia!” she cried. “T will bring it, mother,’ Sylvia said. She awakened Bessy and felt her way down stairs, paused there for a moment, then brought from the shelf her mother’s first volume, ‘‘ Love for- Ever.” This she put into the hot, nervous hands. Mrs. Bradshaw crooned, and held it close to her heart. ‘My fame, my last born darling,’ she whispered. Bessy sobbed loudly. Sylvia went to the end of the bed, and, taking the little naked feet on her palms, stooped and kissed them. The mother spoke again, very indistinctly, “ Girls, you'll keep together.” A grayness came over her trembling face. Bessy ran to draw aside the curtain, thinking the dawn had broken. disappear with the added light. R. Murray Gincwrist. ec ON CONSTRUCTION IN FICTION. HE “leading literary ’’ journal—.The Athe- iy neum—showed. in its issue of August the 6th so keen an appreciation of literature, and such a noble respect for popularity, especially that form of popularity which is greatly due to style, as to review Louis Stevenson’s latest work “The Wrecker” in the middle of a batch. It so happened— perhaps this may be urged as an excuse— that the batch was unusuall good. It contained books by Mrs. Oliphant, Mr. P..H. Emerson, and Mrs. Parr, besides others— nine in all, So important isa new book by Mr. Louis Stevenson that it is taken up fifth in the. batch and dismissed curtly with one-third of the space allotted to Mr. Emerson’s ‘Son of the Fens,” and about the same space as that given to a young lady’s first work, published by Messrs. Digby and Long. A week or two afterwards, the same paper gave Zola a review by himself, not one of a batch, several columns long, This But the grayness did not, AUTHOR. shows the comparative respect paid by the “leading literary” organ to Zola and to Steven- son. The reviewer, though this is not our concern, does not like the book. Such honour to an author of the first rank, afforded by the literary paper of the first rank, suggests matter for reflection by other authors. There is, of course, one simple remedy if the author does not like a review—he need not ask a paper to give him another. All this, again, concerns the Atheneum. It is only noticed here as a curious illustration of the respect to literature which one finds in a literary organ. We notice the review solely with reference to one passage in it. The writer lays down a maxim or law in the Art of Fiction. “It is impossible,’ she (or he) says, “to prove that the best way of telling a story is to introduce-it with a mass of irrelevant detail, and not to plunge into it at once.” We must, therefore, concludes the critic, plunge into the story at once. Is this so? Is this a law absolute in fiction ? Undoubtedly it is the duty of the novelist to interest his readers and to draw them on, to hold their attention, from the beginning. But is there no other way than by plunging into the story at once? Thackeray is a story-teller who may safely be produced in evidence. In which of his novels has Thackeray plunged into his story at once? In “ Denis Duval,’”’ which promised to become his finest story, as a story, he held the reader from the outset. Yet no one can tell what the story was going to be when the story-teller broke off in the middle. Again, who can tell Mrs. Gaskell’s stories from their beginning? Many novelists there are—and have been—who possess the art of leading the reader on, step by step, page by page, long before he is able to guess what the story is going to be. Yet in the long run he will find that this very introduction of detail, apparently irrelevant, helped to build up the characters, just as cement supports the house. To lay down as a law absolute that the only artistic way is to plunge straight into the story seems to us a dogma which shows ignorance, not only of the art itself, but of its practice. The motif may be preseuted in the form of a prologue, which is a very good way of presenting it; or it may be arrived at by a series of introductory chapters presenting it crude, undeveloped, growing into shape, till the reader arrives at certainty. There are, in fact, * many ways, all of them artistic, all of them legitimate, by which a novel may be opened. And to “plunge ”’ is only one. The first part of the story itself—The Wrecker —which is a very long one, longer than the average three-volume novel, will illustrate our point. We do not seruple to take an illustration  — Shes © THE from it because the secret itself is contained in the second part. Here is the leading situation. A San Francisco speculator, member of a ring, discovers that half-a-dozen men, survivors of a wreck, have been landed; he learns that the wreck is lying high and dry ona reef in a lagoon ; she is therefore safe from storms; she contains a cargo ; she will be sold as she lies; he proposes with the aid of his ring to buy the ship for a trifle. At the sale he bids a small sum, expecting to have the ship knocked down to him. But a stranger goes fifty dollars more; he advances his price: so does the stranger by fifty dollars more. He ascertains that the stranger is a low class lawyer acting for an unknown client. If, he argues, this man goes on bidding there must be some limit laid down; that limit must very certainly be a long way within the margin of profit: that limit will indicate the value of the cargo. Therefore he will bid till he reaches that limit and a little beyond. He does. The wreck is knocked down to him for 50,000 dollars. He sends out his partner in a schooner to take the cargo out and to carry it where it can be sold. The partner does this. So far from the ship con- taining a cargo worth 50,000 dollars her whole freight is not worth 10,000 dollars. He sails home with the melancholy news. His partner is already bankrupt. Then comes the question— the secret of the ship—Why did the unknown client bid five times the value of that cargo? This is the question of the book. Wilkie Collins would have begun the story with the auction of the wreck. That would have been his prologue. Then he would have proceeded to the voyage of the schooner, introducing what is necessary concern- ing each character by the way. That would be plunging at once into the story. But we must remember that Wilkie Collins was a story teller and not a student of character. Louis Stevenson proceeds in a different way. He builds up the characters of his people before he writes the great auctionscene. He shows how one had attempted an artistic career, for which he was absurdly unfitted, and another had tried the same line with even more insufficient genius. He shows, with very great care and patience, and a considerable display of humour, what these men were before he proceeds to the action of the piece. He then fills in the canvas with the subsidiary characters, every one of whom he makes a finished study. These studies, these portraits, these pictures made in Paris, Scotland, San Francisco, are all intended with one object, to show the two characters, Pinkerton and Loudon Dodd, as they are, livingmen. The author does not ask us to admire their virtue, their honour, or any of the qualities which go to make the con- AUTHOR. 133 ventional hero: they are, in fact, neither virtuous nor honourable. Pinkerton, for instance, does not understand what morality means in business. Can it be held, therefore, that the study of such a character is unworthy of a painter—that such a portrait is unworthy of Art? Why, Pinkerton is the man of the day, he is the note of the time ; the world is full of amiable men who bring into business everything except morality; they are generous, loyal to their friends, capable of love at its best; but in business they lie, cheat, thieve, and over reach without the least com- punction. The eighth commandment no more exists for them than the seventh for some men. Pinkerton begins where Loudon Dodd ends. The latter, indeed, makes a feeble attempt to assert principles of honour, but soon collapses. The delineation of the two partners is, in fact, one of the very finest things, artistically, that Mr. Stevenson has ever done. Observe that we do not advance, tentatively, an opinion that the work seems to us to be fine. The present writer, himself a humble dabbler in the Art, boldly says that it is fine; that it is artistic; that it is noble, strong, and beautiful work. To the Atheneum reviewer it is “irrelevant detail.” It will be observed that Pinkerton, the specu- lator, when he bids higher and higher for the wrecked ship, has no idea that anything but commercial reasons have made his opponent run up the price. He is certain of it; there is no doubt in his mind about it. With this convic- tion, he bids higher and higher; with this con- viction, he sends out his partner; with this conviction he awaits his return. This brings us to the second part, which con- tains the answer to the question—the secret itself. Whatever remarks we might find to make upon the presentation of that answer may be post- poned indefinitely. It was only intended here to question and to illustrate the doctrine of the Athenzxum reviewer, that, as a hard-and-fast rule —a law absolute—a novelist must at once “plunge ” into his story. Se ae A STORY OF A MISTAKE. ERE is a remarkable instance of how a |} blunder—one of the most obvious and glaring blunders possible—may escape the notice of a whole army of correctors and editors. A. B. wrote a certain paper for an American journal. This paper went through certain succes- sive stages during the process of production. At 134 each stage it received a new reading from begin- ning toend. Thus: 1, It was written in MS. Then it was read through and in great part re-written. 2. It was read through again when completed, and sent to be type written. 3. The type writer read it through before sending it back. 4. The author corrected the type-written MS. carefully and sent it to America. 5. It was then set up in type. 6. The author received a proof from America, which he read and corrected, sending it back for press. : 7, The editor or the sub-editor read it finally and passed it for the magazine. The paper thus had at least seven readings. Yet a blunder was passed, if the author made it—or committed, if he did not make it—of a most elementary description; one that leaps to the eyes; one that stands out of the page calling on everybody to spot it, correct it, put an end to it. The blunder was simply this: A certain strike of working men was spoken of as undertaken for “lower” wages—instead of “higher.” How the word “lower” got there; whether the author wrote it in the first instance, or the type writer, or the compositor, it is impossible to say. Probably it was an author’s mistake. A long succession of readings of the passage followed. Not one of the readers discovered the mistake. In a word, the critical faculty must have been for the moment asleep in every one who read the proofs, because did one ever hear of working men striking for lower wages ? oda IN THE LOWER RANKS. N this great world of literature, containing | strong and weak, great and small, compe- tent and incompetent, there is a certain class of whom we seldom hear, save when their wrongs, real or fancied, or their cruel poverty force them to complain either to the Society or elsewhere. It is a class which began to exist when magazines began to be published. It sprang into being with the Luropean Magazine, the Gentleman’s Magazine, and their successors. At the present moment, when the monthly magazines are numbered by the score, and the weekly magazines by the hundred, the class of those who live entirely by writing for these periodicals has increased enormously, and is daily increasing. The great majority of its members are humble persons who do not dream THE AUTHOR. of aspiring so high as a monthly magazine. The Cornhill, Longman’s, Temple Bar are far, very far, beyond their hopes. They live by contributing to the penny weeklies, of which there are at the present moment an extraordinary number. These journals maintain hundreds of writers ; they boil hundreds of kettles; they pay thousands of quarterly bills. It is true that the remuneration is not generally very great, but then the quality of the stuff produced is not very good. Moreover, the true connection between literary worth and coms mercial value has never yet and never will be dis- covered. The two things are incommensurable quantities. It will always be possible for a great monthly magazine to publish, for instance, a paper which, for literary merit, brightness, genius, cannot compare with another but a sixth part its length on the same subject appearing at the same time in the humble Family Teapot. Such instances are doubtless rare, because the writers to the latter valuable journal think of everything, as a rule, except style and form—but they are not impossible. It is indeed astonish- ing, in taking up the Teapot and others of its class, to remark how its writers seem to rej in bad slipshod prose. So far as can be learned of the secrets, carefully concealed, of the editor’s room, there is, in these journals, a certain rough and ready examination of all the contributions offered, and without doubt they do know how to present, whether the critic likes it the or not, the kind of paper which their readers want. Now the number of these papers is legion. Thousands upon thousands of pens are racing and tearing over thefoolscap day and night, producing copy for them. Every girl who wants to make a little money—what girl does not ?—for dress and for herself, tries a story for some penny weekly. Every ambitious and bookish young clerk dreams of lifting himself out of the ruck by writing for the penny weekly. Wives who want to help their husbands; husbands who have an hour or two to spare: widows and elderly spinsters who would fain increase their slender means: all these send up tons, waggon loads, of manuscripts to the penny weekly. Let no one suppose that the pure love of art, the noble spur of genius, the infirmity of desire for fame, or any- thing in the world but the simple necessity or longing to make money, inspires these writers. They have no higher aim than to reach the editor's standard; they hope no more than to get the “scale” pay. It is a trade? Cer- tainly it is a trade; and one far, very far, inferior to such skilled trades as watch-making, cabinet- making, engine-fitting, and the like. In saying that it is a trade no reproach is intended. Why should there not be a tradé in—not literature—  THE AUTHOR. 135 but—call it—the composition, stuff, confection— that people buyin ordertoreadinthetrains? They buy buns to eat in the train; gingerbeer to drink in the train; penny magazines to read in the train. The buns and the beer are consumed and forgot- ten ; the penny weekly is read and left in the train. The two former area production of trade. Why not the latter? It is not disgraceful to make buns for a living—why should one be ashamed to turn out stories and paragraphs and essays for a living ? In fact, the writers are not at all ashamed of it; they are proud of it; they even call themselves followers (as they certainly are) of the literary craft. Many of these papers find it most convenient to engage salaried contri- butors forthe greater part of their space, which is, week after week, turned out on a uniform plan. They therefore engage a writer at so much a week, to undertake a department, such as the answers to correspondents, the children’s column, the paragraph colums, the riddles and prize de- partment, the notices of books, and the drama. - This salaried writer is responsible for his depart- ment; out of what he receives he may pay for assistance if he pleases. In some of the more successful journals the salaries are most liberal ; the work, of course, generally takes up the best part of the week, but it would be difficult to find any line of life in which so small an amount of skill may be rewarded by so much pay. Those writers are fortunate indeed who secure a sure footing on one of the successful weeklies, where the pay is generally high and gometimes even munificent. But these places are comparatively few. On the other hand, there are magazines where the pay is absolutely deplorable. One knows not whether the low pay is due to the slender circulation of the paper, or to greed and the sweating propensities of the proprietor. Insome cases, undoubtedly, the former is the cause. For whatever reason, the pay given by many of these papers, whether to their salaried writers or for occasional contributions, is most wretched. Nor is itonly that the pay is wretched. The miserable writer is continually, under one pretext or another, being cut down. He is engaged to furnish so many columns at so much ‘‘a year.” He interprets this to mean a year’s engagement or six months notice of change. After a few months he gets a letter to say that he must now, the circumstances, or the plan of the paper, or its shape, having been altered, furnish so much more a week, and that the pay is to be reduced by so much. What is he to do?. If he throws up the post in despair. there are plenty outside ready to take up the job for less—and always for less, This is the real secret of sweat- ing; the existence of plenty to do it for less. It is the same story whether of making cheap shirts or cheap magazine work; almost every- body can do it who gives his mind to it, after a fashion. Therefore it is the worst paid and most miserable work in the world. By what arguments, persuasions, reasons, examples, entreaties, can we induce people not to attempt to live by writing unless in the groove in which there is comparative safety—by journalism ? And Heaven forbid that we should help to swell the flock which is crowding into that profession ! The man thus cut down has generally to endure and to go on. Presently, with another turn of the screw, he is cut down still worse. What can such aman do? Yet he would live by writing. Nothing else would suit him. He might have gone into a shop, and so have done well, or con- tinued in his clerk’s place and so have risen. But he would write. In such work, with such employers, there is no increase of pay for long and useful service; there is no pension; there is no recognition of useful service; the writers build up the magazine with long and powerful effort ; presently it succeeds; it becomes a great property ; the men who made it a property are turned off to starve. A great deal is made now- adays of the woes of the Irish peasant who makes a potato patch flourish on the barren rock and gets rack-rented—if he ever really does—for his pains. Is his case worse than that of the sweated writer ? There is another complaimt—a bitter cry— which is a new thing in the land, and means the beginning of worse trouble. It is alleged— whether truly or not—that in many of the women’s journals —the papers written for women, and supposed to be written by women —there has been of late a change of the women writers for men—at a lower rate of pay. It has come, therefore, to this: that where women have always been supposed to lower the rate of pay whatever work they undertook in these lower walks of literary work, itis now proved that men are actually found to be lowering the rate of women’s pay. And if anything were wanted to illustrate the congested state of the labour market, this might serve. What remedy for these things? Nothing. Absolutely nothing except the knowledge—which our people can spread everywhere if they will take the trouble to do so—that to attempt to live by writing, unless as a journalist properly trained and equipped, is, and always must be, to embark on a most precarious, badly-paid, hard-worked, ignoble and dependent career. No draper’s assistant behind a counter, no usher in a com- mercial academy, is so dependent on his employer  136 THE as this kind of writer. If this was understood there might perhaps—one does not know—be some relief of the cut-throat struggle for pay— pay—pay—any kind of pay. But perhaps even this would not be of any avail against the con- cested market. Only those who enter now with hope would enter then with despair. ect WHAT IS READ. I. A Frere Lrprary. HE third annual report of the Brentford Free Public Library, recently issued, is a short document but full of suggestion. The library is small; it contains no more than 4092 volumes in all; but it seems to be well used. What, first, do the people read? The following is a list of books most frequently issued in order of popularity : Blackmore’s Lorna Doone ... Issued 65 times. Edna Lyall’s Jn the Golden Days a 05: Bosant’s Katherine Regina we ATs Cassell’s Popular Educator So Abe, Macdonald’s Robert Falconer... 430 Stanley’s In Darkest Africa ... 5, 35 4 Kingsley’s Westward Ho! .. 5, 31 5 Cross’s Life of George Eliot ... 5, 30 55 Besant’s All Sorts and Condi- tions of Men ... - 5 25a jsop’s Fables ... yo 22 Holmes’ Autocrat of ‘the Break- fase Table a ee, Wo 22S Ball’s History of the Indian Mutiny: yo 2; Gulliver’s Travels - 20; Cumming’s Lion Hunter... nA Darwin’s Descent of Man oo IS Booth’s In Darkest England ... 3 Se Longfellow’s Poems... ... ... 4 lade Ruskin’s King of the Golden AUC ee a wo Ik, Bmiless Duty... 2 no ko Swedenborg’s Heaven and Hell ,, 14 5, Thompson's Electricity nw de Farrar’s St. Paul 1a Taking individuals we find that “ A Cooper’? has read during the year the following books: Countries of the World, Darwin’s Descent of Man, Darwin’s Forms of Flowers, Du Chaillu’s Land of the Midnight Sun, Oliphant’s Literary History, Drammond’s Tropical Africa, and James’s Wanderers. ‘‘ A Railway Servant” read Balfour’s Manual of Botany, Caine’s Trip Round AUTHOR. the World, Cassell’s Technical Educator, Figuier’s Insect World, Figuier’s Reptiles and Birds, Lamb’s Warrior Kings, and Stanley’s In Darkest Africa. This is not bad as a record. Of course the great majority of readers in a free library go there simply to pass the time. They are, in the daytime, the unemployed; they call for a story book ; very often they drop off to sleep over it. Then there are the curious middle-aged men who read regularly and read hard. Who are they? What have they been? They seem too young to have retired. Perhaps they have shops which they can leave in the afternoon. A free library is an interesting place at all times of the day, but especially in the morning, when all those who have got “billets” are at work, and those who have none, and are sick of seeking, sit in the free library and rest if they cannot eat. There are 20,000 parishes in England and Wales. Before long there will be a free library, little or great, for everyone. These notes of books read by working men should show that we must not fill the shelves of the new free libraries with goody trash. It must also be observed, as an indica- tion of popular taste, that the only book of poetry taken out was Longfellow. II. Tur Prorue’s Patace. Men readers, many of whom are not so high up in the social scale as clerks or shopmen, read the following works on political and social sub- jects, I quote in order of popularity : Marx, “ Capital;” Smith, “ Wealth of Nations;” Mill, “ Liberty,” “ Logic; Howell, “Conflicts of Labour and Capital;” Kraoly, “Dilemmas of Labour and Education ;”’ Michelet, “The People” (translated); Mill, “ Political Economy ;” Fawcett, “ Political Economy ; . Lubbock, “« Representative Government ; ” Walker, “ Political Economy ;” Fawcett, “ Free Trade ;” Maine, “ Popular Government ;” Fowle, “The Poor Law;” “Jevons, “ Money ;” George, “Social Problems;” Sidgwick, ‘“ Falacies ;” Spencer, “ Sociology and Education ;” Bain, « Education; ” Smith, “False Hopes ;” Gronlund, “Co-operative Commonwealth ;”’ and almost any of the ‘“ Citizen Series.” Science.—Darwin, “ Descent of Man,” “ Origin of Species,” ‘Expression of the Emotions ;” Huxley, “Physiology;” Furneaux, “Physiology; y Jago, “Elementary and Advanced;” Roscoe, “Chemistry ;”’ Thorpe and Wilson, &c. Natural History.—Fulton’s “Book of the Pigeon” (an Hast-end Pet) ; Buffon, Buckland, Wood, White, and Figuier (translated).  THE * AUTHOR. Astronomy.—Ball, “ Story of the Heavens;” Proctor; Dunkin, “The Midnight Sky;” Lockyer, Brewster, and Herschel. The International Scientific Series and Science Primers. Electricity Jenkins, Angell, Poyser, Urba- nitsky, Thompson, Munro, Fergusson. Geology.—Geikie and Lyall. Physiography.— Huxley, Thornton, and Law- son, Botany.—Masters, Hooker, Thome, Carpenter, Coffin (Thome and Bennett most popular). Geography.—Reclus, Stanford, Cornwell, and Geikie. The pet subjects here are travel, topography, geography, history, biography, poetry, technical works, botany, electricity, chemistry, physics, and so on. Of course, more fiction is read than anything else; but a good deal of study goes on in the evening. Psychology and sociology have been taken up of late, and this is only a hasty list and by no means complete; but it may sutfice to show that the masses do sometimes read something better than fiction, though perhaps not as often as could be wished. M.S. R. James (Librarian). ect AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. R. BRANDER MATTHEWS publishes, in the Cosmopolitan for July, a paper on the literary independence of the United States. That America has broken away from British traditions, British standards, and British methods, has long been patent to all of us, yet it is useful to be reminded how this came about. In Lowell’s “ Fable for Critics,’ for instance, the writer shows how strong was then the influence of the old country. I myself know two Byrons, one Coleridge, three Shelleys, Two Raphaels, six Titians, (I think) one Apellis, Leonardos and Rubenses plenty as lichens, One (but that one is plenty) American Dickens. A whole flock of Lambs, any number of Tennysons— In short if a man has the luck to have any sons, He may feel pretty certain that one out of twain, Will be some very great person over again. No one now would think of calling Mark Twain the American Dickens ; or James the American Thackeray. They have left off comparing them- selves with English writers—all, that is, except Mr. Howells, who is continually measuring him- self beside somebody on this side the water. 137 Next, Mr. Matthews states that many British authors used to believe that “ unbounded afilu- ence”’ would burst upon them when copyright was granted. Perhaps. Not those authors who take counsel with us. What he says is that inferior books are ceasing to be reprinted in America, and that the American has got his chance at last. And then he states that there has been a steady decrease in the American reprints of English books going on for thirty years. In the classifica- tion by which he proves this statement we need not follow him. Let us consent to his conclusion. It seems natural, without the trouble of consulting catalogues, that as the American nation advances in culture it should provide its own literature for itself; and as there are few who would now be so daring as to deny the best English culture to the best bred American, it is still more natural that America should endeavour to be sufficient for itself in matters of modern literature. Atthe same time, why does Mr. Brander Matthews always write in aspirit of hostile rivalry towards ourselves? ‘There is no necessity for any hostility atall. We have so much thatis common to Americans and English that a great writer will most certainly, and always, meet with an equally large clientéle on both sides the Atlantic. The same may be said of writers—dramatists, historians, poets, novelists, essayists—who are not great writers, yet possess the charm which makes them popular. There need be no fear that these authors will fail to find an audience wherever the common language is spoken. It is not, indeed, a duello between the American and the English author. The former is welcome here if he can compel a hearing. The latter will always be welcome there whether Mr. Matthews tries to silence him or not. The paper speaks of another point which is interesting and yet somewhat dis- heartening. It is of the popularity of the American magazine in this country. One sees it everywhere; it is beating a certain class of English magazine clean out of the field. But,it wi'l be said, such new papers as the Strand circulate by hundreds and thousands. That is quite true. But what circulation have , and 5 and: , &¢c., those most respectable old magazines ? Are they going down? It is reported that they are, and rapidly. Whatis thereason? There are many reasons. First, the matter of editing. It is understood that half-a-dozen men are wholly engaged in editing Harper. They give their whole time and all their thoughts to editing Harper. They are paid handsome salaries. What salaries are paid to the editors of , and , and , those above named most respect- able periodicals? How much time do the editors of those respectable magazines give to their work ? 138 Then there is the delicate subject of pay for contributors. Writers who talk about pay must expect to be called tradesmen. Nevertheless, the poet—A pollo himself—if he had a MS., for which one publisher offered a thousand pounds and another ten pounds, would give it to the former. This is exactly the case with the American and the English editors. Consequently, the best things are fast flowing to the former. There exists at this office a list of prices paid to con- tributors by nearly all the leading magazines and periodicals of the country. It is an instruc- tive and a surprising list. It includes such items as a cheque for two guineas — actually, two guineas !—for an excellent story filling several pages in what is generally considered to be a first- class magazine. Another so-called first-class magazine pays at the rate of ten shillings a page. Another once sent a well-known writer one guinea —it seems incredible, but it is true—one guinea! for a paper of six pages—and so on. S20 THE EXPERIENCES OF A SHY WOMAN. HERE are some women who walk into an editorial office with as little concern as if they were entering the boudoir of a bosom friend. To them there is no pausing on the threshold of the outside door, no sinking of heart, no wild desire to turn and flee, and beg their bread from door to door, rather than face the quiet gentlemanly man inside. To such women life is easy, and passing through the waters thereof they use it as a well, while their less fortunate sisters flounder and sink in the torrent. I am not one of those happy women. Had I been afflicted with heart disease, I should have been long ago picked up. dead outside the glass door leading int» the sanctum of one of the editors for whom I have the pleasure of working. There may be other women beside myself who know the sickening feeling of shyness, drawing the blood from their hearts, as they turn the handle of the editorial door; leaving their hearts only to rush back as the preliminary politenesses have been made, with such force, that the editor and his crowded table, the mantelpiece and the piles of books thereon, sway and swim around them as if they were in a heavy swell off the Nore. Those who have attempted it will be able to say if this condition is favourable to con- ducting one’s own business, and whether under the circumstances the editor may not be excused for placing his eyeglass in his eye and looking as if he thought, though he is too much of a gentle. THE AUTHOR. man to say it, that fools and women are closely allied. Yet this is one of the. minor evils to be endured by the would-be journalist, and, when I have made my confession of weak- ness, let others go and do as I have done before they judge me and condemn me, and thrust me out of their society, literary or otherwise. For months I had struggled on, making desperate efforts to gain a footing on the ladder of journalism. Article after article had been sent to this paper and that paper. I was supposed to be a successful beginner, and there was much that greatly encouraged me, but the greatest achievements were embittered by the little note, which in most cases accompanied the editorial letter—‘ the editor will be glad if Miss Smith will make it convenient to call at his office at such and such a time.” Then I knew that it was all over with me. I flatter myself I can be rather imposing in a letter, but those keen eyes, so accustomed to gauge character, read me through and through in a moment, and I was as dough in their hands, and, left their offices having agreed to terms that in my saner moments I should have looked upon as suicidal. -Never for one moment let it be thought that. I mean to accuse any editor of taking an unfair advantage of my helplessness. That is far from my thoughts. We are all partly fools and partly wise, and when only the fool part is apparent, it is natural that-one~ should “be judged as a fool. That is a condition of life. “Can I get no one to do my business: for me?” I cried in my despair, and Echo answed “No one.” I was recommended to a young lawyer, whose pro- fessional career did not occupy his entire time, and who was said to have some experience in literary matters. I was delighted with the prospect, but a further investigation showed me that his experience was not so successful as to lead me to imagine, that my pocket would be more benefitted than his own had been by his business arrangements, and with a sigh I gave up that idea. Wild ideas of being a literary agent myself passed through my mind. It was impossible to be an author and an agent at the same time, and the agent might be more succcessful than the author, but I compromised the matter by setting apart so many days during the month to act as my own agent. On these days I may almost say I camped out in the Strand. When I had written several times about any article to any given office, I boldly went to that office and sent up my card. Then, trembling and shaking, I went up to the editor’s office. “Iam extremely sorry you should have had to write again about your article (to which, again, out of the many, was the allusion made?) I think I  wee ee ee re ee Ne ee ey ee ee eh LAL + PE AUTHOR. have it here, and if you will sit down I will just look through it again. Thank you.” This latter remark being made as I occupied the leather chair placed at my disposal. Iwas grate- ful for the respite from further conversation while one pile of manuscripts after another were being skimmed through, and my composure was gained by the time that the third and fourth drawers in the editorial table were turned over. Sometimes an MS. arrested his attention, which from his look he had never imagined to have been there. Two or three were taken out and laid on his blotting pad with an air asif to say, “ well that is a surprise,” but my well-known writing came not forth. Time was going on, and the drawers were coming to an end, so I ventured to say that it might be lost, to my mind a very possible contingency. A look of extreme surprise and pain came over his face. Such a thing was not possible, and in a moment I felt what a low-minded woman I was to have thought such a thing. “My clerk shall look for it, and you shall have an answer to-morrow,” he said blandly. “I cannot think why it has been mmislaid—but without fail you shall hear to-morrow.” And so I left, having been there just an hour and a quarter, and went on my campaign. I did not hear the next day, nor on any other day, but I have not ventured to thmk, even in my own mind, that the article is lost—it is mislaid. Then on to another office to keep an appointment, and to hear that the editor has been suddenly called away, and could I come back in an hour's time? And in an hour’s time to be asked if I could wait, as, contrary to every expectation the editor had not returned, but had left his profuse apologies in case he should be late. And again I felt what a low-minded woman I was to let the thought enter into my head that he was down the river with friends, and the arrangements we were to have made respecting my articles were no more to him than the champagne corks that float, down the stream. So low one sinks, when one attempts to grapple with the arch-fiend business. And so on and so on, through tedious hours, always meeting with courtesy and kindness, always failing to make any progress in my business affairs, till my mind became so worried with such matters that all pleasure in writing departed, and with it the power of writing well. And then there was John. I have not mentioned John before, because he had nothing to do with my literary career—in fact, he was the opposition. He had long ago stated that he thought it quite wrong that a woman should toil and moil, as he called it, and bustle about with men ; let them write at home if they liked, but let them not enter into the arena of the literary world; and 139 much more to that effect, and when I said that beggars must not be choosers, he only replied that some people were beggars who needn’t be beggars, and some people had to beg—and a great deal more that would be quite out of place ina literary magazine, which is intended to help people who are far above such paltry things as John was thinking about. It was after one of these field days in the Strand, when the vanquished party had beaten a retreat, via Charing Cross and Pall Mall, and was sitting worn-out and heavy hearted before the fire that John came in. It was very weak of me, I know; I told him again and again that he could not be of the smallest help to me in arranging my business matters, to which he simply said “ Bother busi- ness.” Itoldhim I would never never marry if I could get some good trustworthy agent to go to see the editors for me, and look after my concerns, but at that time I knew of none, so what was I to do? I told him years ago I would think over the matter when I was a successful journalist, and that particular evening he was brutal enough to ask me to reconsider the subject before that date. The literary world may sneer or grieve over what they have lost, but let them know it is they who have driven me to this extreme, and, had I not been a shy woman, I should not have been writing quietly at home, and producing long MSS. that only John and I admire in secret. ee WOMEN IN JOURNALISM. DO not propose to deal seriatim with the points advanced by Miss Billington. There is not a single line in my article to justify the assumption that I condemn all journalism intended for women and written by women; and I was careful to point out (bearing in mind many well- known ladies with distinct literary gifts) that some of the higher branches of journalism were in the hands of women who had, however, as a rule, achieved a literary reputation elsewhere. This, however, does not in the least affect my theory that, on the whole, the influence of women in journalism is a deteriorating one. Miss Billing- ton, in reply, whilst evading the real issue, points out that the majority of lady journalists are not journalists at all; they have not got the “ abnor- mal faculty of observation,” ‘bright human sympathy and peculiar gifts” so happily and modestly possessed by some journalists, who are “born and not made.’ Now, meeting ber upon her own ground for a moment, what I say is:— Are you talking of the great journalists, the 140 Albany de Fonblanques, the Delanes, the Archi- bald Forbes, Harriet Martineaus, and so forth: or are you talking of the average descriptive reporter, who does weddings, interviews, reports, and the other matter which go to make up the greater portion of the ordinary newspaper?” In this latter case it appears to me (and I may here say that articles of mine appear in the St. James’s Gazette, Pall Mall Gazette, Strand Magazine, and other publications of equal literary merit to the Daily Graphic) that no special gift or qualification of any kind is required; and that any ordinarily intelligent woman, who has quickness, a fairish amount of observation, and some capacity for expres- sion,- could, after a little practice, adequately carry out this kind of journalism. With regard to the question whether journalism is a desirable occupation for women, it is one that purely depends on the point of view taken up; and, Miss Billington’s experiences being, as she admits, “‘ unique,” do not seem to me legitimate ground for any general deductions. A provincial journalist, whose philosophy I admire, asks, in a delightful leaderette, why on earth a journalist should care whether the wares sold by his master are good or bad? The grocer’s boy, he says, might just as reasonably weep over the adulterated sugar or marmalade his master sells. - It is simply an affair of supply and demand, and, if demand be for rubbish. the conscientious literary proletariat is bound to supply the public needs. The only qualms that trouble this genial gentleman are those which occur about rent day, when his salary has been forestalled and spent. Well, there is some- thing in this airy way of looking at affairs, and, so long as the wares be only rubbish, perhaps it doesn’t matter much; but even the grocer’s boy would not altogether like to see his master drop poison into the family marmalade. Mr. Andrew Lang seems rather to have missed my point. I never intended to imply that the young woman was a lady, quite the contrary ; nor, of course, did I suggest that the most susceptible of elderly editors would put a pretty girl on to writing leaders, or to any other important work. The writer “ F. L. 8.” whilst practically agree- ing with me, very rightly points out that women journalists are not alone to blame for the vulgarity and personalities of newspaper literature. Editors will fill their columns, and apparently there is so large a market for tittle tattle that the temptation to supply it is irresistible ; which, alas ! only brings us back to the supply and demand theory. I am not quite in agreement with . “Grace Gilchrist’s”? assumption that the cleaner tone of modern newspapers is due to women THE AUTHOR. readers (by the way, in her last paragraph she brings a far graver indictment against her own sex than I did); I fancy it is a case of autre temps autres meurs, and that decent men would not tolerate the coarse wit of the eighteenth century to-day. On the whole, the matter is a difficult and complex one; and perhaps the best thing that each of us can do is to keep his own page as white and spotless as possible. AY. Ze spec CORRESPONDENCE. I. Lone Creprt. ANNOT anything be done to break down the long credit system in literature ? At present editors cram their drawers with accepted MSS. which they cannot use for years, and which they donot intend to pay for until after publication. To those authors who can afford to wait the delay may be no great hardship, but that is no reason why it should be forced upon them. Only a short time ago I was shown, at the office of a weekly newspaper, a serial story which would not be pub- lished for two years, and not one penny was to be paid for it until then. Would a doctor ora lawyer be expected to. wait for his money like this? But the real sufferers are those who must quickly turn their wares into money or starve. They are compelled to decline all offers involving the usual delay in payment—I could mention instances, if necessary—and must struggle on by means of chance openings, living from hand to mouth, until some substantial success enables them to join the fortunate few who can afford to "wait, or until they go down into the deep sea, with the many. Yet it seems to me that the matter is one which authors have very much in their own hands. I am told that one leading novelist always requires immediate payment for his work. Will not others do the same? Or, at least, when asked their terms, will not they name one sum for cash, and another, very much higher, for payment after publication ? If all would do this, the custom—already started in America—of paying for every MS. upon acceptance, would soon become general here. A MEMBER. I. Dors tHE HieHEer Literature Pay? Permit me one word more with reference to this question. Our Editor appears to think that  PHE AUTHOR. ) if a man of scientific genius, and capable of f what I will still take leave to call the Higher i) Literature, saves himself from starvation by J. abandoning scientific work, itis of no consequence. () The only difference between us is, that I think it * of very great consequence, and of even more con- »- sequence to the commonwealth than to the “ individual; and I trust, therefore, that the ‘. Author, and the Authors’ Society, may some day =) take up the advocacy of the endowment of ert. J. S. Srvart-GuLenniz. [Mr. Stuart-Glennie returns to the question of Je starving genius. It is not quite correct to say d} that the editor of this paper regards the failure «= and abandonment of a career as of no importance. /@ Such a thing is a tragedy of the deepest impor- *) tance. But what has happened with poetry, »= scientific research, and all the various depart- ‘2 ments of science, letters, archeology, and the like, *) by which a man cannot live is, I apprehend, this: )) lt is now well known that a man cannot live by i practising certain arts, crafts and pursuits. No 19 one, therefore, tries to live by them. Where is »— your starving poet? Where is your starving if numismatist’ Where is your starving physicist ? ‘T They do not exist. Those who take up these lines »| begin by assuring for themselves the daily bread. ‘T They are civil servants, professors, teachers, »| persons of private income, some of them in ‘J business, some holding posts in museums, some i are librarians or secretaries. None are starving, »{ because none are so foolish as to try to live by 7 what is, nevertheless, their only real and serious 99 occupation.—Ep. | —— + TAT, ‘“ PRAISED BUT REFUSED.” I have before me now a reader’s report from a 7 very well-known, old-established firm, who ‘{ principally publish children’s books. The MS. is f spoken of as “rather clever,’ “ charmingly ’ “too satirical for children, but the parents would understand the satire,” ‘ very like Hans Anderson in style.”’ ‘ Rather clever,” may be “damning with faint praise,” but in my opinion there can be no higher praise than to be considered in style like Hans Christian Anderson, the prince of child storytellers. The MS. was returned with the reader’s opinion inclosed and no further comment. Before this I had taken the same story to a firm that has a world wide reputation; they “ knew my name and would ke delighted 1o publish anything” they said, because of it, I presume they meant. They returned it. ‘Very charmingly written,’ but ‘ written,’ 141 “it would cost too much to produce, coloured illustrations were so expensive.” I had left them some illustrations, but had especially said I did not care if they used them or not. I kept my stcry some years and then sent it to a magazine. It was returned with “the story is very charming and graceful, Lut the editor fears it is scarcely suited.” It seems curious how everybody should think it ‘‘ charming” and yet not care to publish it. Another MS. I sent about, and finally lost ; a few years later, I had the pleasure of seeing a story with exactly the same characters and incidents in it, published and illustrated in a popular illustrated paper. No doubt it was a ‘“mere coincidence,” but I should like to know what became of my story. I believe most authors could tell innumerable stories of this lind. As arule publishers Lave so many MSS. and so many reasons for taking or refusing an MS. that they evidently do not always abide by their reader’s opinion, J. Harn FRISwWELL. oe “AT THE AUTHOR'S HEAD.” \ | R. BERTRAM MITFORD’S new novel, “?Tween Snow and Fire,’ dealing with stirring times on the Kaffrarian border, will be published immediately by Mr. Heine- mann. “Wedderburn’s Will,” a detective story, by Thomas Cobb, author of “On Trust,” ‘The Westlakes,”’ &c., will be published early in October by Messrs. Ward, Lock, Bowden, and Co. “One Night’s Work ’”’: a serial story by the same writer will be shortly begun in Household Words. We understand that the committee of the Shelley Memorial Library and Museum are about to put forward a definite scheme as to the site of the proposed institution, cost of the building, and the sum required as an endowment fund. Itis thought that £3000 will suffice to give effect to the committee’s proposals. The honorary secre- taries, Mr. J. Stanley Little, Buck’s Green, Rudgwick, Sussex, and Mr. J. J. Robinson, Arundel, Sussex, appeal to men and women of letters for subscriptions. It may be mentioned that West Sussex has no library. Mr. J. Stanley Little contributes an article, entitled “To be or not to be: a Twentieth Century Problem,” to the August number of the Library Review. This article continues ‘and  142 elaborates the argument which formed the basis of Mr. Little’s paper in a recent number of Greater Britain. The first victory in the United States under the new international copyright has been scored by Messrs. D. Appletonand Co. Judge Lacombe, in the United States Circuit Court, on June 30, handed down a decision ina suit brought by that firm to restrain the American News Company from publishing and selling copies of Carlyle’s novel “ Wotton Reinfred.’’ A permanent injunc- tion is granted against the company, prohibiting them from handling the work, and also ordering them to pay to Messrs. Appleton all the profits they have derived from the sale. “The Sting of the Scorpion,” is the title of Mr. J. E. Muddock’s new historical novel, which will commence simultaneous publication in a large number of newspapers in October. The Author’s Syndicate have had the placing of the story. Mr. J. E. Muddock’s “ Maid Marian and Robin Hood: A Romance of Old Sherwood Forest,” the publication of which was withheld on account of the election, will be issued this month by Chatto and Windus. It will be embellished by twelve original drawings from the pencil of Stanley L. Wood. A new volume of essays by the late James Hain Friswell, author of “The Gentle Life,” “The Better Self,’ &c., will shortly be issued. The essays have been edited and revised by the author’s daughter, and will be published by Messrs. Hutchinson and Co., of Paternoster- square, Dick Donovan, the well-known writer of detec- tive stories, is attracting a large number of new readers to the ever popular Strand Magazine to which he will contribute up to the end of the year, when he will commence a new serial for Mr. Newnes’ Million. His last story which appears in the August number of the Strand under the telling title of ‘‘The Great Cat’s Hye,” is one of the most powerful things of its kind that we have ever read. A series of ten original sketches from Dick Donovan’s pen for simultaneous appearance next year will be published through the Author’s Syndicate. : Mr. Hume Nisbet’s next novel which bears the title of “The Divers: a Romance of Oceania,” is published by A. and C. Black. It is astory of savage lifeand adventure. ‘ Where Art Begins” by the same author is promised by Messrs. Chatto and Windus by September. THE AUTHOR. Mr. Walter Besant’s “ London,” which has been held over by Messrs. Chatto and Windus, will be published in September. “In Love,” astory of Scotch country life, by I. K. Ritchie, has been published by Mr. Eliott Stock. Messrs. J. Baker and Sons, of Clifton, have published “ Lyrical Studies,’ by Marcus 8. ©. Rickards. A new work by Mr. J. E. Gore, F.R.A.S.; entitled ‘‘The Visible Universe: Chapters on the Origin and Construction of the Heavens,” is in the press, and will shortly be published by Messrs; Crosby Lockwood and Son. The work deals with the Nebular Hypothesis, the Meteoritie Hypothesis, and other theories which have been advanced to account for the origin and construe- tion of the solar and sidereal systems. The volume will be illustrated with nebular and stellar ~ photographs and other drawings. eS NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. Theology. James, Montaaur R. The Testamentof Abraham. With an appendix by W.E. Barnes, B.D. At the Cambridge University Press. Clay and Sons. 5s. ‘ Len, J. Cameron, D.D. Life and Conduct. Edinburgh: A. and C. Black. Paper covers, 6d. net. Newman, John H. Oxford University Sermons (1826- 1843). New edition. Longmans. 3s. 6d. Newman, Jown H. Sermons Preached on various Occa- sions. New edition. Longmans. 3s. 6d. Roprnson, J. Armrrace. Texts and Studies; contribu- tion to Biblical and patristic literature. Edited by. Vol. Il., No. 2. Clay and Sons. Wittrams, Rev. C. E., D.D. Morning and Evening Devo- tions, for the use of Preparatory Schools. Compiled and composed by the. Fifth Edition. Henry Frowde. Cloth, 6d.; morocco, Is. 6d. History and Biography. Cavz-Brown, J., M.A. The History of Boxley Parish, including an account of the Wiat family and of the trial on Penenden Heath in 1076. With illustrations. Printed for the author by E. J. Dickinson, High-street, Maidstone. Conyprare, Rev. W. J.; Howson, Very Rev. J.S. The Life and Epistles of St. Paul. New Edition. Long- mans. 3s. 6d. Fiurmr, A., Ph.D. Archwological Survey of India, the Monuments, Antiquities, and Inscriptions in the North- Western Provinces and Oudh, described and arranged by. Archeological Survey. W. H. Allen. HIsTORICAL SKETCHES OF OUR PRODUCTIVE SocIETIES. Co-operative Printing Society, Manchester. Paper covers.  THE Lives of the English Poets: «6 Jounson, Samuet, LL.D. Cassell’s National Library. Addison, Savage, Swift. Cloth, 6d. 4. Lecxy, W.E.H. A History of Ireland in the Eighteenth Century. New edition. Vol.I. Longmans. 6s. ‘« Lez-Ruzs, W. The Life and Times of Sir George Grey, K.C.B. Two vols. Hutchinson. 32s. ei, LircHFIELD, FREDERICK. Illustrated History of Furniture, from the Earliest to the Present Time. With Ilustra- tions. Truslove and Shirley, Oxford-street. 25s. net. ‘0. Lown, Cuarues. Prince Bismarck: an_ historical biography. A new and revised edition. William Heinemann. 6s. 4) Macxarness, Rzy. C.C. Memorials of the Episcopate of John Fielder Mackarness, D.D., Bishop of Oxford from 1870 to 1888. James Parker and Company, Oxford and London. ay New Hovuszt or Commons, July, 1892, THE, with Biographical Notices of its Members. Reprinted from the Times. Macmillan; and the Times office. Paper covers. Is. oy Nicuot, Joun, LL.D. Thomas Carlyle. ‘“ English Men of Letters” Series. Macmillan. 2s. 6d. 10° Porn, Rev. G. U., D.D. Longman’s School History of India. Longmans. 2s. 6d. 10) RoosEVELT, BuancHE. Victorien Sardou: a Personal Study. With portrait of M. Sardon, and Preface by W. Beatty-Kingston. Kegan Paul. mi Tuurston, Rev. Herbert. The Pallium. No. IV. of “Historical Papers.” Edited by the Rev. John Morris, S.J., 18, West-square, §8.E. Paper covers. 0% Worssam, W. Samvurn, C.E. The History of the Band- Saw. Emmott and Co., Manchester. Paper covers, Is. Od. General Literature. "i? AuTENBURG, Winn. The Kursaal Maloja in the Upper Engadine and its Environs. With plans, illustrations, and map. Art Institut, Orell Fiissli, Zurich. rf. v2 ANNUAL Report oF THE SANITARY COMMISSIONER WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, 1890, with appendices and returns of sickness and mortality among European troops, native troops, and prisoners in India for the year. Office of the Superintendent of Government printing, Caleutta. 5 rupees. 242 Anson, Sin Wm. R. The Law and Custom of the Consti- tution. Parti. Parliament. Second edition. Oxford, at the Clarendon Press; London, Henry Frowde, 128. 6d. af AruipaE, J.T. The Hygiene, Diseases, and Mortality of Occupations. Percival. 21s. net. vf Avetina, F. W. The Classic Birthday Book. Kegan Paul. tak Barpexrer, K. The Rhine, from Rotterdam to Constance. Handbook for travellers. Twelfth revised edition. Dulau and Co., Soho-square. Ae Barrett, C. R. B. Round Southwold. Lawrence and : Bullen. Paper covers. 6d. 6h Barton, A.C. W. The Quinquennial Proceedings of Two : Administrations, 1881 to 1891. Strand. 6d. 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EHRENBERG, FRITZ. trations and maps. of. Euuis, W. AsHTon. Wagner Sketches, 1849; A Vindica- tion. Kegan Paul. Paper covers. Garner, R. L. The Speech of Monkeys. William Heine- man. 7s. 6d. Griz, SiR ARCHIBALD. Geological Map of Scotlands With explanatory notes by John Bartholomew. Gipps, Wm. AtFrepD. Home Rule. A Tale for these Times. Popular edition. Paper covers. 6d. GLADSTONE, IRELAND, Rome: a Word of Warning to Electors. Reprinted with additions from the English Churchman. ‘Twentieth thousand. John Kensit, Paternoster-row. Paper covers, 6d. net. Grirrin, Sir Leren. Ranjit Singh, and the Sikh barrier between our growing Empire and Central Asia. (‘Rulers of India” series, edited by Sir W. W. Hunter). Oxford, Clarendon Press; London, Henry Frowde. 2s. 6d. Grimeis, A. Shooting and Salmon Fishing. Hints and Recollections. Illustrated. Chapman and Hall. 16s. Harriny, Caries. The English Elocutionist. A collec- tion of passages for recitation and reading aloud. O. Newmann and Co. Havinanp, ALFRED. The Geographical Distribution of Disease in Great Britain. Second edition, Swan Sonnenschein. Hawkes, JosepH Henry. A Liberal’s Appeal to Liberals for the Toleration of the Christian Morality and Religion in some of the Schools of the State. Kegan Paul. Paper covers, 1s. 6d. Herpart, J. Friepricu. The Science of Education. Translated from the German, with a biographical intro- duction, by Henry M. and Emmie Felkin, and a preface by Oscar Browning, M.A. With a portrait. Swan Sonnenschein. Hiaarys, Frank C. America Abroad: An annual hand- book for the American traveller. Summer season, 1892. Forster Groom, Charing-Cross. Howarp. Lapy Constance. Everybody’s Dinner Book from one shiling to ten. Henry and Co. 3s. 6d. Houme-Witirams, W. E. The Irish Parliament from 1782 to 1800. Cassell. Paper covers, Is. Issuns, 1892.—Jan. 1—June 30. A Reprint of the Prospec- tuses of Public Companies, &c., advertised in the Times. Price 10s. 6d. 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With an appendix containing a short history of the Franciscan Convent (Third Order) at Taunton, Founded by Father Gennings in 1621, and a preface by the Rev. 8. J. Morris, 8.J. Kegan Paul. Srreet, Linran. Faith which Worketh by Love, and other sketches. J. Bigg, High Street, Barnes. Paper covers, Is. SUTHERLAND, W. their management and diseases. Nephews, Berkhampstead. Is. Usuer, J. E., M.D., F.R.G.S. Alcoholism and its Treat- ment. Ballitre, Tindall, and Cox. 3s. 6d. VoyAGES IN SEARCH OF THE NorTH-WesT PassaGE. from the collection of Richard Hakluyt. Cassell’s National Library. Cloth, 6d. Warp, James. The Principles of Ornament. Edited by George Aitchison, A.R.A., Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy of Arts. Chapman and Hall. 6s. Warner, Harpine. Potato Culture, with an improved method of cultivation ; the disease, its cause and remedy. Simpkin, Marshall. Paper cover, Is. WexsTer’s RoyAt RED Boox—Nerw HovusE or Commons. July, 1892. A. Webster and Company, Piccadilly. 6d. WHAT WILL BE THE First GREAT Move In THE NEW PARLIAMENT, 1892? Cassel. Paper covers, 3d. “WHERE To Stay.” Guide to the best Hotels in the United Kingdom and Abroad. Arranged alphabetically. Third edition. Issued by the Gordon Hotels (Limited) Printed by Veale, Chifferiel, and Company. Witpr, Henry. On the Origin of Elementary Substances and on some New Relations of their Atomic Weights. Kegan Paul. Paper covers, 4s. Year Book or THE ImprRIAL InstiTUTH, THE. A statistical record of the resources and trade of th colonial and Indian possessions of the British Empire compiled chiefly from official sources. First issue John Murray and the offices of the Institute; South Kensington. Sheep Farming: a treatise on Sheep— W. Cooper and Fiction. Awan, St. AuByN. The Old Maid’s Sweetheart: A Pro Idyl. Chatto and Windus. Anrorp, ExmasetH. The Fair Maid of Taunton, a of the siege. Seeley and Co. Cheap edition. Pape covers, Is. A. M. The Wooing of Webster, and other stories. 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Local Taxation Licenses, 1891-92, Return (1}d.). Public Income and Expenditure, Return from 1875-76 to 1891-92 (43¢.). Comparative Statement of Pauperism, England and Wales, June, 1892 (2d.). Return of the Number of Persons who ‘Voted as “Tlliterates” at Parliamentary Elections in the United Kingdom from April 9, 1891, to June 20, 1892 (4d.). Foreign Office Annual Series: Reports for 1891 on the Trade of Bulgaria (3d.) and of Canton, China (1d.) ; Further Report for 1888-91 on the Trade of Angola (3d.). Miscellaneous Series: Report on Public Works in the Consular District of Hankow 4d.). Summary of the Evidence taken by the THE AUTHOR. Netherlands State Commission appointed to examine — the question of Labour, Wages, &c., on Dutch Rail and Tram Ways (1d.). 36th Report of the Civil Service Commissioners with appendix (jd.). 53rd annual : report of the Deputy-Keeper of the Public Records (23d.). Further correspondence relating to Polynesian — Labour in the Colony of Queensland (3d.) Royal Com- — mission on Labour—Minutes of Evidence taken before — “Group A.” Vol. I. Mining (js. 104d.). Foreign — Office, Annual Series. Reports for 1891 on the Trade of Portugal (2d.); of New Caledonia (3d.); of the — the Consular District of Calais (2d.); of Rio Grande do Sul (5id.); of the Consular District of Philadelphia (2hd.); of the Consular District of Brindisi (2d.) of the District of the Consulate-General of New York (2d.); of the Consular District of San Francisco (3d.); of the District of the Consulate-General of Frankfort, with a review of German Commercial Policy (4d.); of Hiogo and” Osaka (13d.); of Yokohama (13d.); of Amsterdam (1d.); of Bangkok (3d.); of Corea (14d.); of Chieng- mai (1d.). Reports for 1891 on the Agriculture of — Denmark (3d.); and of the Consular District of San Francisco (13d.). Report by Mr. Clennell of an Over- land Journey from Amoy to Foochow and Back (9d.). Report by Consul Parker on Annam (6d.). Army Veterinary Department, Statistical and General Report for the year ending March 31, 1892; Foreign Office Annual Series: Portugal (Macao) for 1891 (4d.). Tunis for 1891 (134.). Treaty Series—No. 18, Arrangement between Great Britain, Spain, France, Switzerland, and Tunis for the Prevention of False Indications of Origin © on Goods (}d.). No. 14, Protocol respecting the ex- penses of the International Office Industrial Property 1d.). Report of the Committee on Colour Vision (9d.). Report of the Committee of Council on Education (England and Wales) (2id.). Return as to the Signal Arrangements and Systems of Working on the Railways of the United Kingdom (10d.). Education Department, North-Western Division, report for 1891 (2d.). 46th report of the Commissioners in Lunacy to the Lord Chancellor (1s. 73d.) Unfunded Debt Statement (3d.). Companies (Winding-up) Act 1890, account (3d). Business of the House (Days occupied by Government and by private members (1d.). Land Law (Ireland) Act 1887. Eviction notices filed during second quarter of this year (3d.). Return of Agrarian Outrages re- ported in Ireland during the same period (#d.) Adjournment Motions under Standing Order No. xyil. (d.). Report of Commissioner of Police of the Metro- polis for 1891 (53d.). Correspondence respecting the Persion Tobacco Concession (10d.). Return of the Cost, &c., of Preparing the various borough Lists of Parliamentary and County Council voters in the Metro- polis for 1890 (2d.). Evictions and Tenancies in Ireland determined in the quarter ended June 30 (#d.) Standing orders of the House of Commons; Public and Private Business (1s. 2$d.); Labour Commission ; Evidence before Group B.; Vol. I Docks, Wharves, and Shipping (5s. 9d.) Report of Solway White Fishery Commission (1jd.); minutes of Hividence and Appendices to the same (9d.) ; Irish Land Commission ; return of Judicial Rents Fixed During March and April, 1892 (9d.). Comparative statement of Pauperism (England and Wales) for May (14d.); Report on Prisons in Scotland ~ for the year 1891-92 (10}d.) Cyprus, Report by the High Commissioner for 1889-90 and 1890-01 (2}d.)5— Report on Barbados for 1891 (1d.); Army Medi Department, Report for 1890 (1s, 4d.). Eyre and Spottiswoode.  Rabe > a see tet “ pire HA ot Re Asha ADVERTISEMENTS. 147 Che Sociefy of Authors (SBncorporafed). PRESIDENT. Tue Rieut Hon. toe LORD TENNYSON, D.C.L. COUNCIL. Str Epwin ARNo.Lp, K.C.I.E., C.S.I. ALFRED AUSTIN. J. M. Barrie. A. W. A Becxkerr. RoBERT BATEMAN. Sim Henry Berane, K.C.M.G. WALTER BESANT. AUGUSTINE BIRRELL, M.P. R. D. BuackMoreE. Rev. Pror. Bonney, F.B.S. Lord BRABOURNE. James Brycez, M.P. Hatt CAINE. P. W. CLAYDEN. EDWARD CLODD. W. Morris Couuezs. Hon. JoHN COLLIER. W. Martin Conway. F. Marion CRAWFORD. Austin Dogson. A. W. Dupoure. EpMUND GossE. THomas Harpy. J. M. Lery. OswALD CRAWFURD, C.M.G. THe Earn or DESART. J. Eric EricHsEn, F.R.S. Pror. MicHart Fostsr, F.R.S8. HERBERT GARDNER, M.P. RIcHARD GARNETT, LL.D. H. RipER Hage@arp. JEROME K. JEROME. RupYARpD KIPLING. Pror. E. Ray LANKESTER, F.R.S. Rey. W. J. Lorrin, F.S.A. Pror. J. M. D. MEIKLEJOHN. GEORGE MEREDITH. Herman C. MERIVALE. Rev. C. H. MippLEeTon-WAKE. F.L.S. Lewis Morris. Pror. Max MULuzER. J. C. PARKINSON. Tur EArt or PEMBROKE AND Monrt- GOMERY. Sir FREDERICK PoLLocK, BArt., LL.D. WALTER HERRIES POLLOCK. A. G. Ross. GrorGEe AuGUSTUS SALA. W. BaptistEe Scoongs. G. R. Sms. J. J. STEVENSON. Jas. SULLY. WitiiAm Moy THomas. H. D. Traut, D.C.L. Baron HENRY DE Worms, E.R.S. EpMUND YATES. MP., Hon. Counsel—E. M. UNDERDOWN, Q.C. Solicitors—Messrs Freup, Roscor, and Co., Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Secretary—C. Hurpert Turina, B.A. OFFICES. 4, Portugan Street, Lincoun’s Inn Fietps, W.C. NOTICE TO THE PROFESSION. Ghe “ Standard” TYPE-WRITING OFFICE HAS REMOYED TO 31, Douglas Terrace, Newcastle-on-Tyne. oe ALL KINDS OF MSS. COPIED WITH CARE BY EXPERT TYPISTS. WE GUARANTEE THE SAFE RETURN OF ALL MSS. STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL. MODERATE RATES. WRITINGS PER Post RECEIVE EVERY ATTENTION. THE AUTHOR’S HAIRLESS PAPER-PAD. (Tue LzapennaLtL Press Lrp., B.C.) ee Contains hairless paper, over which the pen slips with perfect freedom. Sixpence each: 58. per dozen, ruled or plain. Twenty-fourth Issue, Super-royal 8vo., price 15s., post free. ROCKFORD’S CLERICAL DIRECTORY 1892. Being a Statistical Book of Reference for facts relating to the Clergy in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and the Colonies; with a fuller Index relating to Parishes and Beneflces than any ever yet given to the public. Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream’s-buildings, E.C. A BOOK FOR MEMBERS AND CANDIDATES. Now ready, Third Edition, with Additions throughout, in demy 8vo., 700 pages, price 15s. AN ANECDOTAL HISTORY OF THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT, From the EARLIEST PERIODS to the PRESENT TIME. With Notices of Eminent Parliamentary Men, and Examplos of their Oratory. Compiled from Authentic Sources by GHORGEH HENRY JENNINGS. CONTENTS : Part I.—Rise and Progress of Parliamentary Institutions. Part Il.—Personal Anecdotes: Sir Thomas More to John Morley. Part I1L.—Miscellaneous. 1. Election. 2. Privilege; Exclusion of Strangers; Publication of Debates. 3. Parliamentary Usages, &c. 4. Varieties. APPENDIX.—(A) Lists of the Parliaments of England and of the United Kingdom. (B) Speakers of the House of Commons. (C) Prime Ministers, Lord Chancellors, and Secretaries of State from 1715 to 1892. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS OF THE PRESENT EDITION. ‘The work, which has long beemheld in high repute as a repertory of good things, is more than ever rich in both instruction and amuse- ment.’’—Scotsman. “It is a treasury of useful fact and amusing anecdote, and in its latest form should have increased popularity.”—Globe. “Tt is a work that possesses both a practical and an historical value, and is altogether unique in character.”—Kentish Observer. ‘* We can heartily recommend this work to the politician, whatever may be his party leanings.”—WNorthern Echo. ifg” Orders may now be sent to Tiorace Cox, ‘' Law Times” Office, Windsor House, Bream’s- buildings, E.C. 148 ADVERTISEMENTS. It Makes Writing asy. Leave the Drudgery of the Pen—Soiled fingers, Blotted and Obscure Manuscript—to those Quick, up-to-date Writers use THE 1892 BAR-LOCK TYPE-WRITER. who prefer Darkness to Light. Gentlemen, WHY other Machine I have seen. Iam very much pleased indeed with the Bar-Lock. I greatly prefer it to an The alignment is perfect, the working easy, and the inestimabl advantage of being able all the time to see what you are writing and what you have alread . GR ANT ALLEN | written makes it, out and away, the best instrument for a literary man. Though I hay | The Nook, Dorking, May 18th, 1892. | | sal learnt for a week, I find I can already write quite as much in a day as I used to di with my own right hand before it was disabled by writer’s cramp. I need hardly say, after this, I am going to keep the Machine, and enclose cheque, USES IT. Full Informaticn Free. MESDAMES BRETT & BOWSER, TYPISTS, SELBORNE CHAMBERS, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR. Authors’ MSS. carefully and expeditiously copied, 1s. per 1000 words. Extra carbon copies half price. References kindly permitted to Augustine Birrell, Esq., M.P. MIss RR. V. GILL, TYPE-WRITING OFFICES, 6, Adam-street, Strand, W.C. ee Authors’ and dramatists’ Work a Speciality. All kinds of MSS. copied with care. Extra attention given to difficult hand-writing and to papers or lectures on scientific subjects. Type-writing from dictation. Shorthand Notes taken and transcribed. : FURTHER PARTICULARS ON APPLICATION. Beware of the Party offering Imitations of Macniven and Cameron’s Pens. THE FLYING “J” PEN. MAD Ba eee EE baad ha ia y Writes over 150 words with one dip. ‘Seems «ndowed w'th the magician’s art.’’ Soli everywhere, 6d. and 1s. per box. ¢> Sample box, with all the kinds, 1s. 1d. by Post. MAGNIVEN & CAMERON, WaverLey Works, EDINBURGH, HE AUTHORS’ AGENCY. Established 1879. Proprictor, Mr. A. M. BURGHE 1, Paternoster Row. ‘The interests of Authors capably represented. Proposed agreements and estima’ examined on behalf of Authors. MS. placed with Publishers. . Transfers carefully conducted. Twenty-five y: practical experience in all kinds of publishing and book producing. Consultation free. Terms and testimonials : leading Authors on application to Mr. A. M. Burghes, Authors’ Agent, 1, Paternoster-row. Machines sent on Free Trial. THE TYPE-WRITER COMPANY LIMITED, 12 & 14, Queen Victoria-street, London, E.C.; 22, Renfield-street, Glasgow ; 35, Charles-street, Bradford. Local Agents in all Districts. Yours very faithfully, GRANT ALLEN, MRS. GiLeg, TYPH-WRITING OFFICE, 35, LUDGATE HILL, E.C. (ESTABLISHED 1883.) Authors’ MSS. carefully copied from Is. pe 1000 words. Plays, &c., 1s. 3d. per 1000 word Reference kindly permitted to Walter Besant, Esq Miss PATTEAEN, TYPIST, 44, Oakley Street Flats, Chelsea, S.W. AutHors’ MSS. CAREFULLY TRANSCRIBED. REFERENC! KINDLY PERMITTED TO GEORGE AUGUSTUS SALA, EsqQ. FWire-Resisting Safe for MSS. Particulars on Application, Stickphast PASTE for joining papers and sticking in scraps: Sixpence and One Shilling, with strong useful brus! TO AUTHORS. The skilled revision, the honest and competent criticis and the offering of MSS. in the American market, are specialities of the New York Bureau of Revisio Established 1880. Endorsed by George W. Curtis, J. Lowell, and many authors.—20 W., Fourteenth-sti New York. Printed and Published by Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream’s-buildings, London, H.C. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 03 Issue 04 (September 1892) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 03 Issue 04 (September 1892) Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1892-09-01-The-Author-3-4 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/443/1892-10-01-The-Author-3-5.pdf be3812e5a932c573cde1b8d8facf2d40 PDF Text Text ������������������������������������ Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1892-10-01 Volume 3 Issue 5 Pages Page range in volume 149–184 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18921001 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin Che Mutbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vou. III.—No. 5.] OCTOBER 1, 1892. [PRicE SIXPENCE. CONTENTS. PAGE YW Warnings ake ae oye ee wo ase ae ae asc Lk “— Howto Usethe Society... is as oe oe a woo 152 1 The Authors’ Syndicate... cee cae ace A igs we» 152 ”% Notices... ee ae oa a me can en ee eee ty oe “‘AtLast” ... sea a = ons ace as iy wee 154 i) = Literary Property— 1.—Lee v. Gibbings. By Sir Frederick Pollock ... me =e 156 2.—A Publisher’s Bankruptcy... ... ne we moe we 156 3.—The Literary and Artistic Congress... Se ee ans LOT 4.—Godfrey v. Bradley ... ws ae es wee =a nee Oe, “) Our Critics—The Bookseller and the Globe Sew eee 1 ‘tT The New Books we oes ae ae oe eae oe sw» 162 ¥ Notes from Paris. By Robert Sherard ... ae ae eae on 168 * Notes and News. By the Editor... aes a aus we we 165 Feuilleton— PAGE 1.—My First Love ae eis ie é - 168 2.—‘' What is the use? Said the goose ” He ste say 2109 The Shelley Centenary. Address by Mr. Edmund Gosse ... wes 140) The Institute of Journalists. By James Baker ces mee sts LTD Correspondence— 1.—American Copyright os oes ose see ae aes he 2.—'' Cataloguing” oan oes ay cae ate one «. 173 3.—Books for Review ... 73 4.—The Shelley Memorial F ane was wa 174 5,—Literature asa Calling ... fe << ae ree ux lit 6.—The Civil List = ies oe oe ae scnclts ‘At the Author’s Head” ... tte ae aS sas as wee LID From the Papers ae an 5 ess -- on oeaed New Books and New Editions... site es ee ee oe 416 PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1892 can be had on application to the Secretary. Be 2. S 3. 1 ‘8. The Author, A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members. The Grievances of Authors. (The Leadenhall Press.) 2s. The Report of three Meetings on the general subject of Literature and its defence, held at Willis’s Rooms, March, 1887. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Couxss, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 3s. The History of the Societe des Gens de Lettres. By S. Squire Spricax, late Secretary to the Society. Is. The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c., with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squrre Spriear. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society’s offices, the various kinds of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3s. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell’s Copyright Bill now before Parlia- ment. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the-American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lury. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1s. 6d. a ; pe  ADVERTISEMENTS. THE LINOTYPE GOMMPOSING MACHINE. SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR BOOKWORK. “A MIGHTY BUT PEACEFUL REVOLUTION.” OPINIONS OF VARIOUS NEWSPAPERS ON THE LINOTYPE. For full List of Experts’ Reports and Opinions apply to the Company’s Secretary for Pamphlet. “Tt will do away with type, and composition, and distribution, as now practised, will be known no more.”— Manchester Courier. “ Saves 70 per cent. in cost of composing, and from three- fourths to nine-tenths in time.’’—Shefield and Rotherham Independent. “Tt bids fair to revolutionise the present system, especially of newspaper production, for which it seems peculiarly well adapted. The instrument is one of the most beautiful and ingenious pieces of mechanism ever introduced in connection with the art of printing.” —Scotsman. “The absolute saving of distribution, which is reckoned as equivalent to one quarter of the cost of composition, is an important factor in the economy of this machine. With it comes emancipation from the frequent errors arising from faulty distribution. To pye matter is impossible. Unquestionably the most remarkable machine ever invented in the art of printing.”—The Printers’ Register. “Tt stands to reason that an invention that economises as well as expedites work, without aiming a blow at those who had previously done without it, must be a success.” —Echo. “The rapidity and accuracy of the process impressed Mr. Gladstone very powerfully, or, as he expressed it himself, it ‘ staggered’ him.”—Daily Chronicle. “ One of the most remarkable machines ever invented.’’— Engineer. “A steam-driven, type-composing and casting machine which really promises to bring about a revolution in the composing-rooms of newspaper and book printing offices.” —Home and Colonial Matt. * This remarkable invention promises to revolutionise all our ideas as to type-setting by machinery. It dispenses — with movable type, and substitutes matrices in which the letters are cast in solid lines.” —Leeds Mercury. * One of the most remarkable labour-saving Machines ever devised in an age remarkable for such inventions.” — —Western Mail (Cardiff). “The work never stops, line after line is added with astonishing smoothness and regularity.” —Newcastle Daily Chronicle. “Has come into existence to create amazement, where surprise hitherto found a home. “The Linotype, to be brief, is a machine which does away with the present expensive and slow method of type-setting. It performs all the work of a compositor antomatically, with greater precision and with far more rapidity. The most important feature of the patent, however, lies in the enormous saving it effects in the cost of setting, while a no less startling fact is that the labour of ‘ distributing,’ or the putting of the type back into cases, is dispensed with.’— Admiralty and Horse Guards Gazette. “ Printing without types. A marvellous machine that makes fresh types for every line. The advance of industrial science is so rapid that this machine must, sooner or later, come into extensive use.’’—Evening News and Post (London). Pa THE ECONOMIC PRINTING & PUBLISHING CO. LIMITED, ©. 39, BOUVERIE STREET, FLEET STREET, E.C., Having acquired the monopoly of Linotype Machines in London (excepting Newspaper Offices), are in a position to quote decidedly advantageous Prices to Authors for the Composition of Books by Linotype, and also undertake the Printing, being well equipped with Printing Machinery by the best makers.  Che Flutbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vou. IIl.—No. 5.] OCTOBER 1, 1892. [PRicE SIXPENCE. \\ For the Opinions expressed in papers that are oo os [ signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. WARNINGS. a Sprcian Warnine. — Readers are most URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements immediately after signature. If this precaution is neglected for three weeks, a fine of £10 must be paid before the agreement can be used as a legal document. In almost every case brought to the secretary the agreement, or the letter which serves for one, is without the stamp. The author may be assured that the other party to the agreement never neglects this simple pre- caution. The stamp duty varies from 6d. up to ros. or more, according to the form of agreement. The Society, to save trouble, undertakes to get all the agreements of members stamped for them at no expense to themselves except the cost of the stamp. Reavers of the Author are earnestly desired to make the following warnings as widely known as possible. They are based on the experience of seven years’ work upon the dangers to which literary property is exposed :— (1.) Never sign any agreement of which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part, until you have proved the figures. (2.) Never enter into any correspondence with publishers, especially with those who advertise for MSS., who are not recom- mended by experienced friends or by this Society. VOL. III, (3.) Nuver, on any account whatever, bind yourself down for future work to any- one. (4.) Never accept any proposal of royalty until you have ascertained what the agreement, worked out on both a small and a large sale, will give to the author and what to the publisher. (5.) Never accept any pecuniary risk or respon- sibility whatever without advice. (6.) Nuver, when a MS. has been refused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises they may put forward, for the production of the work. (7.) Never sign away American rights. Keep them, Refuse to sign any agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the publisher. If the publisher insists, take away the MS. and offer it to another. (8.) Never sign any paper, either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright, without advice. (9.) Keep control over the advertisements, if they affect your returns, by clause in the agreement. Reserve a veto. If you are yourself ignorant of the subject, make the Society your adviser. (10.) Never forget that publishing is a busi- ness, like any other business, totally un- connected with philanthropy, charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with business men. Society’s Offices :— 4, Portuaat Srreet, Lincouy’s Inn Freups. ey mM 2  HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. 1. Every member has a right to advice upon his agreements, his choice of a publisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society’s solicitors. If the case is such that counsel’s opinion is desirable, the Committee will obtain for him counsel’s opinion. All this with- out any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publishers’ agreements are not generally within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books repre- sented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agreements and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The information thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business transactions by the Secretary proves unfavour- able, you should take advice as toa change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the proposed form to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks, of every publishing firm in the country. Remember that there are certain houses which live entirely by trickery. 7. The outward and visible signs of the fraudulent publisher are—(1) a virtuous and benevolent wish to have the unquestioned conduct of your business left entirely in his hands; (2) a virtuous, good man’s pain at being told that his accounts must be audited; (3) a virtuous indig- ~ nation at being asked what his proposal gives him compared with what it gives the author; and (4) irrepressible irritation at any mention of the Society of Authors. 8. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the inde- pendence of the writer. 152 THE AUTHOR. 9. Send to the Editor of the Author notes of — everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. eee THE AUTHORS’ SYNDICATE. R. Colles desires to inform readers of the — Author— 1. That the Authors’ Syndicate is now in a position to take charge in whole or in part of the business of members of the Society, _ With, when necessary, the assistance of 2 the advisers of the Society, it will conclude agreements, collect royalties, examine and pass accounts, and, generally, relieve mem- bers of the trouble of managing business details. All accounts opened between the Syndicate and members are duly 4 audited. 2. That the establishment expenses of the Authors’ Syndicate are defrayed entirely | ; out of the commission charged on rights placed through its intervention. This varies, and must vary, according to the nature of the services rendered, but the charges are reduced to the lowest — possible amount compatible with effi- ciency. Meanwhile members will please accept this intimation that they are not entitled to the services of the Syndicate gratis. 3. That he undertakes to work for none but members of the Society. 4. That his business is not to advise members of the Society, but to manage their affairs for them if they please to entrust them to him. 5. That when he has any work in hand he must have it entirely in his own hands; in other words, that authors must not ask him to place certain work, and then go about endeavouring to place it by themselves. 6. That when a MS. has been sent from pub- lisher to publisher, and from editor to editor, in vain, it is most likely impossible to place it. 7. That in the face of the present competition, authors will do well to moderate their expectations. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee whose services will be called upon in any case o  THE J} dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory -- Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever = in the Syndicate. To this it may be added, that where advice is », sought, the Secretary of the Society, and not the ‘© Syndicate, must be consulted. Pee NOTICES. 1 HE Editor of the Author begs to remind members of the society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the » cost of producing it would be a very heavy , charge on the resources of the society if a great * many members did not forward to the secretary * the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. | Perhaps this reminder may be of use. With ’ 800 members, besides the outside circulation of } the paper, the Author ought to prove a source , of revenue to the society. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects con- nected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the society than to make the Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write ? ed All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office with- out previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly understood that the Society does not, under any circum- stances, undertake the publication of MSS. ———< >. The Authors’ Club is now opened in temporary premises, at 17, St. James’s Place, St. James’s Street. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, &c. AUTHOR. 153 Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? If they will do this, and remit the amount or a banker’s order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. ———— Those who are elected members during the last three months of the year are advised that their subscriptions cover the whole of the follow- ing year. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the warning numbered (3). It is a most foolish and a most disastrous thing to bind yourself to anyone for a term of years. Let them ask them- selves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest or dishonest ? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign themselves into literary bondage for three or five years ? soa —— How, we are asked almost every day, is the young writer to make a beginning ? He should first get’ an opinion from one of the Society’s readers as to the merits and chances of his book. It may be that certain points would be suggested foralteration. It may be that he will find himself recommended to put his MS. in the fire. He should, if encouraged, offer his MS. to a list of houses or of magazines recommended by the Society. There is nothing else to be done. No one, we repeat, can possibly help him. If those houses all refuse him, it is not the least use trying others, and, if he is a wise man, he will refuse to pay for the production of his own work. If, how- ever, as too often happens, he is not a wise man, but believes that he has written a great thing, and is prepared to back his opinion to the extent of paying for his book, then let him place his work in the hands of the Society, and it shall be arranged for him without greater loss than the actual cost of production. At least he will not be deluded by false hopes and promises which can end in nothing.  i : H H ql 154 THE AT LAST. Se ROM our point of view the heavy sentences passed during this week by the Common Serjeant upon Sir Gilbert Campbell and Messrs. Morgan, Tomkins, Steadman, Tolmie, and Clarke, has been most righteously deserved. For years the man Morgan, generally with the assistance of Tomkins, has been preying upon literary and artistic aspirants. Now flattering their vanity, now abusing their ignorance, and now appealing to their greed—from which the literary aspirant is by no means more free than other people. The method of swindling em- loyed was always the same. Whether as the Artists’ Alliance or the Authors’ Alliance, as the Charing Cross Publishing Company or the City of London Publishing Company, as Bevington and Co., or Longman and Co., or, lastly, as the International Society of Literature, Science, and Art, the broad plan remained the same. Im- mense advantages in money or prestige were offered to painters who could not sell their pic- tures, to authors who could not find publishers, to unknown musicians, and to provincial patrons of letters, if they would join some institution existing for the purpose of breaking down the barriers existing between them and the admiring notice of the world at large. The co-operative bodies asked for an entrance fee and a subscription; the publishing firm went a little further and asked for manuscripts and cheques. In no case was anything done in re- turn forthe payments. Fellowship of the various alliances brought neither notoriety nor remunera- tion, and cheques to Bevington and Co. or Long- ‘man and Co., although cashed by those enter- prising firms, never resulted in the issue of the manuscripts. Nor were the manuscripts returned. We say “at last,” for we have known of the fraudulent character of the deeds of Morgan and his companions for years, but have been powerless to do more in opposition to them than to warn those who applied to us for advice to beware of ‘the obvious and various traps. Now and again we had détails given to us of some particular piece of swindling perpetrated by Bevington and Co., or by The City of London Publishing Com- pany, but we were always strictly enjoined by the swindled parties to preserve their names a secret. As, also, it is our experience that this sort of rogue never has any money at all that. can be recovered from him, we could hardly recommend our members to prosecute, thereby to reveal themselves as dupes at the expense of their own purses. In 1890 there was started the Inter- national Society of Authors with Sir Gilbert AUTHOR. ‘Publication and’ Perforniance dof Fellows’ ‘and Members’ Campbell for chairman and William James | | Morgan as curator. The country was flooded 4% |. with the following prospectus—we omit the names of the Assistant Secretaries and the “ Councillors” :— THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY of LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART, in connection with THE ARTISTS’ ALLIANCE.—Instituted a.p. 1889, under Act of Parlia- ment 17 & 18 Vict. cap. 112—-ExEcuTIve Counciz: Curator, William James Morgan, Esq.; Chairman, Sir G. Campbell, Bart.; Secretary, William Nathan Stedman, Esq.; Assistant Secretaries, .... ; CouNcILLORS: Dayid Tolmie, Esq.,....C. M. Clarke, Esq.,....; CHrer OrricEs, 20, York Buildings, Adelphi, Strand, W.C.; Gallery and West End Offices, The Marlborough Gallery, 39, Great Marlborough Street, Regent Street, W., London. The object of this Society is to promote the advancement of Art, Literature, Science, and Music, and the advantage of its Fellows and Members. The means whereby this object is attainable are :— (a) The encouragement of Students and Professors of all ages and of both sexes in all branches of Art, Literature, § @ Science, or Music (i) by purchasing from or publishing for || - Fellows and Members the best results of their geniusor = = their labour; (ii) by the distribution of Prizes; and (iii) by ey affording introductions for the purpose of making a market §9)" for the sale of Fellows’ and Members’ Pictures and other Art rh productions, and for the sale, printing, and publication of tog their Literary and Scientific Works and Musical Com- “ro positions. (b) The publication of a Magazine devoted to the in- terests of Art, Literature, Science, and Music, to which Fellows and Members are invited to contribute. A copy of the Magazine will be forwarded regularly to each Fellow and Member, post free. (c) The enrolment, as Fellows or as Members of the odd Society, of ladies and gentlemen (in all parts of the world) (bls who follow for pleasure or for profit the pursuits of Art, ot Literature, Science, or Music as amateurs or professionals, ale and, as Honorary Fellows or as Honorary Members, all lig 3 those who sympathise generally with the objects of the ont: Society. Arrangements have been made, upon advantageous térms, Ot for :— I.—The Exhibition and Sale of Pictures and other Works At of Art executed by Fellows and Members at the Marl- ecg borough Gallery, 39, Great Marlborough Street, Regent 38% Street, W. IIl—The Reading, Editing, Purchase, Sale, Printing, and Publication of Fellows’ and Members’ manuscript contribu- tions (prose or poetry) in Magazine, and-in Volume or Book form. oes IliIl.—The correction (where necessary), Purchase, Sale, Musical Compositions. ~ : : : IV.—The bestowal of Prizes and other rewards for such Aor £ Inventions, Productions, and Improvements, as tend to the gilt employment of the masses, and the increase of trade; : abs and for meritorious works in all the various departments of 30 & the Fine Arts, Literature, and Science. Fellows and Members of the Society are invited to make use of the Rooms of the Society, for the purposes of re- ceiving or writing letters, making appointments, &c. They are at liberty to use the offices as a London address, and, if desired, letters received there for them will be forwarded on to them by post. It is designed, as soon as is practical, to largely extend the advantages in this direction, so as | oh | d st ash THE AUTHOR. to afford Fellows and Members all the privileges of a first rate London Club. Each Fellow will be entitled to a Free Season Pass (trans- ferable) for himself (or herself) and four friends, admitting to all the Exhibitions or Bazaars held at the Marlborough Gallery, and each Member will be entitled to a similar Pass admitting himself (or herself) and two friends. A Register, open at all times to Art buyers, Publishers, and other employers of artistic, literary, scientific, musical, or educational labour is kept, and Fellows or Members desiring remunerative home or other occupation may have their requirements entered therein free of charge. Fellows and members are invited to contribute to the Journal of the Society, to attend the London and local conversaziones and soirées, to read papers and to join in the discussions. When mutually desired, introductions are given with the view that congenial acquaintanceships and friendships may be thus induced. Correspondents upon all subjects connected with literature, the arts, and the sciences are also introduced to each other in all parts of the world, who thus by letter interchange information peculiar to their own spheres. No entrance fee is required. The subscription dates from the time of payment. Ladies and gentlemen actively engaged in any one or more of the various branches of art, literature, science, or music are eligible for election as Fellows, and have diplomas granted to them with the right of appending the letters F.S.L. to their names. Certificates of membership (M.S.L.) are also issued. The annual subscription as an active or honorary member is one guinea. This subscription may be compounded for for a term of five years upon payment of three guineas, or for life upon payment of seven guineas. The annual sub- seription as a Fellow is two guineas. This subscription may be compounded for for a term of five years upon payment of seven guineas, or for life upon payment of fifteen guineas. Students under twenty-one years of age are admitted as Associate Members or Associate Fellows at half fees. Form or APPLICATION FOR HONORARY OR ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP OR FOR FELLOWSHIP. To the Executive Council.— Please enrol me an™ of the International Society of Literature, Science, and Art, for which I enclose the sum of my + Sub- scription. * State here if Active or Honorary Member or Fellow. +State here if for yearly, for five years, or for life. Name in full* Address Ss Proposed by *If a lady, state whether Miss or Mrs. *.* Cheques and postal orders are to be made payable to the Curator, Mr. W. J. Morgan. Fellows and members, whether honorary or active, incur no pecuniary or other liability beyond the amount of their subscription. This precious document was headed by some hundred names extracted from the Peerage, the Army List, the “Clerical Directory,” and the lists of some of the obscurer learned societies, and the list was a fluctuating one. Many of the names were placed on the list of the Council of Fellows without their owners’ sanction, and when with- drawn were immediately replaced by others equally euphonious and obtained on equally easy terms. Many of these victims to their own importance haying found, from us or from the 155 masterly exposure in Truth, that they were being used to bolster up a cruel system of theft, insisted that their names should be withdrawn from the various compromising documents, but in most cases they experienced great difficulty in getting their wishes attended to. We were able to warn our members against this society at once, not only because the nature of Sir Gilbert Campbell’s institution was revealed in its prospectus sufficiently to all who know, but because we were able to trace the connec- tion between the new swindle and the bye-gone games of Mr. Morgan as Bevington and Co. and others. From letters, prospectuses, and docu- ments in our possession, we knew from the first that the International Society of Literature, Science, and Art was deserving of the character that it has at last obtained, but, save warning all inquirers, and speaking plainly im the pages of the Author, we could do nothing. We could not prosecute, and could find no one willing to do so. Great publicity was, however, let in upon the character of the association by the case of Swindells v. Morgan, tried before Mr. Justice Grantham, in the Queen’s Bench Division, about a year ago. The society furnished information that proved invaluable to the plaintiff, and con- tributed towards the cost of the prosecution, and Mr. Swindells, the author, recovered five hundred pounds, which, as it appears, and as might have been expected, he never cot. At last the Public Prosecutor has interfered, and his interference, although to us it may have seemed a little unduly deferred, has been attended with signal success, and was conducted in a@ manner that called for approval both from judge and public. William James Morgan, the curator, has received eight years’ penal servitude, and Tomkins has received five. Sir Gilbert Camp- bell is sentenced to eighteen months’ hard labour, and Steadman to fifteen. These people were not associated with Morgan in his earlier ventures. Tolmie will be imprisoned for six months, and Clarke for four. It only remains for us to say that our informa- tion in this important case was placed in the hands of the Treasury. — et 8  156 THE AUTHOR. - LITERARY PROPERTY. right matter. Assignors should look carefully | {jj to their agreements and receipts to see that they (+4). I do not commit themselves in haste to anything | «a: ; of this kind. Freperick Poniock, j Linn v. GrBpines. : [The statement in the article referred to, that | (a DO not agree with Mr. Justice Kekewich’s — the three publishers all abstained from disclaim. |. « opinion (which was not necessary to the ing the right to alter books as owners of the —/ actual decision) that the author’s cause of copyright, was not advanced as a complaint, but | ji) action against an assignee of the copyright who publishes the work in a mutilated or garbled form must be libel or nothing. The right to reproduce a literary work is not the same thing as the right 11. as a significant fact.—Ep1ror. | to reproduce disjointed parts of it, or to mix other matter with it. Whether the omission, alteration, or addition complained of be such as substantially to disfigure the work must be a ques- tion of fact in each case. I can imagine cases in which the copyright-owner ought to have the power of alteration, though not without warning. It is common to sell the copyright of law books, reserving to the author the option of preparing new editions as required on specified terms. What if a new edition is demanded and the author is unwilling or unable to undertake it ? It may have become necessary to rewrite whole pages of the book to bring it into accordance with the existing state of the law; so that, if the copyright-owner may not touch the original text, the copyright will be worthless. I suppose that similar considerations are more or less applicable to text-books in other sciences. There is a further question, but too purely legal to discuss here, whether the cause of action allowed to be possible by Mr. Justice Kekewich is not really in the nature of slander of title rather than libel proper. The condition of literary property may be chaotic; but the fact that the point in Lee vy. Gibbings has never been raised before seems rather to be to the credit of both authors and publishers than to the discredit of the law. T cannot altogether follow the complaint made in the last number of the Author that the publishers. quoted by Mr. Lee did not express any opinion as to the right of the matter. If they had been called as witnesses, it would have been their business not to give an opinion upon the point of law before the court, but to answer questions of fact as to the practice and under- standing in the trade as known to them by experience. I do not see how they could be expected to go farther in giving voluntary opinions than they would or could have gone as witnesses in court. It may be that assignments of copyright drafted in the interest of the assignee will in future often contain words expressly giving the assignee the right to abridge or alter the copy- Tue BANKRUPTCY OF A PUBLISHER. Recent Far.ures. — Messrs. Trischler and Marsden, publishers and magazine proprietors, carrying on business at 18, New Bridge-street, E.C., against whom a receiving order was made on Aug. 22 last, have lodged with the Official Receiver a proposal for a scheme to be submitted to their creditors. They offer to pay a compo- sition of 7s. 6d. in the pound upon the unsecured debts (except one, which is deferred), by instal- ments extending over a period of fifteen months, from approval, with security, which is specified. From the observations of the Official Receiver (Mr. A. H. Wildy) it appears that the debtor Trischler has been in business since Oct. 1887, and in June 1889 he was joined by Marsden, who paid £5500 for a half-share in the business, and each partner contributed equally towards the joint capi- tal of £4422. On May 15 last a private meeting of creditors was held, at which a proposal was made to convert the business into a limited liability company under which debentures were to be issued to the creditors for the amount of their debts, but, owing to the opposition of one creditor the proposed scheme fell through. The insol- vency is attributable to inability to realise stock and manuscripts owing to the depressed state of the book trade, losses by bad debts, loss on trading caused by over-production, and loss on unprofitable publications. The liabilities, as shown by the joint statement of affairs, amount to £12,238, and the assets are estimated by the debtors at £2294, after payment of preferential claims. The Official Receiver reports that the terms of the proposal, subject to official confirma- tion of the value of the assets, and assuming that the creditors are satisfied with the guarantees offered, are calculated to benefit them. Trischler makes no proposal in respect of his separate estate, but Marsden offers tos. in the pound to his separate creditors, certain claims being with- drawn. The Official Receiver also reports in favour of the latter proposal. Times. The above is instructive as a comment on what has been argued inthe Author (see especially Mr.  Fairbairn’s paper in the September number) on the bankruptcy of a publisher. One can only urge upon our readers the necessity of a pro- tecting clause in case of bankruptcy. TET. Ture Lirprary aNnp ArTIsTIC CoNGRESS. Milan, Sept. 19. At to-day’s sitting of the Literary and Artistic Congress here it was decided that the alienation of a work of art did not carry with it the ght of reproduction. The congress further gave expression to its desire that the appending of forged signatures to works of art should be made a punishable offence, and claimed for architec- tural works the same protection as is offered to other works of art. Sept. 20. The International Literary and Artistic Con- gress to-day decided that the country in which a work is first published should be regarded as the country of origin. In the event, however, of a work being published simultaneously in more than one country, that country which grants the shortest period for the protection of the rights of authors is to be considered the country of origin. It was also resolved to accord protection to authors whose names are attached to their works. Paragraph 3 of the ninth article of the Berne Convention was annulled, and the use of per- forated cards for organettes was declared to be an act of piracy. Protection was afforded to Russian authors against the illegal translation of their works in Russia, and the right of reproduc- tion, including also that of translation, was reserved to the author for a period of ten to twenty years. It was further resolved that authors belonging to the countries of the union should enjoy the right of translation during the period of their protection in the country of origin, provided that they had exercised this right within a period of twenty years. Milan, Sept. 23. At its sitting to-day, the International Literary and Artistic Congress approved of the establish- ment at Berne of an International Statistical Bureau for the registration of the works of authors, together with the date of their publica- tion, and likewise sanctioned the arrangement arrived at for the settlement of the relations between authors and publishers.—feuter. The above paragraphs are from the Times. Have these resolutions of the Congress any other importance than an expression of opinion ? VOL. III. fides was not questioned in the least. THE AUTHOR. 157 IV. GopFrrEy v. BRADLEY AND Co. rt It will be remembered that a note on this case was published in the August number of the Author. Mr. Godfrey, the plaintiff in this case, has written the letter which appears below. It will, therefore, be best to restate exactly the circumstances of the case. I was informed by our secretary, Mr. Thring, in the name of a well-known man of letters, that a case was shortly to be brought before the courts, of alleged plagiarism, and I was asked if I would read the two books in question, and, if invited, give evidence in court. This I declined to do, on the ground that I was already fully occupied. The secretary then informed me that he had been invited to do so in case of my refusal. We con- sidered the matter carefully, It appeared to me so important that a charge of plagiarism, so easily made, should be fairly considered, without bias on either side, that I thought if Mr. Thring was willing to take the trouble, it would be a very fit and proper thing for him, in his position, to undertake. Observe that there was no question of offending publisher in the matter; nothing was imputed against the publisher, whose bona It was simply a question between two novels—a question therefore affecting every novelist. Mr. Thring read both novels. He came to the conclusion that, although there were certain strong similarities of plot, the treatment was quite different. He thought that there was no plagiarism at all, but that there was probably a common origin to both novels. He was, there- upon, subpcenaed to give evidence. After he had been subpeenaed he received a letter from the plaintiff in the case, informing him that he was a member of the Society, and asking for his support. This was actually the very morning when the case came on. As regards my own action in the case, it is quite simple and would certainly be repeated, unless I knew that the plaintiff was a member. In that case I should certainly have called a committee together, and placed the responsibility of giving evidence against a member in their hands. It may be asked whether Mr. Thring exercised sufficient diligence in ascertaining if the plaintiff was a member. Now, let us consider: (1.) The plaintiff is not the writer of the book. He represents the author who is deceased. Is it reasonable to expect that the secretary should know all the works written by the relations of members ? (2.) The novel was written twenty years ago. N ft qy  158 THE AUTHOR. It does not appear to have gone into a second edition. Can we expect a man to remember any- thing about a novel which appeared twenty years ago, “and has never since been reprinted ? (3. ) But he might have observed the name of Godfrey on the list of members. What connection would that suggest? Mr. Godfrey is not a novelist. Should he have written to Mr. Godfrey to ask if he was in any way connected with the plaintiff? I think that could not reasonably be expected. If a member thinks so little of the Society as to bring an action on a point of literary property without consulting, or at least informing, the society, I think he has no reason to complain at any turn that might be taken. As regards Mr. Godfrey’s attempt to show that the society acted wilfulty against a member for an offending publisher, that, as the facts above quoted show, is quite ridiculous. Mr. Godfrey informs me by letter that he con- sulted Mr. Sprigge about the case four years ago. This has nothing to do with the point. He did not inform Mr. Thring, who could not be expected to know anything about a letter written four years ago. As regards the name of the gentleman who sent the case to Mr. Thring, that, of course, can only be published at his own request. The Secretary will not give up the names of any persons who place themselves in communication with him. Otherwise, the whole proceedings of every society or association or company in the world might be advertised in the papers. What I said about plagiarism is not what Mr. Godfrey tries to make out. I said, and I repeat, that there is no charge more easily brought than that of plagiarism, or more difficult to disprove. That has nothing to do with provedtheft. I have not yet read the two books in question, and I hope not to have to read them. Iam, therefore, notin the least concerned with the question of this particular charge of plagiarism, which mav or may not be true. Iam only concerned about the action of our secretary, the responsibility for which lies entirely upon myself. And I have only to repeat that wnder similar circumstances I should do exactly the same thing again in the interests of our members, and for the protection of those among us who are novelists. But members who may be contemplating similar actions, may be assured that if they will take the trouble to inform our secretary beforehand, I will willingly put the responsibility of the case upon the committee. Mr. Godfrey sneers at Mr. Thring’s legal knowledge. In this case, however, no legal know- ledge was required at all, I think I should add, that the abusive letter which follows would certainly not have appeared in the Author, if the person abused had been any other than myself. Water Busant. Chairman, Committee of Management. IL. Garrick Club, W.C., Aug. 22, 1892. Str, In last month’s issue of the Author you pub- lished a report of this case, with certain comments intended to explain away the extraordinary action of the Secretary of the Society of Authors, which, it now appears, was taken under your authority. When the members of the Society have read my statement of the facts I think they will agree with me that your explanation is—to use the mildest terms —an insufficient defence of a lamentable blunder. The following is a brief history of the matter. Some time ago I discovered’ that the London Journal was publishing a story which was a craftily disguised copy of a novel called ‘ Loyal,” written by my wife several years ago. I called the attention of the proprietors to this, and re- ceived in reply an off-hand refusal to discuss the matter. I then took legal action ; the case was tried, and I obtained a verdict, with damages. The judge, in commenting on the evidence, said (I quote from the newspaper reports): “ No one who found a succession of similar passages and the exact similarity of language, both in descrip- tion and in conversation, used as to corresponding characters in corresponding situations, could possibly doubt that the writer of ‘A Mad Mar- siage’ had before her the novel ‘ Loyal.’ He was quite satisfied that the main plot of ‘Loyal’ had been incorporated into ‘A Mad Marriage.’ ” Now in this action, I, a member of the Society of Authors, representing a deceased author, was proceeding against a publisher who was making profits from stolen literary property. I was, in fact, doing exactly the work that the Society professes to do, and so certain did I feel of its sympathy and support that I wrote to the Secre- tary giving him notice of the trial, and sug- gesting that some representative should be present. My amazement may, therefore, be imagined when I found that the principal witness for the publisher and against me was our Secre- tary, who gave evidence which derived its sole weight from the fact that he described himself in his official capacity. What was the natural inference ? What impression was this likely to convey to the judge? That the Society, which was created to ioe authors from publishers, | reat tbe ans |  THE considered this so scandalous an attempt to blackmail a publisher, that it felt bound to unite with the common enemy to defeat a dishonest member of its own body. Fortunately the evidence of this witness went so far as to defeat its mischievous intention. It was as follows: “The Secretary of the Incorpo- rated Society of Authors said there were some incidents which were similar in the two novels, put ‘A Mad Marriage’ was not, in his opinion, an infringement of the copyright in ‘ Loyal.’ He did not think the substance of the plot of ‘Loyal’ had ;been incorporated in ‘A Mad Marriage.’”’ The value of this testimony can be estimated by reference to the judge’s remarks, already quoted. These are the facts. What is your explana- tion? You say you authorised the Secretary of our Society to take part in this case because every novelist of distinction (in which IT assume you rightly include yourself) is from time to time accused of plagiarism. This is equivaient to saying that it is the duty of the Public Prosecutor to defend a receiver of stolen goods because unfounded charges of theft are occasion- ally made. I invite careful consideration of this argument. It at least proves that novelists of distinction may sometimes write amazing non- sense. Possibly your logic may be intended as a pleasantry. I cannot say. My sense of humour is, 1 fear, defective, since I failed to appreciate another comic utterance, contained in a letter you wrote to me, that “Thring’s own sym- pathies seem to have been with you, but as a lawyer he was against you.” From this I appear to have escaped two dangers, for Mr. Thring’s “sympathies”? seem to be as eccentric as his legal knowledge. But, as you add, “ Happily the judge ruled otherwise.” Happily indeed ; but is it not monstrous that the impar- tiality of a judge should be requisite to save me from the hostile vagaries of our paid Secre- tary ? Your main argument of justification I have already dealt with. Others you urge, but they are of so little weight that I will dispose of them ina group. You say that neither you nor Mr. Thring knew who were the parties to the action, that you did not know I was a member of the Society, and that Mr. Thring was compelled to give evidence on a subpena. To all of this I answer that before our Secretary mixed himself up in a literary action it was his duty to ascertain who were the parties to it, that a simple reference to the list of members would have given the other information, and that the omission of such pre- cautions was inexcusable. I will go further and VOL. III. AUTHOR. 199 say that these points are of no importance, and that the Society exists to protect the literary pro- perty of authors under any and all circumstances where justice is on their side, whether they be living or dead, members or non-members, and that the action of the Society as represented by you and the Secretary in ranging itself on the side of a publisher in opposing such a claim was a serious mistake, calculated to lessen confidence in the administration ; for it is clear that members who imagine they are supporting an associa- tion for the defence of their literary rights may at any moment find they are maintaining an engine for their own destruction. Whether such a danger is or is not to continue is now the question. Had you frankly admitted that the action authorised by you was a regret- table mistake, and given me an assurance that care would be taken to prevent its repetition, di should have been satisfied ; but you add discour- tesy to injury in the tone of your comments, not the least offensive of which is the concluding one : “ Mr. Thring’s action was wholly prompted by a laudable desire to forward the interests of the Society and its members.” What does this mean ? How could it have been to the interests of the Society that its Secretary should oppose me unless mine was a dishonourable and improper action ? T ask you, if this action had been brought by you, against a publisher who was selling a piracy. of one of your novels, would you have authorised the Secretary to appear in his official capacity against you ‘in the interests of the Society?’ If not, in the name of reason, why not? IJ am as inca- pable of dishonest action in such a matter as you or any member of Society, and the discourtesy of your suggestion to the contrary (for your words bear no other meaning) compels me to persist in the course I have taken on the advice of several prominent members of the Council, to lay the whole matter before the members at the next general meeting, and leave them to express an opinion upon it. Grorare W. GODFREY. P.S.—One point I find I have overlooked. You say that the Secretary’s interference in this matter was authorised by you at the request of “4, well-known novelist, not concerned in the case.” Ihave already asked by letter to be fur- nished with the name of this gentleman, but with- out success. Tagain ask for this information, and invite the well-known novelist, who I believe to be a member of the Society, to explain his action in enlisting the services of a paid official of the Society against a brother member, and on behalf of a publisher (who is not amember), in an action “in which he was not concerned.” n 2  i 160 III, The following is an account of the part I took with regard to giving evidence in the case of Godfrey and Bradley. Mr. Bradley called here one afternoon with a letter of introduction from a well-known literary man to the chairman of the Society. In his absence I interviewed Mr. Bradley, and he stated that he wanted the chairman to read certain books involved in a case of infringement of copyright, and to give evidence as a technical witness. This, I said, I thought he would not do, and, after some further conversation, he asked me whether I would do so. To this I again demurred, but stated that, with the leave of the managing committee or of the chairman, I would ‘read the books and form the opinion. He there- upon told me the following story, so that I might put the facts before the managing committee or the chairman. In 1872 a novel was published; by Tinsley Brothers called “Loyal.” In 1874 a story was run through the London Journal entitled “A Mad Marriage,’ subsequently published by Tinsleys, which the then proprietor of the London Journal had bought from the authoress, an American. Since 1874 he had become proprietor vf the London Journal, and in 1889 ran “A Mad Marriage” again through his paper. He was now being sued by the executors of the authoress of ‘‘ Loyal” for infringement of copy- right. He then told me that the matter was of impor- tance as the case might come on any day, and he would be glad of my answer as soon as possibie. As it was impossible to call a committee meeting in the time, I put the facts as stated by Mr. Bradley before the chairman, and he told me that he thought it would be a fit and proper thing for me to accept the invitation to read the novels through, and if required give evidence on either side. Upon Mr. Bradley calling the next day I stated that it had been impossible to call a committee meeting, and that Mr. Besant had authorised me, in the absence of the com- mittee, to read the novels through and give evidence if necessary. Mr. Bradley thereupon brought me copies of the two books and I read them through carefully, and came to the con- clusion that “A Mad Marriage” was not such a substantial copy of ‘ Loyal” as to amount to an infringement of copyright, and that, although many of the scenes resembled each other, yet it was quite probable that they had been drawn from a common source. I have seen no reason since to alter that opinion. I was thereupon subpeenaed by Mr. Bradley as a witness in the THE AUTHOR. case. About a week later, on the morning of the day on which the case was heard, I received a letter from Mr. Godfrey, asking me whether I could not render his counsel some assistance with regard to the question of copyright in the action, as he was a member of the Society. This was the first notice I had received that the plaintiff was a member of the Suciety. I had only been told previously that the plaintiff was the exe- cutor of the deceased writer. It was impossible for me at this period not to attend as a witness, as that would have rendered me liable for con- tempt of court, a serious charge. I thereupon went down to the courts to try and see the plaintiff’s solicitor and counsel, to tell them what conclusion I had arrived at, and also to inform them of the fact that I had been subpeenaed as a witness for the other side. I was, however, unable to find them. Later on in the day I was called from my office to give evidence, which I accordingly did, stating my case as I have stated it above. I may further state that the question is not one of law, as Mr. Godfrey seems to think, but absolutely a question of fact, each case being decided on its own merits. I would add that had my opinion been on the side of the plaintiff I should have been equally willing to give evidence to that effect. Mr. Godfrey wrote to me subsequently very angrily on the matter, asking at the same time the name of the gentleman who had introduced Mr. Bradley to the office. To this request I did not accede, as it is impossible for me to give the names of any person corresponding with me, whether he is a member of the Society or other- wise. G. Herpert Turine. Bee. OUR CRITICS, GAIN the Society and its journal have received the wholesome administration of plain truth and candid criticism. This time from several quarters, of which the first is our friend the Bookseller: The -faithful critic has addressed himself to the “Notices’’ which are repeated every month. He is so determined to be faithful that he brings himself perilously near that Division of the High Court of Justice which takes the libel cases. For instance, if by calling the editor a “‘ very sharp man of business indeed,” he implies, as he seems to do, that the editor has any pecuniary interest in the success of the Society or its organ, he has only to repeat the suggestion in order to have an opportunity of proving his statement in that court. esi cee eee > Fe ob ee eee Set ee oe ey =o ia Pe a gee  THE AUTHOR. “Tn paragraph II.” of the notices, says the writer in the Bookseller, “ authors are solicited to contribute gratuitously to the ‘organ.’ The following is paragraph IT. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the society than to make the Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write. Not a word about gratuitous contributions, you see, Whether the Author is written for nothing, and edited for nothing, by our own members, for ourselves, is a question that concerns ourselves alone. “Paragraph III,” says the writer in the Bookseller, “is a request for the sort of informa- tion which is sometimes called Literary Garbage.” Here is paragraph III. : All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of this Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. If contributions by writers ov their own sub- jects are called “ Literary Garbage,” then the Bookseller regards literature from a new point of view. Perhaps the writer of the paper, by the word Garbage, means something not always saleable. However this may be, the tone of the communi- cation and the design of the writer are unqis- takeable. He means to misrepresent and to falsify the work of the society. . Bhe writer then copies out the advice given in our Notices to beginners, which he professes not to understand. It is, of course, perfectly simple and means exactly what it says. He then goes on to say that the members of the Council of the Society do not follow the advice of the Society. Quite so. The members of the Council are not beginners, and the advice is not given to them, but to beginners. Nor is the society a publishing firm. It is a melancholy thing to see such a paper as the Bookseller publishmg 80 spiteful and venomous a paper. The assumption, by the writer, is the stale device, renewed whenever the persons interested in misrepresenting the society can get the chance of implying or stating—either will do —that the society is conducted in hostility to publishers. Nothing, of course, can be farther from the truth. It is hostile, and will continue hostile, to those fraudulent persons who disgrace an honourable calling. ‘There is never a number of the Author in which it is not expressly stated that certain warnings are intended to guard authors—not against publishers— but against 161 certain fraudulent publishers—those who cheat in one or other of the various ways we have detected and exposed. The position is as follows: The Society exists for the defence and maintenance of literary pro- erty. No one will probably object. to the aims of the Society. In the course of its work the Society has discovered the existence of certain frauds. The methods of these frauds it has proceeded, in the interests of those who hold or produce literary property, to expose. It exposes them regularly once a month in the pages of the Author. Can the Bookseller suggest any better way of exposing these frauds? For they must be exposed. And cannot the Bookseller understand that the best interests of those honourable men who follow the calling of which it is the organ are most truly served by making things uncom- fortable and difficult for the unworthy and the dishonest? As for the “ warnings,” there is not one which an honourable publisher can for a single moment consider as directed against himself. : The Globe, again, has a paragraph in which it enlarges and repeats the charges—if they can be called charges—of this indignant person. The writer of the paragraph, pretending to quote from the Bookseller, says: «Among his points, some of the most effective are that writers taught to fancy themselves sweated all round are never- theless invited to work for nothing in the Author ; that by asking for personalia about men of letters, and inserting leaderettes about fourth or fifth-rate authors, the journal encourages the collection of literary garbage; that there are men on the council of the Society who publish their own works in defiance of the very advice they are responsible for. Mr. Besant, therefore, will know that some of his blows have gone home to his foes, the publishers.” The words “ writers taught to fancy themselves sweated all round are nevertheless invited to work for nothing inthe 4 uthor,” refer to nothing at all in the Bookseller except the words “ authors are solicited to contribute gratuitously to the organ ”—already considered. The little enlarge- ment about the sweating is simply invented by the writer of the paragraph. The words “asking for personalia about men of letters and inserting leaderettes about fourth or fifth-rate authors” are also invented by the author of the paragraph. Nothing whatever 1s said in the Bookseller about “ Jeaderettes,’ and, im fact, there have been no “Jeaderettes” in the Author on fourth or fifth- rate authors. Nor, to repeat, has the Author ever asked for “ personalia ” about men of letters. What it asks for, month after month, may be seen by looking at the “Notices ’—i.e., it asks for “ communications on all subjects connected 162 with literature,” and for “any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish.” Lastly, the assertion about the Council has already been met. It is so stupid that one wonders how even the most hostile writer should repeat it. The last words about the “foes” show the spirit of the paragraph. It is, as has been stated above, the commonest way of attacking the Society to repre- sent it as hostile to all publishers. Everybody sees the stupid folly of such hostility, and declares against the stupid folly of the Society. That is to say, since the only foes of the Society are the dishonest persons spoken of above, the Globe charges the whole body of publishers with dis- honesty. It is the accusation of the Globe, not of the Society, or of the Author, or of the editor. Let it be remembered that whoever accuses the Society, or the editor of this paper, with hostility to publishers generally, charges the body of publishers generally with dishonesty. We do not quake, we never have made such a charge, and we never shall. —_— ree THE NEW BOOKS. HE Lists for the Publishing Season are not yet complete. Taking, however, the lists issued in the Atheneum of Sept. 17 and 24 we find the following notes on the number of books announced as about to appear. The order is that in which the lists were published. The Clarendon Press _ ... will produce 51 works. Messrs. Macmillan and (Ol ee . 62. |. Mr. William Heinemann 3 300g Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton 1.0... =. 5 32 Messrs. Williams and Norgate... . 6.) Messrs. Methuen = os 27 Messrs. Warne and Co. ... 3 1S) 4s Messrs. Virtue and Co. ... 3 Messrs. Skeffington and Son ne ‘5 1352; Messrs, James Clark and GOe. Ao = 145, Messrs. Sampson Low and Co.... eee Vado wee ” 52 » Mr. Fisher Unwin ... ... s 45 The Cambridge University ‘ PPORS i is 356s Mr. David Nutt 3 10, Messrs. Hutchinson and Co. ose oue aes wee oe) 25 ? THE AUTHOR. The 8.P.C.K. ... will produce 17 works, Messrs. Chambers ... 18 Messrs. J. and T. Clark a 5a These lists do not contain the new books of Blackwood, Bentley, Black, Blackie, Chatto and Windus, Longman, Smithand Elder, Percival, the Religious Tract Society, and many others. But as eighteen publishers between them are going to produce next month 475 books of sufficient im- portance to be announced, and since there are at least five and twenty others not represented in the lists of these two weeks, it may be fairly estimated that the autumn output of fairly im- portant books amounts to more than a thousand. Next as to the authors of these books. Our President will produce a new volume of poems; George Meredith, another new volume of poems; J. Addington Symons, a Life of Michelangelo Buonarotti; Austin Dobson, a critical biography of Hogarth, illustrated; Mr. Charles Leland, a “ Book of the Hundred Riddles of the Fairy Bellavia;’’ Professor Seeley, the ‘ Growth of British Policy ;”” Mr. Lewis Morris, the “ Vision of Saints ;”’ Mr. George Saintsbury, a new edition of Florio’s Montaigne; Mrs. Thackeray Ritchie, “Records of Tennyson, Ruskin, and Browning ;”” William Watson “The Dream of Man;” Stop- ford Brooke, a ‘‘ History of Early English Litera- ture;” Richard Garnett, a ‘“ Life of Heinrich Heine.” Among others novelists are represented by a smaller list than usual. Among them are Grant Allen, Mrs. Alexander, J. M. Barrie, Amelia Barr, William Black, Walter Besant, Frank Barrett, May Crommelin, Everett Hale, Sarah Doudney, Mrs. Clifford, H. C. Davidson, George Macdonald, Christie Murray, L. T. Meade, Mrs. Molesworth, Mrs. Oliphant, Mrs. Spender, and Frank Stockton. The list is not complete. We will return to the subject next month. We may note, how- ever, that the production of tooo books in a single month, though this is by far the most fruitful month in the year, proves what we are always proclaiming—the magnitude, the solidity, of literary property. Another point will not escape our readers: the rapid advance made by certain quite young firms. = ; as le  THE AUTHOR. NOTES FROM PARIS. Se Paris, Sept. 23, 1892. NEWSPAPER guerilla war, which, if limited as to the number of the combatants on either side, is bitter in the extreme, is A being waged at present in Paris apropos of the recent formation ofa committee for the erection of a memorial statue to Baudelaire. Rodin, one of ¢he most remarkable of contemporary sculptors has been commissioned to execute the statue, which is to be placed above the poet’s grave. Leconte de Lisle is president of the committee, which includes amongst its members most of the best known poets and littérateurs of France. Our poet Swin- burne, by the way, is also amember. Now, there are a certain number of people in the world of letters in Paris who abhor Baudelaire and all his works, and one of these, that distinguished critic Ferdinand Brunetitre, made the formation of the Baudelaire Committee the occasion for publishing a short but most bitter attack on the great poet inthe Revue des Deux Mondes. The article was remarkable for little but the venom of the attack, nothing fresh in the way of criticism was put for- ward, only the old cowplaints of Saint-Beuve, Scherer, and the rest. Baudelaire’s friends and admirers were not slow to reply to this attack on the dead master, and most of the literary papers contained replies to the Rerue des Deux Mondes article. The quarrel has now settled down into an exchange of personalities between M. Brune- tigre and Albert Delpit the novelist. Up to date of writing it is the latter who has the last word, and amongst other pleasant things that he has had to say about Brunetiére is that he is made up of equal proportions of spite and envy, that his lips curl up showing his canines, which is the true sign of the envious man, that Delpit was his friend for ten years, but can be so no longer at any price, that Brunetitre never took a degree at the University, and that he, Delpit, hopes that he may forget the friend as readily as he has already forgotten the man. I really consider that Brunetiére’s attack was uncalled for. If those of us who admire Baudelaire like to subscribe moneys to place a statue of him on his tomb, which is entirely a private affair, I do not see why this should be made the subject of unfavourable comment in the press. It is not as if the statue was to be put in a public place, which might be interpreted to mean that we wished to force the public to recognise as we recognise it the genius of the dead poet. And in any case it is always regret- 16 able when the life and the work of a man who is dead are bitterly attacked. Baudelaire has, and always will have, a large number of admirers, just as he has, and will always have a number of readers who will turn with disgust from his pages. It is a mere question of what the reader understands by the word “ art.” Nobody denies his perfect mastery of the technique of his art nor his power of music. What Baudelaire’s detractors attack in his work is the unhealthy tone of his thoughts. In contradistinction to that coster with whom the great Chevalier has made us familiar, it’s “the things. he says’ and not “the nasty way he says it” that Baudelaire’s critics object to, ——— +> Baudelaire’s private life has also been dragged into the discussion as if that had anything to do with his merits or demerits as a poet. We have been told for the thousandth time that Baudelaire was an immoral man. This may possibly be the case, although I have always heard from those who had the privilege of his acquaintance that he lived most soberly in his modest furnished lodgings in the Rue d’Amsterdam, and that the only thing that he indulged himself in was charcuterie in various forms. There was doubt- less much more talk than action in Baudelaire’s immorality. He may have wanted to horrify people, much like Byron, about himself, for his great joy, as he once told the Prefet de Police, was to ‘ ¢tonner les sots.” Amongst the many excellent things to be found in “ The Wrecker” the description of Bohemian life in the Latin Quarter in Paris is particularly well done. The days of “ La Vie de Bohéme ” are, by no means, as has been said over and over again, past, and Doppelgangers of every one of famous character in Murger’s book, not excepting Mimi Pinson, could be found to-day over and over again in the hotels meublés of that quarter. They dress a little less raggedly perhaps, and on the whole have more luxurious tastes, for Bohemia has marched with the times also, but there they are just the same. Here, for instance, 1s a scene which I witnessed a few days ago, and which might have come st raight out of the pages of “Vie de Bohéme.”’ I was walking down the Boulevard St. Michel with a young Breton gentleman, who has recently given up the study of medicine for the practice of literature. It was not to be wondered at that his clothes should not be of the best. At the corner of the Rue de Cluny we came upon another man of letters, who though rather shabby as to his hat and boots, 164. wore a magnificent cloth overcoat. I recognised the man as a very well-known poet and writer, who contributes occasionally some most brilliant essays to the press, and who at one time was considered to be the coming man of Paris. As soon as my friend saw him he left my side and crossed over to him and an animated dialogue ensued between the two. I did not hear what they said, but they seemed to be both much excited. In the end, in answer to a particularly vehement speech on the part of the young Breton, the other was seen to unbutton his overcoat, dis- closing therewith that he had nothing on between it and his shirt. My Breton friend presently joined me, and I asked him what the trouble was. “Oh! ce cochon,’’ he said, “he’s got my overcoat on. We lived together a few weeks ago, for we were collaborating. Just before we separated menage X. told me that as he had some business visits to pay, and, as his clothes were too shabby, he would be much obliged to me if I would lend him my overcoat to put on over them so as to hide their tattered condition. I did so, and haven’t seen him since until to-day. I wanted my coat back first, because I, too, am getting very rusty; and, secondly, because here’s the winter coming when it will be needed. Well, he opens it and shows me that he’s telling the truth when he says that he has nothing else to wear. He has sold his coat and waistcoat and couldn’t go out in his shirt-sleeves.”’ I do not know how Bohemians of this class would ever be able to live at all were it not for the large amount of credit which is given by the hotel-keepers. and restaurateurs in the Latin Quarter. The credit system was created for the benefit of the students, but is useful to a number of men of letters, artists, and so forth. Many of these have little else to live upon than the credulity, or rather the faith, of the gargotte- keepers in themselves. They mean to pay as soon as the great picture or the great book, which is to make them famous and rich, shall have been painted or written. Sometimes the book is never written nor the picture painted, and then the creditors get left. I could mention several well- known names of writers here who have about as much order in their affairs as had Dick Swiveller. One very well-known man, whose entire belong- ings consist in his bed and its furniture—which are unseizable under distress warrant in France— got a sound thrashing the other day from a marchand de vins, who met him in Montmartre, and to whom he owed many weeks of board and lodging. If all his creditors were to go for him similarly, I am afraid France would lose a’ poet THE AUTHOR. whom many thousands of admirers consider to be the first poet in France, ; A certain journal has been pitching into me for defending Oscar Wilde against certain abominable attacks which were recently made against him, remarking that Oscar Wilde, least of all men, needs a sandwich man to puff him. If the many writers who cannot stomach the success which this remarkable poet has achieved would leave him alone, his friends and admirers would have no occasion to take up the cudgels on his behalf. “Que Messieurs les—what shall we say ?—commen- cent.” The vegetarians ought to get an interview with Mr. Xavier Marmier, who is the doyen d’age of the French Academy, and who believes and hopes to prolong his life—he is already eighty-eight years old—by a strict course of vegetarianism. For many months past he has not touched meat, and describes himself as having benefited wonder- fully by this régime. He suffers a good deal from rheumatism, but expects to be rid of this also by continuing to avoid meat, and says that his sufferings have notably diminished cf late. Marmier is a splendid old fellow, one of the most sympathetic of the Academicians. He is, how- ever, a decided literary antagonist of Emile Zola, whom he told never to hope for his vote for the Academy. “Zola tried to convince me,” he said, “that it is the novelist’s duty to describe life as he finds it, whether beautiful or ugly, but for all that there are passages in‘ Germinal,’ ‘]’Assom- moir’ and ‘ La Terre,’ which I shall never be able to admit. Altogether, I am afraid that Zola will have to wait for the disappearance of quite a number of the ‘old gang” amongst the Academicians, before the coveted laurel-leaf embroidery shall deck his coat. Iam very sorry to see, from a Scotch paper, that my poor friend, John E. Barlas, the poet, has at last been and gone and done it for himself, and having been “ remitted ”’ by the Crieff autho- rities, consequent on an insane assault he com- mitted in that town, to the sheriff of Perth, has now been remitted to a lunatic asylum. Poor Barlas was a most brilliant scholar, and in the thirteen volumes of poetry which he published, under the pseudonym of Evelyn Douglas, there was much work of really the highest order. He created several new metres, many of most musical effect. I never met an English poet yet who took his vocation so entirely au sérieuw. The late ors  THE AUTHOR. 165 Doctor Hueffer, who read some articles of his about the Paris Salon, sad that they were the best pieces of art criticism which he had read for many years, but Barlas would stick to poetry in spite of my advice. Recently, however, he had taken to prose-writing for the reason that drives most of us unpractical poets to that, and was also trying his hand at fiction. I consider his unhappy end a decided loss to English letters. There was plenty of good stuff in John Evelyn Barlas. Se _ I met Dr. Blanche on the boulevards the other day, and asked him how De Maupassant went. The doctor threw his hands into the air in an un- equivocal gesture of despair. IT would have tried for more detail, only quailed under the eye of that mental juge d’instruction, the greatest mad doctor in Europe. I felt quite relieved when I had got round the corner of the Rue Scribe, and had not been asked by Blanche “to come along o’ me.” Itis pretty well known that De Maupas- sant is totally lost, and that the setting im of paralysis in its worst form is only a question of time. De Maupassant was the most truthful writer of the age. He was a thorough pessimist, and, come frankly, can one study human nature and. be otherwise ? It was grand training to read him, because the moral inoculation of pessimism is as necessary to a man as it is for him to be vacci- nated. If were a despot I should insist on having Schopenhauer, Hartmann, Leopardi, and De Maupassant included in the curriculum of my youthful studies. The man who has been so inoculated is prepared for all the filthy sorrows of life. Now JI, for instance, have, during the last months, been the victim of such treachery, cowardice, and vileness, that, but for my schooling, T should certainly have gone under, heart-broken. Well, nothing of the sort ; I was prepared for all these abominations, and to-day can enjoy my cigarette and my pernod aw sucre just as much as before. Your practical pessimist, taught to expect nothing but vileness from human nature, has more joy at one little act of kindness or of loyalty than a hundred optimists. I should like to commend to the notice of my readers a newspaper index which Mr. Edward Curtice, of Romeike and Curtice, proposes to publish daily, commencing on the new year. It is to be a large sheet, published at one penny, and will give the contents of all the publications of the day. This index will be invaluable to those who are interested in questions, and who want to know VOL. III. where to look in the periodical press for the latest utterances on the same. Rosert H. SHERARD. aes NOTES AND NEWS. Ss N looking at the September number of the Idler, I came across a paper by Grant Allen, to which I naturally turned. Presently, to my amazement, T found my own name mentioned in connection with one or two statements, which made me “‘sit-up.” In the first he speaks of the cost of production “so obnoxious to Mr. Walter Besant.” Why is the “cost of production ” obnoxious tome? The Society, through its officers, has, it is true, by dint of great trouble ascertained something like the real cost of producing the ordi- nary book. It has also published the results of this investigation ; and a very valuable work it is for the information and the protection of the author. Further, the Society has discovered that in many cases the author has been grossly over- charged as to the “cost of production.” But why is the cost of production obnoxious to me? The writer says, further, that he once paid a sum of money to get a book produced, and does not grumble—well! but how does that affect me—or anybody? Why, I ask again, is the cost of pro- duction obnoxious to me? ————— Next, Grant Allen says, “Mr. W. B. will have it that there is no such thing as generosity in publishers.” Where have I said anything so silly? Next, I suppose, one will be accused of saying that publishers have no natural affections, no pity, no fear, no anything. He then goes on to say that he has been treated with great generosity by Messrs. Chatto and Windus, who brought out his first book. What I have said over and over again, and probably shall repeat it over and over again, is that it is just as degrading for a man of letters to ask—or to accept—“ geue- rosity,” from a publisher, as it would be for a barrister to ask “ generosity ” of a solicitor. It is not generosity that we want, but justice. The administration, and the acquisition, and the sale of literary property may be governed, and must be governed, as soon as people understand the subject, by the same principles as govern other forms of property. Those who desire the indepen- dence of literature will jom the men and women who are working their hardest to place literary property on a footing equitable both to the author and the publisher. But to stand, hat in hand, blessing the generosity of the man with oO 166 the bag—when shall we agree that the spectacle is humiliating, and the attitude degrading ¥ What, again, is generosity? A publisher knows certainly, that a minimum of so much will be realized by any book that he undertakes. In the case of a new author even, he can, in the case of a novel, pretty certainly arrive at such a minimum. If he is a just and an honour- able man, he will, if he buys the book, give for it a sum calculated, as he considers, justly. The book is then his own. If he afterwards chooses to give the author more in the case of a success, that is due to his sense of justice over and above the letter of the law. But the author has no ground of complaint in any ease. But what of generosity? Where is that? It will be agreed that there is such a thing as a fair division of profits, I suppose. If he gives the author more, he robs himself and degrades the author ; if less, he robs the author and degrades himself. Now, let us look at the case quoted by Grant Allen. Ido not read it a case of “ generosity” at all, but as a case of great clearness of judgment. I can speak of this firm with greater freedom, because no one has as yet ventured to charge me with hostility to Chatto and Windus, who have published books by me for fifteen years, and I hope will continue to do so to the end of the chapter. My reading of the case is this: Mr. Chatto, discovering in Grant Allen a highly promising writer, encouraged him to write a novel; he then read the novel, and saw that it would go; he then bought the novel at what he considered a just price. By so doig he rendered the author the greatest possible ser- vice, a service of which Grant Allen shows himself honourably sensible. -But that a pub- lisher should have the literary acumen to find out a good man and to launch him; and that he should in his business arrangements display a spirit of equity—this reading seems to me far more creditable, as well as the more likely to be true, than the old dream of “ generosity,” which can only mean giving the author more than is his just and rightful due. Not “ generosity,’ my friend Grant Allen. Let us ask for anything but that. Not generosity. The man with the bag loves the word; he loves to be thought the Patron of Literature; he calls himself, whenever he can, the Patron of Literature; well, let him be “generous” to those who love the bended knee and the arching back. We will go rather to the man who stands upright and face to face with us; before whom we stand upright; who agrees with us according to the right and the Justice of the case. THE AUTHOR. Two great Americans have passed away, George William Curtis and the poet Whittier. Of the former, there has appeared in the New York Nation, a biographical paper which makes the English readers of that paper understand for the first time how great was the position occupied by this writer, and how extended was his influence. In this country, no man of letters would be allowed to occupy such a position, nor, I think, does any living man of letters aspire to such a position, That is to say, more than one leader in British politics is a man of letters; but he is a states- man first and a man of letters next. Mr. Glad- stone and Mr. Arthur Balfour are men of letters, but they are statesmen first. George William Curtis, like Lowell, was a man of letters first, and always, a man of letters before everything else. He lived by literature: at first he lectured until he was able to live by writing. He was also an orator: a finished and powerful speaker. He spoke on the anti-slavery side; he delivered eulogies upon Lowell and Bryant. He held numerous public offices. He was chairman in 1871 of the first Civil Service Commission ; he founded the Civil Service Reform Association— which has rescued 36,000 national offices from the old “spoil”? system ; he headed the Indepen- dent party, which refused to have Blaine for President; he was chairman of the Committee on Education—in this capacity he advocated the enlargement of women’s educational advantages ; he was Chancellor of the University of New York; he was President of the Metropolitan Museum; he was President of the National Conference of Unitarian Churches. The follow- ing is the conclusion of the Nation’s paper : In every personal relation he was a good man to know, a better man to love, as relative or friend. He was full of pleasant talk and golden memories of persons and events, nowhere more interesting and engaging than in some friendly circle ; everywhere, and especially in his own home, the least formidable of men, putting the most awkward at their ease. His most remarkable endowment was not any intellectual distinction, any imaginative force or originality of mind, but a character which united in itself the rarest gentleness and the sternest sense of duty and resolve to have it done. He was our Puritan cavalier. His gracious manners masked an iron will. He added nothing to our literature which did not make for kindness, charity, and peace; nothing to our politics which does not shame its ordinary levels and beckon it to higher things. These are very noble words. We who did not know Curtis personally may assume that they are well deserved. Are there many other American men of letters of whom such things could be written ? If so, then, indeed, that country should be proud of its authors. Let us ask, however, what such a man would be in our own country. Probably he would become an anonymous writer of leading articles. In his own circle of intimate E E f 5  THE AUTHOR. friends he would be known as a man of singular gifts, exercising a great and unknown amount of influence; outside his own circle he would be utterly unknown. And our own countryman would voluntarily live in the shade. He would not be able to speak ; he would be a shy man; he would avoid an active part in the work of the day. It is not well done of the modern English littérateur. He should come out of his retreat and take his share in the speaking and the fighting. SS The following lines are quoted by the New York Critic. They are from Lowell’s £ ‘pistle to George Curtis: 1874. Curtis, whose Wit, with Fancy arm in arm, Masks half its muscle in its skill to charm, And who so gently can the Wrong expose As sometimes to make converts, never foes, Or only such as good men must expect, Knaves sore with conscience of their own defect, I come with mild remonstrance. Ere I start, A kindlier errand interrupts my heart, And‘ must utter, though it vex your ears, The love, the honour felt so many years. Curtis, skilled equally with voice and pen To stir the hearts or mould the minds of men,— That voice whose music, for I’ve heard you sing Sweet as Casella, can with passion ring, That pen whose rapid ease ne’er trips with haste, Nor scrapes nor sputters, pointed with good taste, First Steele’s, then Goldsmith’s, next it came to you, Whom Thackeray rated best of all our crew,— Had letters kept you, every wreath were yours ; Had the World tempted, all its chariest doors Had swung on flattened hinges to admit Such high-bred manners, such good-natured wit ; At courts, in senates, who so fit to serve ? And both invited, but you would not swerve, All meaner prizes waiving, that you might In civic duty spend your heat and light, Unpaid, untrammelled, with a sweet disdain Refusing posts men grovel to attain. Good Man all own you; what is left me, then, To heighten praise with but Good Citizen ? But why this praise to make you blush and stare, And give a backache to your Easy-Chair ? * * * * * PostTscRIPT, 1887. Curtis, so wrote I thirteen years ago, Tost it unfinished by, and left it so ; Found lately, I have pieced it out, or tried, Since time for callid juncture was denied. Some of the verses pleased me, it is true, And still were pertinent,—those honouring you. These now I offer: take them if you will, Like the old hand-grasp, when at Shady Hill We met, or Staten Island, in the days When life was its own spur, nor needed praise. x % * * * 167 The death of Whittier removes one of the last surviving American writers of the old school. He, like Longfellow, Bryant, Lowell, Holmes, and a few others, was lmneally descended from Dryden, Pope, and Gold-mith. We must defer certain remarks on this poet for a month. The following is a list of “ favourite’ books drawn up by Benjamin Franklin in the year 1722, published in the New York Courant. It is reprinted in the New York Critic of August 20. “How many private libraries of the present day,” asks the Critic, “ have these books?” = = have, or have had, myself those marked with a star — rather more than half — and imine is a “ragged” library indeed. History of the Affairs of Europe, * The Tale of a Tub, Josephus Ant, History of France, Her. Moll’s Geography, British Apollo, Heylin’s Cosmography, Sandy’s Travels, * Du Bartas, Theory of the Earth, * Pliny’s Natural History, * Aristotle’s Politicks, * Roman History, * Athenian Oracle, Sum of Christian Theo- logy, Cotton Mather’s History of New England, Oldmixon’s History of American Colonies, Burnet’s History of the Reformation, * Hudibras, * Virgil, * The Spectator, * Milton, * The Turkish Spy, * The Guardian, Art of Speaking, Art of Thinking, The Lover, Bs Oldham’s Works, The Ladies’ Calling, Pacquett * Shakespeare’s Works, * St. Augustine’s Works. The Reader, Cowley’s Works, The Ladies’ Broken Open, * ae Those who love their Rabelais must make a note that the new translation by Mr. WF. Smith, one of the Lecturers and Fellows of St. John’s College, Cambridge, is on the point of appearing. It will be in two volumes royal 8vo., and will contain, as well as the Gargantua and Pantagruel, the minor writings, letters, &e. There are also notes, appendices, &c. Mr. W. F. Smith has long been known as a student of Rabelais. The edition is limited to 750, and is subscribed by Mr. A. P. Watt, 2, Paternoster- square, at 258. a Copy ; put, after a certain number are subscribed the price will be raised, so that those who wish to secure the work should make haste. Ladies of literary pursuits may like to know that the report of the Society for the Em- ployment of Women announces a new—and at present—remunerative field of industry for educated women. It is that of lecturing on domestic science. In many parts of the country 168 THE these lectures have been started, and at the present moment the demand is greater than the supply. The subjects of the lectures are samita- tion, personal and domestic hygiene, nursing, first aid to the injured, and artisan cookery with demonstrations. Instructions in these subjects can be obtained in London and other large centres. The qualities wanted, next to a knowledge of the subject, are especially the power of interesting an audience and of speaking. Perhaps it might prove more satisfa: tory in the long run to take up with lecturing than to crowd the ranks of candi- dates for the post of successful novelist. What has become of the guides to London? Has the scheme collapsed? We were to have had a service of lady guides, with a central office in communication with the great hotels, so that a guide could be obtained and one sent off at short notice. I fear the preliminary studies, without which it is impossible to become a trust- worthy guide, have proved tcoo much It seemed at one time a promising opening. Certainly, speaking as an amateur and occasional guide to London, it is very easy to interest a party. If this note should meet the eye of anyone who helped to start the Lady Guides Association, it would be taken as a kindness if he would send some particulars of the society and its history to the writer. Water Bzsanvt. ec FEUILLETON. i, My First Love. PYNHE children slept. A solitary evening loomed before me. Not the first by many a score and hundred. They had been laboriously filled in. Alisonand Macaulay aided and abetted me. Scott, Bulwer-Lytton, Charlotte Bronté helped ne with all their might. But to night reading palled. I looked around me wondering how I should get through the evening. Thus, with a sudden inspiration, I seized a pen, dashed into a story, and the world was transformed. The bursting of day in the tropics is not more gloom-dispelling. No longer were lonely even- ee a period of dread ; they were ardently longed or. Like secret conspirators my faithful quill and I plotted and wrote till midnight. Time dragged no longer. It flew. A year passed. oe is coming to-night to play chess,” AUTHOR. remarked a pleasant, clear-toned, voice at break. fast time. Its owner claims proprietorship over the house, goods and chattels, including myself. That cabalistic ceremony at St. George's, Hanover-square, has much to answer for. “ He has developed into a full-blown editor.” “B editor! Of what, the Meld or Sport- ing Chronicle?” “ Oh, no,” laughed the voice, muffled in toast. « A new weekly that H is starting, It is to outshine everything, and sell at sixpence.”’ He came, elated to the skies and brimming over with talk of the new project. His beloved chess failed to quash it. Even current rumour on the subject of the famous tournament fell flat. “We have one story by ———”’ (he named a leading author of the day, on the council of the society). ‘‘ But we are at our wits end where to find another. H talks of advertising.”’ My silly little heart gave a bound. In the supremest matter-of-fact tone I said ‘“‘I have one I could finish in a week or two, if you thought it would do.” “You! <A story, a novel!” I don’t know which was the more astonished, B or my husband. Five-and-twenty years ago, the crowd of women writers was infinitely less dense than now. Half exultant, half reluctant, I drew the MS. from its hiding-place. After turning a few pages, ‘ By Jove, it will do,’ exclaimed B : clapping his hands gleefully. ‘I must show it H ; but Iam confident he will have it.” I don’t think terms were ever mentioned or thought of. It was a significant coincidence that on the day of publication I happened to be in the Strand. I looked in at the office, and purchased a couple of numbers. Next day B arrived, to bring me a copy and report progress. Progress! it was stagnation: failure the most pronounced. “Up to five o’clock we had only sold four copies. Then a lady came and bought two. That is the sum total so far.’ But H . persists in being hopeful. ‘These things take time,” he says, ‘“‘and that lady ——” What could my eyes have said? J spoke never a word. “Oh, don’t, don’t,” he broke out in a voice of absolute anguish. ‘‘ Don’t say you were the lady. ‘A lady with a white veil,’ the boy said. You never wear a white veil, now, do you? Oh! it was balm of Gilead, her coming. H. sent for a bottle of fizz to drink it to her. ‘The lady in the white veil!’ Ah, don’t be so cruel as to say it was you. I daren’t tell H——,” followed  THE by a long-drawn sigh ; mournful as midnight breeze on dark Helvellyn. It had been arranged, after H saw it, that I should retain the MS. in my possession. I was anxious to revise it, and they would send for the instalments week by week. Each number was to have one full-page coloured illustration. I was honoured with it, the first number. wretched thing! The third week arrived, but lo and behold! no messenger from the office. Natu- rally I concluded the whole thing had collapsed. But no! In course of time the number appeared, and, located at its usual post, my story ! Had the MS., in desperation, sprouted wings and flown to the office? If so, like a homing pigeon it had returned, for there it lay, still in its brown paper wrapper. In horror I gazed at the heading of the chapter: ‘ My hounds are of the true Spartan breed.” And a lurid light burst upon my bewildered faculties. Dominated by his strong sporting proclivities, B had interpolated a chapter after his own fancy. Greyhounds and “saplings’”’—whatever that may be? I thought they were young trees—the Ridgway Club; Waterloo Cup; Ashdown Park coursing meeting ; poachers and an ancestral ghost swarmed in the foreground of my quiet Warwickshire scene. Explanation and apology followed in due course. Irregularities in the office. “ No one to send.’ “Knew I shouldn't mind;”? and so forth.” Not mind! How to scatter sharp to the four winds of heaven all this wretched rabble of hounds, ghosts, pups, and poachers, I don’t see. But it must be done. It will utterly ruin the next chapter, beside giving me an infinity of trouble. A popular writer—Mr. Percy B. St. John— on an urgent occasion, summoned his victims to the river side, enticed them into a boat, and immediately swamped it. I could not do that, although I had a river handy. Mine would not in “the loomp,’ I imagine, be amenable to reason. Well: H showed considerable mettle, and dropped it. He ran the magazine to some- thing like a dozen numbers before he Jost heart, and succumbed to circumstances. Both tales, as far as I remember, were, by editorial request, expeditiously wound-up. I was paid so much per column. The cheque for the whole was for £15. Many a story, both long and short, has been published since then. But my first love, wooed in secret, while the children were asleep, remains in statu quo to this day; a ghastly memory— dog-encumbered. AUTHOR. 169 1, «* What's the use ?’ Said the goose.” The Goose was old, and grey, and tough, when, by repeated disappointments, she was driven to make the above remark. Michaelmas after Michaelmas had passed over her head, and she ought to have been very thankful that she still possessed a head for another Michaelmas to pass over. It was more than many of her contemporaries could boast. She was a literary goose, be it known ; which, as everybody will admit, is the worst kind of goose possible. The most indigestible and giddy, if not dry and tough. She was born that way, poor thing, so let us not judge her too harshly. The great mistake of her life was, that she would lay nothing but literary eggs. It was foolish and obstinate of her to do. so; for all her best friends had told her, at least once a week, that the market was overstocked already, and the sooner she left off the better. Only a few, dear, foolish Ducks and Goslings of her acquaintance loved and admired them. This encouraged the old goose in her absurd practices, for the small circle of her relations and friends was all the world to her. One unlucky day (she had dreamed about stuffing and green apple-sauce the night before), she was introduced to a gander. Nota literary gander, though such he pretended to be, and he was wise, but he was wicked. Now he flattered this foolish goose, and told her her eggs were worth a lot of money. He could sell thousands of them, if she would only trust him ; and swore upon his honour (of which he had no more than Touchstone’s knight) as a gander and a gentle- man, that he would negotiate the matter success- fully, if she would give him enough green peas to provide him with dinners fora month. The goose, who was always afraid that the eggs would become stale, if not quickly sold, closed with the proposal at once, and, not without considerable difficulty, supplied him with the number of peas he required. The unprincipled gander, however, having eaten all the peas, dropped the basket of eggs and flew away, cackling hideously. Then our goose went home again, her vanity sorely wounded, for geese can be as vain as any other birds, great or small, of the feminine gender. But all her dear ducks and goslings came quacking and cackling round her, and loved and believed in her as fondly as ever. So she laid some more literary eggs (you see she was no fool, for experience did not make her wise); and then, as she gazed at them sadly, she asked the immortal question which rhymes so nicely with the name of her species. Can anyone answer her question ? THE THE SHELLEY CENTENARY. N R. EDMUND GOSSE, at the meeting of 170 the Shelley Centenary, delivered the following address : “We meet to-day to celebrate the fact that, exactly one hundred years ago, there was born, in an old house in this parish, one of the greatest of the English poets, one of the most individual and remarkable of the poets of the world. This beautiful county of Sussex, with its blowing woodlands andits shining downs, was even then not unaccust:med to poetic honours. One hundred and thirty years before it had given birth to Otway, seventy years before, to Collins. But charming as these pathetic figures were and are, not Collis and not Otway can compare for a moment with that writer who is the main intellectual glory of Sussex, the ever-beloved and ethereally illustrious Percy Bysshe Shelley. It has appeared to me that you might, as a Sussex audience gathered in a Sussex town, like to be reminded, before we go any further, of the exact connection of our poet with the county—of the stake, as it is called, which his family held in Sussex—and of the period of his own residence in it. You willsee that, although his native province lost him early, she had a strong claim upon his interests and associations. “Into the particulars of this strange life I need not pass. You know them well. No life so brief as Shelley’s has occupied so much curiosity, and for my patt I think that even too minute inquiry has been made concerning some of its details. The Harriet problem leaves its trail across one petal of this rose; minuter insects, not quite so slimy, Jurk where there should be nothing but colour and odour. We may well, I think, be content to-day to take the large romance of Shelley’s life, and leave any sordid details to oblivion. He died before he was quite thirty years of age, and the busy piety of biographers has peeped into the record of almost every day of the last ten of those years. What seems to me most wonderful is that a creature so nervous, so passionate, sill-disciplined as Shelley was, should be-able to come out of such an unprecedented ordeal with his shining garments so little specked with mire. Let us, at all events, to-day, think of the man only as “the peregrine falcon” that his best and oldest friends describe him. “We may, at all events, while a grateful Iing- land is cherishing Shelley’s memory, and con- gratulating herself on his majestic legacy of song to her, reflect almost with amusement on the very different attitude of public opinion seventy and even fifty years ago. That he should have been AUTHOR. pursued by calumny and’ prejudice through his brief, misrepresented life, and even beyond the tomb, can surprise no thinking spirit. It was not the poet who was attacked, it was the reyo- lutionist, the enemy of kings and priests, the extravagant and paradoxical humanitarian. It ig not needful, in order to defend Shelley’s genius aright, to inveigh against those who, taught in the prim school of eighteenth century poetics, and repelled by political and social peculiarities which they but dimly understood, poured out their reprobation of his verses. Hven his reviewers, ‘perhaps, were not all of them ‘ beaten hounds’ and ‘carrion kites;’ some, perhaps, were very respectable and rather narrow-minded English gentlemen, devoted to the poetry of Shenstone. The newer a thing is, in the true sense, the slower people are to accept it, avd the abuse of the Quarterly Review, rightly taken, was but a token of Shelley’s opulent originality. “To this unintelligent aversion there succeeded in the course of years an equally blind, although more amiable, admiration. Among a certain class of minds the reaction set in with absolute violence, and once more the centre of attention was not the poet and his poetry, but the faddist and his fads. Shelley was idealised, etherialised, and canonised. Expressions were used about his conduct and his opinions which would have been extravagant it employed to describe those of a virgin-martyr or of the founder of a religion. Vegetarians clustered around the eater of buns and raisins, revolutionists around the enemy of kings, social anarchists around the husband of Godwin’s daughter. Worse than all, those to whom the restraints of religion were hateful, marshalled themselves under the banner of the youth who had rashly styled himself an atheist, forgetful of the fact that all his best writings attest that, whatever name he might give himself, he, more than any other poet of the age, saw God in every- thing. This also was a phase, and passed away. The career of Shelley is no longer a battle-field for fanatics of one sort or the other; if they still skirmish a little in its obscurer corners, the main tract of itis not darkened with the smoke from their artillery. It lies, a fair open country of pure poetry, a province which comes as near to being fairy-land as any that literature provides for us. “ We cannot, however, think of this poet as of a writer of verses in the void. He is anything but the ‘idle singer of an empty day.’ Shelley was born amid extraordinary circumstances into an extraordinary age. On the very day, 100 years ago, when the champagne was being drunk in the hall of Field-place in honour of the birth of a son and heir to Mr. Timothy Shelley, the  thundercloud of revolution was breaking over Europe. Never before had there been felt within so short a space of time so general a crash of the political order of things. Here, in England, we were spectators of the wild and sundering stress, in which the other kingdoms of Europe were dis- tracted actors. The faces of Burke and of his friends wore ‘the expression of men who are going to defend themselves from murderers,’ and those murderers are called, during the infancy of Shelley, by many names, Mamelukes and Suliots, Poles and Swedes, besides the all-dreaded one of sans culottes. In the midst of this turmoil Shelley was born, and the air of revolution filled his veins with life. It is not for grey philosophers, or hermits wear- ing out the evening of life, to pass a definitive verdict on the poetry of Shelley. It is easy for critics of this temper to point out weak places in the radiant panoply, to say that this is incohe- rent, and that hysterical, and the other an ethe- real fallacy. Sympathy is needful, a recognition of the point of view, before we can begin to judge Shelley aright. We must throw ourselves back to what we were at twenty, and recollect how dazzling, how fresh, how full of colour, and melody, and odour, this poetry seemed to us— how like a May-day morning in a rich Italian garden, with a fountain, and with nightingales in the blossoming boughs of the orange trees, with the vision of a frosty Appennine beyond the belt of laurels, and clear auroral sky everywhere above our heads. We took him for what he seemed, ‘a pard-like spirit beautiful and swift, and we thought to criticise him as little as we thought to judge the murmur of the forest or the reflec- tions of the moonlight on the lake. He was exquisite, emancipated, young like ourselves, and yet as wise as a divinity. We followed him un- questioning, walking in step with his panthers, as the Bacchantes followed Dionysus out of India, intoxicated with enthusiasm. “Tf our sentiment is no longer so rhapsodical, shall we blame the poet? Hardly, I think. He has not grown older, it is we who are passing further and further from that happy eastern morning where the light is fresh, and the shadows plain and clearly defined. Over all our lives, over the lives of those of us who may be seeking to be least trammelled by the common-place, there creeps ever onward the stealthy tinge of conven- tionality, the admixture of the earthly. We cannot honestly wish it to be otherwise. It is the natural development, which turns kittens into cats, and blithe-hearted lads into earnest members of Parliament. If we try to resist this inevitable tendency, we merely become eccentric, a mockery to others, and a trouble to ourselves. Let us THE AUTHOR. 171 accept our respectability with becoming airs of gravity ; it is another thing to deny that youth was sweet.- When I see an elderly professor proving that the genius of Shelley has been over- rated, I cannot restrain a melancholy smile. What would he, what would I, give for that exquisite ardour, by the light of which all other poetry than Shelley’s seemed dim ? You recol- lect our poet’s curious phrase that to go to him for common-sense was like going to a gin-palace for mutton chops. The speech was a rash one, and has done him harm. But it is true enough that those who are conscious of the grossness of life, and are over-materialised, must go to him for the elixir and ether which emancipate the senses. “Tf Lam right in thinking that you will all be with me in considering this beautiful passion of youth, this recapturing of the illusions, as the most notable of the gifts of Shelley’s poetry to us, you will also, 1 think, agree with me in placing only second to it the witchery which enables this writer, more than any other, to seize the most tumultuous and agitat ing of the emotions, and present them to us coloured by the analogy of natural beauty. Whether it be the petulance of a solitary human being, to whom the little downy owl is a friend, or the sorrows and desires of Prometheus, on whom the primal elements attend as slaves, Shelley is able to mould his verse to the expression of feeling, and to harmonise natural phenomena to the magnitude or the delicacy of his theme. No other poet has so wide a grasp as he in this respect, no one sweeps so broadly the full diapason of man in nature. Laying hold of the general life of the universe with a boldness that is unparalleled, he is equal to the most sensitive of the naturalists in . his exact observation of tender and humble forms. “And to the ardour of fiery youth and the imaginative sympathy of pantheism, he adds what we might hardly expect from so rapt and tempestuous a singer, the artist’s self-restraint. Shelley is none of those of whom we are some- times told in these days, whose mission is too serious to he transmitted with the-arts of language, who are too much occupied with the substance to care about the form. All that is best in his exquisite collection of verse cries out against this wretched heresy. With all his modernity, his revolutionary instinct, his disdain of the unessential, his poetry is of the highest and most classic technical perfection. No one, among the moderns, has gone further than he in the just attention to poetic form, and there is so severe a precision in his most vibrating choruses that we are taken by them into the company, not  172 of the Ossians and the Walt Whitmans, not of those who feel, yet cannot control their feelings, but of those impeccable masters of style, who dwelt by the azure sea Of serene and golden Italy, Of Greece the mother of the free. « And now, most inadequately and tamely, yet I trust, with some sense of the greatness of my theme, I have endeavoured to recall to your minds certain of the cardinal qualities which animated the divine poet whom we celebrate to-day. I have no taste for those arrangements of our great writers which assign to them rank like schoolboys in a class, and I cannot venture to. suggest that Shelley stands above or below this or that brother immortal. But of this I am quite sure, that when the slender roll is called of those singers who make the poetry of England second only to that of Greece (if even of Greece), however few are named, Shelley must be among them. To-day, under the auspices of the greatest poet our language has produced since Shelley died, encouraged by universal public opimion and by dignitaries of all the professions, yes, even by prelates of our national Church, we are gathered here as a sign that the period of prejudice is over, that England is in sympathy at last with her beautiful wayward child, understands his great language, and is reconciled to his harmonious ministry. A century has gone by, and once more we acknowledge the truth of his own words: “The splendours of the firmament of time May be eclipsed, but are extinguished not ; Like stars to their appointed height they climb.” ee THE INSTITUTE OF JOURNALISTS. HE conference of the Institute of Journalists (which now numbers 3118 members) at Edinburgh this year proved to be a most interesting and enjoyable gathering. The impor- tant business of the meeting was the discussion and arrangement of the orphan fund scheme, the question of lineage, or the “usage” of news correspondence, which touches most closely the reporter, and the all important matter of estab- lishing an educational test to be applied to all wishing to enter the Institute, either as associates or members. This important step to prevent illiterate and incompetent men posing as journalists, created much discussion, and, incon- gruously enough, as the sitting was in the hall of their own university, the Edinburgh district moved that the time was not yet come for an THE AUTHOR. educational test to be imposed on those wishing to enter the Institute. Their principal reason for this motion appeared to be that in Scotland many men raised themselves from printers to journal- ists; but this was not considered by the con- ference to be a reason why such men should not also educate themselves, and a Mr. Duncan, of Aberdeen, stated that he had stepped from the composing room to the reporter’s desk, but he felt he would have been the better if some such examination had been forced upon him. A very large majority of the Conference were in favour of such a test, and, after a discussion as to whether it should not be more technical than the scheme submitted by the examination com- mittee, and as to the relative merits of Latin, French, and German, it was passed that in future all candidates must pass an examination, or pro- duce a recognised certificate, such as the Oxford or Cambridge examinations, before he would be elected a member of the Institute; Mr. Gilzcan Reid remarking that he hoped some day to see a school for journalists established. 'The members of the Conference were most interestingly enter- tained by the Lord Provost and Council of Edin- burgh, and at the annual dinner Lord Rosebery proposed the toast of the evening, ‘‘ The Institute of Journalists,” in what may be termed a most dramatic and humorous speech. Especially happy was he in comparing the work of a foreign secretary with that of a journalist. Both inter- viewed great personages, both received telegrams ; but the journalist received telegrams which in some way or other miscarried ere they reached the foreign secretary, as in the case of that telegram announcing the evacuation of Egypt. He likened the drawing together of all the journalists of the Empire to Imperial Federation, and he welcomed the fact that political speeches were being curtailed, and home and _ colonial topics more fully discussed. If Lord Rosebery held the audience intent, so also did Professor Masson, ina most earnest and powerful speech upon the power and danger of this huge and grand profession of journalism. With incisive phrases and energetic accents he urged journa- lists to intense accuracy and honourable fairness ; and he asserted that the Universities that were established to acquire knowledge must recognise the pro’ession of journalism, that disseminated knowledge. With apt literary allusion and quota- tion he emphasised his words, and charmed his audience, mostly members of that “‘ dangerous ”’ profession. As a Glasgow editor was elected president of the institute for the coming year, it was a very fitting ending to the Conference that the members went to Glasgow, and were most hospitably entertained by the Lord Provost of dy vfs ple THE AUTHOR. «) that city, the whole proceedings ending with a | day’s run amidst the hills and firths of the Clyde upon the famous steamer “ Columba,” which was placed at the disposal of the institute by Mr. David McBrayne. This last day proved remark- ably fine, and the Kyles of Bute and Arran Hills stood out beneath the blue cloud-flecked sky in all their loveliness as the steamer, with its journalistic freight, steamed amidst them. On the following day those who write newspapers that Sir George Trevelyan, at the Glasgow dinner, asserted all men must read—dispersed to all parts of the empire, for some were present from Europe, the Cape and India, and from Treland and Scotland and England. James BakER. AS CORRESPONDENCE. << S lie American COPYRIGHT. RIOR to the passing of the American Copy- right Bill I sent a short story to one of the London magazines. The editor accepted it, and forwarded me a cheque in payment, at the same time intimating that the copyright would remain my property. A few days after the appearance of the story in the magazine in question I re- ceived a second cheque from the editor for “American rights”—the only notice given me that my work had been used in the States. I was, naturally, very much edified to find that the story had seen the light both here and there, and the second cheque—which I had not anticipated receiving—was especially comforting. The 4th of July passed, and I sent the same magazine another paper, which was published in due course, and again a cheque for “ American rights”’ reached me. But the feeling of satis- faction with which the second cheque had filled me on the former occasion is now tempered by doubts as to the right of the editor to dispose of and republish my work in America without my permission. Whether in so doing he secured for me American copyright I do not quite know, but I observe that the date of the New York journal in which the story appeared—it was sent me by a friend who happened to see it—is four days ahead of the London magazine; the former being published on the 27th of the month, the latter on the 1st of the following month. The above details, it seems to me, bear on a point of the copyright question not hitherto dis- cussed in the Author. I would ask (1) whether an editor is privileged to republish in America #73 a work the copyright of which is the property of the author; and (2) whether, under the circum- stances given, the dual publication secures American copyright. A. B: I: CATALOGUING. In my “green salad” days—before unfor- tunately the Society of Authors was at hand to give advice to the unsophisticated—I signed an agreement with a firm of some repute for several of my books on half share terms. Thinking at that time that the publishers were good kind peopl> to bring out my lucubrations at all, nothing was inserted in the agreement about advertising. The books have had a steady sale ever since. When my first half-yearly account came in, my admiration for these good kind gentlemen was considerably damped when I found that, in addi- tion to charging 15 per cent. for publishing, each book was loaded with a charge of one guinea and a half for cataloguing. This went on for some time, until I became somewhat wiser in my gene- ration, and proceeded to kick at these impositions. Eventually I succeeded in getting half a guinea off each book; but I am sti'l charged two guineas per annum on each for cataloguing. My object in writing is to ask if this charge can be legally sustained? Of necessity most tradesmen must have a list of the wares they have for sale, and why not books? I could, of course, object to their insertion, but should in this case greatly damage their sale. I need hardly say since these days my arrangements as to publishing have become very different, and, thanks to the Society and its mouthpiece the Author, anyone trying to “have me on toast” in a similar way will find they are “ barking up the wrong tree’”’ as our American friends very expressively put it. Tyomas CwMRAG JONES. ———<—<— TT. Booxs For REvIEW. “Frequently books are sent to papers for review, and no review ever appears. When this is the case, should not editors return the books? Perhaps no review is better than a bad one; but this is questionable. — Many persons are not influenced by a review, but would rather judge of a book for themselves, and, unless the name of the book, author, and publisher be brought to their notice in a review or advertisement, how can they possibly judge of the merits of a book ? But when several books are sent to publishers 174 who neither acknowledge nor return them, it is a serious addition to the expenses of launching a book into the world.” [The question seems to resolve itself into this. Do we in sending a@ Lok for review rely on a tacit understanding that it will be reviewed—or do we send it on the chance that the editcr will see fit to give it a review ? | SS IV. Tur SHetLEY MErMoriAt. In the number of the Author for August there is a curiously worded sentence recommending, as a memorial to Shelley, ‘an institute something like the Shakespeare’s house at Stratford.” Which does the writer mean? Shakespeare’s house, his birthplace, or the small remains of the house he built, or the beautiful Memorial Theatre and Library, with the gardens by the side of the Avon, erected in the poet’s honour mainly by one of his fellow-townsmen, with the sympathy and collaboration of admirers throughout the English- speaking world. The cost of each of these three monuments would be easily ascertained, and I should be glad, if the last-named building be the one referred to, to furnish notes on what one man has done for the recovery of England’s greatest poet which might suggest in what manner another poct might be honoured. I may just add that during the thirteen years the Memorial Theatre has been opened twenty-four plays of Shakespeare’s have been produced in strict accordance with the original text; that the library contains an un- exampled collection of Shakespeare literature, including the precious folios and quartos; and that Mr. C. E. Flower has edited a most useful edition of Shakespeare’s plays, either for the stage or for reading aloud. HK. N. P. —— V. LirERATURE AS A CALLING. Mr. James Payn is displeased with Mr. Grant Allen’s pessimistic view of literature as a trade, and persists in recommending it as an agreeable and sufficiently lucrative calling. Mr. Payn* admits that upon the start he found much help and kindness, and, of course, his own talents did the rest. So genial a writer naturally remembers the kindness and the pleasures of success, and forgets the early pangs. But perhaps there are no black periods in his career to remember. Writing as a woman of some literary expe- riences, I am inclined to believe that no view of * Notes of the Week, Illustrated London News, Sept. 17. THE AUTHOR. literature as a pursuit can be too sombre and dis- couraging. It ought to be regarded solely as an affair for people of independent means, though those among my acquaintances rail as bitterly against editors and publishers as we poor wretches who live and eat, say, bread and roots by their good pleasure. I have published half a dozen books, of which one at least has reached a third edition (without lending any extra weight to my purse, alas!). I have had stories in good magazines and articles in good papers, and been permitted at odd times to try my hand upon every kind of journalism, from leading articles, provincial letters, and reviewing, to descriptive reporting and para- graphs. A wealthy newspaper proprietor en- gaged me to write about half of his newspaper, a leaderette, two columns of notes of the week, and usually a couple of miscellaneous articles, as well as the selection of several lots of cuttings. I received the magnificent pay of £1 a week. One year onlydid I make the colossal sum of of £130; every other I am thankful to get as far as £80. Will Mr. Payn contend that these results are satisfactory? ‘True, unlike Mr. Payn, I have never found help or any kindness from my literary superiors—rather the reverse. True also, I am of vagabond tastes, like foreign wanderings and a novel on a sofa rather than the desk. These may be impediments to success, but I have fully tested | the disadvantages of the choice of rash youth, the one thing to which I have shown a misguided fidelity. x VI. Tue Crvin List. On receiving my copy of the Author for September, I was much struck by an article headed “The Civil List,’ from which it appears to me that the writer has not studied his subject with sufficient impartiality. I am not myself aware for what precise class of individuals the benefits of the Civil List Pensions were originally designed, but if, as your correspondent infers, they were for those who have advanced the causes of litera- ture, science, and art, why, in the name of wonder, should consuls and their widows be excluded ? Why should a man be neither literary, scien- tific, nor artistic because he is a consul ? Further on in the same article we are told, with some bitterness, that ‘‘to be the widow of a consul is to be assessed at a pension of £120 a year, while to be the widow of the greatest historian of the day only entitles one to a pension of £100.” Then we hear of “a malign influ- ence ” at work to produce this dire result. Iam far from denying that there may be frequent ani iy 10S fou eu eo  Lah AUTHOR. mistakes in the granting of the pensions dis- cussed, or even that ‘a job” is never known in connection therewith; but surely the bestowers take some account of the pecuniary circumstances of the recipients? If “the greatest historian of the day” has left his widow £20 a year more than the unfortunate consul could leave to his, why should not the difference be adjusted in their respective grants ? But the sentence with which I quarrel the most is the following, evidently written satiri- cally : “Let the pension, which should have been hers (referring to a contemporary novelist), be given to the widows and daughters of men in the Civil Service who have nothing whatever to do with literature, science, or art.” Presumably, this scathing statement applies to consuls, yet without great searchings of memory it appears to me that the Consular Corps has other claims than its civil ones. What about Sir Richard Burton, or Mr. Palgrave, or Mr. Oswald Crauford as far as literature goes ? or say, Consul O'Neill, long at Mozambique, a gold medallist of the Geographical Society, or Sir John Kirk, once one of Livingstone’s party ? Have not these done something for science ? My husband and J, ina very small way, have done something for natural history. That department of the South Kensington Museum has been at various times glad to accept various objects, osteological and otherwise, collected and prepared by us. It has algo shown its apprecia- tion of our efforts by asking us to continue them by collecting some specimens required. Once even, I wrote a story; it was not a pecuniary success; but, as the comforting Author has often assured us, that is no criterion of merit. Yet if I were unfortunately left a needy widow— consuls are not highly paid, their lives are expen- sive, and the contingency is not impossible—I should, according to your correspondent, have no claim on the pension fund because the Consular Corps has nothing to do with either literature, science, or art. A Consuu’s Wire. [Nobody, surely, objects to a pension being bestowed upon a consul’s wife or widow if the consul has literary, scientific, or artistic claims, If he has none, he has no claim to a fund which is granted for literature, science, and art,— Eprror. | ee es SIE eh “AT THE AUTHOR'S HEAD.” M* EDMUND GOSSE joins the company / of novelists. His first work of fiction will be published immediately by Heine- mann. Let us hope that it will be the first of many. A new and cheaper edition of Mr. J. E. Gore’s “ Scenery of the Heavens” will be published immediately by Messrs. R. A. Sutton and Co., 11, Ludgate-hill. Vols. IV. and V. of “The Poets and Poetry of the Century ”’ are the next to appear. The editor, Mr. Alfred H. Miles, is himself responsible for many of the articles, and among the other con- tributors are Dr. Garnett, Dr. Furnivall, Mr. Austin Dobson, Mr. A. H. Bullen, Mr. Joseph Knight, Dr. Japp, Mr. Ashcroft Noble, and Mr. Mackenzie Bell. Mr. Andrew W. Tuer, of the Leadenhall Press, is engaged on a little work on Horn-Books, and desires it to be known that he will be grateful for references to material and examples. The June, July, and August numbers of the Eastern and Western Review contain respec- tively a story, ‘The Painter’s Daughter,” a paper on quaint customs in rural Greece, and a tale translated from the Greek of Karkabitsas. By Mrs. E. M. Edmonds. Mrs. Edmonds has also in the press an original story called “The History of a Church Mouse.” Publishers, Messrs. Law- rence and Bullen. Here is a useful little book; not a literary little book: a useful book. It is called “The Best Thing to Do.” It is written by Mr. ©. J. L. Thompson, and it is published at the Record Press, 374, Strand, for one shilling, Those who read this book will have a great deal of practical evidence about common ailments, clothing, sea sickness, accidents, &c. The Record Press is new to us. Its list contains works chiefly on Nursing, Hospital Work, &c. A new edition of “ Steam Pumps and Pumping : a Handbook for Pump Users,’ by Mr. Powis Bale, A.M.L.C.S., has just been issued by Messrs. Crosby, Lockwood, and Son, Stationers’ Hall- court, E.C. The record of the Shelley Centenary Celebra- tion at Horsham is to be preserved in a permanent form. A pamphlet containing Mr. Edmund Gosse’s address, the speeches of Professor J. Nichol and Mr. Frederic Harrison, together with press and personal notices, has been compiled and edited by the Hon. Secs., Messrs. J. Stanley Little and J. J. Robinson, and will be issued shortly. 176 “ An Order to View,” by “ Lohta Talsduan” (Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, and Co.), is described by the author as a “ record of pain- ful, personal experiences connected with the dis- posal of a country house.” Thatis his way of putting it. The volume is, in fact, a gossiping, pleasant, rambling talk about a great many things. Mr. Henry Neville’s new collection of stories “Tn the Tilt Yard of Life,’ is published by Ward and Downey. It consists of “ Barbara’s Confession,” ‘ Elizabeth’s Confession,” ‘The Best Friend,” ‘Golden Gates,’ ‘Silas Single- ton,” “A Jew in Moscow,” “ Gritty’s Glove,” &e. The author does not tell us if the stories have already appeared elsewhere. If the reader is not familiar with them, he will do well to get the volume and read the book. Certain remarks were quoted in the August number of the Author as from the Salisbury and Winchester Times. It should have been from the Salisbury and Winchester Journal. A correspondent says: “I not only write my own books, but I print, illustrate, and bind them. I select the material and the type; I design the cover, and I give the book, on commission, to a firm which publishes many books in that way.” His last book is before me. Paper, printing, and binding are all good; the binding especially is excellent. By this plan, the author may pay a little more than a publisher would for production, but then, if the publisher sends in a false return, as is too often done, the author is no better for the saving. He pays a commission-fee, of course, but would a publisher let him off so easily in any other system? The weak point is the advertising. If any reader of these lines wishes to follow this example, the Society would be ready to advise him on this head. A correspondent writes @ propos of the verses, “The Lame Boy,” which appeared in the Author of September. I have just returned from Shet- land, where I met a rising young author, Mr. J. H. B. This young man has so far lost the use of his eyesight that he can no longer read, and can hardly see a few yards. He teaches navigation and other subjects in Lerwick ; is the author of two books, one in prose and one in verse, and is now writing a novel. His poems have gone into a second edition. He is in excel- lent spirits, and the loss of his eyesight does not seem to have had any effect upon him.” The third edition of Mr. J. B. Crozier’s book, “ Civilisation and Progress” will be ready on Noy. 1. Price 14s. Publishers, Messrs. Long- mans and Co. THE AUTHOR. In another column will be found a letter on the subject of books for review. A prospectus of a new paper to be called Pleasure, is lying on the table. In this, the editor promises to return press copies which are sent to him, and do not, for some reason or other, receive a review. Mr. Edmund Clarence Stedman has received from Columbia College, the degree of Doctor of Letters. The college deserves our warmest con- gratulations. It is said that Dr. Stedman’s lecture on the “ Nature and Elements of Poetry,” given at the Johns Hopkins, Philadelphia, and Chicago Universities was the last addition to his work and reputation which determined Columbia College. The lecture is to be issued in book form immediately by Messrs. Houghton, Miffiin, and Co. I hope there will be an English edition. Mr. Douglas Sladen has been correcting the proofs for his new book on Japan, which will appear very shortly. Mr. J. Stanley Little continues his articles on “ Aspects and Tendencies of Current Fiction ” in the Library Review, to the September number of which he also contributes a paper entitled “ Why Honour Shelley ?”’ The Independent Theatre Society will give their next performance on Friday evening, Oct. 21, when a new stage version of Webster's tragedy, ‘The Duchess of Malfi,” will be pro- duced with a specially selected caste under the direction of Mr. William Poel, member of council New Shakespeare Society, and Mr. H. de Lange. Dr. G. C. Williamson, of the Mount, Guildford, has in preparation a monograph on John Russell, R.A., the famous crayon artist of the early part of this century. The Queen has granted him permission to photograph five pictures by Russell in her possession. The diploma picture by Russell in the Royal Academy will also be reproduced in the volume. Dr. Williamson invites owners of Russell’s pictures to communicate with him. Mr. Edward Stanford will shortly publish a second edition (considerably rewritten and much enlarged) of Mr. Reynold Ball’s ‘‘ Mediterranean Winter Resorts.” The new edition will contain special articles on the principal invalid stations by eminent medical authorities practising on the Continent. Mrs. Edith E. Cuthell’s yachting story, “ The Wee Widow’s Cruise in quiet Waters,” which has just finished running in the Lady’s Pictorial, is to be published immediately in New York by the Cassell Publishing Company.  THE AUTHOR. H.R.H. The Duchess of Connaught has been pleased to accept the dedication of Mrs. Edith E. Cuthell’s new children’s story “ Only a Guard- room Dog,’ to be published next month by Messrs. Methuen, illustrated by W. Parkinson. Messrs. Chatto and Windus will publish shortly a novel entitled “A Family Likeness,” by Mrs. B. M. Croker. ee FROM THE PAPERS. ? R. LAUDER BRUNTON has made a D discovery which ought to entitle him to the gratitude of all who live by intellectual labour. It is nothing less than the secret of how to have ideas at will. One night, after a long day’s work, this eminent physician was called upon to write an article immediately. He sat down with pen, ink, and paper before him, but not a single idea came into his head, not a single word could he write. Lying back, he then soliloquised, ‘‘ The brain is the same as it was yesterday, and it worked then; why will it not work to-day.” Then it occurred to him that the day before he was not so tired, and that probably the circulation was a little brisker than to-day. He next considered the various experiments on the connection between cerebral circulation and mental activity, and concluded that if the blood would not come to the brain the best thing would be to bring the brain down to the blood. It was at this moment that he was seized with the happy thought of laying his head “flat upon the table. At once his ideas began to flow and his pen to run across the paper.’ By and by Dr. Brunton{thought “I am getting on so well I may sit up now. But it would not do. “The moment,” he continues, “that I raised my head, my mind became an utter blank, so I put my head down again flat upon the table, and finished my article in that position.””—Leeds Mercury, July 30, 1892. It is a great satisfaction to feel that among the many young makers of verse in England there are a few real poets. Among these, and one of the youngest of them, is Mr. William Watson, who recently acquired an enviable prominence as a poet through a slender volume of excellent verse, entitled “‘ Wordsworth’s Grave, and other Poems.” The contents of that volume, with the addition of twenty or more new pieces, now reappear as “Poems by William Watson,” and they are fine enough to convince one that this poet is the fore- 7 most among his contemporaries. He has imagina- tion; he is thoughtful; he has a gift of expression and a freshness of phrase which give a delightful charm to his work; he has style and, above all, a poet’s high regard for the rules governing his art.— New York Critic. ————+ From an address to Oliver Wendell Holmes on his 83rd birthday : Last of a line, behold the veteran stand, The lance of wit still trembling in his hand, With locks all whitened now, but holding still A cheerful courage, an enduring will; Last of a race of bards,—too proud to climb Into the saddle of new-fashioned rhyme, Too wise to value art o’er lucid sense, Too brave to draw the curb on eloquence, Not always deep, perhaps, in flow of song, But full-voiced, limpid, tuneful, fluent, strong. A voice, gay, genial, grave,—still true to guide From erring ways kot youth’s impatient stride ; A humour keen, yet with no rankling smart, Its champagne sparkles bubbling from the heart ; A wit perennial and a fancy free, The bloom of spring on life’s long-wintered tree ; A heart as tender as a lover’s thought A falcon spirit, fearless, firmly wrought, Quick to detect, yet tardy to condemn, Well armed with pungent, pointed apothegm ; Shrewd Yankee mind with graft of learning’s fruit ; An ear fine-tuned as Blondel’s joyous lute ; As sly and quaint as Shandy in his style With something of the Frenchman in his smile. At four-score still a bright-eyed, kindly man, Part courtier-cavalier, part Puritan ; Reverend where’er the rose of culture grows, From austral summer to Alaskan snows ; A school-boy’s eye beneath his doctor’s hat, Our love-crowned poet, laureled Autocrat. CRAVEN LANGSTROTH BETTS. New York Critic. What Mr. Stedman did for Austin Dobson ten years ago is done for William Sharpe now by Thomas A. Janvier, whose introduction to “Flower o’ the Vine” is prose with the grace of poetry, happily conceived and felicitously appro- priate. ‘Flower o’ the Vine” contains the sub- stance of two recent volumes of Mr. Sharpe’s verse—“ Romantic Ballads and Poems of Phan- tasy” (London) and “ Sospiri di Roma ” (Rome) Poems of the North and of the South—the first exhibiting a fine power of imagination, the second rich in fancy and exquisite bits of description. Of each of these collections we have already had something to say. Let us now take a word from the genial host who speaks thus of his guest's credentials: “Here, joined, but not blended, is the poetry of the South and of the North. It is an inversion of that curious process by which the waters of the White and Blue rivers, whereof the 178 Nile is made, flowing out from separate sources, journey on together in the same channel for a long while without mingling. In this case, the two streams of verse come from the same source —yet instantly are so distinct and separate that the most acutely critical of observers would not be likely to refer them to a common origin : His ballads are not mere masses of rhymes dexterously fitted together; they are poems with living souls I do hold to be remarkable this merging of two distinct patents of poetic nobility in a single fortunate heir.” “ Flower of the Vine”’ ought. to come into the hands of every lover of fine poetry.— New York Critic. <S—— A check has been put, by the decision of an American judge, upon the attempt to strain the interpretation of a clause in the McKinley Tariff Act in such a way as to prevent the importation duty free into the United States of old books that have been partially rebound within twenty years. The question is one of considerable importance. As book collectors know to their cost, there has long been a considerable demand for old books in this country to be exported to America. As it would be absurd to regard a copy of an old English book—say a first folio of Shakespeare, or the precious little volume contaiming Keats’s “ Tamia,’ and ‘‘ Hyperion”—as competing with any American industry. Congress wisely deter- mined that old books should be exempt, and it fixed the limit at twenty years. But, owing toa construction, which seems to turn partly on the absence of a comma, it was contended that the mere repair of the binding—and most old books in the original binding have been ‘backed ”’ or otherwise repaired — within that time would entail forfeiture of the privilege. Judge Putnam, however, of the Circuit Court of the United States for the district of Massachusetts, has decided that books that have been bound for twenty years are entitled to free entry in spite of -subsequent repairs. His words are: ‘‘ I would -regard them as so entitled, even though it also appeared. that, in consequenee of accident or ordinary use, they had needed and received ‘repairs in all respects equal in extent to new and -original binding.”’— Daily News. THE AUTHOR. NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. Theology. “A MessaGe To Earru.” Published in conjunction with the writings recognised by the Esoteric Christian Union as appertaining to the “ New Gospel of Inter- pretation. Lamley and Co. Paper covers, 1s. Bernarp, T. D., M.A. The Central Teaching of Jesus Christ. A study and exposition of the five chapters of the Gospel according to St. John, xiii. to xvii. inclusive. Macmillan. 7s. 6d. Devine, Rev. ArtHur. The Creed Explained; or, an an Exposition of Catholic Doctrine according to the Creeds of Faith and the Constitutions and Definitious of the Church. R. Washbourne. Kennion, R. W. Unity and Order; the Handmaids of Truth. An inquiry into God’s will and our duty con- cerning the Unity and Order of the Visible Church, with special reference to the Church of England and those who dissent from it. Second edition, revised. Seeley and Co. Lieutroot, J. B., D.D., D.C.L. Dissertations on the Apostolic Age. Reprinted from editions of St. Paul’s Epistles. Published by the Trustees of the Lightfoot Fund. Macmillan. 14s. LirTLeEHALES, Henry. The Prymer; or, Prayer-book of the Lay People in the Middle Ages. In English, dating about 1400 A.p. Edited, with introduction and notes from the manuscript (G24) in St. John’s College, Cambridge. Part II., Collation of MSS. 5s. Smytu, Newman, D.D. Christian Ethics. Volume of the International Theological Library. T.and T. Clarke, Edinburgh, tos. 6d. History and Biography. ANDREWS, WILLIAM. Bygone England; Social Studies in its Historic Byways and Highways. Co. 6s. Armstrone, E. The French Wars of Religion; Their Political Aspects. An expansion of three lectures delivered before the Oxford University Extension Summer Meeting of August, 1892. Percival and Co. 4s. 6d. Bourke, Hon. ALGERNON. The History of White’s, with the Betting Book from 1743 to 1878, and a List of Members from 1736 to 1892. Edition de Luxe. In two vols. 39a, St. James’s-street, S.W. CARLYLE, THOMAS. Oliver Cromwell’s Letters and Speeches : with Elucidations. Three vols. complete in one. Reprinted from the author’s second revised edition. Ward, Lock, and Co. 2s. Conway, Moncurn, D. The Life of Thomas Paine. With a History of His Literary, Political, and Religious Career in America, France, and England. To which is added a sketch of Paine by William Cobbett, hitherto unpublished. In two vols. G. P. Putnam’s Sons. The Right Hon. William Ewart Lord Shaftesbury and General Is. each. GARNIER, Russett M. History of the English Landed Interest: Its Customs, Laws, and Agriculture. Swan Sonnenschein and Co. Hutchinson and Evuis, Rev. Jamus J. Gladstone, 2s. 6d. Viscount Wolseley.  Mewnstavux, MarirE DE. THE AUTHOR. Gasquet, Francis A., D.D. Henry, VIII. and the English Monasteries: an attempt to illustrate the history of their suppression, with an appendix and maps showing the situation of the Religious Houses at the time of their dissolution. New Edition. . With illustrations. Parts IV.and V. John Hodges. Paper covers, 2s. Gossips oF THE CENTURY: Personal and Traditional Memoirs—Social, Literary, Artistic, &c. By the author of “ Flemish Interiors,” “‘ De Omnibus Rebus,” &c. In two vols. Ward and Downey. 42s. Hitz, Joun,M.A. Memoirs of Baron Ompteda, Colonel in the King’s German Legion, 26th Noy. 1765, to 18th June, 1815. Translated by. With portrait. H. Grevel and Co. Jones, Mrs. Hersert. The Worthies of Norwich. Norwich, Jarrold and Sons. A History of Watches and other Paper covers. KENDAL, J. FRANCIS. Timekeepers. Illustrated. Crosby Lockwood and Son. Card covers. ts. 6d. Kinestey, Cuaruus. Alton Locke, Tailor and Poet. With an introduction by Coulson Kernahan. The Minerva Library of Famous Books. Ward, Lock, and Co. 28. LANnE-Pooiz, STANLEY. The History of the Moghul Emperors of Hindustan, Illustrated by their Coins. With a map. Archibald Constable and Co. Leexy, W. E.H. A History of Ireland in the Eighteenth Century. New edition. Vol. II. Longmans. 6s. Magen, W.C.,D.D. Speeches and Addresses. Edited by Charles 8. Magee, Barrister-at-Law. Isbister and Co. 7s. 6d. Trebelli: A Biographical Sketch Illustrated. Second Paper covers. Is. and Reminiscences of her Life. edition. Henry Potter and Co. Penuey, Betvitte S. The Bath Stage: a History of Dramatic Representations in Bath. Illustrated. Bath Herald office, Fleet-street. Smitu, GrorcE, LL.D. Henry Martyn, Saint and Scholar First Modern Missionary to the Mahomedans. 1781 to 1812. Religious Tract Society. 10s: 6d. Sprrpy, Tom. 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A aches ‘ beat Writes over 150 words with one dip. ‘‘Seems endowed with the magician’s art.” Sold everywhere, 6d. and ls. per box. ¢> Sample box, with all the kinds, 1s. 1d. by Post MAGNIVEN & CAMERON, Wavertey Works, EDINBURGH Jit AUTHORS’ AGENCY. Established 1879. 1, Paternoster Row. examined on behalf of Authors MRS. Gilg, TYPE-WRITING OFFICE, 35, LUDGATE HILL, E.C. (ESTABLISHED 1883.) 20. Authors’ MSS, carefully copied from ts. per 1000 words. Plays, &c., 1s. 3d. per 1000 words. Reference kindly permitted to Walter Besant, Esq. Miss PATTEN, s TYPASE, 44, Oakley Street Flats, Chelsea, S.W. AutTHors’ MSS. CarEFULLY TRANSCRIBED. REFERENCE KINDLY PERMITTED TO GEORGE AuausTus Sana, Esq. Hire-Resisting Safe for MSS. Particulars on Application. Stickphast PASTE for joining papers and sticking in scraps: Sixpence and One Shilling, with strong useful brush. AUTHORS. The skilled revision, the honest and competent criticism, and the offering of MSS. in the American market, are the specialities of the New York Burean of Revision. Established 1880. Endorsed by George W. Curtis, J. R. Lowell, and many authors.—20 W., Fourteenth-street, New York. Proprietor, Mr. A. M. BURGHES, The interests of Authors capably represented. Proposed agreements and estimates - MS. placed with Publishers. practical experience in all kinds of publishing and book producing. Consultation free. leading Authors on application to Mr. A. M. Burghes, Authors’ Agent, 1, Paternoster-row. Transfers carefully conducted. Twenty-five years’ Terms and testimonials from Printed and Published by Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream’s-buildings, London, E.C. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 03 Issue 05 (October 1892) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 03 Issue 05 (October 1892) Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1892-10-01-The-Author-3-5 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/444/1892-11-01-The-Author-3-6.pdf 14b0d89be86129506ced10b948671d2b PDF Text Text ������������������������������������������ Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1892-11-01 Volume 3 Issue 6 Pages Page range in volume 185–224 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18921101 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin The Hutbhor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vou. III.—No. 6.] NOVEMBER 1, 1892. [PRICE SIXPENCE. CONTENTS. Warnings aa s ere ee We ae ee w. page 187 { Feuilleton— How to Use the Society... ene oe ue see ee w. 188 1.—The Porter of Bagdad a os + page 203 The Authors’ Syndicate’... mee mee ce oe ee Se 188} 2,—Cacoethes Scribendi: An Apology... as tee soe 205 Notices... on ae ce seh Sc ee os aE ... 189 | The Moss Land. By Hume Nisbet. ... a a ae Jo 308 Literary Property— The Preservation of Autographs ... We ae ae si ae 206 1.—Magazines and Copyright oo aes sce se <-- 190 The Irritability of Authors we oe sis wee ae «.- 208 2.—The Bookseller on Fraud ... oe sas Ros ses 252 190 Correspondence— 3.—A Proposed Agreement ... i nen oe ee we 19l | 1.—Author and Editor... oe ee ae oe aS see 20 4.—Answering an Advertisement ... ae a a ae LOL 5 2.—Defamatory Criticism... oe ae Se ste eee 210 5.—An Editor’s Rights... Ree ae aoe aes ace eo» 192 3.—American Copyright en as oo ae ce S506 210 Fraudulent Authors ... ees e ae oe ae Lee er kao | 4,—Literary Criticism ... ma ae oe aes a se SAL The Ranks of Fiction eee ace ows tee =e eee 19h 5.—The Proposed Shelley Library ... ae eas oe see bl. Notesfrom Paris... se Hs = we wee ae wo» 196 | 6.—A Perplexed Pen ... ose wae aS a ves ee Oe John Greenleaf Whittier, By Clive Holland ... ae wer ean | 7.—Titles ... aoe wok Bae sis ae vey nae ees ae Our Late President ... Aan ee uae es tas ae «ve 199 8,—Editors’ Rights aes es wee = ion tue eo2ie Notes and News ce ies Wo mic ue an les w- 199 “At the Author’s Head” ... ae ves vee ies es ase 218 In Memoriam: a Hymn. By Rey. H. D. Rawnsley ... rue ... 203 | New Books and New Editions... ies aes A ee cee Lb PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report, That for January 1892 can be had on application to the Secretary. 9. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members. 3. The Grievances of Authors. (The Leadenhall Press.) 1s. The Report of three Meetings on the general subject of Literature and its defence, held at Willis’s Rooms, March, 1887. 4. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Cours, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher 95, Strand, W.C.) 3s. 5. The History of the Société des Gens de Lettres. By 8. Squire Spriaez, late Secretary to the Society. Is. 6. The Cost of Production. | In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c., with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, WC, 25:6. 7. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squire Spricaz. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society’s offices, the various forms of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3s. : o . Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell’s Copyright Bill now before Parlia- ment. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lexy. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1s, 6d, : 186 ADVERTISEMENTS. THE LINOTYPE GOMIPOSING MACHINE. SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR BOOKWORK. “A MIGHTY BUT PEACEFUL REVOLUTION.” OPINIONS OF VARIOUS NEWSPAPERS ON THE LINOTYPE. For full List of Experts’ Reports and Opinions apply to the Company’s Secretary for Pamphlet. “Tt will do away with type, and composition, and distribution, as now practised, will be known no more.”— Manchester Courier. ** Saves 70 per cent. in cost of composing, and from three- fourths to nine-tenths in time.”—Shefield and Rotherham Independent. “Tt bids fair to revolutionise the present system, especially of newspaper production, for which it seems peculiarly well adapted. The instrument is one of the most beautiful and ingenious pieces of mechanism ever introduced in connection with the art of printing.” —Scotsman. “The absolute saving of distribution, which is reckoned as equivalent to one quarter of the cost of composition, is an important factor in the economy of this machine. With it comes emancipation from the frequent errors arising from faulty distribution. To pye matter is impossible. Unquestionably the most remarkable machine ever invented in the art of printing.” —The Printers’ Register. “Tt stands to reason that an invention that economises as well as expedites work, without aiming a blow at those who had previously done without it, must be a success.” —Echo. “The rapidity and accuracy of the process impressed Mr. Gladstone very powerfully, or, as he expressed it himself, it ‘staggered’ him.”—Daily Chronicle. “ One of the most remarkable machines ever invented.” — Engineer. “A steam-driven, type-composing and casting machine which really promises to bring about a revolution in the composing-rooms of newspaper and book printing offices,” Eng —Home and Colonial Mail. “This remarkable invention promises to revolutionise all our ideas as to type-setting by machinery. It dispenses with movable type, and substitutes matrices in which the letters are cast in solid lines.”—Leeds Mercury. “One of the most remarkable labour-saving Machines ever devised in an age remarkable for such inventions.” —Western Mail (Cardiff). “The work never stops, line after line is added with astonishing smoothness and regularity.” —Newcastle Daily Chronicle. “Has come into existence to create amazement, where surprise hitherto found a home. “ The Linotype, to be brief, is a machine which does away with the present expensive and slow method of type-setting. It performs all the work of a compositor automatically, with greater precision and with far more rapidity. The most important feature of the patent, however, lies in the enormous saving it effects in the cost of setting, while a no less startling fact is that the labour of ‘ distributing,’ or the putting of the type back into cases, is dispensed with.”— Admiralty and Horse Guards Gazette. “ Printing without types. A marvellous machine that makes fresh types for every line. The advance of industrial science is so rapid that this machine must, sooner or later, come into extensive use.”—Evening News and Post (London). THE ECONOMIC PRINTING & PUBLISHING CO. LIMITED, 39, BOUVERIE STREET, FLEET STREET, E.C., Having acquired the monopoly of Linotype Machines in London (excepting Newspaper Offices), are in a position to quote decidedly advantageous Prices to Authors for the Composition of Books by Linotype, and also undertake the Printing, being well equipped with Printing Machinery by the best makers,  The Huthor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors, Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vou. III. —No. 6.] NOVEMBER 1, 1802. [PRIcE SIXPENCE. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or tnitialled the Authors alone are responsible. ERRATUM. We were made to talk nonsense in our last number. We wrote “ we do not make—we never have made”—such and such a statement. This appeared “we do not guake—we never have made—” &e. mee WARNINGS. > Sprcran Warninc. — Readers are most URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements immediately after signature. Tf this precaution is neglected for two weeks, a fine of £10 must be paid before the agreement can be used as a legal document. In almost every case brought to the secretary the agreement, or the letter which serves for one, is without the stamp. The author may be assured that the other party to the agreement never neglects this simple pre- caution, The stamp duty varies from 6d. up to Ios. or more, according to the form of agreement. The Society, to save trouble, undertakes to get all the agreements of members stamped for them at no expense to themselves except the cost of the stamp. Reapers of the Author are earnestly desired to make the following warnings as widely known as possible. They are based on the experience of seven years’ work upon the dangers to which literary property is exposed :— (1.) Never sign any agreement of which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part, until you have proved the figures, VOL, III, (2.) Never enter into any correspondence with publishers, especially with those who advertise for MSS., who are not recom- mended by experienced friends or by this Society. (3.) Never, on any account whatever, bind yourself down for future work to any- one. (4.) Never accept any proposal of royalty until you have ascertained what the agreement, worked out on both a small and a large sale, will give to the author and what to the publisher. (5.) Never accept any pecuniary risk or respon- sibility whatever without advice. (6.) Never, when a MS. has been refused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises they may put forward, for the production of the work. (7.) Never sign away American rights. Keep them by special clause. Refuse to sign any agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the publisher. If the publisher insists, take away the MS. and offer it to another. (8.) NevER sign any paper, either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright, without advice. (9.) Keep control over the advertisements, if they affect your returns, by clause in the agreement. Reserve a veto. If you are yourself ignorant of the subject, make the Society your adviser. (10.) Nuver forget that publishing is a busi- ness, like any other business, totally un- connected with philanthropy, charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with business men, Be yourself a business man. Society’s Offices :— 4, PoRTUGAL STREET, Lincoun’s Inn Fiexps, Pp 2 188 HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. 1. Every member has a right to advice upon his agreements, his choice of a publisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society’s solicitors. If the case is such that counsel’s opinion is desirable, the Committee will obtain for him counsel’s opinion. All this with- out any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publishers’ agreements are not generally within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books repre- sented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agreements and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The information thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business transactions by the Secretary proves unfavour- able, you should take advice as toa change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the proposed form to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks, of every publishing firm in the country. Remember that there are certain houses which live entirely by trickery. 7. The outward and visible signs of the fraudulent publisher are—(1) a virtuous and benevolent wish to have the unquestioned conduct of your business left entirely in his hands; (2) a virtuous, good man’s pain at being told that his accounts must be audited; (3) a virtuous indig- nation at being asked what his proposal gives him compared with what it gives the author; and (4) irrepressible irritation at any mention of the Society of Authors. 8. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the inde- pendence of the writer, THE AUTHOR. g. Send to the Editor of the Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. noes THE AUTHORS’ SYNDICATE. R. Colles desires to inform readers of the Author— 1. That the Authors’ Syndicate is now in a position to take charge in whole or in part of the business of members of the Society. With, when necessary, the assistance of the advisers of the Society, it will conclude agreements, collect royalties, examine and pass accounts, and, generally, relieve mem- bers of the trouble of managing business details. All accounts opened between the Syndicate and members are duly audited. 2. That the establishment expenses of the Authors’ Syndicate are defrayed entirely out of the commission charged on rights placed through its intervention. This varies, and must vary, according to the nature of the services rendered, but the charges are reduced to the lowest possible amount compatible with effi- ciency. Meanwhile members will please accept this intimation that they are not entitled to the services of the Syndicate gratis. 3. That he undertakes to work for none but members of the Society. 4. That his business is not to advise members of the Society, but to manage their affairs for them if they please to entrust them to him. 5. That when he has any work in hand he must have it entirely in his own hands; in other words, that authors must not ask him to place certain work, and then go about endeavouring to place it by themselves. 6. That when a MS. has been sent from pub- lisher to publisher, and from editor to editor, in vain, it is most likely impossible to place it. 7. That in the face of the present competition, authors will do well to moderate their expectations. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services will be called upon in any case of  ; . THE AUTHOR. dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. To this it may be added, that where advice is sought, the Secretary of the Society, and not the Syndicate, must be consulted. ee NOTICES. FYNHE Editor of the Author begs to remind members of the society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the society if a great many members did not forward to the secretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. Perhaps this reminder may be of use.. With 800 members, besides the outside circulation of the paper, the Author ought to prove a source of revenue to the society. (a The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects con- nected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the society than to make the Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write ? —— All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office with- out previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly understood that the Society does not, under any circum- stances, undertake the publication of MSS. ed The Authors’ Club is now opened in temporary premises, at 17, St. James’s Place, St. James’s Street. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, &c. 189 Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? If they will do this, and remit the amount or a banker’s order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. SS Those who are elected members during the last three months of the year are advised that their subscriptions cover the whole of the follow- ing year. eel Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the warning numbered (3). It is a most foolish and a most disastrous thing to bind yourself to anyone for a term of years. Let them ask them- selves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest or dishonest ? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign themselves into literary bondage for three or five years ? Those who possess the “Cost of Production” are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble of “doing sums,” the addition of three shillings in the pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at £9 4s. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth as can be procured: but a printer’s, or a binder’s, bill is so elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in our book for advertising. Of course, we have not included any sums, which may be charged at any period, for inserting advertisements in the publisher’s own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud: it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. Pe THE LITERARY PROPERTY. i MacGazines AND CoPYRIGHT. N the Globe of the 8th Oct. 1892, the following question was asked : “ Whether a magazine editor, after paying for a con- tribution, has the copyright of it for ever?” The Globe suggests that the question should be answered in the Author. It has been answered in the Author, some year or so ago. The answer is contained in the 18th section of 5 & 6 Vict. ec. 45, which runs as follows :— XVIII. And be it enacted, that when any publisher or other person shall, before, or at the time of the passing of this Act, have projected, conducted, or carried on, or shall hereafter project, conduct, or carry on, or be the proprietor of any encyclopedia, review, magazine, periodical work, or work published in a series of books or parts, or any book, whatsoever, and shall have employed, or shall employ, any persons to compose the same, or any volumes, parts, essays, articles, or portions thereof, for publication in or as part of the same, and such work, volumes, parts, essays, articles, or portions shall have been, or shall hereafter be composed under such employment, on the terms that the copyright therein shall belong to such proprietor, projector, publisher, or conductor, and paid for by such proprietor, projector, publisher, or conductor, the copyright in every such encyclo- peedia, review, magazine, periodical work, and work pub- lished in a series of books or parts, and in every volume, part, essay, article, and portion, so composed and paid for, shall be the property of such proprietor, projector, publisher or other conductor, who shall enjoy the same rights as if he were the actual author thereof, and shall have such term of copyright therein as is given to the authors of books by this Act; except only that in the case of essays, articles, or portions forming part of, and first published in reviews, magazines, or other periodical works of a like nature, after the term of twenty-eight years from the first publication thereof respectively, the right of publishing the same ina separate form shall revert to the author for the remainder of the term given by this Act. Provided always, that during the term of twenty-eight years the said proprietor, projector, publisher, or conductor, shall not publish any such essay, article, or portion separately or singly, without the consent previously obtained of the author thereof, or his assigns: Provided, also, that nothing herein contained shall alter or affect the right of any person who shall have been, or who shall be so employed as aforesaid to publish any such his composition in a separate form who by any contract, express or implied, may have reserved or may hereafter reserve to himself such right: but every author reserving, retaining, or having such right shall be entitled to the copyright in such composition when published in a separate form accord- to this Act, without prejudice to the right of such proprietor, projector, publisher, or conductor as aforesaid. In simple language outside legal phraseology this means that if the proprietor has paid for the the article, and unless the author by express or implied contract, reserves to himself the copy- right, then the copyright for a period of twenty- eight years resides with the proprietor, but he is unable to republish the article without the con- AUTHOR. sent of the author. After that period the e»py- right for the remainder of the time reverts back to the author. It is not infrequently the custom therefore, for the proprietor of a magazine to allow an author to republish his atticles, as he, the proprietor has already received all that he he intends to make out of them. It is no doubt useful to reproduce from time to time these questions of law, as the public generally seem very ignorant on the subject. <1 II. Tuer Bookseller on Fravp. The Bookseller of Oct. 1oth makes a few remarks upon our note of the last number on itself. We regret to say that it expresses no sorrow at having permitted the appearance of a letter which falsely charged the Author with inviting “literary garbage” from its contributors. It now says, We honestly do think that the Society is conducted in a spirit of hostility towards publishers, not perhaps with the deliberate intention of being hostile, but, nevertheless, hostile in effect. The Society declares that its hostility is only directed against “certain fraudulent publishers.” Does not the existence of the Society imply that fraudulent dealing is so common among publishers that nothing short of a wholesale combination of authors will suffice to check the evil? We are asked to suggest a better way of exposing the frauds whereby authors are victimised, than by explaining the methods of those frauds month by month in the pages of the Author. We think if the Author would from time to time expose the perpetrators of fraud it would be afar better method. We should like to know who are our black sheep. But if the Author adopted that method we have an idea that a somewhat less formidable word than “fraud’’ would generally have to be employed in describing the alleged malpractices of publishers, lest they too invoked the intervention of “that Division of the High Court of Justice which takes the libel cases.” The driving of hard bargains with authors, or debiting their accounts with excessive charges are, no doubt, matters of which there are occasional reasons to complain; but such practices are a long way short of fraudulent, although we fully admit they are not what is expected from members of an honourable calling. Two points are noticeable here—(1) That the Bookseller believes that the frauds pointed out by us in our “ Methods of Publication ’’ were not common. They were common. They were very common, They were deplorably common. It was, indeed, high time that we should venture to expose, and if possible prevent, them. They are no longer so common, but they would again flourish with their old fertility if this Society were to relax its efforts. (2) The next thing is that the Bookseller cannot admit that ‘“ debiting accounts with excessive charges’’—the italics are ours—is a fraud. ‘Such practices,’ he says, “are along way short of fraudulent.’ Are we  THE to believe our eyes? Does the writer know the meaning of words? Why, what does a common pickpocket or shoplifter do—when he steals any- thing he can lay his hands on—worse than a publisher who pays £60 for printing a book, and sends in an account stating that he has paid £80? Not a fraud? Then is stealing not a fraud; and lying is truth ; and vice is virtue. If the Book- seller really means what it says—which one cannot and will not believe—here would be proof indeed, and proof enough, of the necessity of our Society. Et. A ProposepD AGREEMENT. “ DEAR SIR, “JT have made a calculation respecting your MS., and shall be willing to publish it on the following arrangement, in two volumes. “J will take the entire responsibility of its pro- duction and the working expenses upon myself, including advertisements, if you will arrange to be responsible for 250 copies at the trade price, 12s. 6d., or whatever number of copies is needed to bring the sale up to the quantity if it has not been reached six months after the date of publication; the published price being 21s. Thus, if we are unfortunate enough to sell only 150 copies, I should ask you to take 100 at the price named. If we reach the 250 you would not be troubled any further concerning payment. The plan is one that I have frequently worked upon, and is an equitable one, as the author is not responsible for the initial expenses of production, advertising, reviewing, &c., and all sales during the time specified go to the reduction of his liability, and if the work is fairly successful it is published without expense to the author. “Tf this proposal meet with your approval, kindly let me hear from you. “Yours faithfully, x” The preceding is a letter from a publisher to an author. It is not a letter written specially for one case, but is a formula. Others almost exactly the same have been before the Society. In one week the Secretary was asked to advise upon three such letters. The author is invited to guarantee 250 copies of the book at 12s. 6d. each. That is to say, the author guarantees a sale amounting to £156 5s., so that the publisher, on these figures, is certain of asnug little profit. This is not bad business. If the book proves worthless—it will be observed that nothing is said about the merits of the case—it is certain not to reach the sale of 250. But suppose the book turns out to be good, and to have a sale AUTHOR. 1gI of a thousand—two thousand—anything. What, then, becomes of the profits? -It does not appear from the letter that the author is to have any share atallin them. But perhaps there was to be a subsequent letter providing for the division of profits. As far as the letter goes, if the sale reaches or exceeds 250 copies, the author neither makes nor loses any money. If it falls short, he pays the difference. Beautiful, indeed! SS Ty. ANSWERING AN ADVERTISEMENT. “ About the middle of last week I saw an adver- tisement in a paper asking any lady or gentleman wishing to become a trained writer to apply to the advertiser, who had a vacancy. “‘T answered this. There camea letter in reply to this effect : There would be required a premium of £50; there would be no salary for the first month; then £1 a week for the following five months. At the end of this period, if mutually satisfied, the writer said ‘I will place you on my permanent staff at £100 a year.’ The letter was dated from the office of a certain magazine, and was signed ‘Editor.’ I then made an appointment. “JT was kept waiting a few minutes in a small dingy little office, where a youth was writing and a small boy lounged and whistled in an under tone. The editor appeared in a few minutes, and I went into his room. : He began by saying that at the end of six months he thought anyone ought to be of some use on a paper—to read through the other papers, to arrange notes, or to write a paragraph. He said he thought that if they were no use at the end of six months they never would be of any use. He said that I must not mind drudgery, or being kept over office hours sometimes. He said, also, that he had had over 300 answers, that he had thinned them out as best he could, that I came fifth upon his list, and that the first four had proved utter failures ! Here he looked at me to see if I felt very elate. He continued, that the reason these four had proved unfit was that they were all anxious to do the nice parts of journalism, and were unwilling todo any of the drudgery. He said that if at the end of the first month he found me hopeless he would give me up, and return the premium in full. But this has only been said; he did not write it in the letter. “Ags I was going he said, ‘Then when shall I hear from you?’ I said in two or three days. ‘T should like it settled as soon as possible,’ he replied ; ‘in fact, this week.’ ” Such is our correspondent’s story. There is nothing to show that there was anything but bona 192 THE fides in the advertisement. It may very fairly be argued that it is worth paying £50 for six months’ tuition in practical journalism, together with a salary of a pound a week for five months. The paper may have a permanent staff en- gaged, each at £100 ayear. At the same time, the case, as put by our correspondent, pre- sents certain doubtful points. When the premium is advanced what security is there for tuition and for salaried work ? Suppose that after six months, or after two months, the pupil is pronounced incompetent, will the premium be returned? If, which we do not for a moment doubt, the adver- tiser means to act righteously, he will set these little matters right at once. We should ask the following questions : (1) Reference to anyone who hag already paid the premium and received instruction. (2) Reference to anyone on the “ permanent staff” at £100 a year. (3) Reference to respectable solicitors or bankers as to the financial standing of the paper. (4) Reference to the proprietor. (5) An agreement for the return of part of the £50 if, after a month’s trial, either party is dis- satisfied with the result so far. On the assumption of the bona fides of the advertiser, who will observe that there is nothing beyond ordinary precautions in these require- ments, we refrain from publishing the name of the journal. So Ve An Eprror’s Rieut. In the last issue of this journal two questions were asked by “ A. B.” as follows :— 1. Whether an editor is privileged to repub- lish in America a work, the copyright in which is the property of the author. 2. Whether, under the circumstances given, the dual publication secures American copyright. 1. The transaction appears to have been limited to an offer of the MS., made by the author, and an acceptance of it by the editor, with no other expressed terms to define the contract, beyond an understanding that the copyright would remain in the author. As the editor’s right to authorise an American reproduction would depend only on contract (since the copyright was reserved by the author), and there was no express grant to him of that right, it must depend on what would reason- ably be implied from the circumstances, or upon a custom. Primd facie it would appear impro- bable that any author, expressly selling a magazine right with a reservation of copyright, could intend the magazine right to include republication in America. There does not seem ground for sup- AUTHOR. posing that the offer of MS. for publication in the particular magazine’ over which the editor to whom it was handed had control, was intended to be anything more than it was in fact, namely, an offer to publish it in his particular magazine. Any person who, upon such a contract, should take the responsibility of selling foreign rights of any kind must run considerable risk of being called upon to show upon what authority he go acted; or to show why he should not pay damages to the owner of the copyright for having done so. In the case in point, however, the author became a party to the sale by accepting the cheque in payment for the American rights, and moreover his approval of the sa!e so expressed would be a reasonable precedent upon which the editor might be justified in acting similarly in sub- sequent transactions, unless an express prohibi- tion accompanied the future offers of MS. 2. The answer to this question must be given reservedly, in the absence of a fuller knowledge of the circumstances. The probability is that American copyright was secured, but quite as important, if not more so, is the question, has copyright not been lost in the United Kingdom ? Does prior publication abroad disentitle an author to his copyright here? Mr. Scrutton answers in the affirmative (Law of Copyright, 2nd edit., p. 114). ‘It is difficult,” he says, “to see what answer could be made to a defendans sued for infringement of copyright and pleading ‘I have not copied the book you registered, but have gone to the same non-copyright source as yourselves, namely, the prior publication in America.’” And he contends that it was, in fact, settled by our courts in a great case that first publication must take place in the United Kingdom to secure to the author the benefits of copyright. The late Lord Justice Cotton, how- ever, the weight of whose authority no one can doubt, though not definitely deciding the point, leaned to the opinion that prior publication in a foreign country would not cause a loss of copy- right in a British subject ; and that to foreigners alone can this rule be said to have been applied by the decisions in British courts of law. But, at any rate, the prior publication abroad, to affect the position of the author or proprietor of copy- right, must have been by his authority. So that, as far as the case in point is concerned, the ques- tions arise: (1.) Did the author, by his accept- ance of payment for American rights of publica- tion thereby become a party to their sale? Answer: Probably yes. (2.) Does he lose his British copyright by the fact of such prior publi- cation abroad P Answer: Perhaps not in theory, but probably in practice. - For, accepting Lord Justice Cotton’s suggestion, and admitting that  oe ee re THE copyright might rest on subsequent publication here, that copyright, though capable of prevent- ing infringements from the book actually regis- tered, would appear helpless as against a repro- duction proved to have been made entirely from the foreign publication. Such a position, though probably unimportant with reference to the magazine story in question, is not a desirable one for the proprietor of a copy- right to be in. Asa general rule, it may be laid down that sales of a copyright or any right of reproduction should never be attempted without the clearest authority from the person in whom the copyright is or ought to be vested. ec FRAUDULENT AUTHORS. ——— II. By a LATE SECRETARY. N the note, published in the September Author, upon the Bookseller’s reference to the exist- ence of fraudulent authors, upon which correspondence was invited from the late secre- taries of the society, allusion was made to almost all the forms of trickery practised by authors that came under my notice during my secretaryship. In giving one or two examples of each method, I have to say that in but one case was the dis- honesty practised by a member of our society, and in that case—quoted by the article—volun- tary resignation followed immediately upon the demand by my committee for an explanation. 1. Plagiarism. It is undoubted that among a certain sort of thief the practice prevails of copying out old stories and re-selling them as new and original. There was a story published some year or twoago in a society journal—con- cerning which I will not particularise more than to say that its chief interest arose out of the heroine’s wooden leg—which was immediately recognised as an old friend. Some newspaper notoriety being given to the case, it was found that not only were these two appearances not the sole bows that this popular yarn had made to an English public, for it had appeared in certainly three other popular English journals, but that it was a German or Swiss story, aud had been published in French. Who first wrote it, and who first stole it, and whether the conveyance from language to language was made in the absence of or in the defiance of international convention, I do not know—and I do not think the matter was ever gone into—but I remember that the last author defended himself with, it seemed to me, great probability. He said that he had met a man in the train who had told him VOL, III. AUTHOR. 103 the story, and that, thinking it droll, he afterwards wrote it down. Be that as it may, and the wide popularity of the story makes it very credible, this was a case where a perfectly undoubted sale of old lamps as new had taken place on more tban one occasion in more than one country. Recently there was a case before the Society of Authors where no such valid excuse could be given for the reproduction of the story. The feuilleton in question was originally issued in the Christmas number of the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, for 1888, and entitled “ A Good Thing.” It bore the author’s well-known name, about which it will be sufficient to say that it did not begin with A. In 1892 this story appeared under the title of “ Diamond cut Diamond” as one of a collection of turf tales by a “ Captain” Somebody. The story m its new form was re-paragraphed very badly, and altered sufficiently to betray the thief’s consciousness of guilt, but, as the following examples will show, not much ingenuity was employed in the alterations. _Homfray was substituted for Frey, the —th Hussars for the Noughty-ninth Lancers, the Louth Wold Hunt for the South Downshire Hunt, and Mr. Rooke for Mr. Hawke; wu few omissions were made, and the distance of the match was reduced from “three miles over the steeple-chase course”’ to two miles and a half, the other conditions remaining as in the original. The Society of Authors pointed out to the publisher of the collected tales that the story was stolen. He admitted the fact—which allowed of no denial— showed proof that he had been himself cheated, as he had paid for the story and held the fraudu- lent author’s receipt, recompensed the original author, and undertook to expunge “ Diamond cut Diamond” from all future issues. Here was a case in which a fraudulent author clearly swindled an honourable publisher. Still, I should like to make two notes upon this case—the only one of actual sale of stolen goods that ever came directly under my notice, although I feel that such cases are of common occurrence. First, the man who conveyed the story had no real title to the name of author, at least none that he could have justified on the merits of his editorial alterations. He had stolen a story, but it was not his position as an author that gave him the opportunity of doing it. In this case he took a story, but he would just as soon have taken a leg of mutton. Hither larceny would have required equal literary skill. Second, the publisher was paying a very small sum for the stories, and by buying in such a cheap market wilfully in- curred a risk of purchasing damaged goods. This is not said with any intent to detract from the Q  194 honourable nature of his conduct towards his fellow-sufferer, but ifa publisher lets it be known that he will print and pay for a lot of short stories, if he makes no enquiry into the character of the person who supplies him, and has no reason to know that the man possesses the ability to execute the work himself, and if he pays only alow price for the work, it is abundantly clear that somebody will cheat that publisher, and place him in a very uncomfortable position. There were some two dozen stories in the volume of “Turf Tales”? that contained “ Diamond cut Diamond,” and we should not be surprised to learn that more than one of them had been similarly conveyed, and not manufactured with a view to production under the pseudonym of the “ Captain ’”’ Somebody. 2. An author may involve the publisher in an action for libel, or for publication of offensive matter. The publisher can, and very generally does, guard himself against such mishap by a clause in his agreement. Against the publication of offensive matter, he has another safeguard— his reader. If the author's book contains blasphemous or obscene passages, and the reading at the publisher’s offices has been so carelessly conducted that the passages have escaped notice, I do not see why the publisher should not be fined for the carelessness, though the author should also pay for his unwholesome vagaries. But against certain forms of libel, the pub- lisher cannot be protected, save by special agreement, as the libel may be an innocent enough statement to his eyes, ignorant of its private meaning. A case came before the law- courts recently, and will be remembered by all interested in these matters, in which this occurred, and it was generally felt that the publishers were deserving of sympathy. There was a curious case before the Society of Authors some years ago, in which the question of libel and possible damages arose, but from the documents in our possession and from the author’s story, it did not seem that the publishers suffered much. The book dealt with the private life of a lady connected as wife and mother with two extremely prominent citizens, and was written from one point of view, not the point likely to be pleasant either to her husband or her son. An injunction was obtained against its publication, but the book was afterwards issued in a modified form. On this occasion, however, the publishers took thorough precautions against the recurrence of any difficulty arising out of the law of libel. They paid a barrister the extra- ordinary sum of one hundred pounds to obtain his opinion and assistance, and, not satisfied with THE AUTHOR. this, they reinforced their position by feeing another counsel to a considerable amount. The charge of a hundred pounds was a sore burden on the book, which was published upon a system whereby the author was only to receive a pro- portion of the profits, but as the barrister, whose words were considered to be worth go much gold, though his opinion required bol- stering up extraneously, afterwards left the Bar, and became a member of the firm that produced the book, it will be seen that the burden fell heavier upon the writer than upon the pub- lisher. There was once an attempt made by an author to create a sale for his works, which, if it had met with success, would have constituted a fraud, but upon the booksellers rather than upon the publisher, This author went round to various booksellers and ordered copies of his own book, saying he would call the next day for them. In this way he argued—and quite rightly—that his work would be much more quickly and largely distri- buted than it would be if it lay upon the pub- lisher’s shelves till such a time as a cold public inquired for it through the usual channels. But the booksellers found out the little plant, and sent the books back to the publisher, who may be trusted to have made things unpleasant for the man of genius. This exhausts my experience of fraudulent authors, and it will be seen that it is very small. The author who may chance to land a publisher in a prosecution for libel may be an extremely indiscreet person, but he can in no way be pro- perly described as fraudulent. The person who steals a story, and, altering one of the names in it from Rooke to Hawke, sells it as an original contribution, is as fraudulent as mortal man well can be; but he is hardly entitled to call himself an author. In the paper in the Society’s journal for September other ways are mentioned in which an author might damage a publisher pecuniarily, but none of these things—for example, the pro- duction of seamped work, or the sale of work for a higher price than it is worth—constitute fraud in any way. I should like to draw a little parallel. The fraudulent person who can justify any claim to the name of author is a very rare bird, and, with the deepest respect for all authors, I think this may be partly due to the fact that it is very difficult for authors to be otherwise than honourable. Their craft allows of no tortuous methods. An author cannot assert that he has delivered a novel of, say, — 180,000 words, and demand payment at his three- volume price, when, in truth, his work would barely fill one volume. He cannot because he would be certainly found out. But in times not very far  THE distant certain publishers did most distinctly debit the author’s book, under the head-of adver- | be oe be ise a | tisement charges, with three or four times the liability really incurred, and in those times the fraud was not found out, and, had it been sus- pected, the wording of most of the agreements in the possession of the Society of Authors is such that redress could only have been obtained through the law. Again, an author cannot with- hold money from a publisher, or render to the publisher an undue share of profits, and support his position by an imaginary statement of accounts—which is fraud—because it happens that the publisher collects the money. Now, in times not very far distant, these things have been done by certain publishers, and the methods of publishing then in vogue made them easy to do. I hope that these comparisons will not be con- sidered offensive, for they are not meant to be so. The evil customs referred to have greatly died out, and when they were prevalent the Society of Authors possessed information enabling them to discriminate very exactly between just and unjust, between friend and foe. It will be seen, also, that the honesty of the publisher, being spontaneous, was then, and, in a lesser degree, is now, a finer article than that of the author, for the author’s honesty is forced upon him by circumstances. ee THE RANKS OF FICTION. T is exceedingly difficult to arrive at statistics of the persons engaged in any branch of literature. The number of living poets, as we all know, has been ascertained with app! oximate certainty—but liable to additions every day. We have here made an attempt at a rough estimate of living British novelists. This has been done by taking the catalogue of W. H. Smith and Son of the books offered by them for sale. It contains a collection of novels which is probably the fullest that can be found in any sale list. It covers, so far as can be seen, a period of about six years, and it contains all the popular names, together with every name that has, during that time, appeared upon the title page of any novel good enough to have created any demand. This limitation is useful, because it is understood that Smith and Son only take books that are asked for. What becomes, then, of those not in demand ? Ask of the unhappy authors who have paid for the publication of the works; ask how much those misguided persons have received back of the money they were persuaded to pay up. The list contains the names of about 1600 VOL, III. AUTHOR. 195 novels, which, spread over a period of six years, means nearly 270 novels a year, or five a week —namely, novels good enough for some one to ask for them. The customary statistics for every year, showing something like a thousand new novels, may be resolved into these 270 novels, which attract some attention, more or less; probably about 500 stories for children, prize books, religious story books, and so forth; and the rest a mass of rubbish, paid for by the authors, dead as soon as they appear. These 1600 novels are written by 792 authors who sign their names, and 130 who do not. Of the anonymous writers, however, one or two are well known, as “ Rita,” “ Ouida,” and others. We have therefore 922 writers of tolerably respectable novels in this country during the last six years. Proceeding to subdivision, we ascertain that, out of this great number about 240—the number is not, perhaps, quite accurate—have written more than one novel. This means a certain amount of success, for, supposing a novelist to have paid for his first adventure—a most reprehensible, but common practice—he would not pay a second time. For if the book failed, he would have enough of paying for production; and if it succeeded he would find no difficulty in getting a publisher for the second work. Roughly speaking, therefore, the number of artists in fiction who sell their pictures may be set down as 240. These may be divided into those who are really popular; those who command a certain amount of attention, enough to bring some of them into cheap editions ; and those who are able to make 4 little name or a small sum of money by each novel—a sum which varies from £25 to £150—and there an end of books and demand and everything. A further consideration of the names reveals the fact that there are about fifty names—English and American—which stand well in the front so far as popularity goes; and about seventy or eighty names follow of those whose popularity is assured to a certain extent, who yet stand far below the first fifty. How far popularity increases in direct proportion to literary worth is a matter that cannot be discussed in this place. Nor are we concerned about ranking the novelist in order of literary and artistic excellence or otherwise. The broad facts are these: (1) There are at this present momeut fifty writers at least, who, by their literary labours, and especially by their novels, are commanding great popularity, and an income which, even in the profession of the law would be called considerable. (2) That there is a body of seventy writers at least, who enjoy such an amount of popularityas make their books “go off” in large numbers ; and (3) there are at least a hundred and twenty more, oo Q  196 achieved such a measure of success that they are encouraged to persevere. It has also appeared, during the last six years, that there are nearly 700 writers who have succeeded in getting their works published—partly, no doubt, at their own expense—but have not been encouraged to pro- ceed. Supposing that there were 500 of these luckless ones in the six years preceding, and 400 in the six years before that, there must have been, somewhere in these realms, about 1600 writers, some of whom are now dead, who attempted the Art of Fiction with at least that small measure of success which is indicated by being on this list. If we add a thousand only —a number far below the reality—for those who utterly failed, for whom there was no demand, we have a total of 2600 persons who have failed, or have not succeeded much, in fiction in the last eighteen years to about eighty who have succeeded well, and, say, a hundred and twenty who have succeeded tolerably. These figures—which are only advanced as approximate—should be studied and pondered over by those who now send out their works to the great gallery of pictures which is always open all the year round, and wonder why nobody wants to look at their productions. eS NOTES FROM PARIS. Paris, October 24th. ()* my return from wandering vaguely about Holland, I find the following letter await- ing me at home :— “ My dear Sherard, “You will be sorry to hear that I am at the Perthshire Charenton, or one of them. I got into a broil in Crieff, and, refusing to recognise the law, was transferred to Perth and thence hither. Write to me, like a good fellow, and cheer me up. I am studying away here as well as I ean. They supply me with books, and I have started the study of chemistry with an excellent text-book but without apparatus. I confess that that looks at first. sight like a justification of my present position, but it is really quite possible fora man with reasoning faculties to grasp the principles of a science thus, and to see the experiments men- tally with the help of clear descriptions and a few diagrams. Of course I shall have to do it all over again with appa- ratus, but that will be quick work, as I shall know the atomic weights, chief formule, and the principles. You see I am obliged to work at something, and I have no relish for literature amid such surroundings. You will say it is the right place to learn some psychology. Well, that, of course, I can’t help learning, but I require something else.” My reason in reproducing this letter is simply to ask my readers what they think as to the sanity of the man who could write it. This letter is dated from the Murray Asylum in Perth, and is written by John H. Barlas, who is confined there under circumstances to which I referred Jast THE AUTHOR. month. Now, though I think that the enforced disc pline and the absolute rest that are imposed upon Barlas make his present position rather enviable than otherwise, I cannot help considering by the light of this letter that the time has come for the reconsideration of the position Barlas is a brilliant scholar and an admirable man of letters, and it is an abominable shame that he should be kept locked up a moment longer than necessary, if it is necessary. Candidly, does the above letter look like the work of an insane man? Great changes have taken place in Paris since I last wrote. Poor genial Renan has gone to hig last account, as has also Xavier Marmier. The latter, doubtless, hastened his end by imposing on himself a total change of diet, for, as I re- corded last month, for some time past the doyen of the Academicians had become an absolute vegetarian, and at the age of eighty-three it ig dangerous for men to play pranks with them. selves. Renan’s death, on the other hand, came as a painful surprise to all but his nearest friends, who, it appears, had been uneasy for some time past. 1 shall always esteem it a great piece of good fortune, that, only a very short time before his death, I had a long conversation with him on the future life in general, and on Hell in particular. He knows the truth now, but, whatever it may be, so kindly, so charitable, so large-hearted a man as Ernest Renan cannot but be well. He leaves a quantity of manuscripts, for the early publication of which arrangements are already being made. wa ee Renan was the soul of courtesy and of con- sideration. Precious as was his time, he was always ready to receive even the most importu- nate of strangers, and to talk to them as though he had nothing else in the day to do but to satisfy the curiosities of the public. I remember that, when I interviewed him on Hell, he was troubled with a very nasty cough, which evi- dently made speaking a task to him, and, more- over, from the papers on his writing-table, I could see that I had interrupted him in the midst of an urgent piece of work. Yet, though I re- peatedly made show of departing, he was good enough to retain me until he had said all that it seemed useful to him to say. He was a lovely old man, and to me, for one, the world is different without him. — Marmier’s legacy of forty pounds to the book- hawkers on the quays has been a good deal written about as an example of the deceased  THE AUTHOR. gentleman’s generosity. As Marmier, by his own account, on one occasion purchased for a mere song, from just one of these bouquinistes, some volumes which were valued at many thousand francs, the legacy may be considered rather as an act of justice—a kind of posthumous conscience- money—than as anything else. Apropos of such bargains, it is still quite possible to pick up very good things at very low prices on the quays, but the opportunities require watching and patience. You may walk daily for a year from the Pont- Royal to the Pont St. Michel and examine every box of books on the way, without coming across anything worth purchasing. Again, when you least expect a find, you may come across one. E remember one afternoon after dining at the Café @ Orsay, turning over a pile of old books ata stall just opposite that café and coming upon a volume for which the dealer asked me one franc. I purchased it at that price, but a few minutes later repented of my bargain, because I felt it “real mean” to profit by the ignorance of a very shabby and hungry-looking retailer, returned and offered to take back my franc in exchange for the volume. My motive was, however, totally misunderstood, and the shabby and hungry-looking dealer abso- lutely refused to annul the bargain. “What is sold is sold,” he said, “that is all 1 know,” and scoffed at my pretensions. The book was a first edition of Stendhal’s “ L’Amour,” and very rare. I was offered 120 franes for it the same afternoon by a bookseller in the Rue de Castiglione. I have since occasionally had “ trouvailles” of the same sort, but on the whole it is hardly zemunerative to go hunting for bargains on the Paris quays. The bouquinistes are terribly sharp. — Zola’s chances of a seat in the Academy seem to be very good, but prognostication in the affairs of the Academy is always a foolish business, and I attach but very little importance to the various published statements as to the relative chances of the numerous candidates who are in the lists. But with the disappearance of Marmier and of Renan, who were amongst Zola’s bitterest literary antagonists in the Academy, the prospects of the chief of the Naturalist school of obtaining the coveted seat in the institute should be much better than they were formerly. — - Pierre Louys, one of the most charming of the young poets of France, communicates to me the news of a literary discovery of some interest, which he has just made at one of the public libraries here. At this library he came across a copy of Ronsard’s “ Hymnes,” which he says he 197 has every reason to believe is the identical copy which consoled poor Mary Stuart in her -aptivity. It may be remembered that when the luckless Queen of Scots was asked whether she wished for a Bible to read in prison, she replied that her volume of Ronsard sufficed her. The volume in question, which according to the catalogue of the library, was purchased in England, bears on the fly-leaf, in female penmanship, the inscription “Per far’ il mio cattivo tempo piu suave.’ There is also other contributory evidence as to the origin of this book. Ropert H. SHERARD. ea JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. So HE death of John Greenleaf Whittier, “ the good, gray poet,” as he has been affection- ately called, has removed another link from the chain which connects all that is best in the old New England life with that of the present day. His end was peace, and his eyes closed upon the scenes dearest to him on earth, and his last breath was drawn in the loved quiet of his home at Hampton Falls, New Hampshire. Born on Dec. 17, 1807, he had long passed the span of three score years and ten; and yet, till quite recently, his peaceful life was full of gentle activity. his pen was not altogether idle, and his heart was full of the same sympathy for human suffering and noble thought which has served to make his poetry “heart music ” to so many who were, and are, diametrically opposite to him in tendencies and creed. His common ancestor— Thomas Whittier—fleeing from the persecutions of 1638, sailed, with other Nonconformists, in the Confidence, of London, and landed to settle in New England. Whittier lived and died a Quaker, retaining their simplicity of attire and their mode of address. Much that made the Pilgrim Fathers, his ancestors, what they were, made him what he was. What his early life was at the farmhouse at Haverhill we can gather from his tender and soberly graphic word pictures in ‘ Snow Bound.” His life work, “to sing the fetters off the slaves,” was begun when he sent his first verses to the office of the Newburyport Free Press, which was then edited by William Lloyd Garrison, the great Abolitionist. The visit which Garrison, struck by the power of the verses, soon paid to his unknown contributor, was the beginning of a friendship of many years, which was to have an almost immeasurable influence over the future of the farmer’s son. At first Whittier’s father had little sympathy with him,  198 Indeed his boyish poems have very little save biographical interest. In 1828 he left Haverhill for Boston, and once there he rapidly drifted into journalism. Strange to say, he was at first engaged on a Protectionist paper, the Boston Manufacturer. : The starting of the Liberator, in s a Boston attic near the sky,’ aroused in Whittier a desire for nobler and higher poetical flights, and led him to embrace the Abolitionist cause with fiery enthusiasm. He himself has told of his ‘soul’s awakening” thus: God said, Break thou these yokes ; undo These heavy burdens. I ordain A work to last thy whole life through, A ministry of strife and pain. In those early days, too, to be a prominent member of the Anti-Slavery party (which the poet speedily became) meant often the carrying of one’s life in one’s hand. Several times the Quaker poet and journalist escaped the fury of his opponents with difficulty. Indeed, so strong was this antagonism, that for years his articles and poems were refused by magazines and papers, which by their insertion would have courted a literary death. After the destruction and burning of the offices of the Pennsylvania Freeman, Whittier returned to his old home at Haverhill; eventually selling the farm, &c., in 1840, removing with his mother to Amesbury. His stirring war songs offended many of his less enthusiastic co-religionists, and earned him the nick-name of the “Martial Quaker.” For his later years was reserved the full know- ledge of what his inspired pen had wrought. Life’s aftermath was for him full of touching incidents and delicate tokens of the love and esteem in which he was held, not only by his own countrymen and contemporaries, but also by thousands in the land of his forefathers across the sea, Of his own writings he had said : And thou, my song, I send thee forth Where harsher songs of mine have flown; Go, find a place at home and hearth Where’er thy singer’s name is known; Revive for him the kindly thought Of friends; and they who love him not, Touched by some strain of thine, perchance may take The hand he proffers all, and thank him for my sake. And in the evening of his life assuredly this wish came true. That he was not a great poet in the truest and widest sense of the word must be allowed. His knowledge of life was too restricted; his sym- pathies were, in fact, wide only in one direction, they were not in the least cosmopolitan, and in creative ability his verse is admittedly lacking, THE AUTHOR. But he possessed, to a marked degree, a fiery, virile vigour of expression, a power to hold men, in his anti-slavery songs; and in his other poems often runs a vein of the truest tenderness, which touches the heart where more “ finished ” yerge and less old-fashioned metres would fail to awake a quivering, responsive chord. He has been called a “monotone poet,” perhaps rightly go, There is a grey, cool quietness about much of his verse which lends accuracy to this definition, the outcome of a life which was peaceful and retiring, broken in upon but little by the pulsa- tions and passion of the world, of which, indeed, he saw scarcely anything, except in the Boston days. it was in 1835 that Whittier published “ Mogg Megone”; ‘ Ballads” followed in 1838; “Lays of my Home” in 1843. Next year, another volume, and the same year the first English edition of his poems, with an introduction by Eliezer Wright. In 1849 Whittier collected his Abolitionist poems, which he called ‘“ Voices of Freedom”; previous to this issuing two prose works: ‘The Stranger in Lowell” (1845), and ‘“Supernaturalism in New England’ (1847), During the periods immediately preceding and following the Civil War, his works were issued in rapid succession. In 1853, “The Chapel of the Hermits, and other Poems,” and “A Sabbath Scene” appeared; to be followed in 1854 by “Literary Recreations and Miscellanies.” Amongst his later works may be mentioned “ Snow Bound” (1862), certainly one of his finest works; “In War Time, and other Poems” (1863); then “ National Lyrics,” ‘‘ Among the Hills, and other Poems” in 1868. ‘ Hazel Blossoms ” was pub- lished in 1874, and “ Mabel Martin” in the year following. In 1878 came “ The Vision of Echard, and other Poems,” the ‘“‘ Bay of Seven Islands, and other Poems” in 1883, and “ St. Gregory’s Guest, and Recent Poems” in 1885. An edition (revised by the poet himself) of Whittier’s poems was issued, in seven voluines, in 1888-9. The latest and best English edition, is that published by Messrs. Warne and Co. It was first issued in 1891, and contains a_ brief biography, notes, and an index. Curve HoLuanp. pees.  THE AUTHOR. £00 OUR LATE PRESIDENT. PP\HERE is no need for any words of ours to swell the chorus of appreciation and veneration and sorrow which has risen up spontaneously from a whole nation. Such words would appear too late. Suffice it for us to acknowledge our deep debt of gratitude to the late Laureate for accepting the post of President to our infant Society. The service which he rendered to us and, we believe, through us, to literary men and women of every branch—by giving us his countenance and his protection at the outset when we were a small Society, doubtful whether we should survive the early storms of derision, and doubt, and disbelief against which we had to steer our little bark, was simply enormous. Let it be remembered, now that we are nearly a thousand strong ; let it be remembered when, in days not far distant, our membership will be five times as great, and our action will be unanimous, and we shall have learned at last that our inde- pendence can only be secured by association of a far closer kind than any yet attempted—that Lord Tennyson made this possible. Those of us who think that the material interests of literature must be placed on an equitable basis, and must be protected for the author —not by the author—and that to effect this reform is to render the greatest possible service to the independence and the self- respect of literature, which must needs be degraded by servility and dependence in her followers, will agree with us in thinking that the world at large owes its deepest gratitude to Tennyson for assisting to make the reform possible. We are under no illusions: we sball not effect this reform to-day, or to- morrow; but our education advances. Already a more dignified attitude is assumed by authors; -already the young men are seeing the necessity of association ; already even the older men, brought up in the old school, are recognising the convenience of the Society for advice and assistance. For all that has been done, we owe recognition of the Presidency of Tennyson which made it possible. For all that will be done we owe recognition of his Presidency when the foundations were laid. peat NOTES AND NEWS. HE list of those who were invited to join in the procession of Tennyson’s funeral has been published in the Times. It includes a great many names unknown to the world, but probably there were private reasons good and suffi- cient for including them. Tennyson’s own church was represented by six bishops and many clergy- men; other churches were represented by the Archbishop of Westminster, Dr. James Martineau, the Rev. Hugh Price Hughes, the Rev. Dy; Joseph Parker, the Rev. Dr. Guinness Rogers, and the Chief Rabbi, Dr. Adler. The universities and schools were represented by the Vice-Chan- cellors of Oxford and Cambridge, Principal Caird, Professor Salmon, the Masters of Trinity, Balliol, and Magdalen, and the Head Masters of Eton, Marlborough, and Harrow. About a dozen peers attended. Law was well represented by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Selborne, the Master of the Temple, Lord Justice Bowen, Sir R. Webster, Sir Frederick Pollock, and Judge Hughes. The Army and Navy had, among other representatives, Lord Wolseley, Admiral de Horsey, General Sir E. A. Hamley, General Maurice, and Colonel Crozier. For the arts there were invited, for poetry: Alfred Austin, Austin Dobson, Andrew Lang, George Meredith, Lewis Morris, William Morris, Roden Noel, Coventry Patmore, Swinburne, Aubrey de Vere, William Watson, and Theodore Watts. For fiction: Hamilton Aidé, J. M. Barrie, Walter Besant, William Black, Conan Doyle, Baring Gould, Thomas Hardy, Henry James, George Meredith, James Payn, W. Clark Russell, J. H. Shorthouse, and Julian Sturgis. For painting: Herkomer, Holman Hunt, Burne Jones, Leighton, Millais, Val Prinsep, and Briton Riviére. Henry Irving alone represented the art of acting. For music: Sir George Grove, Sir Arthur Sullivan, Dr. Charles Stanford. Science was admirably represented by Sir Robert Ball, George Darwin, Boyd Dawkins, Sir John Evans, Sir Joseph Fayrer, Michael Foster, Sir Archibald Geikie, Huxley, Lord Kelvin, Norman Lockyer, Sir Alfred Lyall, Pritchard, Sir Henry Thompson, and A. Russell Wallace. General literature, history, and scholarship were well represented by Lord Acton, Canon Ainger, James Bryce, Pro- fessor J. Butcher, Rev. A. F. Church, Sidney Colvin, Froude, Dr. Ginsburg, Auberon Herbert, Frederick Harrison, Shadworth Hodgson, R. H. Hutton, Walter Leaf, Professor Jebb; A. H. Lecky, Sir John Lubbock, Professor Masson, Sir William Muir, F. W. Myers, Dr. Martineau, Clement Markham, F. T. Palgrave, Professor Seeley, Leslie Stephen, Professor Skeat, THE Henry Sidgwick, Aldis Wright. With such a list before one, a list prepared as carefully, perhaps, as the shortness of time allowed, it would seem out of place to pick faults and to point to omissions. Oertain unfortunate omissions will, however, occur to everyone who reads the list. 200 Concerning the immediate future of poetry in our language it is most difficult to make any forecast. It is quite true that there are not among us, as far as we can see, more than a very few young poets of distinct promise under the age of forty. On the other hand there are, among the sixty or seventy younger poets, some who have begun with a command of metre, rhythm, music, and rhyme which will compare favourably with many of their elders. The modern poetry—that of the last twenty years—whatever else it may be, has been, and is, a great school of versification. Swinburne led the way, but others have followed. The instrument has been made to yield new harmonies: it has received quite new music for the new songs. The young poets have learned this music: they began therefore where their elders left off. So that in considering promise we must not be led astray by dexterity. For instance, here is a little book by a new poet—the book is by Mr. Richard Le Gallienne. When one turns over the pages one asks “ Is this promise of the highest? or is it an echo of modern verse?”? I would rather think that it is promise of the highest framed and set in metres of the newest. Here, for instance—if one may quote— are lines which seem to me as good as could be written by any living poet. They are called “ Sunset in City.” Above the town a monstrous wheel is turning, With glowing spokes of red, Low in the west its fiery axle burning ; And lost amid the spaces overhead, A vague white moth, the moon, is fluttering. Above the town an azure sea is flowing *Mid long peninsula of shining sand ; From opal unto pearl the moon is growing, Dropped like a shell upon the changing strand. Within the town the streets grow strange and haunted, And, dark against the western lakes of green, The buildings change to temples, and unwonted Shadows and sounds creep in where sun has been. Within the town the lamps of sin are flaring,— Poor foolish men that know not what ye are! Tired traffic still upon his feet is faring,— Two lovers meet and kiss and watch a star. AUTHOR. I have often thought that the writing of English verse should be taught in our schools to all—girls as well as boys—who show any apti- tude at all for that work. In order to acquire the art, even moderately, think of the poetry that must be learned and studied. It is not onl the metre, the rhyme, the rhythm, the iilt of the verse, that must be learned and practised ; it ig the mode of expression; the way of narration; the choice of words; the acquisition of style; the perception of what is false, low, vulgar, or the reverse. In the time of Queen Elizabeth there were 240 poets in London alone; it is ag much as we can do to muster sixty or seventy poets of any mark among all the hundred millions of our people. One need not expect again such a splendid outburst of song; but there is no reason why the writing of verse should not be practised as much as the playing of an instru- ment. Should we try to manufacture poets ? That is impossible; but we might train every person with taste, a musical ear, and some power of expression into a writer of pleasant verse, disciplined and refined by the study of the best poetry in the world—our own. It would be invidious to mention names, but anyone with a moment’s thought can poimt to many of our sixty minor poets who are nothing at all but men or women who have acquired by study and piac- tice the art of writing pleasing verses. It has been a study of the greatest benefit to them- selves; it has not only filled their minds with noble thoughts, but it has taught them to attempt lofty thought for themselves. If they have not greatly succeeded they have at least raised them- selves out of their former level. Thomas Hardy in the cheap edition of “ Tess,” reviews his reviewers. This raises the question whether an author should ever answer a review. To begin with, in sending a book for review one invites an opinion, and must not grumble if the opinion is unfavourable. But then, when the opinion, good or bad, is pronounced without reading the book at all? or when the book has been imperfectly read ? or when the book is mis- represented ? or when, in the case of a novel ora poem, the opinion is given without the least understanding of art? or when it is simply a malignant opinion? or when it is the work of the professional bludgeon wielder? or when it is the opinion of a school girl or a novice hand put on to do the reviews? or when it is a line and a half in a batch of twenty books? In most of these cases, the best thing to do, I believe, is to say nothing, but to take very good care that no copies of future works shall go to that  THE AUTHOR. review. But then there is nothing to prevent any review, or any reviewer, from “slating”’ the book without a presentation copy. Is there ? Is that so? Ifaman falsely say of a baker that he makes poisonous bread ; or of a chemist that his pills are pure flour and water; or of a physician that he is a quack; or of a solicitor that his advice is not to be trusted—these practitioners have their remedy in a court of law. And so, I believe, has the author upon whose work the reviewer uninvited makes an onslaught. He may bring an action as one who has suffered material injury by the uninvited reviewer. If such an action were ever brought we should hear very little more of the gratuitous and meddlesome uninvited slating and sneering, which is now passed over. In the case of “Tess,” Mr. Hardy perhaps felt that he had more to complain of than any recent writer. The book in certain papers was reviewed by critics absolutely ignorant of what is meant by Art in Fiction. To such as these a story is always pleasant or it is unpleasant—one or the other. That is their sole and simple canon of criticism. The new preface is a protest against such criticism. The whole protest is summed up in the words of Schiller, quoted by Mr. Hardy in that preface: ‘“ As soon as I observe that anyone, when judging of poetical representations, considers anything more important than the inner necessity and truth, I have done with him.” These lines should be printed at the head of every review which considers any branch of Art whatever. And when one who does not know these words and their meaning is admitted on any paper to be a judge of Art, it is time to forbid any further invitation to that paper for any opinions at all. The following letter has been most appro- priately addressed to a young lady, a novelist :— New York, Sept. 26, 1892. Dear Madame,—I wish to obtain your aid in making Science more of an international journal than has been possible in the past. The paper was established in 1883 as a means of weekly discussion among American scientific men. Now, in the tenth year of its existence, there are nearly 1000 Americans, and Europeans as well, who have become contributing subscribers, in accordance with the attached blank. We cannot offer any cash honorarium for contributions, but the paper shall be sent to those who will use it, and 100 copies of the issue containing his contribu- tion shall be sent any contributor, on request in advance. Kindly notice how small is the contribution asked, not enough to fill a third of a page once a year. The number of contributing subscribers in Europe is increasing so rapidly that the publication of a London sheet to Science is contemplated, to insure more prompt publica- tion of European contributions. This would necessitate an increase in the size of the paper and an increase in the price to 6:00 dols. (£1 58.) in all countries. We would begin the publication of the London sheet if we could secure 1000 VOL. III. 201 cash subscriptions in Europe. One-half of the enlarged Science would be printed and published in London, and the other half in New York.—Yours truly, N. D. C. Hopaus. N. D. C. Hopa@Es :— You may enter me as a subscriber to Science, for one year from ,and I agree, in return, to send contributions for publication in the paper to the amount of at least 500 words before the termination of the year, or, in default of such contributions, to pay you 4°50 dols., the foreign subscription price. NGUHO: ee ee Address [We do not ask for a remittance now, unless you wish to become a subscriber immediately. } N. D. C. Hopazs :— You may enter me as a subscriber to Science, and Tagree to remit £1 5s. (6:00 dols.) as soon as the paper is enlarged by the publication weekly of the London sheet. Name __ Address __ Let us see how this works out. At present if any one has any contribution to make to science in any branch at all, any scientific journal in this country is ready and anxious to publish it. More- over it is reasonable to suppose that any scientific paper which is not the organ of some special branch would be equally willing to pay for such a contribution provided it was really an addition, even the smallest, to real science. This American editor, however, invites contributors to send him papers of at least 500 words each, in return for which they are to have the paper free. This is not made very clear, but it seems to be implied. Who is to decide whether the papers are real con- tributions to Science or not? Clearly, the editor ; who else? Then how is any one to know whether the editor will prefer his sovereign or his contri- bution? The idea is a neat and happy one, but in the interests of our countrymen we advise them to try the British scientific papers first and last, because if these papers do not accept their articles, they may rest assured that they are not scientific, and so will keep this 4°50 dols., which is nearly one pound sterling, in their pockets. On the subject of the slow unfolding of the opening portions of a novel Mons. Octave Feuillet makes several interesting remarks in a preface (in the form of a letter) which he wrote to Mons. Henry de Péne’s novel, “ Trop Belle.” (Paris: Ollendorf. 1887. 12°.) Mons. Feuillet insists that it is necessary, “Faire préalablement, au lecteur, une connai- sance intime, profonde, avec les personnages aux- quels on a la prétention de Vinteresser. On ne gintéresse sérieusement, en effet, qu’aux gens qu’on connait. On lit tous les jours, dans les faits divers, mille accidents arrivés & des inconnus, et on continue R 202 tranquillement de déjeuner. Mais si l’accident est arrivé & une personne de votre connaisance, et surtout de votre intimité on s’emeut, on s’ecrie, on se passionne, on est saisi! De méme, pour que le lecteur prenne un vif intérét aux faits et gestes des personages que vous lui presentez, pour qu’il soit sincérement touché de leurs souffrances et de leurs joies, de leur vie et de leur mort, il faut qu’il soit intime avec eux. On ne doit pas done craindre d’etablir solidement les characteres, et de rewonter aux origines.—C’est ce que le profane vulgaire appelle des longueurs.—Bref, pour en venir & interesser fortement le lecteur, il faut quelquefois avoir le courage de commencer par Vernuyer un peu.” The paper below, called the “ Porter of Bagdad,” is sent to me by a Canadian, who protests against certain allegations as to the literary silence of Canada. ‘The little sketch originally appeared in a Canadian college magazine some eight years ago. Of English book plates there are more collectors than the world wots of. One might certainly collect things much less interesting. Some time ago Mr. Franks, who has a collection of 80,000, was so good as to include my own book plate —which was designed, I believe, by Mr. Thomas Crane, among four specially selected for commendation in a paper read before the Midland Institute on the subject. I then had letters sent to me by sheaves and waggon loads— at least there is a memory as of waggons—all asking for copies of that book plate, and this it was which taught me what a large number of persons collect book plates. Among them is Mr. Egerton Castle, who has made a very pretty collection, at those intervals when his more serious pursuits with foil and rapier have left him time. And he has indited a fine volume all about them, with a hundred examples and more. It is a handbook on the subject, and the edition will consist of no more than a thousand copies. But perhaps there are not more than a thousand collectors of book plates after all. The publishers are George Bell and Sons. The report of the London Booksellers’ Society, recently read at their annual dinner, brought out two rather unexpected points. This is the first. Most of us have been accustomed to consider that the upspringing everywhere of free libraries would be of the greatest benefit to our friends the booksellers. This, it appears, is very far from being the case. <A practice has arisen of tendering the supply of books to the cheapest offer, so that the bookseller who has to supply the library fre- THE AUTHOR. quently does so at a price which hardly pays for the paper and string to wrap the parcels. Consider. ing that many of the managers of the free libraries are themselves business men, it is won. derful that they do not protest against such a a system. The price of books is practically fixed || at 25 per cent. off the advertised or “face” | © price. To require a further reduction seems to © ignore the first principles of work and pay, that ve the latter should be adequate to the former, og The booksellers hope that the publishers will | 7) stand by them in this matter. If they do not, os it will be disheartening to the trade, but one ~? hopes that they will. Action should, however, yf be taken in every town where a free library ye exists, to keep the supply of books in the town, and in the hands of the local bookseller, at the proper recognised price. In our municipal pa institutions, at least, let us endeavour after justice. oo Many of our members may be willing todo what | in them lies in order to get this very real AS grievance remedied. This is the second point. We have always | been accustomed to think that the discount of ¥ 25, per cent. off the published price was a foolish | # and an unnecessary thing, productive of an unreal hi price, and conferring no benefit upon buyer or | * seller. I now learn that in the eyes of the trade = & this is a fait accompli, and must be recognised, a and will continue. Well, one is sorry. : The London booksellers have started examina- a tions for their assistants. They award certificates ¥ and prizes. The questions asked in the last e examination, apart from the technicalities of trade, = were on well-known authors and their publishers ¥ and their editions—a very difficult subject,consider- = ing that authors change their publishers so often. a Who of us could offhand give a list of the different 5 publishers, at different times, of Andrew Lang, 4 Thomas Hardy, or William Black? Another very — i : useful question was the best books on certain : chosen subjects. Nothing but good can come of keeping the book trade out of illiterate hands. Perhaps some way might be devised of bringing our own society into closer touch with the Booksellers’ Society. One of the speakers at the dinner dwelt with great force on a return to the old system when publishers were booksellers. In those days, thatis, all through the last century, and far down in this, publishers were general booksellers as well. One result was that the publishers of the last century play a very much more conspicuous part in lite- rary history than they do now. At the present  THe AUTHOR. 203 day the publisher sees the author—or the author’s agent—in a_ secluded office. Formerly, his shop was the resort of all the men of letters. Consider the figure of Robert Dodsley, who started the great Dictionary and the Annual Register—who projected Johnson’s “ Poets” —all these things were done in his shop among the authors who frequented it to talk with him and with each other. The country clergyman wrote to the Bible and Crown—Rivington’s—with their sermons and for their books. Tom Davies— known to readers of Boswell—was described by Johnson as learned enough for a clergyman. He was famous for the tea-parties at which he enter- tained authors. Jacob Tonson was the founder of the Kitcat Club, and satin the company of all the wits of the day. Edward Cave was editor as well as founder of the Gentlemen’s Magazine. Perhaps it is impossible to restore the old condi- tions. But it is as well, from time to time, to think of them, A correspondent writes to say that he wished to engage the services of a literary agent for the placing of an article in a magazine, and was informed that a fee of three guineas must be paid before anything was done. “Imagine,” says my correspondent, “paying a three-guinea fee for atwo-guineaarticle!” Itis rather absurd, though much more absurd things are constantly done in the mad rage to get into print. The agent, however, is perfectly within his right in demanding any fee he chooses before doing any work. A solicitor does much the same, that is, he does nu work, not the least service, without sending in a bill. The questions raised are these: (1.) Is the fee reasonable? (2.) Is the service rendered of sufficient importance to the author? (3.) Is the agent able to do what the author cannotdo? The first two questions may be left to be decided for each case as it arises. The third, however, we may consider here. And, briefly, it is not likely that an agent can persuade an editor of a magazine to accept the work of an untried and unknown author on his own recommendation. The editor would not be worthy of his post if he did not decide upon any MS. on his own judgment. No agent, in fact, can advance an unknown author with the editors of magazines. He may, perhaps—it has been done—assist an unknown author with pub- lishers, but hardly with editors. The beginner must follow the road that has been travelled by all who have succeeded or have failed. He must submit his MS. to the editor. There is nothing else for him todo. Many grievous disappointments would be avoided if young authors would only remember this most obvious fact. Water Brsanrt. IN MEMORIAM. Hymn For THE LAUREATE’S FUNERAL. (Hymns Anct. & Mod. 24—“ Abends,” or to any L. M. Tane.) ‘Every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of Lights.—James i., 17. Father in Heaven! Whose bounty gives All music on this earth to be A means whereby man’s spirit lives, We give Thy singer back to Thee. The fountain’s fall, the thunder’s roll, The winds that whisper thro’ the land : These are but echoes of Thy soul To tune the harp in mortal’s hand. And this Thy servant heard the chime ; He smote a chord of wisdom deep ; So serving Thee, he served his time, And, singing, entered into sleep. We tread the solemn Abbey nave To add our treasure to the store Of jewels in the silent grave ; But, in the hush, we feel him more. For all his thought, and all his song, In this dim world, was pure and right : God give him grace and power among The Angel-singers of the light! AMEN. H. D. Rawnstey. FEUILLETON. iL Tue Porter or BaapaD. E was always sure to be seen at the same H place day after day, near the eastern entrance of the great Bazaar, waiting for custom or marching quickly away with his bundle on his head. There was always the same look on bis face; and it was im no wise more significant than that of a flag im the pavement or a stone in the wall. His garments too, were common and never changed to the slightest rag. He was so constant and serviceable, that every- one in the Bazaar used him, though thinking no more of him than of the stones they trod on in the street. Not one of those who employed him daily could have said with certainty that he was young or old, tall or little of stature, dark in the face or ruddy. And so he was busy the whole day long, bearing the goods of the shopkeepers to and fro in the city. Sometimes the merchants browbeat him, and the slave who took his burden from him at the door cursed him roughly for very hardness. Sometimes he did his errand amiss,  THE 204 and must retrace his way through many long and weary streets before his error could be righted. Often when his load was heavy, and the sun hot, he was jostled in the narrow streets by the trains of camels, laden, too, like himself, with great packs of silks and strange woods and spices brought from India to please the Commander of the Faithful. He was a good Mussulman, often in the mosque, and praying at every call of the muezzin. At sunset his work was always over, and, after he had bathed and prayed, he was soon lost to sight in the crowds streaming over the bridges of the Tigris to the poor quarter in the south of the city. There he lived alone in a large house of many tenants. He had neither slave, nor wife, nor child, nor any friend in the whole quarter. Indeed few knew he lived there, so silent was his life. His room was always dark when he reached it, and outwardly was like other rooms, but as soon as the porter crossed the threshold all was changed. The room was dark, but it was soon light. For by his divan stood a hateful Djinn enchanted and motionless. It stood there just as the great Chinese magician had fixed it by his power. It was dwarfish and hump-backed, with an evil face: its body bent, its hands clasped behind, and its long thin legs, brown and shriv- elled like a crane’s, had grown together in one. As soon as the porter touched the Djinn’s single eye the whole room was one flood of mellow light, like the Caliph’s spice-garden when the thousand silver lamps are lighted at once. Then you could see how large the room was and how near it lay to the good Haroun’s palace. The roof was so high and the walls so wide, that one would think it wasan audience-chamber. For there was room for busy slaves, setting out a banquet in a wide portico that looked upon a garden of palms. They ever poured red wine from crystal goblets so thin it was a marvel their delicate sides held in the precious liquor. There were trains and troops of dancing.girls, brown-skinned and white, with little tinkling bells at ankle and wrist, and seated choirs of women singers with sweet voices, that sang continually. Foreign princesses, in beauty like the full-blown lotus flower, knelt before the Porter’s divan of silk tissue. But the great room seemed to have no walls, for the Porter could see from the divan he lay on far away where the great black and yellow cats played in their lair beneath the forest leaves, and further—where the ocean gleamed blue beyond the utmost land. As in a theatre, the heroes of old in glancing mail passed before him, and in shining robes great priests that taught the people. As ata play, he saw the daring deeds that spring up amidst the clash of meeting armies, and heard the words of AUTHOR. mighty captains and the shoutings of the men of war. Hesaw a thousand perils men pass through from love or from strength alone. The many lovers of song and story who were faithful unto death passed before him; he saw them in their delights and in their despairs, and heard their softest whispered word. The Porter was a part of it all: he taught with the priest, warred with the hero, worshipped with the lover. And all this flowed to and fro before him endlessly ; one brightness and beauty melting into another; each in turn changing, passing, and replaced. The girls danced, the women sang, and the Porter with the bright-eyed Djinn at his side saw it all from his divan. And up and down through and among it all floated and hovered a single roseleaf from the gardens of Gul, soft, white, and creamy, steeping the air with an enchanted perfume of its own. It seemed blown by the longing music or moved to will and impulse of the sweet sounds among the slender waving arms of the dancing girls, sometimes almost falling to their bare, soft feet ; then, rising as a bird rises, it might poise against the dark robes of an Indian princess or the painted hide of a beast of prey. But it never quite settled; it might rest a moment on the shining hair of a queen or the helmet of a warrior, but only as a white butterfly alights. The impulse of the music or the wind of the swaying robes came upon it and it was away. It advanced and receded. Sometimes it broadened to a banner of white silk fluttering in desert winds at the head of a black steel-clad army ; sometimes it was the sail of a king’s galley on a distant sea, and again the rounded gleaming snow-crest of the highest Hymalaya. And ever among the beauties of women, the strength of heroes, the deeds that live, the words that burn, the gorgeous colours of beasts of prey, mountain wastes, ivory cities, and lonely forests floated and swayed that rare white rose-leaf, while its scent lay heavy on the air. Last of all, the fairest of the women slaves came to him on the wide divan. She took his head upon her lap and shut his eyes to sleeping with her white soft hands, so gently that the Porter could not know it was the magic white rose-leaf settling at last and falling there in coolness, perfume, and unending rest. And darkness was over all. At early morning he was at the eastern entrance of the Bazaar, waiting till some mer- chant should give him work todo. But none of those who hired him knew what things he had seen and lived through since the day before. ARCHIBALD MAcMECHAN,  THE tL CacornTHES SCRIBENDI: AN APOLOGY. “Do you still try to write,” asked Marcia, brutally. “J still write,’ answered Helen, with some dignity. Marcia went on, unabashed : your things accepted ?” Helen shuddered, but, after a moment’s pause, she said firmly: “ Not often.” “How often?” “About once a year I find an—appreciative editor.’ The bitterness that Helen carefully kept out of her voice betray ed itself in her smile. “Bach time I imagine it to be the beginning of better days ; but it never ise “Do you think these matters are governed by merit—or private interest—or what F Are they fair to the young aspirant, these editors ?” Helen smiled; this time without bitterness. “Yes,” she said, in a tone of conviction. ‘I believe in them. It stands to reason that they are governed by the merits of the manuscripts submitted to them. Their object is the success of their magazines. Why should they accept inferior work? Believe me, abuse of the much- enduring editorial race is the last resource of incapacity. J do not represent Incapacity, but Mediocrity ; therefore I still believe in editors. Of course, like every other class, they have their bad habits. They are apt to forget that the sensitive writer of manuscript is suffering from daily palpitations on the arrival of the post-bag. But they are improving. I heard a friend of mine say the other day: ‘ Oh, the editor of the Frisoler is so kid! He always returns one’s manuscripts at once !” Marcia laughed. “It appears to be a cheerful kind of life,” she said, drily. “May one ask, without seeming impertinent, why you go on? Do you think it is merely a matter of perse- verance? Have you confidence in your own powers’ Do you believe your enthusiasm to be a guarantee of ultimate suscess ro “JT can answer ‘No’ to all those questions,’ said Helen. “1 think perseverance goes a long way, but it is not everything. Something more than perseverance is needed—something that I have not got, and shall never have in this life. As for my own powers, I have no confidence in them at all. I have no consciousness of latent genius waiting for its opportunity, Give me the genius, and you may trust me to make the oppor- tunity. Enthusiasm, again, is a good thing, but it guarantees nothing. Have you never noticed « And do you get that the accomplishments, and not only the vir- tues, on which a man particularly prides himself, AUTHOR. 205 are the very ones in which he does not sbine? No, I have no faith in my productive powers, but in my perceptive powers I have much. I know good work when I see it, and I know my own work is not good.” Marcia looked half amused, and wholly puzzled. “That seems a great pity, my dear,” she said. “ But that being the case, I can only repeat—Why do you go on?” Helen's face flushed, and, throwing off ber manner of forced quietness, she began to speak quickly and earnestly. “T go on, my good girl, because there is no help for it! It isa disease, and I was born with ib, When I was a child I wrote hymns im my mother’s butcher’s book. Before I was tbirteen I had written at least two-volumes-worth of a novel. It never had an end, and,as far as I can re- member, there was no guarantee that it ever would end, though the sudden shipwreck of all the characters gave hope. Before [I was seven- teen I had filled three books with verses, which I called ‘ poetry’ then. I was as pessimistic and Jin-de-siecle as any minor poet of them all! Since then [have spent the greater part of my time in producing manuscripts that no one will ever read beyond the first page. I cast my bread upon the waters with the pleasing certainty that it will re- turn to me after many days. And I don’t care a bit! (‘Why so excited?” interpolated Marcia, mischievously.) “I don’t care, I tell you! What does it matter? Whatis this life but one among many—one rung of a ladder—one link of a chain? It is because I believe that with my whole heart and soul that I go on! It is because I believe that my efforts and failures here will go towards making me a karma of success in some other life that I go on! Perhaps in my last existence I did not try to produce at all, but, by earnestly cultivating my powers of receptivity, I prepared the way for my present craving to create. The impotence of that craving is probably due to some former want of perseverance, some weakness of purpose. Or perhaps, again, I did try my utmost in that past life,for it may be that the advance from the passive to the active state 1s the most that can be done in one step. Do you think that a George Eliot can be manufactured 1 one pitiful little lifetime ? Ridiculous ! It must take lives upon lives and ages upon ages to de- velop genius like hers. The more I think of it the more unlikely it appears to me that our powers are arbitrarily doled out to us. It is far more probable that they are the accumulated result of our efforts in past lives, and the embryo of our successes in future lives. Don’t you see, then, that I must work—work—work ;_ that I must keep myself up to the farthest tension  206 THE of effort; that I must never falter for failure or discouragement? Perhaps in my next hfe, or the next, or the next after that, I shall be able to write—I shall succeed.” Helen emphasised the last word with a stamp of anticipatory triumph, and paused to take breath. After a few moments she went on more calmly. “Meantime, I am obliged to be constantly sub- mitting my attempts to the editors of magazines, that being my best means of judging of my progress.” “And meantime,’ added Marcia, with a glint of humour in her eye, “isn’t it a little hard on the editors?” Cravis. ee as THE MOSS LAND. By Hume NIsser. I cannot reach the stars, But I can find a shade Beneath this moss-tree glade, Away from human jars. I emulate the mites ; And with them sympathise, And borrow their sharp eyes To climb their giddy heights. Our world, this crack is all. Each speck of earth has grown A most stupendous stone. Eternity the wall. The thing that cannot fly, May surely learn to crawl; Grow like its neighbours small, Or rule a lesser fry. Here do I wear the crown, My kingdom half an ell. My subjects ne’er rebel For I could knock them down. We are a cultured band, We fight, snd steal, and slay, And justice pawn away , As in the bigger land. We love, and fear, and hate, And cheat, and lie as neat, As if we were six feet, And lived in court and state. The Alps are mere ant-hills To angel-eyes I mean. Each inch of moss so green A forest densely fills. There is no form, or size; There is no test of hue; The truth to me, to you Is but a peck of lies. Time is an idle tale, The stone-cased frog is young, The midge, his hour once sung, Grows old, and stiff, and frail. AUTHOR. THE PRESERVATION OF AUTOGRAPHS, J \HE proposal to form a society, to be called | “The Society of Archivists and Autograph Collectors,” is one that deserves the atten- tion of authors. Perhaps, by the time these lines meet the eye of the reader, the new society may have been already happily inaugurated, and, if go, literature will be provided with one more hand- maid very usefully devoted to her service. It is true that a great number of learned, antiquarian, and literary societies already exist, so many, indeed, that there is occasion to fear that they may sometimes rather divide than concentrate the energies of their supporters. None, however, has exactly the same aims as those which the new society proposes to itself, and those aims are most undeniably useful. Commencing from the banding together “for mutual benefit” of collectors of autographs, whether those who are very seriously engaged in that valuable pursuit, or those who have taken it up more lightly, as a tasteful hobby or occasional pastime, the Society of Archivists proposes also to attempt something towards educating the public into regarding “ old papers” with more of the reverence due to them, to exchange views as to the collection and preserva-_ tion of manuscripts, and to compile a reference catalogue, as complete as possible, of the many valuable MSS. scattered about the country in private and other collections. The last mentioned undertaking would be gigantic, but the society’s programme is certainly an admirable one, and one that should command the sympathies of all authors and literary men. For the whole world of letters has no greater or more terrible foe than this ignorance of the respect due to “old papers,’ which the new society arms itself to fight. This ignorance, public and private, has robbed us of what wecan neither replace nor afford to lose, and is robbing us still. Ever since man first discovered a device for scratching a record of his thoughts on a stone, to the present hour, parallel with all the labours of the student, the scholar, the historian, and the poet, of everyone who has ever written anything, has marched unspeakable ignorance, more ready than wanton malice to destroy anything set forth in letters, from the grandest flights of poetic genius to the humblest “ Hic jacet”” that records the shed- ding of a tear. Indeed, it would hardly be an exaggeration to say that ignorance has had things all its own way. If aught has survived of the labours of authors for thousands of years, that has been due rather to blessed chance than to any momentary abstention on the part of ignorance from its niko, . geal Y  THe AUTHOR. destroy. Neglect has sometimes passion to proved more safe than care, and idle time, a faithful custodian of treasures, man had cast aside. A long array of cases in point might be easily adduced. But it is superfluous here to repeat what any man may read in that sad chapter on the “ Destruction of Books” in Disraeli’s “ Curio- sities of Literature,” a work which certainly ought to be on the shelves of every English author. Unfortunately, such things as are there narrated are going on still, both in small ways and in large ; and if no one is now engaged in burning the poems of Sappho, or in burying a whole Slavonic library,* that is only because neither enterprise is, unhappily, any longer possible. To compensate itself ignorance is still busy, burying, burning, and tearing up all that it can, and the only way to stop the mischief is by putting an end to the ignorance, or, in fact, by trying to impress humanity, as the Society of Archivists hopes to do, with some notion of the value of “ old papers.” Meanwhile, as these pages come under the eyes of a good many authors, it is a painful duty to remark that there have been few greater sinners in the matter of neglecting to provide for the proper preservation of autographs than authors. Considering how great is the labour which authors often bestow upon their works, and how great the affection with which they invariably re- gard them, their cavelessness about their fates may seem incredible. Nevertheless, this careless- ness is a familiar phenomenon. Doctor Johnson dwelt upon it (Idler, No. 65, July 14, 1759). and what he wrote will be read with the interest that attaches to all the utterances of so great aman. “ He who sees himself surrounded by admirers . is easily persuaded that his influence will be extended beyond his life with hopes like these, to the executors of Swift was com- mitted the history of the last years of Queen Ann, and to those of Pope the works that remained unprinted in his closet. The performances of Pope were burnt by those whom he had perhaps selected from all mankind as most likely to pub- lish them ; and the history had likewise perished had not a straggling transcript fallen into busy hands. “The papers left in the closet of Peirese sup- * This wholesale destruction of documents, of a peculiarly valuable sort, took place in 1823. Jakim, metropolitan of Sophia, having learned that a number of old Bulgarian manuscripts existed in the village of Cerovene, near Berko- vica, informed the peasants that, unless they either burned or buried the books, he would not enter the village. The books were buried, all but three hidden by a rope. In 1864 search for the buried volumes brought to light nothing but Inmps of rotted parchment, 207 plied his heirs with a whole winter's fuel; and many of the labours of the learned Bishop Lloyd were consumed in the kitchen of his descendants. “Some works, indeed, have escaped total de- struction, but yet lave had reason to lament the fate of orphans exposed to the frauds of un- faithful guardians, How Hale would have borne the mutilations which his Pleas of the Crown have suffered from the editor, they who know his character will easily conceive. “The original copy of Burnett’s history, though promised to some public library, has been never given ; and who then can prove the fidelity of the publication when the authenticity of Clarendon’s history, though printed with the sanction of one of the first universities of the world, had not an unexpected manuscript been happily discovered, would, with the help of factious credulity, have been brought into question by the two lowest of all human beings, a scribbler for a party, and a commissioner of excise. “ Vanity is often no less mischievous than-neg- ligence or dishonesty. He that possesses a valu- able manuscript hopes to raise its esteem by con- cealment, and delights in the distinction which he imagines himself to obtain by keeping the key of a treasure which he neither uses nor imparts. From him it falls to some other owner, less vain but more negligent, who considers it as useless lumber, and rids himself of the incumbrance.” This is very serious admonition, and most seriously true. And it suggestsa question, which should be answered for himself by every author who sets any value on his autographs: “ What provision am I making for the preservation of my manuscripts in such sort as I should wish ?”’ There is. of course, no place in this world where anything is absolutely and for ever secure from destruction. But the safest place for manuscripts, notwithstanding the historic fate of the Alexandrine Library, is a public library; in fact there is no other place that is “ safe” at all. Had not Pepys’ Diary been in the library of Magdalen College, Cambridge, what would have become of this work in cypher, which, as it was, lay neglected and undeciphered for so many ears? Of how inadequate any place of custody, saving a public library, is, a most terrible example exists connected with a name no less than that of Aris- totle. Aristotle left his library and his auto- graphs to his successor, Theophrastus. These and Theophrastus’s own library were inherited by Theophrastus’s relation and disciple, Neleus, of Scepsis. Neleus sold both libraries to Ptolemy Philadelphus. But he retained, as an heirloom, Aristotle’s autographs. It is easy to imagine the sentiments which prompted him to do this; but  208 THE AUTHOR. how great a mistake he made the future was to show. The descendents of Neleus hid the manu- scripts in some sort of vault (kara yfjs ev duapvyé tere) that the Attali (who wished to rival the Ptole- mies in the formation of a great library) might not find them. For a couple of centuries the autographs lay exposed to the ravages of damp and worms, until, less than a hundred years before Christ, the wealthy Athenian book col- lector, Appellicon, of Teos, traced the valuable relics, and bought them from the ignorant pos- sessors. Apellicon, unfortunately, was far from possessing the knowledge necessary to restore correctly the damaged portions of the great philosopher’s autograph, and his edition of them was in many respects highly unsatisfactory. And all this was the result of a single mistake, of a not unnatural mistake made by a man who meant well, and was led by an “ amor habendi’”’ with which it is easy to sympathise! What con- sequences have ensued from less pardonable errors? Everyone can answer; for history teems with the destruction of books; whilst, probably, there is not a literary man living who cannot relate from his own personal experience some deplorable history of blundering or wanton barbarism. But authors cannot throw the first stone. The vast majority are as careless about their manu- scripts as Timon the Sillographer, who “ was bothered by the dogs and the maidservants ’’— the life of authors has always been the same! Timon’s manuscripts lay about half eaten by the rats ; and, on one occasion, when reading a work of his own to Zopyrus the orator, he suddenly discovered, when half-way through the book, some pages of the earlier portions which he had not missed. That the works of Timon have perished—cela va sans dire. Only a few lines remain to prove that the loss is exceedingly to be regretted, and to show that it is not the most worthless authors who are the most careless. How many authors in London at present have their manu- scripts so arranged that they can on the spot lay their hands on anything that they want? It is with the writer himself that recklessness about autographs begins, and the new Society might not do amiss could it commence by persuading authors to be a little more careful about manu- scripts. ‘ The institution of some depository like the Weimar Archive, which, from being a depository of Goethe and Schiller autographs, is now to become a storehouse of manuscript for all the great authors of Germany, might perhaps some day add a wider development to the careful pre- servation of manuscripts, too few of which at present find their way into the public libraries. That, however, lies in the distance, and it is to be hoped that the work of the “ Soc‘ety of Archivists and Autograph Collectors’? may soon be a present power amongst us. Their aim is a noble one, and has been ere now compared to what is perhaps the most humane and most touching of all enter. prises—the care of orphans. In a quaint dedica- tion to the collected works of Firenzuola, the editor, Lorenzo Scala, writes, “As it is the office of a kindly and compas- sionate mind, to take charge and care of those children of others, who, by the loss of theic dear parents, r-main orphaned and deprived of the most faithful and most winning sort of protection, how much more laudable and more generous an act should theirs be esteemed, who, with every kind of affection and love, devote themselves to the offspring of the intellect of another, when that offspring is left despoiled of the care of the affectionate author of its being. And, in truth, if he merits praise who undertakes to protect the fruit of the body, how much more worthy of honour and of commendation, is he who engages himself in the defence of the creatures of the mind? The former, though frail and perishing, are wont to be beloved and welcome, but the latter, pledges and fruits of what is divine in us, and therefore of much longer endurance, are our most continual and most honoured charge.” Henry CRESSWELL. pect THE IRRITABILITY OF AUTHORS. HE irritability of authors is proverbial. What is proverbial may be, in a rough way, assumed to be not very far from the truth. Why the author should be a peculiarly touchy and snappish animal does not so clearly appear. The phenomenon can hardly be ex- plained in the latest fashionable way of accounting for everything by the single word “heredity.” Perhaps, however, in the secrets of nature’s workshop there is some trick of warp and woof that, of necessity, occasions the peculiar com- plexion which constitutes irritability of nature to be a part of the composition of an author’s brain, just as it has been said that all nervous people are monarchists, and all melancholy people democrats ; which, after all, may not be true. Or, a more likely explanation may be sought in the fact that the exercise of an author’s profession, one which induces a nervous sensibility of a peculiarly complicated kind, possibly tends to ‘nervous tension that causes the fibre of an author’s brain to jar under circumstances incap-  THE able of producing, in more slackly-strung natures any vibration at all. Be all that as it may, this is indisputable, that only too many people, who have had a good deal to do with authors, are more than ready to bear witness to their being a yery captious and touchy species, anything but delightful to their personal friends, and often trying in the extreme to the patience of those whom they ought to treat with forbearance and regard. ‘Allthis is sufficiently unfortunate. Yet, perhaps, after all, no one is so bitterly punished by the author’s proclivity to snappishness as the author himself. For the only happy aspect of this sad failing of literary people is, that the culprit is not ignorant of his own excessive irritability. Only, seeing that literary people are fully conscious of this weakness, why are not penmen of all classes constantly on their guard against it? Why do they not frequently ask themselves, in all seriousness, “‘ What is the use of l-sing one’s temper ?” It might have been supposed that a man, when meditating turning author, would recollect, amongst other things, that one of the results of his enterprise, whether successful or unsuccessful, must inevitably be a vast increase of what- ever share of natural irritability nature had put into him. But it is a well-known fact that men mostly become authors either without knowing it, or, at the best, without thinking at all definitely about what they are doing. And one of the consequences of this is, that when the hardships and difficulties of literary enterprises begin to appear, authors are enormously astonished, and not a little out of humour and out of heart. How people can suppose that any human enterprise can exist not beset with diffi- culties and disillusions is really inexplicable. Yet it is certain that no one thinks much before- hand of difficulties in authorship. The soldier and the sailor must run risks and encounter trials. The lives of solicitors, of medical men, of merchants, all imply many restrictions and much self-denial. Every calling in life has its drawbacks and its dangers. No one is ignorant of the fact. In making choice of a profession men reflect upon its hardships, and prepare them- selves to face them. Seldom, however, in the case of literature. Qui nihil scripsit nullum putat esse laborem. Almost every man is persuaded that he could write a book well enough if he chose to take the trouble. After he has been writing the diffi- culties appear, and then ensue the phenomena of the author’s peculiar irritability and proclivity to lose his temper. AUTHOR. 209 The first person with whom the author gets into a rage is himself. Little harm enough in that, it will be said—a just retribution ! Only it is no jesting matter to the man conscious of possessing all the abilities and powers requisite for success—saving the knack of keeping _ his temper. The story will not shape itself. The characters will not come out well defined. The The pen will not obey the behests of imagination. So the author gets into a passion with them all. He smashes the pen, curses his dramatis persone, and pitches his manuscripts into the fire. And then, what is his work the forwarder for that? No difficulties are surmounted by getting into a rage with them, but by taking time and pains patiently to effect what has to be done. The persons with whom the author next gets into a passion are invariably editors and pub- lishers. After many holocausts, some manuscript is at last completed, often more by good luck than by good management. The editor or pub- lisher, to whom it is offered, then refuses it. In nineteen cases out of twenty the author is abso- lutely ignorant why it is refused—whether because it has been sent to the wrong place, or because it is really worthless, or because the publisher has just accepted a similar work, or for which of fifty other reasons. That does not prevent his form- ing hypotheses. ‘There is a clique.” “The publisher’s readers never look at manuscripts, unless they are written by their own friends.” “ Nothing but bosh is ever accepted now.” And so forth. The author himself scarcely believes all those things that he says. But—suppose they were true. Then they would be facts about literary work with which he must reckon; just as the market gardener must reckon with the fact that a single frost may ruin his peach crop for the year. Getting to rages will not alter the case. Why not think of the difficulties with which men contend in other professions ? Why not have patience, learn wisdom from failure, and try to offer saleable work in the markets where it is wanted ? Later on the author is in a rage with the critics. Why? Because they tell him disagree- able truths? If they do, he is a lucky man. And seeing how difficult a thing it is, under any circumstances, to accept adverse criticism wisely, of what use is it for the author to complicate matters by losing his temper ? But the critics tell him nothing. They are asses! Be itso. And is not a man himself an ass who loses his temper with asses ? Still there remains the public—who have no discrimination ; and “ that great beast the general reader’’—-whose Philistine tastes are ruining scenario is a tangle.  210 THE AUTHOR. literature; and “the young person” whose mamma is the occasion of mawkishness marching triumphant through the land; and the “ idiots” —who persist in preferring some other man’s books; and the general *‘ cussedness”’ of every- thing. With all these the author is unceasingly getting into passions of different kinds. And of what use to him are his rages ? they alter anything ? He says that he cannot help getting into a rage. But he ought to learn to be able to help it. And this is certain, if he would learn, he would have an enormous advantage over the other authors who will not. Henry CresswE.t. Do CORRESPONDENCE. ie AvuTHOR’ AND Eprror. T is now considerably more thana year ago, shortly after the publication of Mr. Edmund Gosse’s Biography of his father, that I wrote a sketch founded on the book for a certain paper published in London and a country town. The sketch was accepted. Six months afterwards, however, it was still unpublished. I accordingly wrote, pointing out that, if not published before the book ceased to be talked of, it would lose its interest. No notice was taken of my letter, and seven or eight more months passed. Seeing that it now had little chance of being published at all, I wrote, pointing out that it had been kept till it was of no use to me, and demanding payment. In reply the article was returned without a word of explanations. D [This case is one of real hardship; if an article is accepted the writer cannot offer it anywhere else ; if it is not paid for, the writer loses the money on which he had a right to rely after the accept- ance. It would be satisfactory if a claim of this kind could be tried in a court of law, and a prece- dent established. Of course, editors are deluged with MSS. ; of course, also, if a paper is crowded out until the time for its appearance has quite gone by, the editor is not to blame. In this case it is clear that the editor, in accepting the MS., intended to use it if he could. Would it not be well to insert the words “if possible” or in some other way to indicate the fact that an article, although accepted, may not perhaps be published ? The writer could then please himself, either to take his chance or to try elsewhere.—Ep. | II. DrraMatTory Oriricism. I have read with much interest Mr. Cresswell’s article on “The Criticism of Novels,” which appears in the current number of the Author, In connection with the question may I say a few words on a subject which is of vital importance to those who belong to the humbler ranks of Authorship? TI allude to what may be termed defamatory criticism. Literature is a recognised profession, and every member of it is, in common with the members of other professions, entitled to redress, should his reputation be unwarrantably assailed. If in the exercise of his calling a doctor or a lawyer|is unjustifiably attacked by the Press, he has his remedy in an action of libel. But from this resource the unfortunate author is practically precluded. The difficulty of estab- lishing his case against a “critical” traducer is necessarily so great, that for an author to obtain legal reparation would be well-nigh impossible, Thanks to this immunity, there exists an ever- increasing class of so-called ‘“ eritics,” who are little better than literary cut-throats. The obscure author, or rather, the author just emerging from obscurity, is peculiarly their prey. Armed with insolent superficiality, and adepts in the art of denigration, they use their powers to mar, and, if possible, to unmake, reputations which, though modest enough, it has taken years of patient labour to acquire. It is idle for the victim to protest. Sentence has been passed ; there is no appeal. All that remains for him to do is to “ live it down,” a process which, however heroic, is scarcely conducive to fresh literary enterprise. It is surely high time that the newspaper editor sets his “reviewing,” department in order. Let him either dispense with the class of critics I have described, or add to his office staff a supervisor of reviews, whose duty it shou'd be to satisfy him- self that criticisms were, at all events, bond fide before they went to press. No reasonably author asks for favour: he will be perfectly contented with justice, and that in nine cases out of ten he fails to obtain. Rank AnD FIs. It. AMERICAN CoPYRIGHT. An authoritative opinion on the following ques- tion would be of some interest to your readers. A scientific writer produced a yery valuable work twenty years ago, which was at once seized and appropriated by the people of the United States without any payment to the worker. Now, if the author were to write another important chamter Bk  Je, “ae. wade THE bringing the book up to date, and adding some valuable observations, and were to publish this chapter in an American journal so as to secure copyright for it, and then were to publish a new edition of the original work with the copyright addition, could the pirates produce the complete edition? Would there be a chance of the pre- servation of such a new edition from the piratical competition ? CURIOSITY. TV. Literary CRITICISM. You invite members to send you communi- cations on all subjects connected with literature. May I, therefore, make a few remarks on a curious piece of criticism which has just appeared. on a book of mine ? The book I refer to is, ‘‘ Gleanings from a Tour in Palestine and the East,” a second edition of which was published as far back as 1889. The critique alluded to only appeared this month, Oct. 1892. The reviewer says, in not very com- plimentary terms, “It is quite an old-fashioned book, with its unpretending woodcuts, and scraps of well-known hymns; but it is up to date, never- theless.” How it can be at the same time “ old- fashioned,” and yet “ up to date,’ Lam ata loss to apprehend. And would you believe, it, Sir, there is not in the book “one scrap of well- known hymns.” There are, indeed, in the volume some original poems, of which the Morning Post said, in a review which appeared at the time, “The verses written in contemplation of these sacred spots are marked by great beauty and devotion. They read like some of the Church’s glorious hymns of tbe Passion set anew, in fresh strains and varied metre.” These are what the critic in this paper calls ‘scraps of well-known hymns.”” It makes one ask if reviewers read the books they pronounce judgment upon in this summary fashion ? It certainly does not tend to give an exalted opinion of the fairness and justice of the critic’s craft. But there are critics and critics. Cuares D. Bett, D.D. Ae Tur Proposep SHELLEY LIBRARY. T have your kind permission to plead, in these pages, for the above project. I shall not trouble your readers with a statement of the reasons for founding the library and museum. The scheme has been discussed in many hundreds of journals throughout the world, and in almost every AUTHOR. 211 instance it has been heartily commended. It will be to the purpose, however, to endeavour to point out why we should look to men and women of letters for support. The reason is a paramount one, in that if they do not help us no one will. Shelley’s attack upon everything the ordinary “Britisher” holds dear, has alienated from him the sympathies of almost every class of well-to-do Englishmen. Rank, wealth, and fashion are against him. Nowhere is this seen more clearly than at Horsham. There is not much rank there; but there is some weath, and any amount of would-be-fashion. The men and women engaged in an amiable conspiracy, having for its object the creation of a fine old crusted landed aristocracy, belong, for the most part, to families which in Shelley’s time were anywhere or nowhere, but certainly had nothing to do with Sussex. Perhaps this is why the poet is regarded as an intruder; in any case he is looked upon as an impossible person, whose admission to such good company, even in a ghostly form, is not to permitted fer a moment. Horsham itself, so far as the townfolk are concerned, is not without sympathy with Shelley as a teacher. But these good people are afraid to support us, not for dear respectability’s sake, but because they have their livings to get. Party feeling runs very high. The rich squatters in and aboit Horsham have possession of the lands once farmed by the Sussex yeomen, to whom the shopkeeping cla s then looked for support. Horsham tradesmen have, therefore, to consider the prejudices of these persons, who, as things now are, are their pr n- cipal customers. I have been asked why the movement is not better received in Horsham itself. I am glad of an opportunity of stating the reason publicly. Those who would help either cannot or dare not: while those who could accomplish the matter with the greatest possible ease, hate and detest the very name of Shelley, and are, besides, absolutely opposed t» anything which tends in the direction of the real enlighten- ment of the people. On the top of this, I need scarcely add that a library at Horsham would be a very great boon to the town, indeed to the county, which, if we exclude one or two of the coast towns, can boast of no library worthy the name. There are, of course, a great number of per- sons who honour Shelley as a preacher rather than asasinger. But of these, few are in a position to render this project, whereby the poet will be permanently commemorated, pecuniary aid. It is clear, then, that we must look to the men and women who, in the nature of things, are best able to value Shelley for that which was greatest in him, and I make this appeal to my  THE 212 co-workers in the confident belief that it will meet with a generous response. Subscriptions may be sent to Mr. J. J. Robinson, West Sussea Gazette, Arundel, Sussex, or to me as below. Jas. STANLEY LittTue. Buck’s Green, Rudgwick, Sussex. Sept. 20, 1892. VI. A PERPLEXED PEN. Tam a lover of the pen. The very look at one stirs a wild longing, the holding of one sends a feverish thrill through my frame. The moment I touch paper with one thoughts come like a spring of water (as to the quality I am no judge). Having made this discovery, and lured by this magic in the pen, I became a literary aspirant, and, as author of a few short stories and a novelette, a member of the Society of Authors. I suppose I have fair success—my first story nobody will have, my second brings me seven guineas, my third three guineas, and so on. My first article having been twice refused, now is in a drawer—forgotten. My first novel—for this a publishing firm made an offer—the Society of Authors advised me to try some other publishers. I tried two. The MS. is refused. I try no more publishers. I turn my back on the pen; I will play no more with it, and yet it calls—it calls and the old feverish desire to scribble seizes me. Also, I want occupation, and a paying one. There is other work open to me: but the pen—I cannot turn from it. I start again ; this time I seek out a literary coach. I want to know my flaws and feeblenesses. Oh, how he abuses me! crushes under his foot my “higher form ;” sneers at my ideas of life! Then, when I grow faint and weary, administers this dose—* Honestly, and from no other motive than your good, I say that you have talent enough to write very readable novels. Your gift is as yet immature. I advise you to pluck up courage and go on.” Reaching this point, I now accept the fact that I ought to work and earn money by my pen. How? As a novelist or a journalist? Halting here, I take up the Author and read “ Women in Journalism.” Foolish, flighty, frothy work! Is this what journalistic work means for a woman ? My pen to be a demoralising influence! Again, to be a successful journalist, a woman must be neither old nor ugly. Surely, it cannot mean that in this work women must trade on their good looks and attractive manners? If these things are, I must turn to my book or story writing. AUTHOR. Having decided, a feeling of relief arises, for halting between two opinions, as you know, is far from the most comfortable condition. Then I light on your correspondence, and once more am flung into the abyss of despair as I read : Literature and Independence. Books — to pay—must be empty of brain work, full of sensational nonsense, I understand from it. The higher work finds no market for the Un-known, What am Ito do? Three things are for my choice: to try to be a novelist, or a journalist, or say to this eager, fretting, anxious pen, “ be still.” I shrink from the last. The first I fear, for I have no confidence that I can push through the struggling throng. And to be a journalist of the higher type, I understand I must pay high fees and give a year or more time before I am equipped. Is this so, is there no other way of getting into journalistic work ? Will anyone relieve my perplexed pen, and steer it into the right direction ? M. VII. TITLES. Amongst our perpetually recurring real diffi- culties, there is one great one, which a little patience and labour might, surely, entirely re- move. That is the difficulty of knowing what titles are copyright property. Titles continue to be literary property but for a limited period, like all other literary property—to the disgrace of the Legislature. Could not a complete index of all copyright titles within this limited period be made? If such an index existed at the offices of the “ Incorporated Society of Authors,” and a small fee was charged for consulting it, would not those fees before long prove a nice little source of income? From the careful lists of new books now published, it would not be diffi- cult to keep the index up to date; now, would it seem unreasonable to think that Stationers’ Hall might lend its countenance to the formation of an index so valuable to all literary men. Will not someone take the matter up? In 1884 I published a novel entitled “ Incog- nita.” I think that the book had been actually published, and, at any rate, it had been, for some little time, advertised, when someone called upon my publisher, and proved copyright in the title. A cheque settled the difficulty. Subsequently I discovered that a novel entitled “ Incognita,” was published by William Congreve, under the pseudonym of Cleophil, in 1692. Had the publisher or I known that (and perhaps I ought ie petal Se NAR 4 THE AUTHOR. to have known it), could we have pleaded that the title “ Incognita” is no one’s property, its copyright having expired so long ago? Or, when a copyright im a title expires, does the copyright of title (unlike that of a book) renew its youth like a pheenix, and become capable of being registered afresh by someone else? Some tell me that is the case. Now, however, a play has been produced with this same title. I do not know whether another cheque has passed; but, when the copyright, which I unwittingly in- fringed, ceases to exist, can the owner of the copyright of the play restrain the sale of my book upon the plea that the man who allowed me to use his title, could not allow the use of his title for longer than his right lasted ? Henry CRESSWELL. I should much like a reply to this question. Have instances ever occurred when the general voice of the critics (of course they would never be all agreed) has correctly predicted the success of a really very successful novel by an author previously unknown or little known? It would be invidious to name this novel or that, but many occur at once to the mind ; and, personally, I am unable to remember a case of the critics having prognosticated en masse a big success. VIII. Eprrors’ RiautTs. Last March I offered a couple of stories to the editor of a well-known London magazine to choose from, and he liked them well enough to keep both, In the summer number of the magazine one of the stories duly appeared, though no cheque followed its publication. I waited till September before reminding the editor that I had not been paid for my work, but my letter remained unanswered. A month later I had the unpleasant task of again writing to ask for what was due to me, and by the middle of October I received a cheque for a sum so small that, if the editor was not ashamed to offer it for the work done, I was ashamed to receive it. He did not apologise for keeping me waiting more than three months. I returned the cheque together with the the receipt I was asked to sign acknowledging the absurd sum as payment, not only for the story, but for the sale of the entire copyright as well. I wrote that I would rather not be paid at all than receive such inadequate payment, and asking the editor to return me my other MS., which he did at once, although it had gone to the printer. I can best show you the deplorable pay offered by stating that for a story of the same length in one a¥8 of the September magazines I received on its publication, the actual time of payment, exactly six and a half times the amount I declined to accept from the editor of the other magazine ; not to mention a cheque that folluwed for the right of republication in a new York paper, which was in itself more than the sum I would not take from the other magazine both for story and copy- right. The editor of the meagre-paying magazine accepted the present I made him, writing in reply “that my story was paid for at the usual scale of payment for stories published in the so-and-so magazine, and from that scale there can be no departure.” Which means that the magazine in question pays on such a miserable scale, that, if all were equally bad, no one could live by his pen. I was able to show what I thought of such pay, since I was assured it could not be raised, by refusing to touch it, but, supposing this had been impossible, that this wretched sum withheld for more than three months after it was due was needed to buy my daily bread, how then? Why cannot an editor, when MSS. are submitted to him, plainly state what remuneration he is prepared to offer 2 Some do this, as I_ know by experience, and it is fair to both editor and author. Then, when such pay is offered as cannot be accepted, one can place one’s work elsewhere and be properly paid for it. L. B. Specs “AM THE AUTHOR'S HEAD.” MONG the noticeable books of the month A the daintiest is perhaps Mr. Douglas Sladen’s ‘ The Japs at Home.” Beautifully printed, beautifully bound, beautifully illustrated, and delightfully written. It is published by Hutchinson and Co. “Olga’s Dream: a Nineteenth Century Fairy Tale.” By Norbey Chester. It is perhaps no dis- respect to this book that it is clearly suggested by an old friend, “Alice in Wonderland.” Olga has been in for an examination, which she wants to know whether she has passed or not. She falls asleep, and has an illustrated dream—a very funny and remarkable dream. Mr. Harry Furniss and Mr. Irving Montagu seem to have had the same dream at the same time. They made sketches of what they saw. This coincidence is not uncommon. Mr. Henry Charles Moore brings out a paper in the November number of the Fortnightly on “Burmese Traits,” including the literature of Burma.  214 “ King Zub,” By Walter Herries Pollock. The latest contribution to the Whitefriars Library of Witand Humour. Some of these delightful tales have already appeared in magazines. In their collected form they revive pleasant memories of past good reading. “Hypocrites ” is the new novel by Hugh Col- man Davidson, author of ‘Green Hills by the Sea.” It is published by Sampson Low and Co., with Illustrations by René. The book will more than sustain the author’s reputation. “Tdyls of Womanhood” is a little dainty volume by C. Amy Dawson, author of “ Sappho.” There ought to be a place for Amy Dawson among the lesser singers of the time. Her taste is never out of tune; her touch is never false ; her song is always pure and sweet, if it is some- times neither original nor strong. Her danger seem to lie in her facility. Most of the Idyls are in blank verse, and it is so very very easy to write blank verse—of a kind. For one thing the reader of this book is grateful. Amy Dawson has rescued and put into verse the story of Sybelle and Guy de Lusignan. The book is published by Heinemann. “* Poems” is the simple title of a little book— a very pretty little pamphlet kind of book—by Mary Cross (Oliphant, Anderson, and Fernie). They are sweet and tender verses, hardly strong enough to be published, but pleasant and delight- ful to write. “The Holy Vision, and other Poems.” This is the title of a first volume of verse by Mr. Herbert Sleigh. Among many lines which are immature, and some which are echoes, there is as much promise in this little volume as one remembers to have seen in any early work in verse. If it is the case, as some think, that there is to be a speedy revival in the national loss and demand for poetry, Mr. Herbert Sleigh may have a great future before him. Meantime there seems to be the true ring about his early verse. Let him write ; let him think and meditate; let him nourish a lofty ideal and be disinterested. Amember of the Society, under the nom de plume of Arthur Milton, is inserting Indian stories in Messrs. Cassell’s Family Magazine. Three short stories appeared in the May number, and one, entitled “An Indian Story,” appeared in the present number. Mr. Bertram Mitford’s book entitled “’Tween Snow and Fire,” is one of Mr. R. Heinemann’s autumn publications. The selling price of “The Grievances of Authors,” published at the Leadenhall Press, has been reduced to a shilling. THE AUTHOR. Mr. Arthur A. Sykes has translated Nikolai Y, Gogol’s play of the “ Revizér ” (The Inspector. General). The play is most amusing: it turns on a very old incident, the mistaking of an ordinary and quite common-place individual for a great Government personage. The humour, however, is distinctly Russian throughout. The transla- tion is full of spirit, and, one hopes—not being a Russian scholar—faithful. The publisher is Mr, Walter Scott. The Rev. Edmund Fowle, late Head Master of Amesbury House School, Bickley, has sent us a work, called the “ Schoolboy’s Little Book.” Tt is a religious book, and is intended to be placed in the hands of a boy just entering school. It is also a practical work, likely to be of great use to boys in the direction desired by the author. Those who wish their boys to remain and to grow up under the influence of religion cannot do better than give them this book. In “Tom Paulding” Mr. Brander Matthews has essayed a new field. “Tom Paulding” is a book for boys, a story of a search for buried treasure. Tom, the hero, is a New York boy, who finds, among some family papers, a clue to a theft committed during the Revolution, by which his great-crandfather lost two thousand guineas. He sets out to recover the money, and, with the assistance of his uncle and two school friends, succeeds in doing so, only to find that the coins he has searched so faithfully for are worthless counterfeits. The story does not end here, for Tom finds that his search has not been wholly profitless, and that the reward of diligence often comes in unexpected ways. The book is published by the Century Company, New York. We are not a religious society. But we belong, so to speak, to every religion which produces literature, and here is a little story about a religious book. It is written by a busy professional man, and was intended at first for his own boys. He spent eight years over the book, giving his evenings to the work. As each chapter was finished he read it aloud to his boys, noting the effect it produced. Children are, in fact, the best critics in the world; they know how a story should be told; if it is told rightly they show it in their faces; if not, they leave off listening. When the book was finished the author, who believed in it, had it simultaneously published in London and New York. They are reading it at children’s services, and in Sunday schools, and even in churches. The title of the book explains its contents. It is called ‘“ Jesus, the Carpenter of Nazareth,” and it is an attempt to tell the history of the Gospel in simple language for the young.  «4 { TH AUTHOR. The next number of the Pseudonym Library will be “A Splendid Cousin,” by Mrs. Andrew Dean, author of “ Isaac Eller’s Money.” Mr. Henry A. Harper, author of “ The Bible and Modern Discoveries,’ has written a book called “From Abraham to David ”—the Story of their Country and Times. He has embodied in this book all the recent discoveries. His work on the Holy Land, generally illustrated with his own pencil, was the outcome of much travel in the East. The publishers of this little book are Percival and Co. Australia is yielding up its romance. It is thirty-three years certainly since Henry Kingsley produced his “ Geoffry Hamlyn,” but Australia has not contributed her share to modern fiction. Mr. E. R. Kennedy, author of “ Blacks and Bushrangers,”’ has brought out a romance of Australian life called “‘ Out of the Groove.” It is published by Sampson Low and Co. “The Runaway Browns” is the title of H. C. Bunner’s new book published in “ Park’s Mul- berry Series” (Brentano, Agar-street, Strand). It is a very funny book—not so funny as a book by Frederick Anstey or Burnand, but in the present dearth of writers who can make us laugh, most acceptable. “ Paddles and Politics,” by Poultney Bigelow, is the record of a journey down the Danube in a canoe, illustrated by the author, and published by Cassell. New scenery, new society, and a delight- ful companion recalls this voyage down the Danube, in an armchair a most pleasant evening’s journey. It was not Mr. Henry Neville, but Mr. Henry Newill, whose book “In the Tilt Yard of Life” was announced last month, and two of the titles of his stories were given incorrectly. One was “The Best Friend,” instead of “Her Best Friend,” and it is not “Gritty’s Glove,” but “Gritty’s Ghost.” For these errors we hope the author of the book will accept this amendment as an apology. “The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland,” by Mr. J. Theodore Bent (Longmans) will be one of the books of the season. These cities, which have only recently been discovered. are as mysterious as the cities of Central America. Their buildings and their decorations are said to suggest Pheenician influence rather than to be actually Phenician. They are undoubtedly relics of the time when traders from Southern Arabia pene- trated in all directions round the shores of the Indian Ocean. The book is illustrated with maps and drawings. It is divided into three sections, (1) the journey and its incidents, (2) 215 the archeology and excavations, and (3) an account of further journeys in Mashonaland in search of other ruins. Mrs. Clifford, since her first success in “ Mrs. Keith’s Crime,” has been steadily advancing in reputation. Her last book, made up of short stories, and called “The Last Touches” (A. and C. Black) will sustain her latest advance. The story which gives the title to the volume is charming; if it were wanted, this story gives the lie direct to those who maintain that we can- not write short stories. Everything that a short story should have is here; a complete story in itself; the suggestion of a past; the atmosphere of a thousand stories. “is Official Wife” (Routledge) is a tale which no one can put down unfinished when it has once been begun. It is the most “ exciting u story that has appeared for a long time. Let everybody try it. This is the easier because it costs only two shillings. Mr. Arthur Waugh’s “Life of Tennyson,” appearing so soon after the Laureate’s death, was at a certain disadvantage. It seemed as if it must be a hasty, catchpenny thing, got up ina hurry, This is not the case. The biographer has been engaged upon the work for years. That it was almost concluded just before the death of Tennyson was an accident. Mr. Arthur Waugh is well known in certain literary circles as the successor of Mr. Wolcott Balastier. ee NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. Theology. Birks, CANON. Hore Evangelice: The internal evidence of the Gospel history. Edited by the Rev. H. A. Birks, M.A. George Bell. tos. 6d. Boox or Common PraveER, THE, from the original manu- script attached to the Act of Uniformity of 1662, and now preserved in the House of Lords. Eyre and Spottiswoode. Carrns, John, D.D., LL.D. Christ the Morning Star and other Sermons. Edited by his brothers. Hodder and Stoughton. 6s. Coruesronge, R. S., D.D. Buddhism, present, in Magadha and in Ceylon. Longmans. 16s. Dyxzs, J. OSWALD. Plain Words on Great Themes. Volumes of “‘ Preachers of the Age”’ series, with por- traits. 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For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. 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Burgin... 248 a | Notices... oes The Authors’ Club i aes Resignation of the Chairman Literary Property— 1.—Criticism of Books: Counsel's Opinion 2.—The Review of Reviewers ee 3.—Magazines and Copyright American Copyright Author and Editor ... Authors’ Rights to Titles... A Copyright Bill .. eae A Case in Court 10.—An Anticipated Charge 11.—Ownership ... eae *s tae Notes from Paris. By Robert Sherard ... “Glamour.” By Eleanor Sweetman Notes and News. By Walter Besant Serial Rights: a Warning. By W. Morris Colles... Correspondence— 1.—A Little Sum 2.—No Answer aoe | 3.—Letters not Received 4.—A Suggested Memorial | 5.—A Question | 6.—For Nothing ... ae oe | ‘.—A Brilliant Scale of Pay ... 8.—A Lawyer's Letter ... 9.—Defamatory Criticism 10.—Society of Archivists 11.—A Puzzle : 12.—TIllustrations ... a 13.—Liberal Remuneration o te es 14.—A Suggestion—and Something More ... At the Sign of the Author’s Head... New Books and New Editions PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. l. The Annual Report. That for January 1892 can be had on application to the Secretary. 2. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members. 3. The Grievances of Authors. (The Leadenhall Press.) 15, The Report of three Meetings on the general subject of Literature and its defence, held at Willis’s Rooms, March, 1887. 4, Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Couuus, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher 95, Strand, W.C.) 3s. 9. The History of the Société des Gens de Lettres. By S. Squrrm Sprraax, late Secretary to the Society. ts. 6. The Cost of Production, In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c., with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. 7. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Seurrz Striaer. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society’s offices, the various forms of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined. and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of frand which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C, 36. } i 8. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell’s Copyright Bill now before Parlia- ] ment. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Leny. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1s. 6d. H a d  226 ADVERTISEMENTS. Now Ready, Price ONE SHILLING, Postage One Halfpenny. THE CHRISTMAS NUMBER OF = + TME QUEEN + WILL CONTAIN THREE BEAUTIFUL PRESENTATION PICTURES IN COLOURS: “WHAT SHALL I SAY?” “SCHOOL DAYS.” From a Painting by C. HaraH Woop. From a Painting by Davipson KNOWLES. “THE SQUIRE’S DAUGHTER” From a Painting by G. L. S—yMouR. PORTRAITS OF THE QUEEN'S GRANDCHILDREN, J REPRODUCED FROM THE ORIGINAL MINIATURES BY THE GRACIOUS PERMISSION OF HER MAJESTY, And under the Supervision of THE MARCHIONESS OF GRANBY. PAPERS ON WOMEN’S WORK AND WOMEN’S INTERESTS, €& By the DUCHESS OF RUTLAND, the MARCHIONESS OF DUFFERIN AND AVA, SUSAN LADY MALMESBURY, LADY JEUNE, and other distinguished writers. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL REMINISCENCES: HOW THEY MADE THEIR FIRST SUCCESS, | ba: By MISS CHARLOTTE M. YONGE, MRS. LYNN LINTON, and others. STORIES by Mrs. KENNARD, R. M. BURNAND, FRANCIS GRIBBLE, and other distinguished Authors. NUMEROUS WOODCUT ILLUSTRATIONS. ILLUSTRATIONS OF FASHIONS AND ART AND FANCY WORK “QUEEN” OFFICE, WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM’S BUILDINGS, LONDON, E.C. NEW NOVEL BY JAMES PAYN. MR. HORACE COX begs to announce that MR. AMES PAYN’S New Novel, § “4 STUMBLE ON THE THRESHOLD,” is now ready at all Libraries, Booksellers, and Bookstalls, in Two Volumes, crown Svo., cloth, price 21s. WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM’S BUILDINGS, LONDON, EC. Che #Huthor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vou. III.—No. 7.] For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible, HE Secretary begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all mémbers not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. During the last six months a number of letters have not been delivered at the Society’s office, and, as one robbery at least has been proved to have been committed, it is reasonab'e to suppose that the letters have been stopped in the hope of stealing uncrossed cheques. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only, ea. WARNINGS. > Specian) Warntna. — Readers are most URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements immediately after signature. If this precaution is neglected for two weeks, a fine of £10 must be paid before the agreement can be used as a legal document. In almost every case brought to the secretary the agreement, or the letter which serves for one, is without the stamp. The author may be assured that the other party to the agreement never neglects this simple pre- caution. The stamp duty varies from 6d. up to TOs, or more, according to the form of agreement, The Society, to save trouble, undertakes to get all the agreements of members stamped for them at no expense to themselves except the cost of the stamp, Reapers of the Author are earnestly desired to make the following warnings as widely known as VOL. III. DECEMBER 1, 18o2. [PRIcE SIXPENCE. possible. They are based on the experience of seven years’ work upon the dangers to which literary property is exposed :— (1.) Never sign any agreement of which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part, until you have proved the figures. (2.) Never enter into any correspondence with publishers, especially with those who advertise for MSS., who are not recom- mended by experienced friends or by this Society. (3.) Never, on any account whatever, bind yourself down for future work to any- one. (4.) Never accept any proposal of royalty until you have ascertained what. the agreement, worked out on both a small and a large sale, will give to the author and what to the publisher. (5.) Never accept any pecuniary risk or respon- sibility whatever without advice. (6.) Never, when a MS. hes been refused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises they may put forward, for the production of the work. (7.) Never sign away foreign, which include American, rights, Keep them by special clause. Refuse to sign any agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the publisher. If the publisher insists, take away the MS. and offer it to another. (8.) Never sign any paper, either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright, without advice. (9.) Keep control over the advertisements, if they affect your returns, by clause in the agreement. Reserve a veto. If you are yourself ignorant of the subject, make the Society your adviser, s 2 f fi P 228 (10.) Never forget that publishing is a busi- ness, like any other business, totally un- -connected with philanthropy, charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with business men. Be yourself a business man. Society’s Offices :-— 4, Porrucan Street, Lincouin’s Inn Frewps. pecs ——— HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. 1. Every nember has a right to advice upon his agreements, his choice of a publisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an 0,inion from the Society’s solicitors. If the :as+ is such that counsel’s opinion is desirable, the Committee will obtain for him counsel’s opinion. All this with- out any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publishers’ agreements are not generally within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books repre- sented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agreements and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The information thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business transactions by the Secretary proves unfavour- able, you should take advice as toa change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the proposed form to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks, of every publishing firm in the country. Remember that there are certain houses which live entirely by trickery. 7. The outward and visible signs of the fraudulent publisher are—(1) a virtuous and benevolent wish to have the unquestioned conduct of your business left entirely in his hands; (2) a THE AUTHOR. virtuous, good man’s pain at being told that his accounts must be audited; (3) a virtuous indig- nation at being asked what his proposed agree- ment gives him compared with what it gives the author; and (4) irrepressible irritation at any mention of the Society of Authors. 8. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the inde- pendence of the writer. g. Send to the Editor of the Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. pecs THE AUTHORS’ SYNDICATE. R. Colles desires to inform readers of the Author— 1. That the Authors’ Syndicate is now in a position to take charge in whole or in part of the business of members of the Society. With, when necessary, the assistance of the advisers of the Society, it will conclude agreements, collect royalties, examine and pass accounts, and, generally, relieve mem- bers of the trouble of managing business details. All accounts opened between the Syndicate and members are duly audited. 2, That the establishment expenses of the Authors’ Syndicate are def.ayed entirely out of the commission charged on rights placed through its intervention. This varies, and must vary, according to the nature of the services rendered, but the charges are reduced to the lowest possible amount compatible with efficiency. Mean- while members will please accept this intimation that they are not entitled to the services of the Syndicate gratis, and when desirous of seeing Mr. Colles, they must write for an appoint ment. 3. That he undertakes to work for none but members of the Society. 4. That his business is not to advise members of the Society, but to manage their affairs for them if they please to entrust them to him. 5. That when he has any work in hand he must have it entirely in his own hands; — 10  THE in other words, that authors must not ask him to place certain work, and then go about endeavouring to place it by themselves. 6. That when a MS. has been sent from pub- lisher to publisher, and from editor to editor, in vain, it is most likely impossible to place it. 7. That in the face of the present competition, authors will do well to moderate their expectations. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. To this it may be added, that where advice is sought, the Secretary of the Society, and not the Syndicate, must be consulted. NOTICES. —<—___ HE Editor of the Author begs to remind members of the society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the society if a great many members did not forward to the secretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. Perhaps this reminder may be of use. With 850 members, besides the outside circulation of the paper, the Author ought to prove a source of revenue to the society. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and comimunications on all subjects con- nected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the society than to make the Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to wid m this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write ¥ oo —<—S+ Communications for the Author should reach the editor not later than the 21st of eath month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any AUTHOR. 200 points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office with- out previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received, It must also be distinctly understood that the Society does not, under any circum- stances, undertake the publication of MSS. ——— The Authors’ Club is now opened in temporary premises, at 17, St. James’s Place, .St. James’s Street. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, &c. Sa Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? If they will do this, and remit the amount or a banker’s order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. Se Those who are elected members during the last three months of the year are advised that their subscriptions cover the whole of the follow- ing year. So Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the warning numbered (3). It is a most foolish and a most disastrous thing to bind yourself to anyone for a term of years. Let them ask them- selves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest or dishonest ? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign themselves into literary bondage for three or tive years ? SEEenetooeeeeed Those who possess the ‘Cost of Production” are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble of “doing sums,” the addition of three shillings in the pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at £9 4s. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth as can be procured: but a printer’s, or a binder’s, bill is so elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at. 230 Some 1emarks have been made upon the am: unt charged in the ‘Cost of Production” for advertising. Ofcourse, we have not included any sums which may be charged for inserting adver- tisements in the publisher’s own magazines, or in other magazines by exchang-. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud: it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. sec THE AUTHORS’ CLUB. Se \YHE Authors’ Club, which has been carried cn in temporary premises at St. James’s Place, is endeavouring to obtain a more permanent holding. Its chairman, Mr. Oswald Craufurd, is now negotiating for a set of rooms in the most central and convenient position of all London. Should he be so fortunate as to secure them, the club will make a new start with a most excellent set of rooms, thoroughly con- venient for everything, with a membership of 200 to begin with, and with a cheaper subscription, for a high-class club, than any other club in London. It has begun already its monthly— soon to become fortnightly—dinners, at which the institution of “Uncut Leaves”? has been founded. That is, unpublished verses, tales, &c., are recited and read to the members after dinner. In Noveu. ber, Mr. Richard le Gallienne read a poem, Mr. Eden Philpotts read a tale, and Mr. Jerome gave a recitation—all of things as yet unpublished. re RESIGNATION OF THE CHAIRMAN. T a meeting of the Execut:ve Committee, on Monday, Nov. 21, 1892, specially con- vened, the following statement was read by the chairman, Mr. Walter Besant : “T have for some time perceived that the habit of speaking of the Society as my society— of putting forward my name as standing for the society — has been becoming more and more prevalent in the Press and elsewhere. At the present stage of our corporate existeuce, a real danger attends this practice—the danger, namely, that the world, which has no time for investi- gating things, may easily be led to believe THE AUTHOR. that the Society is nothing but my own project— a thng run by myself on my own lines, and perhaps (who knows’) for my own personal profit The importance and authority of the Society, therefore, is in danger of being exactly measured by my own importance and authority —a small thing indeed as representing so great a body as our own. At the early stages of an association, the principal part of the work must necessarily be done by one man; but as time goes on, if that one man, and he alone, continues apparent to the world as the sole spring or brain ot the machine, that association will be supposed to have failed in getting support from those who should support it. In our own case I know for a fact that persons interested in the depreciation of the Society speak of it openly as my society, implying, even stating, that men and women of letters stand aloof. It is no use tou answer— because the people who hear the slunder may not read the answer—that we have 850 members, including, with very, very few exceptions, all the leading men and women of letters. It is no use to point out—because we cannot get to those persons—that, so far from the Society having been run by myself alone, Iam the third chairman of its eight years’ existence, my predecessors having been Mr. James Cotter Morrison and the late Sir Frederick Po lock. It is no use, for the same reason, to point cut the list of our ¢ uncil, or to the fact that everything is done by a committee regularly chosen from that council and regularly meeting. If, however, I resign the post of chairman, it will become impossible to speak of the Society in this way. Everybody will then have to recog- nise that it is governed by the council and a chairman and a committee like every other society, and we shall much more readily thau before receive the recognition due to our numbers and our name. Ido not say that we shall effectually silence the voice of the slanderer, but we shall make him invent another kind of slander—a thing which he does not like. I beg, therefore, for these reasons, to tender my resignation. In so doing I do not wish to leave you, or the good work, and I propose, with your permission, to remain on the executive committee. No change will therefore be made, except that the reins will pass into stronger hands; and I desire to place on record my most sincere thanks for the assistance you have rendered me at all times during the last four years. ** T have only to add that all the assistance that I can give to the Society, which attempts the greatest thing ever designed for the sacred cause of literature—namely, the independence of the literary calling—will at all times be freely and willingly and loyally rendered to my successor.” The committee, on receiving this statement, 9 By a % = + 6! . 2 a < v Cs SE RYU EN TI oe Pontes  THE passed the following resolution: “ The committee, being informed by Mr. Walter Besant of his spontaneous decision to resign the chairmanship of the committee of management, hereby offer their best thanks to the outgoing chairman for his long, zealous, and efficient services in that capacity, and, while expressing their sincere regret that he has found this course necessary, likewise express their satisfaction that they will still have the benefit of his assistance as a member of the committee, and instruct the secretary to cause this resolution to be published.” The committee then proceeded to elect a chair- man in succession to Mr. Walter Besant. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart., was unanimously elected. LITERARY PROPERTY. i Tue Pusuic Criticism oF Books. I. 1. Has a newspaper any right at law to criticise books not submitted for review ? 2. If a newspaper reviews a book uufavourably which has not been submitted for review, is there such a presumption of malice as would rebut a plea of privilege ? Counsel’s Opinion. 1. Every newspaper, and indeed everyone, has a right to criticise any book printed for general circulation amongst the public, whether the author expressly submits the book for review or not. This 1s not strictly a privilege at all: (Merivale and Wife v. Carson (C. A. 20 Q. B. Div. 275.) It is a general right posse-sed by every citizen, and does not depend upon any request made by the author. Such a book becomes public property as soon as it is published. “A man who publishes a book challenges criticism; he rejoices in it if it tends to his praise, and if it is likely to increase the circulation of his work; and theref re he must submit to it if it is adverse, so long as it is not prompted by malice, or charac- terised by such reckless disregard of fairness as indicates malice towards the author:” (Per Cockburn, C.J. in Strauss v. Francis, 4 F. & F. at p. 1114.) 2. The mere fact that the book was not sub- mitted for review would, in my opinion, not give rise to any presumption of malice. If there were other circumstances suggesting malice, this fact might also be taken into consideration. But by itself it is, in my opinion, no evidence of malice. Surely many papers review the latest volume of Tennyson or Browning, although no copy is sent AUTHOR. 231 them by tte author. When all the world is talking about a book, such, for instance, as “Robert Elsmere,” the editor of any paperis,in my opinion, entitled to send out and buy a copy, and then state in his columns his honest opinion of that book, however unfavourable his opinion might be. It might be otherwise when a work appears from the pen of some unknown author. It an enemy of his seized on the opportunity to gratify his spite against the author by publishing a review undeservedly severe; in that case the unusual circumstances of the critic’s going out of his way to buy the book in order to review it, would no doubt be some evidence that he was actuated by a malicious motive; and the judge would in that case leave the issue of malice to the jury. W. BuaKke OpGERS. 4, Elm Court, Temple, E.C., Nov. 15. II. 1. As to “D.’s” complaint in the November number of the Author, I apprehend that un- qualified acceptance of a contribution by the editor of a journa' which usually pays its con- tributors after the lapse of a reasonable time, amounts to a contract to pay for it on the usual terms, and that the promise can be enforced b, an action if necessary, whether the article is published or not. Really inevitable accident, such as total destruction of the pub- lishing office, or of MSS. at the printer’s office, by fire or tempest, would probably be an excu-e, but not mere “crowd ng out.’ I do not think the editor is bound, without request, to tell the con- tributor beforehand what the rate of payment is. A prudent contributor will, of course, require that information, unless he has already obtained it otherwise. 2. As to defamatory criticism, the law is plain enough. Publication or public performance or exhibition is in itself an invitation of criticism, and the right to criticise published work is exactly the same whether the critic has teen specially invited or not, Fair criticism of pub- lished work is no libel, even if there has been no special invitatiou, and special invitation will not prevent unfair criticism from being libellous. When “ Rank and File’? complains that it is “ well nigh impossible” to prove that any criticism is unfair, I do not knuw what hemeans. I never heard that juries had any bias in favour of newspapers, and if there are few actions against newspapers for literary criticism, and fewer successful ones, I can only infer that criticism, though it may not be always wise, is generally fair. Since writing this note, I have seen Mr. Blake Odgers’ opinion, with which I entirely agree BP. P. na i THE II. Tae Review or REVIEWERS. The question which you raise, whether an author should ever answer a review, is not very difficult to answer. If an author is pretty sure of his ground, beyond all doubt he ought not to put up with ill-considered criticism. “The English Bards and Scotch Reviewers” of Byron, and the “ Master Christopher” of Tennyson, are good instances of successful reviewing of reviews, and in nine cases out of ten the author knows twenty times as much of his subject as the reviewer. But there is, of course, a great danger lest excessive sensitiveness should provoke an ill-considered and really foolish answer from an author, and in the generality of cases it is highly desirable for the author to show his answer to a friend before publishing it to the world. I greatly doubt whether the distinction you try to draw between the review of a work “sent for review”? and the review of a work not so sent islegallya sound one. In either case the reviewer or his publisher is answerable for a really malicious review. But of course the fact that the reviewer went out of his way to review unfavourably would be strong evidence that he reviewed maliciously. I need hardly point out that in many cases it is far better for an author to be reviewed un- favourably than not to be noticed at all, J. M. Lety, IT. MaGaziInes AND CopyriGcHt, E Your article on page 190 may possibly answer the question it refers to, but I venture to ask some further explanation. During past years I have sent, I should think, a hundred articles to first-class periodicals, the names of some of which I inclose privately. They have been duly inserted and paid for, but nothing has been said about copyright by either party. Whose copyright are they P You say: “If the proprietor has paid for the article, and unless the author, by express or implied contract, reserves to himself the copy- right, then the copyright resides with the proprietor.” According to this, therefore, the copyright of my articles belongs to the proprietors of the periodicals. But the Act says, section 18: “When any publisher shall employ any person to compose articles, on the terms that the copyright therein shall belong to such AUTHOR. proprietor the copyright shall be the property of such proprietor.” And as (except in any few cases) I was not “employed” to compose the articles, and as no ‘such “ terms” were ever agreed to by me, or even named to me—then it would seem that section 18 does not apply, and that under sections 2 and 3 of the Act the copyright will belong to me. Plea-e state your view of the case. Pp it. Perhaps you will pardon me when I very respectfully question, whether your construction “in simple language,” of the 18th section of 5 & 6 Vict. c. 45 is in every respect entirely warranted. You state, “that if the proprietor has paid for the article, and unless the author, by express or implied contract, reserves to himself the copy- right, then the copyright for twenty-eight years resides with the proprietor,” {c. You thus throw on the author the onus of pro- tecting himself by “express or implied contract. But, does the wording of this section justify this construction? It is true that it vests the copy- right in the proprietor when he shall have employed the author on the specific terms that “the copyright” of the latter’s work “ shall belong to such proprietor.’”’ But, when no such terms have been specified by the proprietor, although he shall have paid for the work done by the author for the specific purposes set forth in the section, is there anything in its terms which justifies your construction, that “if the proprietor has paid for the article, and unle-s the author, by express or implied contract, reserves to himself the copyright, then the copyright . . resides with the proprietor”? — In the absence of the stipulation by the proprietor that the copyright shall belong to him, unless he has employed the author “on the terms” to that effect, is it not the sense of the words used, that, notwithstanding the payment for the work done for the proprietor’s specific purposes, the generic copyright shall not reside in him, but shall remain with the producer, the author. Thus, I contribute an artic’e to the Chimerical Review. The editor thereof, acting for the pro- prietor, accepts the article simpliciter, without any stipulation for “the terms” that the copyright shall belong to his principal. In the absense of such stipulation, does not tue copyright of the article, in default of any expressions in the section to the contrary, ipso facto vest inme when the article shall have fulfilled the specific météer for which the editor has accepted it and the pro- prietor has paid for it ? Of course, if I had been employed “on the | dor pon wg" goo  ~— THE AUTHOR: 233 terms that the copyright ”’ of the article “ shall belong to the proprietor,’ I should have to wait twenty-eight years before coming into the right to republish. c III. The letter of “ P.”’ which we print above, is a very important one. There are probably some hundreds of authors in his position, and some thousands of articles as to the copyright, in which the question “ P.” raises might be asked. If there was a contract of employment, no doubt the 18th section of the Copyright Act applies, and the copyright vests in the proprietor if the article was composed on the terms that it should belong to him. If nothing was said about copyright, a contract that itis to belong to the proprietor will not ordinarily be implied by the Courts of Law, and it will belong to the author. Tf there was no contract of employment, that is to say, if the author, without previous com- munication with the editor, sent the article to the editor who printed, it and paid for it, we cannot think that the 18th section will apply. Tt seems that in such a case, as ‘“‘ P.” contends, the ordinary law applies, and the copyright belongs absolutely to the author. The foolish restriction of the 18th section, that incase of employment, &c., the copyright is to remain the property of the proprietor for twenty- eight years, should, of course be amended by shortening the period. T:e Royal Commission of 1878 recommended three years; and three years was the period proposed by Lord Monks- well’s Bill, which Lord Halsbury so illogically allowed to be read a second time on the condition that it should not be further proceeded with. Sooner or later we hope for better things from the present Lord Chancellor, who happens to have been one of the members of the Commission of 1878. Meanwhile we may state that the ordinary practice of magazine proprietors is most liberal in the matter. As a matter of courtesy, Jeave to publish an article separately is always asked for by the author, but we think we are right in stating that never, after the lapse of a reasonable period from the publication of the magazine con- taining the article, has this leave been refused. J. TN AMERICAN COPYRIGHT. A problem was suggested by “Curiosity” in our November number (p. 210) as to the possi- bility of protecting a book from further piracy VOL. III. in America, by adding a chapter and observations to the edition which has already been published and pirated, bringing the new portions out in an American magazine first of all, to secure American rights, and then publishing the book with the additions. ‘“‘ Could the pirates produce this com- plete edition? Would there be a chance of the preservation of such a new edition from the piratical competition ? ” The answer clearly is, that the pirates could not produce the complete edition with its copyright additions. But the fact of these copyright additions being published with the book would not create copyright in the 1emainder or old portion of the work, as to which, no copyright in America had ever existed. So that, although the pirates could be restrained from producing the book with its copyright additions, as a whole, their liberty to print the original work in its unextended form would continue just the same. No doubt, if the new chapter and ob-ervations were known by the public to be incorporated in an authorised edition, such an edition would be pur- chased in preference to others not containing them. But the pirates could always continue to flood the market with the book in its old form and without the copyright additions, since the non-copyright source would be always available for them to copy from. The publication of the new portion could, no doubt, be effected without the aid of a magazine ; separately, for instance, as a complete work, being added to their principal after. Vv. AUTHOR AND Eprror. It would be interesting to know what consti- tutes “acceptance” by an editor. Not long ago I forwarded some stanzas to an eminent “weekly,” and received from it a “ proof,” almost by return, which I sent back the same day for press. The stanzas dealt with an ephemeral topic, and in order to have any raison @étre should have appeared in the next number, or, at the latest, in its immediate successor. They were, however, inserted in neither, and in response to a polite appeal for explanation I was curtly informed that the editor had been unable to make use of my contribution. Now, had I not concluded, by the light of former experience that the sending of a proof was tantamount to acceptance, I should certainly not have left the stanzas with the newspaper in question, as there were at least two other ‘‘ weeklies” where I should have had no difficulty in placing them. I quite agree with your suggestion (editorial eM | | a a  234 note, p. 210, November number of the Author) that, where acceptance is qualified, there ought to be some expression to that effect on the part of the editor. As regards accepted contributions that will “keep,” it would be satisfactory to ascertain whether an editor can indefinitely postpone pub- lication, or is under an implied agreement to publish within ‘‘a reasonable time.” It is now fully three years since a contribution of mine was accepted by a popular periodical, but it has not yet appeared, the excuse tendered being “‘ pressure on space,” while of course no payment has been made. Iam much disposed to test the matter in a court of law, and get the author’s rights clearly defined. W. VI. “SpriaL Rieguts: A Warnina.” A practice, happily, at present rare, but capable of extending rapidly, is coming into vogue of claiming the right of separate sale and assign- ment of the use of contributions to periodical publications on a simple purchase of the “serial rights.” In the great majority of cases the author, in disposing of the said “ serial rights,” had no intention of parting with anything more than the “single serial use” in the particular publication in question. In the absence of an express agreement, or, at any rate, of such an assignment in writing as would carry a right of ‘separate assignment, it is extremely doubt- ful whether he does part with anything but this single serial use, It is, however, most desirable to clear up this question so far as it can be cleared up without a judicial ruling as to the true construction of such terms as “serial rights’ or “serial right.” By statute it seems quite clear that the contract with the proprietor of a periodical is expressly limited to appearance in that periodical in the absence of any agree- ment which varies the contract. It is wholly immaterial whether the proprietor purchases the copyright or not. The words of 5 & 6 Vict. c. 45, s. 18, which were quoted tn evtenso in the Author for November, are quite explicit on the point. From this it will be seen that the purchase of “serial rights,” if the words can be made to bear the construction which is being put upon them by the proprietors of certain journals carries more than the sale of periodical copyright as contem- plated by the statute. Now this is a very serious matter. An author of repute, who had sold a short story to a journal of high standing, would naturally feel seriously annoyed to find the same story subse- THE AUTHOR. quently appearing in a journal for which he — would not have been willing to write on any terms, po A young and rising novelist would feel himself ). to be seriously aggrieved if an advantageous transaction fell through on the ground that stories of his sold some months previously to a high-class weekly were being hawked round the market at nominal prices. A writer who had arranged to contribute a series of stories to a publication of good repute would be aggrieved by a claim on the part of the editor to publish or not publish the papers as he pleases, and to farm them out apparently all over the world and for ever. The first and most serious effect of such a practice would be a general and disastrous lowering of terms. Obviously vendors of serial rights, who seek to obtain nothing more than a rebate, are in a position to make bargains which are very injurious to an author’s reputation. In the second place the existence of a perpetual serial sale seriously reduces the value of any copyrights which the author may have reserved. It is one thing to publish matter which can only be read in the back numbers of journals or periodicals, another to put upon the market stories or articles which are apt to turn up in a large number of obscure and possibly not very reputable prints. To sum up, therefore, writers of every class are urgently advised (1) to stipulate in writing that the trans- action is limited to the single serial use in the periodical in question; (2) in the event of the sale of “all serial rights” or the “English serial rights ’’ being insisted upon, to fix the price upon the understanding that any copyright they may reserve is practically worthless. One word more. The public is held at law to have notice of the articles of association of regis- tered companies. In the case of certain journals the proprietors are, by their articles of association, traders as well as publishers, and in the absence of an express agreement defining the rights sold, it is possible that it would be held that the author in question had notice of the intention of the proprietors in question to trade with as well as publish in their own publications any rights they may have acquired from him. It is suggested that in order to obviate difficulties arising from the use of terms which are capable of having their true construction disputed, it is desirable for authors to simply, and in so many words, “ license” the proprietors of any publication to use the matter in question in the columns or pages of that publication. W. M.C. BiG tee bi ba od Bar bd hod vie 4 a sapere, THE VIl. AutHors’ Rieuts to TITLEs. It is well settled law that no copyright exists in a title (in the general meaning of the word) ; and Lord Justice James’s opinion that literary property can be invaded in three, and only three, ways is now generally accepted, the three ways being stated by his Lordship as follows : 1. By publishing an unauthorised edition, or importing or selling a foreign one. 2. By appropriating the fruit of anoth-r’s labour. 3. By selling one’s work under the title or name of another. Numbers 1 and 2 constitute infringements of copyright, and, as copyright is the creature of statute, protection must and can be found in the provisions of the Act of Parliament. Number 3 is, however, an offence against the common law of the land, is not an infringement of copyright, and protection is given by the common law, because the act of selling one’s goods by the title or name under which the goods of another are sold amounts to fraud. As, in trade generally, it is obviously dishonest to describe your mer- chandise in such a manner as to lead a purchaser of it to believe that he is buying something else; so with reference to literary proper'y it is a fraud to call your book by such a name as will lead a buyer to suppose that he is purchasing another book. ‘This isthe principle upon whicha literary work will be prevented from being sold under a title already associated with another work; but it is entirely unconnected with copy- right, and it is correct to say that there is no copyright in a title. That being so, it is important to ascertain the nature and extent of the right that is capable of acquisition in the title of a literary work; as well as the method by which it can be acquired. And to commence with, it should be explained that by “Title” is here meant a few descriptive words, and not a mass of lengthy description, “for instance, a whole page of title or something of that kind requiring invention,” which might constitute an original work. If a person, by long use of a name, title, or description, so ass ciates that name with a cer- tain article he sells as to undoubtedly connect the two in the minds of the public, he will be able to assert his common law right to restrain another from passing off other goods as his by selling them under the name that he has used. But by long use and reputation alone will a per- son acquire this right. To take a practical Instance :—Two persons, A. and B., conceived the idea of bringing out a magazine called Belgravia, VOL, III. AUTHOR. 235 and B. advertised an announcement of his pro- ject widely, being quite unaware that A. had long desired to print a magazine under such a title, and was actually at work upon it. A. naturally hurried on when B.’s announcements appeared, and actually published his Belgravia first, B.’s following shortly after. B. then filed a bill to restrain A.’s publication, and A. tried to restrain B.’s; when the Court of Appeal held practically that neither party had any exclusive right to the use of the title in question, and so neither could restrain the other; that B.’s advertisements and expenditure did not give him the right to restrain A. from publishing a magazine under the same name, the first number of which appeared before B. published his; and that A. had not acquired any right to restrain B. from using the name, and that even the fact that A. had registered the title a long time before publication could not give him a copyright in that name. Neither party had, in fact, by use associated his magazine with the name Belgravia, and so it was open for either, or all the world, to use that name until such time as it might become associated with a particular publication, when an exclusive right to its use would be recognised and upheld. Neither the registration, therefore, nor the invention of a title will be sufficient to acquire a right of property in it ; but only actual user. And when aright of property has been gained by user, it will apparently not be necessary to show frau- dulent purpose on the part of a person who invades the right by selling another book under the same name; and it will suffice to show that such sale is calculated to injure the sale of the book with which the name is generally asso- ciated, and that it is misleading to the publi. Applying the rule to the circumstances set out on p. 212 (in our November number), if a novel was in 1884 selling under and known generally in connection with the title “ Incognita,’ clearly no publisher had any right to publish another work bearing the same name, even innocently by unawares and without fraudulent purpose. The fact that still another and earlier book, with similar title, had been published two hundred years before would not be of great importance ; except in the case of a work whose popula- rity and fame might still survive; when the principle of misleading the public would perhaps apply, though one can scarcely see who would bring proceedings—unless it were a deceived member of the public. Alternatively, if in 1884 no novel was generally associated with the title ‘“Incognita,”’ or was being inquired for or selling under that-name, no right by user could have been upheld, and the pub- r 2 i i \ i q 236 lishers would have been justified in proceeding to print the book under that title, even if another “Incognita” had in fact been published. For surely the very essence of a right acquired by use is a continuation of that use; and a first consequence of non-user will be the loss of the right. The use of the title in a play would not appear to interfere with the sale of a book with (pre- sumably) a different plot, or to mislead. Fora person who asks and pays for a seat at a theatre will not be given a copy of the novel instead, neither will booksellers sell theatre tickets to persons asking for the book. Had the author of the novel dramatised it, the consequences might have been different. However, as the circumstances referred to#re of recent occurrence, it would perhaps not be desirable to discuss them at length. It may be said, in conclusion, that two books published under a similar title, are really different in their contents will not be taken into consideration. The question the court has to consider is merely whether a purchaser desiring to obtain and asking for a particular book (or other article), is deceived into purchasing another bock (or article), to the disappointment of him- self and to the damage of the vendor of the book (or article) which he really intended to buy. ————— VIII. A CopyrieHt BIL. It will be remembered by those who take an interest in the law of copyright that, when Lord Monkswell’s comprehensive Bill to consolidate and amend the law of the subject came on for second reading in the House of Lords last year, Lord Herschell was prominent in pressing the Government to take the subject up on the lines indicated by the Bill. Lord Herschell has now a good opportunity of carrying out his own recommendations, and, as one of the few sur- viving members of the Royal Commission of 1878, will be able to deal with the subject with creater knowledge and experience than any possible Lord Chancellor. It is possible, therefore, that a Copy- right Bill may be promised in the Queen’s Speech, and there is no reason why such a Bill should not become law. The main amendment to be expected is one substituting the life of the author plus thirty years as the period of copyright for the present forty-two years from the date of publication, or seven years from the date of the death of the author, whichever may be the longer. —Law Journal, — THE AUTHOR. IX, From the Standard, Nov. 28, 1892 :— (Before Mr. Justice Currry.) Borromury v. Tur “News or tHE Wor.xp.” —Mr. H. Bottomley renewed his application for an interlocutory injunction to restrain the de- fendants from publishing in their newspaper as a complete copy of a book written by the applicant that which was not complete——The applicant submitted that the defendants, who had pur- chased the rights of issuing his work in a serial form, were bound to publish a complete edition of his book, or to indicate what was not com- plete.—The Judge: On what grounds do you ask for an injunction on this motion’:—The Appli- cant: On breach of contract. There can be no custom in journalism that where a serial issue is published in a newspaper the editor can eliminate at will—After some discussion, the judge having indicated that his view was that the case was not one for an interlocutory injunction, an order was made that there should be no order on the motion, except that costs be costs in the action. Sem X. An ANTICIPATED CHARGE. Among the many valuable services rendered by the Society of Authors there is none more useful than the act of its officers in giving experienced and sensible counsel to those members who seek their advice. I have profited by this assistance more than once, but in no instance so signally as in a case of difficulty in which I recently found myself involved. I had written a novel called “The Fate of Herbert Wayne,” which had a certain peculiar central idea that I believed to be entirely new in fiction. The book was ready for publication when I discovered that my ‘‘ new idea”’ had been used already, and not very long ago, by a popular novelist. My first impulse was to suppress my own work, but it was represented to me that such a step would cause great inconvenience to those who had made arrangements for the production of the hook, and I was strongly urged to proceed with it. Still, my conscience was not easy. I did not like to run the risk of being accused or even sus- pected of plagiarism, and, indeed, I was in doubt as to whether in honour I ought to proceed with the publication of a story after I had found that its main point had been anticipated. What was I to do? As a member of the Authors’ Society I resolved to take it into my con- — fidence, and submit this delicate question to the  THE AUTHOR. 237 arbitration of the Chairman of the Society of Authors. I knew him to be a busy man, with something better to do than to concern himself with every petty trouble of distressed scribblers. But this question was, to my mind, no petty matter, and one worthy of our chairman’s personal consideration. He treated it as such, and was good enough, not only to write me a private letter of advice, but to publish a note on the case in the Author. In this he gave his opinion to the effect that a novelist who had happened to hit upon the same idea that had been used by someone else before need not on that account be deterred from giving his story to the world, that he thought I was quite free to publish my book, but that it might be well if I were to insert in it # preface stating the circumstances of the case. That course I adopted. I published my novel with such a preface as was suggested, and I am glad that I took his advice, for my reviewers have nearly all taken notice of the incident, and not one of them has commented upon it save in terms of approbation. It is most gratifying to me to find it recognised in all directions that I have done the right thing in inviting an opinion, and in acting up to it. I make this brief statement as a simple act of grateful acknowledgment of kind and_ wise counsel and as a practical tribute to the value of the Authors’ Society. I hope it will not have the effect of causing our chairman to be worried by appeals for aid in trifling circumstances, but I will say to my brother and sister authors, when you find yourselves in any really serious difficulty mvolying a question of professional honour or propriety, do as I did, and consult the Society. EK. J. GoopMAn, Nov. 20, 1892. mE OWNERSHIP. Some paragraphs in the Author last month as to the ownership of literary work leave me, and, I daresay, many others in doubt upon a certain point. Supposing I send an article, say upon the “Tower of London,” with a great deal culled from historical documents (of which I quote much) toa magazine. Suppose that the maga- zine, in two or three years after the acceptance of my article, dies. Suppose I receive half the agreed payment in compensation. Then I want to write a book on “London,” four or five years later. Am I to omit the “Tower of London” from the book? Orif Linclude it, must I abstain from using the historical documents again? Or if I use them, and cloak them in new words, must I abstain from making the same quotations ? If the article had appeared in the magazine, the courtesy of the editor would have allowed me to reprint it; but the magazine is dead, Suppose I offer to buy back my work, and the editor refuses? He holds my article; can I re-use the original matter if I re-write it in a different form? If you can throw lght upon these questions in December you will confer a favour upon Xe Ne [The case is not clearly stated. If a writer has sold the copyright in an article to the proprietor of a publication, he obviously cannot make use of the article in another form without the consent of the said proprietor. How far he can plagiarize his own article is more a question of morals than of law. | NOTES FROM PARIS. WY HAVE had a letter from a lady who went to see John Barlas in the Murray House Lunatic Asylum in Perth, and she informs me that, whilst the authorities consider this unhappy poet to be quite sane enough to be liberated from his awful durance, they allege him to be subject to “ delusions.’’ I wonder how many of us are not in this merry worldof ours. In the meanwhile I have to express my thanks to the numerous confréres who have assisted me in drawing public attention to the mournful case of my friend, by reproducing my note about him from last month’s Author. ee Apropos of confréres, I have a word to say to certain gentlemen of the press, who have thought it necessary to comment upon various items which have from time to time appeared in my letters to the Author. Is it worthy, messieurs, to com- mence by proclaiming yourselves members of this society of ours, and then to set to work to blame and ridicule, im newspapers which go into the hands of the general public, a fellow- member who, in contributing to the organ of our society, has no other object or aim in view than to do what he can to add to the interest of that periodical? I can’t imagine a member of the French Société -de Gens de Lettres, acting in this way towards a fellow member, and I suppose that the individual who quite recently accused me of being bribed with “meal or malt” to write certain para- graphs about a poet for whom I have the highest admiration, and who is a personality in French 238 literary circles also, must be a type of homme de lettres with which I am unacquainted. It seems to me that it is in the Author, and in the Author alone, that any matters concerning the private affairs, either of this periodical, or of our society, should be discussed, and that is a great want of esprit de corps, to say notuing else, to bawl out at the corner of the street what should be spoken in the common-room. I can’t imagine, for instance, a member of any London club going forth into Piccadilly, and yelling out some ditferences of opinion he may have with a fellow member, and afterwards passing round the hat for coppers in pay ment of the diversion afforded. —= Stéphane Mallarmé intends to retire from the post of Professor of English, which he has held for many years at the Collége Rollin, and, after the new year, when his pension will commence, will devote himself entirely to literary work. This is news which will please all the many admirers of the great poet both in England and France, for, up to the presen’, the drudgery of his professional work has prevented Mallarmé from devoting himself to his art. He is a very slow worker, writing and rewriting each sentence until it satisfies him, resembling in this respect Gustave Flaubert, or José de Herédia, the poet, who spends three months over the creation of a sonnet. The opinion in Paris that the English maga- zines and reviews pay mo t liberally for c ntribu- tions has been somewhat modified since it has been whispered abroad that the article on Lord Tennyson, which a certain distinguished French poet contributed recently to a certain weekly, was rewarded with the sum of sixty francs, or two pounds eight shillings. Verlaine has written to Camille Doucet, to inform him that he is a candidate for one of the vacant seats in the French Academy. I am afraid, however, that this application will not be takeu au sérieux. The Academy is a salon as well as a ré-union of literary men; indeed, more a sa/on than anything else, as every one of the Academicians whom I interviewed for my Daily Graphic articles on “An Academy of Lette:s”’ for England, informed me. Verlaine is without doubt the first poet of France, but I am afraid he would hardly be an acquisition to any drawing 100m, even much less select than that at the French Institute. THE AUTHOR. A poet who has known how to make his muse pay him handsomely is Mr. Jean Rameau, who, after leading a Bohemian life, frequenting the Chat Noir and similar haunts, for some years, has of late blossomed out into a society entertainer, and who may be seen at most of the grand soirées in Parisian society, reciting choice selections from his work, being treated precisely the same in the way of remuneration as the comic singers, jugglers, and monologuists engaged at the same soirées to help out the evening. The cheque is in- variably a handsome one, each such evening being worth from eight to twenty guineas to the prac- tical young poet. I have heard bitter things said about Jean Rameau by fellow poets on this account, notably from one old Academician and poet, who said it was dégoitant. For myself I think Rameau very smart. Let us wring from the bourgeots all the pieces that we can, and laugh at them behind their backs. The longer [ live in France the more I am convinced that the forced military service is an excellent thing for young men. [I have just received the visit of a very smart young soldier, up in town on leave from a garrison town in the east of France. When he was shown into my garret, [ imagined there must be some mistake, as I failed to recognise him. It was only when he mentioned his name that I realised who this bright, trim, joyous youth was. When I last saw him it was at a literary café in the Latin Quarter, and a more miserable-looking object I never remember having set eyes upon. His hair was long and matted; his face was sallow with nightly walks, and his conversation as dismal as his appearance. He was a decadent poet of considerable merit, but, although only twenty years of age was blasé about everything. I found him changed as much morally as physically. The army had taken all the nonsense out of him, and he was as full of life and hope and faith in the future as I could wish to see a young man. I cannot help thinking that a year or two of forced military service would do our English youths a sight of good. One is always more or less of an ass at twenty, and some hard work, discipline, and privation, are the best cures for nonsense and conceit. Send Bunthorne or Postle- thwaite “aw régiment” for a year or two; let an unromantic corporal and a practical sergeant deal with him, and he will return an infinitely more useful and agreeable member of society. Quite a batch of promising young poets have just gone this way of late, November being the oe at THE month when the conscripts have to join their regiments, and our Paris Parnassus is emptied of its young folk. I can imagine the delight of the regimental barber in shearing the flowing locks of the many young bards who still clung to this distinction, views jeu though it be. Sar Peladan, by the way, the most hirsute littérateur of Paris, made a great fuss when he was told that “it had all got to come off,” and it is reported that he called out to the sun, “‘ Dost thou shed thy light on such an outrage?” Notwithstanding, it all had to come off. A league has been formed amongst a certain number of Parisian and provincial booksellers, to resist the demands of the public for discounts on published prices of books, and it has been arranged with the publishers that any bookseller giving such discounts shall have his credit account closed with them. There are, however, upwards of 2000 booksellers who do not belong to this league, so that we shall continue to get our 3d. in the shilling just the same as before. oe I hear that a school of poets, styling themselves “Die Phantasten,” and whose literary creed is that of the French symbolistes, genre Moréas, Ver- laine, and so forth, has been formed in Germany. Till now it was realism of the crudest kind that had most favour in the Vaterland, and I cannot but think that the symbolistes will get but a poor hearing from their compatriots. The book of the day in Paris is ‘“ Le Roi au Masque d’Or,” by Marcel Schwob, the brilliant chroniqueur of the Echo de Paris, and one of the most remarkable, because ore of the most original of contemporary French prose writers. Schwob will be remembered as the author of a most interesting article on Frangois Villon, which appeared a few months ago in the Revue des Deux Mondes. He is a lover and the chronicler of the beauties of the old world, but in some of his short stories has shown that when he cares to be realistic he can be so in the most striking manner. The Revue des Deux Mondes people have or had a clever business practice, which it surprises me not to have seen adopted by English publishers. It is, or was, I do not know what the arrange- ments are there to-day, that no writer received payment for his first contribution to that review. As a number of people are able, like a certain Hamilton in the matter of oratory, to produce AUTHOR. 239 one article and one only worth printing, giving in it, it would seem, all they have in them, the arrangement is an excellent one for the proprietors of the magazine in question Even the writers have not very much reason to complain, for it is the glory of a writer’s life to have been published in the Revue des Deux Mondes. A thoroughly Anglo-Saxon type of man of letters is the person who, whilst writing for money and for money only, goes howling in the public places that he is an artist, and that if he does not produce artistic work it is because the public won’t have it. The man of letters is either a tradesman cr an artist. If he is an artist his one pre-occupation is to produce beau- tiful things without any consideration whatever of their saleability or the reverse. If he is a tradesman he writes for money, and according to the lights of many is a wise and a respect- worthy man. But don’t let vs have the trades- man, bustling about like Martha, envying the part of Mary. What would be thought of a Clapham cheesemonger who should promenade about as a Bohemian, and confide to whoever would listen to him, that though he made a good living by selling Cheddar and Stilton, his soul was above such traffic, and that he despised it as much as any man? He would be very justly written down as a snob. An interesting personality amongst English men of letters in Paris is that of Mr. H. F. Wood, the Paris crrespondent of the Morning Advertiser, who, unless I am much mistaken, will one day occupy a very high place amongst Bri ish novelists. His novel “A Passenger from Scotland Yard,’ which, though set down as a detective story, was a work of the highest psychological interest, will be remembered by most readers of fiction, who will be glad to hear that another work from the same pen, which has already appeared in America and in the Continen- tal English library, is about to be published in London. Its title is ‘“‘ Avenged on Society,” and itis aremarkable work. Mr. Wood works very hard at his books, and has the infinite capacity for taking pains. I want very much to recommend to any readers of the Author who make use of the services of the professional typist, the Miss Patten whose announcement appears in this journal. She has been doing a quantity of work for me, and is really an artist in her genre. Andit appears that  now. 240 Nov. 23, 1892. work would be particularly acceptable to her just oa GLAMOUR. The wind is blowing from the height, The hillside gorse has gathered light, The day is widowed of the sun, And dies upon a blooming pyre ; Through shifting glories of the sky The golden argosies sail by, To reel and founder one by one, And vanish in a sea of fire. The air is full of startled wings, And calling notes, and tossing boughs, And eerie cries of feathered things That deepen as the twilight grows ; And voices from the solemn seas Send rustling echoes through the fern, Where lone upon the lonely leas A ruin’s battered windows burn. Through loosened tiles the sunset gleams, Old cobwebs dangle from the beams, The casements rattle, creepers twine Green arms about the gabled walls ; The grass grows lush besides the doors, And mildew creeps o’er broken floors, Where blazing trails of autumn vine Make chilly fires in roofless halls. There is a rustle in the leaves, The wind swings round the creaking vane, The jasmine dropping from the eaves Beats wildly on the casement pane ; And where its tendrils interlace Round ancient glass that fronts the west, I see a strange and lovely face Against the glowing lattice prest. Like summer lightning in the air, Its vivid beauty trembles there ; The wind-blown roses whispering Send forth a sudden breath of musk ; Then swiftly dies the sunset flame, The vision darkens in its frame, And flitting shapes on leathern wing Flash circling through the growing dusk. The door swings loudly on its hinge, My steps are on the crazy stair, The echoes wake, the shadows cringe, The owls fly hooting from their lair ; I stand within the latticed room Where dust and darkness reign supreme, A cat emerges from the gloom And hissing wakes me from my dream. ELINoR SWEETMAN. THE _ AUTHOR. Ropert H. SHERARD. propose to terminate my chairmanship with an NOTES AND NEWS. LSEWHERE will be found a report of LH) the meeting of committee of Monday, Nov. 21, called to receive my resignation and to appoint my successor in the office of Chairman of the Committee of Management, The paper in which I set forth the reasons for taking this step explains itself. I would only add here, or repeat, that I have been for many months considering and consulting whether, for the advantage of the Society, it would not be best for me to take this step. It seemed, not only to myself, but also to those whom I consulted, that the time had come when a change of chairman should take place. In the first place, in a society covering so many interests, it is important to have more than one mind following its daily work. In the second place, it does positive harm to a society so large and so important as ours has now become, that it should be constantly coupled with the name of one man. It has come. to be regarded, as stated in that paper, as the hobby and creation of one man. That, at all events, will now stop. I hope, however, to con- tinue, under Sir Frederick Pollock’s command, to work for the society. We must never forget that our association is regarded by a certain class of persons with a hostility and hatred perfectly intelligible—we bear them no ill-will on account of it—they only act after their kind—because we have interfered, and are still constantly interfering, with their sweet little schemes for overreaching the author. Whenever they can, these persons get a paragraph or an article attacking the Society in a paper or magazine. The meddlesome country clergyman is set up to accuse us of breaking agreements ; the * London editor ” is set wp to accuse us of making letters a close profession ; he also carefully reads and comments upon documents which do not exist except under lock and key in the Suciety’s office ; but the favourite caluwny, and the most persistent, has been that which represents the Society as, in my person, “defying publishers.” This was the phrase used by the Globe the other day, not by any means for the first time. We do not, of course, ‘defy publishers,’”’ or anything so foolish ; but, so long as the statement may do the Society any harm, it will be used. I have undertaken to read a paper at the general meeting of the 12th on the past work—the present work—and the future work of the Society. I  { THE invitation to all the members to take part in a constructive attempt at the placing of publishing on an equitable basis. Perhaps, when we have ourselyes arrived at a statement of our own views, we may be able to invite the consideration of those publishers whose views are worth asking. The following reaches me in a_ roundabout fashion. It is an extract from a book on Ossian published in Edinburgh thirty years ago. It was sent to the editor of the New York Critic by Mr. Wall, curator of the Stratford Museum. The discovery that Shakespeare was a Scotsman will surprise and delight many. Seotsmen should never forget that the concocting, the sending, and the paying of that base man [Dr. Samuel Johnstone} was just what might be expected from the nation of liars called ‘“ English,” the people who have the audacity to claim for a fictitious character, named by them Shakespeare, that never had a being, the work of Archibald Armstrong, who accompanied James the Sixth [James the First of England] to London, and who by his wit tormented Bishop Laud and the rest of that set at court so much, that he was obliged to leave his royal master, and hide himself in a garretin the metropolis of England, where he composed a great deal of what English impostors are now claiming for a-man who uever lived. That while in that solitary abode Armstrong employed an English mountebank, whose name perished with himself, to recite through the streets of London those pieces then composed, caricaturing the knaves by whose influence he was expelled. That, for the most part, the work of Armstrong (Shakespeare) is founded on the dying confessions of hanged English male- factors; but that since many additions have been made to it, and that the most recent of these are by the late Henry Dundas (Lord Melville, ‘*‘ Hielan Harrie”). ‘That all the English impostors that have hitherto attempted to forge examples, signatures, &c., of ‘ Shakespeare's ” handwriting were completely detected by Scotsmen these two ways: I. By proving that those specimens were not penned by Shakespeare, nor by anybody else, but were the impressions of types forged for the purpose. 2. By an analysis of the ink used by the forgers, whereby it is proved that the ingredients used in the manufacture of that liquid at the alleged period of Shakespeare, were not those of the ink in use by English scoundrels in their deliberate imposition, deifying a nonentity. It is very well known that whatever mortals undertake, Setebos troubles all. The Setebos in my mind at this moment—he is as numerous as the motes of thought in the human brain— is a creature who is at once impecunious (for which he has our deepest sympathies), and incompetent (for which we tender our sincere pity); and ardently desirous to fill his purse in spite of incompetence. And the way this gentle- man proposes to act is this. He has heard that in certain quarters it has been proposed to teach young writers the elementary laws—the technique of the craft; not with the view of manufacturme genius and multiplying writers so much as that VoL. III. AUTHOR. 241 of weeding out the incompetent and preventing future disappointment. Our friend, who has never written anything imaginative in his life, and has no knowledge of the Arts of Poetry, Fiction, or the Drama; and knows nothing of Belles Lettres; thinks he now sees his chance. He volunteers—this impudent person—to teach the Art of Letters. Ss There are many, especially girls in the country, who may be deceived by such a pretender. There is one simple touchstone. Ask him to refer you to any published works by him, which will show his fitness to teach either as Poet, Novelist, or Critic, and inform him that you are going to send his letter to the Society. “The last time,” a correspondent tells me, “that € saw Mr. Facing-both-ways—that rising publisher, he warned me seriously, that a young author must not be too grasping. He spoke with pain as if he had suffered much from the avarice of young authors. He further advised me to have nothing to do with agents. And he then offered to produce a certain work of mine at my own expense. When I came away I reflected that the advice not to be too grasping was unde- served, because I wanted nothing unfair; that perhaps the advice about agents was not quite disinterested ; that perhaps I might, after all, do something with an agent—so I tried one. He presently obtaned for me a very good offer for the very book which my friend wanted to pro- duce for me at my own expense. The moral of this is obvious.” <> When one has been working for many years on a certain subject, collecting books and making piles of notes, the first emotion on taking up another man’s work on the same subject is one of curiosity. How much does this man know? If the book is a good book curiosity is followed by a kind of shame, because he seems to know so much more than the reader. This may be, how- ever, only the effect of work on different lines. For instance, I have been from time to time for the last fifteen years studying certain aspects of the eighteenth century. I have written four novels and three or four short stories, the period of which was laid in that century. ‘These attempts have necessarily demanded as close a study of the manners and customs—the ways of thought—and the language of the period as I could bestow. In other words, I thought I knew a good deal. But there is a book by Mr. Austin Dobson which seems to show a great deal more U i i i  242 THE AUTHOR. knowledge than I possess. The book is called “Highteenth Century Vignettes’? (Chatto and Windus). It consists of some twenty essays on books and writers and artists of that century, and is charming, as is everything produced by this graceful writer. Austin Dobson is, in fact, the lineal descendant of Addison, Goldsmith, and Gray. He loves the libraries and the garden, the book shop, the coffee house, and the society of poets and wits. In his end of town one never comes across the pressgang, the crimp, the ruffing sea captain, the slaver, the riverside thief, and all the ragamuffin crew that haunted the ports of London and Bristol, Gravesend, and Dover. ‘To him itis a century of leisure. Praed found it so as well. To me, who have lived more at Wapping than St. James’s, it is a century full of fighting, flogging, robbing, pressing, hanging, enterprise, audacity, ambition, oppression—eyvery- thing that was wanted to make men discontented and to stimulate them to work and fight. There was mighty little leisure in the life of Clive and the men who went out to conquer an Indian Empire. On the other hand, to sit and bask in the sunshine of the eighteenth century with Austin Dobson turning on the sun is a rare and a holy joy. So The following is an extract from Lord Lytton’s England, 1837. It does not appear that things have greatly changed in fifty-five years. “Why is the poor author to be singled out from the herd of men (whom he seeks to delight or to instruct) for the sole purpose of torture? Is his nature so much less sensitive and gentle than that of others, that the utmost ingenuity is neces- sary to wound him? Or why is a system to be invented and encouraged, for the sole sake of persecuting him with the bitterest rancour and the most perfect impunity ? Why are the rancour and the impunity to be modestly alleged as the main advantages of the system? Why are all the checks and decencies which moderate the severity of the world’s censure upon its other victims, to be removed from censure upon him ? Why is he tobe thrust out of the pale of ordinary self-defence ? —and the decorum and the fear of consequences which make the intercourse of mankind urbane and humanized, to be denied to one, whose very vanity can only be fed—whose very interests can only be promoted, by increasing the pleasures of the society which exiles him from its commonest protection—yes! by furthering the civilisation which rejects him from its safeguards? It is not very easy, perhaps, to answer these questions; and I think, sir, that even your ingenuity can hardly discover the justice of an invention which visits with all the most elaborate and recondite severities that could be exercised against the enemy of his kind, the unfortunate victim who aspires to be their friend. Shakespeare has spoken of detraction as less excusable than theft ; but there is a yet nobler fanvy among certain uncivilised tribes, viz., that slander is a greater moral offence than even murder itself; for, say they, with an admirable shrewdness of distine- tion, ‘‘when you take a man’s life, you take only what he must, at one time or another, have lost ; but when you take a man’s reputation, you take that which he might otherwise have retained for ever: nay, what is yet more important, your offence in the one is bounded and definite— murder cannot travel beyond the grave—the deed imposes at once a boundary to its own effeets ; but in slander, the tomb itself does not limit the malice of your wrong—your lie may pass onward to posterity, and continue, generation after generation, to blacken the memory of your victim,” Seiaimeaecaememen! Mr. Stanley Little sends me a tiny volume of verse bearing the name of Charles William Dalmon. I open it at random, and I find the following, and I ask—is there promise in the lines? The little book is published by that eminent firm, Messrs. Digby and Long, whose kind hearted reader is so ready to “report so favourably on your book that we are prepared to offer you the following favourable terms: You to pay, &., and to receive ””—half or two-thirds, or anything you please out of the enormous profits. At ANTHEM-TIME IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY. At anthem-time he glided down, Wearing his fresh green laurel crown, And stood by me, with downcast eyes, Close to where Robert Browning lies. The choristers sang on so sweet, I heard the sound of angels’ feet Walking along in Paradise, Close to where Robert Browning lies. He heard it too, and raised his head, And I looked in the face long dead, And watched it vanish, vapour wise, Close to where Robert Browning lies. In my notes of last month 1 gave my own opinion, innocent of law, that an author may bring an action against an uninvited reviewer — who maligns his work to his material injury. Since I wrote the committee have submitted the question to counsel’s opinion. The opinion will be found on p. 231. that it is not only the uninvited reviewer who It will be found —  it iin d tae ih Kee THE AUTHOR. 243 is liable, but any reviewer. The slating and slashing and insulting of authors which formerly was a disgrace to hterature, are now confined to a very few papers and magazines. Perhaps an occasion may present itself for trying what a Court of Law may say to the editor who permits himself, or any of his staff, the luxury of blasting a man’s reputation and destroying his livelihood. ——— Among the sixty poets enumerated by Mr. Traill some time ago, did he mention the name of John A. Goodchild? I think not, but I have mislaid his ist. But here are three volumes of verse called Somnia Medici, First, Second, and Third series. (Kegan Paul, Trench, Tribner, and Co.) All these series are in their second edition. This means that the author has arrived at creating his clienté/e for himself. Out of Mr. Traill’s sixty poets how many have been so suc- cessful as to go into a second edition? And here is aman who is in his second edition with every one of his volumes! Let us note this phenomenon. Let us further note that the new poet’s works are for the most part stories or dramatic scenes presented in verse, and that neither the stories nor their pres sentation breathe the pessimism so dear to the young poets of whom we hearsomuch. Pessimism may be—very often is—the cloak to poverty of imagination. But one submits these facts for consideration. In an age when poetry is supposed to be hope lessly out of fashion, here is a poet whose name is seldom mentioned in the papers, articles, and reviews, yet has become, quietly, successful and popular. Is it not worth while to inquire what are the qualities which have brought him success ? And is it not worth while asking whether poetry has, after all, gone out of fashion ? ——— The writings of Anatole France are finding many English readers. Those who are also readers of these columns are invited to make a note of L’L£tui de Nacre, his latest book. It is a collection of short studies, all equally remark- able for the fine outline and definite expression of clear thought which make this writer a model. The “woolly”? appearance of so much English writing is due, I believe, more to “ woolly’ thought than to a lack of power of expression. Why are there, for instance, so few critics? Because there are so few who have formed for their own use, in their own minds, their own standards. Clearness of thought, and, therefore, clearness of expression, are impossible to them. So also, in fiction. If the mind does not perceive a character quite clearly and distinctly as a separate individual, the result is “ woolliness.”’ Might one recommend the study of L’Etui de Nacre to young artists in fiction f IT called attention last month to a certain American paper called Science, which invites scientific contributions from young ladies living in country vicarages, and offers the paper for nothing if their contributions are accepted, otherwise they will have to pay 4'50dols. The idea is sagacious. A correspondent protests against our remarks. He says that English scientific papers do not, as I fondly thought, accept all papers which are a real contribution to science ; that this paper has accepted his contribution, and has given him a hundred copies for presentation among his friends. Very well. But our corre- spondent 7s a scientific man; one can very well understand that the New York paper was very pleased to have his contribution; every one of the hundred papers is an advertisement of the paper. And our correspondent is not the unscien- tific young lady living in a country vicarage. SS I have great pleasure in publishing this appeal. Will readers of English literature do something for the object proposed? “Our church, which was built about 1350, contains a brass figure of John Lydgate, who occupied a position analogous to that of the Poet Laureate of somewhat later date during the earlier half of the fifteenth century, and was a fete of this village. Although Lydgate was the author of 250 works, but few are now extant, yet we have sufficient knowledge of him to prove to us that he was the greatest poet, scholar, and author, of his distant day. I feel confident, there- that I may appeal to your learned society, I do very ear ‘nestly, to help us to put into good an the church of his village and of his time. For a long time past the condition of the church roof has caused us anxiety owing to the number of leaks that have manifested themselves every time rain has fallen. We have counted no less than thirty- three such! All the work we desire to do is absolutely necessary, and, if not speedily attended to, the result “will be that our ancient church will be irreparably damaged. The total cost is estimated at £300. As the parishioners are agricultural labourers, with four farmers, we are compelled to seek help outside the parish. In twenty-eight months, and with great difficulty, we have got together "£212 13s. 6d. We shall be most grateful for whatever assistance you feel disposed to render us. Please do what you can to help.—E. Awpry Gray, Rector of Lydgate.”  244 The Americans are stirring. From that land of practical common sense and business instincts we should get leading and an example. The following is quoted by the New York Critic, from which paper I take it. The passage, written by Mr. Maurice Thompson, appeared in the Zndependent. The plain statement that the present system of publishing books is “an open bid for fraud on the part of the publisher” is exactly what we have been proclaiming for some years. What has always seemed to us the key of surrender is the royalty system of publication. Any man is a fool who is willing to have another administer on his estate while he yet lives. Whenever an author hands his manuscript to a publisher, and agrees that said publisher shall print, publish, sell and account for the book, that author has an administrator on his estate and is at his mercy, honest or dishonest. There is no way, and there can be no way invented, it is to be feared, by which a dishonest publisher can be forced to administer faithfully. It is useless to ery out that publishers are as honest as any other set of men. So they are; but they are also probably just as dishonest as any other set of respectable men. It is a safe rule of business, and publishers well know it and act on it in their own behalf, that no set of men, however reputable, may be trusted with one’s monetary affairs where there is no guaranty of good faith other than the mere word of promise, and where there is no fairly certain way of detecting fraud. This rule, when applied to publishing, reflects no discredit on publishers. It is a rule of banking, of railroad manage- ment, of merchandising, of manufacture. Bankers must even submit to the searching examinations of an agent ap- pointed by law; yet bankers surely are as honest as pub- lishers. The bottom fact is that the whole system of book publication, on the so-called royalty plan, is unbusinesslike, and is an open bid for fraud on the part of the publisher. Even if all publishers are honest, the principle is wrong. It is a principle which does not obtain in the transactions be- tween publishers and booksellers; a principle which, indeed, applies nowhere save in the relations of publisher and author. It is time for the pot-boilers and the bean-hoers to take some steps toward a better control of their labour and their property. The “literary fellers”” have been the laugh- ing-stock of the business world long enough to learn some- thing from the one-sided farce in which they have played the losing réle. There isnot the slightest call, however, for any ill-feeling toward publishers, or for any ill-treatment of them. What the situation demands is a courageous application of well-known and well-grounded business principles—the principles of supply and demand, and of bargain and sale. —+—- —- The Globe, whose attentions to the Society we have already once or twice thankfully acknow- ledged, makes a few remarks about the change of chairmanship, in which it says that the Society ‘“‘ appeals to the unsuccessful.” Also that “it is understood to contain at least some authors of the more helpless sort, who, at any rate in a state of nature, throw the blame of their original mis- fortune—namely, to have received writing lessons —upon the publishers.” Do we appeal to the unsuccessful? If so, how? By what promises? By what hopes? We exist to maintain literary THE AUTHOR. property. But the unsuccessful haven’t got any literary property to defend. How, then, can we help them? Never mind. It is only another stone to throw. We ought to collect all the stones that have been thrown at us and make a little museum of them. = Our friend the §.P.C.K.—or, rather, the high- minded, just, righteous, and noble branch of it which publishes books—has been hearing hard things in the Church Quarterly.. Even its own familiar friend, the Church Quarterly ! Can it he that Nemesis is overtaking the society ? The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge is a Church society, richly endowed, conducted by able men, and, apart from all its direct religious teaching, ought to provide an ample and magnificent supply of sound, whole- some, and high-class fiction for young people. For doctrine, science, and as pure literature, their juvenile books should take the highest rank. They who know them best cannot bestow any such commendation, but are sometimes driven to use such descriptive words as twaddle or wishy-washy, no salt, not a spark of fire, no flame of living truth. One result of this is that thousands of young readers, yawning over the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, seek or food and amusement elsewhere. So It is late im the day, after all the reviewers have said what they had to say upon his book, to adda word of welcome to Mr. Edmund Gosse on his first appearance as a novelist. The work is, as might have been expected, full of brilliant writing. The story belongs to the medieval period. It is told simply, and without straining after effect. One may be permitted to hope that the “Secret of Narcisse” may be followed by other works in fiction from the same hand. WaLrer BrEsant. spec FEUILLETON. I. CoLLABORATORS. RK. WILLIAM MORTON, editor of the i extremely refined magazine which bears his principal’s name, was one morning examining a manuscript which had just arrived by post. It was a very innocent-looking manu- script, with a simple and attractive title, “An Idyl of the Hills,” beautifully type-written, and, © moreover, the work of one of his most constant contributors; yet Mr. Morton frowned as he glanced through it, and finally flung it on the © table with no slight irritation.  THE AUTHOR. 245 > “What is the woman about?” he exclaimed. “That she of all people in the world should try to write a romance in humble life! Why on earth can’t she stick to her own line? Frisky matrons and jealous husbands — in society, of course — with dark-eyed and haggard Lord Georges and Sir Geoffreys, and a fascinating actress or two thrown in—that’s your form, my dear lady! But this rural love-story—you can’t do ita bit. It isn’t badly imagined, though— I'll say that for you and really rather pathetic, only so ridiculously inconsistent. Any child could see the woman hasn’t the faintest know- ledge of what she is writing about.” He drew the packet towards him again, observ- ing as he did so that the author’s original rough manuscript had been inclosed with the type-written copy. This reminded him of a letter which he had received from the lady in question a day or two before, in which she had informed him that —being about to go abroad—she intended to have her story sent to him straight from the type-writer’s, and expressed, as he now remem- bered, some fear that he might not be altogether pleased with this, her promised contribution. After a short search he found the letter, and read it over, smiling a little sarcastically to him- self. “Going abrcad — h’m, hm. . . hopes there won’t be many mistakes .. . these type-writing people are so stupid Doesn't quite know what I will say to this story, which is in a different style to what she usually writes. Everybody being so depress: d she found herself rather hard up for a plot, but the main idea of this little sketch is certainly original. She won't hide her light under a bushel—trust her for that! but she’s right to a certain extent. The plot vs original, but the story is so badly told.” At this moment a clerk made his appearance, announcing that there was a young woman down- stairs who said she must see Mr. Mowbray at once. “ What does she want?” “Don’t know, I’m sure, sir. I told her you were busy, but she made a great fuss—says she won’t keep you a minute, but she must see you on very particular business.” The Editor laughed and push 4 back his chair ; then he frowned. “Ask her what her business is. Begging, I daresay. Tell her I’m much too busy to be dis- turbed like this.” The clerk vanished, and reappeared after a short interval. “ She says, Sir, she’s come about some business of Mrs. Mountjoy’s.” “Mrs, Mountjoy’s? Tell her to come up.” After a moment’s pause the young woman was ushered into the room; a very young woman, indeed, a young girl one would have said if it were not for the wedding-ring on her ungloved hand. <A pretty young thing too, dark-eyed, pale, with brown hair curling under her shabby hat. She paused in the doorway, and dropped a timid, countrified curtsey ; the smile which had hovered over her lips vanishing as she met the editor’s surprised gaze, and a hot blush covering her face. “Did you say you came from Mrs. Mount- joy?” he asked. She closed the door carefully and approached the table. ““T didn’t say she sent me, sir,’ she said tremulously. ‘Perhaps I didn’t ought to have said it was business of hers at all, but I was so afraid they wouldn’t let me up. It’s my business, really, sir ; it’s—it’s about a story Mrs. Mountjoy wrote—I typed it, you know, sir. I work for Mrs. Sutton. They call it the West London Type-writing Company, but it isn’t a proper com- pany—it’s—there’s only Mrs. Sutton and her daughters and one or two more of 11S.” “Tm sorry it isn’t a proper company,” said the editor, smiling; then, with a little impatience, though kndly, ‘“ Well, what can I do tor your Hasn't Mrs. Mountjoy pad her bill? She iS abroad, you know.” “Oh, it isn’t that, sir,’ cried the girl eagerly. “Besides, that is Mrs. Sutton’s affair, not mine. It’s about the story—‘ An Tdyl of the Hills,’ she calls it. Oh, please, sir, don’t print it! That’s what I’ve come for—to beg you not to print it. It’s my story—our story, and it’s so unfair!” “ Your story ?” repeated the editor in amaze- ment. ‘ Do you mean to say you wrote ie “ No sir, I—we acted it, we lived it, Jem and I. Tt’s us that she talks about. We—we were the lovers. But she’s spoiled it—she’s spoiled it ””— the girl repeated indignantly—‘ she doesn’t tell it as L told her. Jim never said the things she makes him say, and I never—never did what she says. Nor wouldn’t, and Jem knows I wouldn’t. She’s got it all mixed up so. Going and saying my aunt took in washing. She didn’t. We had a little farm, and never needed to do no such thing. Mr. Morton came out from behind his writing table, and set a chair for his visitor ; then he went back again. “ Sit down, and tell me all about it,” he said, “TJ don’t quite understand. You told this story —your story—to Mrs. Mountjoy, did you?” “Yes, sir. You see when we married and came to London we hadn’t so very much money, and  246 though Jem had his post as a reporter, I thought it would be a good thing for me to do some work too, so—as I never was much good at my needle, and I wanted to get work as like Jem’s kind of work as I could, I got myself taught type- writing. Besides copying in the office, I used to 'e sent out with the machines sometimes, by the day, to work from dictation. This wasn’t at Mrs. Sutton’s, you know, sir, but at the first place I had. Well, just before Christmas I went to Mrs. Mountjoy s. She was was writing a novel, and part of it had to be changed and part not; so she had to be with me all the time to explain things. I thought her a very nice kind lady, and was sorry when she had done with me. It was just the last evening I was there that she said to me, laughing: ‘ You type-writing people must be rather amused at all the different stories you have to copy. I suppose sometimes you get quite excited over them?’ ‘Yes, ma’am,’ I said, ‘and yet I don’t think any story can be so strange as the things which happen in real life. I often say so to my husband.’ ‘Do you?’ says the lady. ‘Has your life been so strange, then? You look very young to be married. How long have you been married? and are you devoted to each other?’ Well, sir, she went on like that, and you know what a taking little way she has, and so—”’ “And so suppose ?”’ “Yes, sir; it all came out somehow, and she said it was very curious and touching, and would make a good novel. Well, I never thought any- thing about it, except feeling a little vexed, maybe, that I’d been led on to talk so much, till bad times came. Jem got the influenza, and had to give up his place, and I couldn’t make enou eh to keep us—if you’ve read that ”—elancing towards the lately-received manuscript which her quick eye picked out from the others on the table—* you’ll know, of course, how it was that I couldn’t write home. I had to give up my place in the end, and was glad to get work at Mrs. Sutton’s, where the pay was a little better, Well, sir, it was when things was at their worst that I thought one day of what Mrs. Mountjoy had said—that our story would make a good novel, and so I said to Jem, ‘T’ll tell you what,’ says I, ‘you must write it. You must make a book about you and me, Jem. It’ll be the best beginning you can have, for you've got it all there, and have only got to write straight out of your heart.’ You know, sir,’—glancing again towards the manuscript— it says even there what a scholar he is. You know, by rights he should be a gentle- man, he’s not common and ignorant like me, you told her all about it, I He”—throwing back her head and colouring THE AUTHOR. with wifely pride— He was educated as a gentle- man, and should be one, now, if he had his due. He is so clever and writes—beautifully. He has had little things taken by magazines some- times. Did you ever hear of the People’s Prize, sir?” Mr. Morton shook his head with due gravity. “Well, he tried Longman’s and Temple Bar first, but they are so hard to get into, you know. And so then he sent a story to The People’s Prize, and they took it there ; and Podbury’s Weekly, do you know that ? ” Mr. Morton was also obliged to disclaim acquaintance with that interesting periodical. “Jem writes for it sometimes. J think it’s a very good magazine,” she said, wistfully, ‘ but he often says he would rather never write at all if he had his choice, than let himself down to these things. But, though he doesn’t get much money from them, he gets something, and we want all we can get. Well, as I was saying, I asked Jem to write our story, but he wouldn’t hear of it at first. ‘I couldn’t, Jenny,’ he said, ‘It’s too sacred. I feel too strongly about it. What are you think- ing of?’ And then I said, ‘But who’s to know it’s us, Jem? Youcan put different names, you know. And, oh dear! you and I are such poor, unknown, small people, who will ever think that the Jem and Jenny in the book—only you won’t callthem Jem and Jenny—are you and me, or were ever alive at all? And as for your feeling, my dear,’ said I, ‘unless you feel very strongly about what you write you’ll never do any good at it.” ‘Who told you that?’ he said, and he was pleased. I can’t often put what’s in my mind into proper words, but he feels it there, and that’s how we understand each other so well. Well, he gave in at last, and he wrote it all, bit by bit, between the odd jobs he gets here and there. He used to read it to me o’ nights, and sometimes we laughed over it, and sometimes we cried, and I used to remind him of things he’d forgotten, and oh!” said the girl, with tears in her eyes, “ it’s beautiful, it 7s beautaful! It goes to your very heart!” The editor looked at her with an odd mixture of feelings. Wonder and compassion, and a certain half-amused ienderness. Mrs. Mount- joy’s story, imperfect as it was, had seemed to him pathetic, if improbable; but the sequel was more touching, more impossible still. This pair of married children battling with London poverty ; Jem, with his good education and gentlemanly instincts writing for Podbury’s Weekly, and doing ‘“‘odd jobs’; Jenny, the mountain maid, toiling hour after hour in a typewriter’s office ; and then these poor innocent babes in the slums, thinking to redeem their fortunes by setting forth their  THE own little history for the edification of the world at large. It was absurd, utterly and imconceiv- ably ridiculous, and yet !— “T typed it, after hours,’ went on Jenny. “Mrs. Sutton allowed me to when I told her who it was for. But, of course, I had to pay for the paper, and even that, you know, it would quite surprise you to find how it mounts up. And now, just as it is nearly finished—poor Jem working so hard, and staying up at night, even—I have that given me to copy,” pointing to the offending document on the table, “and I find it’s—oh, it was wicked of Mrs. Mountjoy !—wicked and cruel ! I told Jem, and he was near broken-hearted.” Here the tears flashed into her eyes again. ‘‘ But he never said a cross word to me, though it was all through me it happened. He just pushed away his papers. ‘It’s no use, Jenny,’ he says, ‘she’s taken all the cream off it. Ours, if it did come out, would look as if it was borrowed from that.’ Fancy! borrowed! Our own story!” Her voice choked with passion, her look and attitude were almost noble in their wrath and scorn. “Think of it, sir! We lived it and suffered it, and she--she traffics with our hearts’ blood. She, she’s like the wicked giant in the fairy tale, she grinds our bones to make her bread !”’ Even this anti-climax did not make Mr. Morton laugh; on the contrary, the girl’s fiery indigna- tion seemed to infect him, and seizing both the rough manuscript of the “ Idylof the Hills ” and its fair copy, he tore them across and across, and flung them into his waste-paper basket. “There,” he said, “‘ that’s disposed of!” After Jenny had gone he remembered that he had no right to destroy MS. submitted to him, and he fished the thing out of his basket, and sent it back to the author with a note which made her “sit up.” Jenny’s face, after a momentary pause of blank astonishment, was a sight to see; dimpling all over with the sweetest, sunniest, most ecstatic smiles, “Oh, sir!’ she cried, and clapped her hands. “Oh Jem! what will Jem say ?” “ What will Mrs. Mountjoy say?” Mr. Morton, with a dry smile. ‘“That’s more to the point. Don’t be alarmed ’’—as the bright face grew clouded over again—‘“T’ll settle all that, and you may be sure I will never betray you.” “You are good!” said Jenny, “I can tell Jem now. I didn’t before, because I was afraid he would think it such a silly plan of mine, to come here, a poor girl like me, you know, and tell you all this. But it’s allright now ’—clapping her hands again—‘ I can tell Jem it’s all right.” observed AUTHOR. 247 Was it all right, and did this poor child really think there were no further disappointments in store for them? Did she imagine that her husband’s novel would be straightway accepted, and published, and that their fortunes and his reputation would be made without more ado ¥ And what a very different fate awaited them in all probability ! In his mind’s eye Morton could see that hapless manuscript coming back, and back, a little more soiled and shabby each time, and he could imagine how in the midst of their acute disappointment and heart-sickness there would be additional pangs at the sight of the damage done to those fair sheets, so carefully copied and so expensive, and at the thought of the serious outlay in stamps incurred by each fresh journey. “Look here,’ he said, ‘you may tell your husband that if he likes I will look over his book when it is finished. I don’t mean that there is the slightest chance of its suiting ws,’ he added hastily, as he saw a momentary wild hope leap into Jenny’s face. “ But, as he is a beginner, I should be very glad to help him in any way I can, and 1 will tell him candidly if there is any use in his offering it to a publisher.” “Thank you, sir,” said Jenny, curtseying ; but all the light faded out of her face, and Mr, Morton began to wonder impatiently if it would not have been better to have left it alone. Well, the manuscript came, and Mr. Morton did not find it a perfect gem, faultless alike in inatter and construction, and did not immediately hasten to secure it, offering Jem a large sum for the right to run it as a serial in his magazine, before afterwards producing it in three volumes. Nothing of the kind; this is not a fairy tale. He found a good deal of charm and power in the telling of the story, which was of itself, as has been said, an unusual one; but . . . and VOC He sent for Jem, and gave him a great deal of advice, about what he was to read, and what he was to write, and how it was far better for him to let his manuscript lie by for a little till be matured. He told him there was good stuff in it—and watched the eager intelligent eyes dilate with pleasure—and then, with careless good humour, enumerated its faults, and was conscious of an odd feeling of compunction as he saw the blood sweep over the boy’s face. The end of it all was that Mr. Morton took a fancy to Jem. He procured him employment which sufficed to keep the wolf at quite a respectable distance from the door, and guided and encouraged this literary novice, till he required such help no longer. The story of Jem and Jenny saw the light at last under a new form, and made its mark, and Jem  248 is now—but if I were to tell you who and what Jem is now, Lam sure you would not believe me. M. HE. Francis. ———— od II. Fenton Fane. By G. B. Burain (Author of “A Quaker Girl,” &c.). Kettering is so much sought after in general society, that we were all rath+r surprised to see him in the smoking-room of “ The Bohemian” just before dinner the other evening. For some time past, Kettering has forsaken his less successful cronies, but he is sucha good-natured little fellow that we willingly tolerate eccentricities which in others would call for the severest reprobation, He seemed excited yet jubilant. You know his work, of course? Mildly sentimental books, which are very successful with young ladies. They say he makes over two thousand a year—guineas, not books. Turns novels out like so many Waterbury watches; at any rate,a man of the world wants as much winding up as a Waterbury before he can get through one of Kettering’s love stories. Still, he is clever; there’s no doubt about that. And he can’t help being conceited. Success has that effect on some people. Strange to say, he is still good-natured. Successful men can afford to be good-natured sometimes—when they like. Very often they don’t like. But that has nothing to do with Kettering. I have often known him to help a fellow. Well, Kettering came in with a bundle of evening papers under his arm, and very full of something. “ Tell us all about it,” said Spittleby, of the Warbler, (Spittleby is the man who writes costume and cookery letters under the signature of “ Lady Godiva”? Says he adopted that signature because of his love for naked truth. Most of those letters are written by men. You know the sort of thing, where you enter all the shops of the universe in the course of one afternoon, and wind up with a recipe for marma- lade or muffins.) “Tell us all about it,” repeated Spittleby, looking enviously at Kettering’s special editions. Kettering had evidently bustled in to tell us a story. We languidly waved him to the centre of the hearthrug, and prepared to wile away the unhappy quarter of an hour before dinner. And this is the tale he told, as he stood before the fire, the bundle of papers under his arm strangely contrasting with his correct evening dress : One morning, about three months ago, some- body knocked at my door. It wasn’t a timid or frightened knock, but a very vigorous rat-tat— the knock of a successful man. © Come in,” I shouted, and he did. THE AUTHOR. Now I ask you dispassionately, whether a man like that had a right to knock as if he were Kipling, Jerome. J. M. Barrie, Conan Doyle, Alfred Calmour, and myself all rolled into one? I put myself last because you other fellows mayn’t have heard of my most recent success, Of course, it’s your misfortune; and ’m sorry for you. Still, when a man has made a hit he ought not to be too modest about it; it’s all confounded nonsense. Most people think that last book of mine great, so I don’t mind telling you candidly I agree with them; it is a great book. My publishers quite flatter me about it. When they forwarded my last cheque — three figures—I asked them, and they said that the cheque meant volumes. It did—my volumes, T’ve been working a good many years to climb to the topmost pinnacle of fame. When a fellow’s been doing that, he likes to be approached with a little deference after he is sitting on the point, Not that it matters much, although it does show a sense of the fitness of things. Naturally, when that man knocked at the door, I thought it was the author of ‘“ Pilkins’ Pilgrimage,” at least (you all know the way he enters the room, as if he were a country squire, and you'd had the impudence to sit in his pew without being asked, and had better get out before he made you), Well, it wasn’t. It was only a new shorthand fellow, who came in as if he were my equal, sat down at the table, pulled out his dirty notebook, nodded familiarly to me, and cast a contemptuous glance round the study. Then he grinned. Positively grinned, What sort of a fellow was he? Oh, about thirty. Tall, thin, not too well-fed. Bags rather gone at the knees—looked as if they had been “yevived ” and then collapsed again, after the manner of most revivals—seams of coat seedy (you know the greasy pallor of a coat seam, like that on the face of a dead man) and cheap boots rather gone at the toes. And his linen was—vwell I'd rather not mention it—dinner’s coming — It reminded me of my old Irish servant’s celluloid collar, which he wore all the year round, and only washed under protest aad the pump on Christmas Day. But the fellow was goodlooking in spite of his poverty. Forehead a bit too bulgy perhaps, and his eyes (blue) hada way of sizing one up which was rather embarrassing. He was to be paid a shilling an hour and his lunch, in addition to the pleasure of forestalling the British public by reading my new book before any one else did, That should have been worth at least another shilling to him if he could only have seen it in Don’t worry, You're the proper light, but he didn’t. — Jones! I'll give you the papers directly. more like a human bookworm than ever.  THE AUTHOR. Selwyn (one of my publishers—I keep two or three—mainly Dissenters) had found him for me. “Good all round hack,” was Selwyn’s descrip- tion. Seemed to think I wanted to be carried up and down the park. Well, the fellow opened his notebook, looked round the room as if he thought all my pictures beneath contempt (don’t believe he’d ever seen a Segantini before) and threw himself back with a laugh. “ Doesn’t all this bosh—(he called the get-up of myself and room ‘bosh,’ the irreverent brute. You know that rig-out of mine which Jones will call a ‘tea-gown’ although he’s well aware it’s old Florentine velvet)—rather interfere with your work?” “No, it doesn’t,’ I said shortly. enough, Mr. Be “Fenton Fane.” “Fenton Fane, not to interrupt me by discussing questions of taste, and thus exposing your ignorance. We will start with chapter four if you please.” “Very well,” he answered. you're loaded up to the muzzle.” The man seemed to think I was an old Tower musket. I stopped hurriedly striding up and down the room (you know that panther walk of mine which has been so much talked about in interviews) and stared at him. Then I began to dictate, but not so fluently as usual. It didn’t matter how fast I went. The fellow just made little jerks with his fingers—little im- patient jerks they seemed to me—and waited. Now, there’s nothing so exasperating as to have a shorthand-writer get ahead of you. It makes you feel as if he knew so much more about the thing than you do yourself. The more he jerked, the more confused I felt. At last, I came toa dead stop, and felt empty. Fenton Fane threw down his pencil with a contemptuous laugh, and looked at me. ‘Thought so,” he said cuttingly. “When I saw you rigged out in that high- faluting dressing-gown and muffin cap I ought to have known you wouldn’t amount to much.” “What d’you mean?” I gasped. “T'll tell you, if you don’t object to smoke,” he said. “Got amatch? Thanks. He actually struck it on his trousers—the Antipodean part of them—and lit a filthy pipe. I had to burn a pastille in order to stifle its fumes. The man drew a shilling from his pocket. really can’t stand it,’ he said. “Td rather go back to reporting the police courts. That Barabbas of yours paid me a shilling in advance, on . didn’t bargain for deleterious drivel like is !”’ I was speechless with rage. “Be good “Fire away, if “Ty You all know 249 what even the National Observer has said of my work; and it’s very few great men their people are civil to. When I pointed haughtily to the door, he only laughed. ‘‘ Let us talk it over,” he said. ‘Perhaps you’ll learn something.” There was no other way to get rid of him, so I listened. He took up his shorthand book, and read the opening paragraph, a beautiful little poet- laureate like opening; at least, it resembled the style of all the candidates for that post. “It’s all incorrect,” he said. ‘ Every bit of it. Think it over. You've mixed up the flowers in that garden as if Ouida had planted them in a hurry ; it’s the wrong time of year for a thunderstorm ; and that slovenly alliterative style is sad enough to sicken a slouching schoolboy.” Of course, I ought to have cut him short, but the fellow confused me. “ You—eh—get the general effect,” I said, crushingly, “ with—eh—a broad sweep of the brush, and realise the scene. It doesn’t need little niggling water-colour touches.” “Bosh!” he said. ‘“ Bosh! You’re hopelessly, ignorantly, blatantly, blunderingly, irredeemably wrong. And the world (he took his pipe out of his mouth) calls you a great man.” He laughed. It was not a pleasant laugh to hear; it seemed about a semi-tone wrong. « Don’t you—eh—think it is time to end this dis- cussion ?” I said, laying my hand on the bell-rope. That sobered him. He flung back his hair with a shake, and sat down. “No,” he said shortly ; “I don’t often indulge myself in this way. Suppose I give yowa shilling (he took one from his pocket) just to free my mind.” I thought the fellow would make a good character study, so consented. He gave me the shilling. I have it now. “Tye watched you for some time,” he said. “ Yow re courted all round because you’re read by people about as wise as yourself. They under- stand your sentimental twaddle, and you under- stand them. Your books sell. Here and there, one notices a faint suggestion of the divine spark —the sort of mark where the match of genius has been rubbed along and left a slight phospho- rescent streak—but that’s all. You're wealthy, I’m poor; you're a great man, I’m a little one; and yet, before Heaven, I decline to change places with you, for I have genius—you haven't.” The fellow actually swelled. “Tm not mad,” he laughed (he was always laughing: that’s one of the secrets of a sane genius—to know how to laugh). “No, Pm too tough for that. But I’ve got to the heart of Nature’s secrets, I know men and women; I can paint you pictures passionate or gay, move you  250 to laughter or tears, excite your pity, anger, derision, scorn; I can take you into the night and make you shudder with nameless dread, or sing to you in sun-flooded highways so that the very flints become flowers to your feet. Oh, yes, I’ve done all that. It’s the truth, the truth, the truth. Only I can’t get my chance, I can’t get my chance. Life slips away, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. Fame stands on the hill-top, and you, and fools like you, bar the way, so that my voice fails to reach my fellows. Do you know what you have done ?” he asked, coming near to me. “No,” I said; and I didn’t. “ Well, you, and the fellows like you, murder men’s souls—murder the souls of men who are the world’s prophets and preachers and singers. You stifle the hearts and consciences of all man- land, you dull their ears with your petty babble of this and that. But they are so accustomed to the note of your penny whistle that when some great, pure clarion voice rings over the heights, men turn aside and heed it not. Out of the way, you and your brood. Give place.” The man was evidently mad. I tried to soothe him. ‘Yes, yes, my good fellow. You're quite right—quite right. But the world needs us, and we make it pay.” He laughed long and low, and put his pipe back »n his pocket. “I beg your pardon, Mr. Kettering,” he said. “It was awfully bad form. Pll get my chance some day, and then you can review me; but you must admit there is a good deal of truth in what I have said. I ought not to have wasted your morning. Good day.” I stopped him. Couldn’t help pitying the poor devil. ‘ Can I help you?” I inquired. The colour came into his cheek. ‘“ No, thanks,” he said. “Td like you to spend half an hour with me and read a chapter of my book—the book no publishers will publish because I haven’t had one out before. I don’t blame them. Why should they run any risk ?”’ Somehow, the fellow toucied a sympathetic chord—reminded me of the time when I pawned my gold watch and chain to get my first book out. The book came out, but the profits and the watch didn’t. We went downstairs together. “Can you stand being seen in a’bus?” he asked. “ Will your reputation suffer ? ” But my brougham came up, and we got in. ‘Royal Mint Square,” said Fenton Fane.” Up by the Tower.” It was the usual sort of dirty den—a kind of Eastern carayanserai, without the camels, but equally odorous. The !odgings were divided into two or three little rooms, mostly inhabited by THE -AUTHOR. policemen, with a sprinkling of ex-Girton girls and charwomen. The rooms were very pretty ; so was Fane’s wife. Nay, she was beautiful. Never saw such golden hair in my life. There was a little girl also, of about nine, with her mother’s eyes, and Fane’s trick of looking you straight in the face. Mrs. Fane greeted me with the self- possession of a Mayfair matron. Then Fane brought out his book, and I began to read it. The clock struck one. When I looked up again, it was growing dusk. All that time, the man and woman and little child sat there without saying a word. I didn’t even hear them breathe. At last, the strain was so great that I could bear no more. I laid down the MS. with a long-drawn breath. The man and woman and little child sat there looking at me, their hearts in their beautiful eyes. They had sat there for hours—in silence— waiting. Their faces were white and strained, the lips quivering a little as I looked up. Even the child knew what was going on. I laid dwn the MS. Fane rose to open the door for me, without asking a single question. I stood for a moment, dazed, bewildered, over- come. Then I took Fane’s hand and turned to his wife. “He is great,’ I said. “Great! Great! Great; I am not worthy to sit at his feet.” Fane clasped the woman in his arms and held her there. 1ooking in her shining eyes, I knew whence came his greatness. “That all? ” we queried. ‘“*No,” said Kettering. “It isn’t. fellows seen the evening papers ?” We hadn’t. How could we when they were all under his arm Kettering handed us the bundle, and in them we read of Fenton Fane’s first book. His clarion voice is ringing still. Ringing throughout the world, stirring the souls of all, as we who are fain to move them fail to do; for the man who would fire the heart of his fellows must be cradled in poverty and wrong, live dolorous days and sorrow on through darkest nights, ere dawns the morning light when those who once scoffed and turned him away kneel humbly crying: “Master, with golden tongue and heart of fire, teach us the secret of the hidden ways, that we may climb life’s upward path with thee and touch the skies.”’ Have you  THE: AUTHUR. CORRESPONDENCE, 1 A Littie Sum. some agreements the following clause N a occurs:—|The publisher] “shall... pay to the author on all copies sold at abvve half their published price a royalty of ro per cent. on their published price, and on all copies sold at or below half their published price a royalty of 20 per cent. on the net receipts of such sales.” It is interesting to notice that under this clause there is an inducement to the publisher to sell at a lower price than is to the author’s advantage. More exactly, if the published price be taken as 100 units, we get :— Selling price. Publisher’s share. Author’s share. 55 45 ee 10 BO) 2 0 IO BOS AOS IO GO AO IO BO Ae. 5 499 AOL 8... 4°99 See HOG 4°55 It is, therefore, to the publisher’s interest to sell :-— At 50, rather than between 50 and 55 29 49 ” ” ” ” ”? 5471 ”? 48 ” ” ” ”? ” 53°2 ” 47 ” ” ” ” ” 52°3 92 46 ” 99 9 ”? ” 514 ”? 45 a3 29 ”? ” ? 50°5 While to the author the lower price in each case brings half (or less than half) the return brought by the higher price. Il. No ANSWER. A lady living in the country sent a MS. toa certain weekly journal. The editor replied to the effect that he would like to use it, but that it was too long and should be cut down. The author, in return, offered to cut it down herself. The editor made no reply to the offer. He sent no proofs of the paper, but published it six months later. The writer then asked to be paid. She has written repeatedly. Up to the present moment she has had no reply to her letters. She has been advised to put the case into her solicitor’s hands. 251 IPE LerrEers Not RECEIVED. Here is another case. A lady sent a MS. to an editor, which was accepted, printed, and pub- lished in a certain paper. Then the writer sent a note asking for a cheque. She received no reply. Then she wrote again. She received no reply. She waited a little, and wrote a third time. Again, no reply. She then put the case in the hands of a gentleman, who wrote for her, and informed the editor that unless a cheque was sent by return post the case would be placed in the hands of a lawyer. The editor then for- warded a cheque, stating that he had not ) eceived any of the three letters! In such a case as this, the only way is to put the case ina lawyer’s hands when the first letter remains unanswered. ————$—- IV. SuaaEstED Memoriat. I trust that a special memorial of the late Laureate, our President, will be raised by the society, and I venture to suggest that a bust of the poet might be the best form for such a memorial to take. It should be easy to find it a place of honour in the rooms of the society. Many members would be sure to avail them- selves of the privilege to contribute to such a memorial ; and you may include me among them. A. M. ———— > V A QUESTION. In the “Notes from Paris” in the November number of the Author, Mr. Sherard mentions how he picked up a first edition of Stendhal’s “De Amour” from a book-hawker on the quays of the Seine. I should like to know if, in the first edition of “ De Amour,” the sixtieth chapter was printed. I have a copy of that work published in 1833, which has Le chapitre supprime LX. Des Fiasco, in manuscript. bound up with it, The book was given to me by a gentleman who formerly lived in Paris, and the suppressed chapter was supplied to him by a Monsieur Milsand, a litterateur of some note at that time, and a contributor to the Revue des Deux Mondes. Cuaup Harpine. <= VL. For Noruina. I think the secret at the bottom of half our literary difficulties lies in the anxiety of amateurs  252 to see themselves in print. Am I not stating a well-known fact when I say that an enormous amount of matter, neither very good nor very bad, is sent in to editors daily by writers who are perfectly content that their work should be pub- lished gratis? Indeed, with regard to poetry, I believe it is rather the rule than the exception, with middling magazines, not to pay for it at all? Verses are positively poured into the market by writers who desire nothing better than to see their effusions published ; so that many a p etty little poem, which would find its price in time under different conditions, is doomed to oblivion. I know the price given for verse in some of the second-rate magazines is something absurdly low. But surely if a poem is worthy of being set up in type at all, itis worthy of a fair price! One must consider that beginners in literature, if not absolutely drivelling, are likely to be somewhat crude in style, and that the market for mediocre work is the smallest of all. For very good work there is always an opening, for actual rubbish there is plenty of room in the weekly “ dreadfuls.” It is the moderately good writer who suffers most, and upon him the selfish egotistical amateur preys. I write feelingly, having had articles rejected, before now, with the words, “ We can get what we want for nothing, thank you!” I have even heard more than one established writer say un- blushingly, “ Oh, I wrote for nothing at first; one has to do so, you know.” I don’t know. I don’t believe it. I never wrote for nothing, except for a local newspaper that could not afford to pay or for amateur magazines. If one’s early work is not worth remuneration, it never ought to appear im widely circulated professional magazines. Of course, it would be better still if it never appeared at all; but if amateurs and beginners must see themselves in print, there are plenty of amateur magazines open to them nowa- days. There is no blame to be attached to editors in this matter, for they are only obeying the laws of economy. They know well enough that if everyone demanded payment the sifting process would be fairer, and many of the stories and articles they publish for nothing would be paid for without a murmur. But, say a man has two articles sent in to him, one of which he may have gratis, the other requiring remuneration. Suppose them to be nearly of equal merit and suitability, but the latter the better of the two. Which will he choose, considering the expense of type-setting, &c.? Why the gratuitous one, of course, even if slightly inferior. How could it be otherwise ? This is a burning question, and the sooncr a crusade is started against the vain and egotistical THE AUTHOR. amateur the better for the bread-winner. The better for author, editor, and literature generally, M. L. P. VIL. A Briturant Scare or Pay, A correspondent sends information of the “scale of pay” adopted by a certain penny weekly supposed to have a very large circula- tion. It is, indeed, princely. For articles— stories—he says that he has received payment at the rate of 5s., 7s. 6d., 10s., or, as the highest pay, 15s. “ For one story of eight chapters,” he says, “T received 15s, !!!!” The proprietor of this delightful journal may plead—and very justly—that he can get what he wants at that rate, and why should he pay more ? Certainly—why pay more? All the advertise- ments ask the same question. One answer is that cheap stuff—in literature, as in other things —is bad stuff.. A journal which offers bad stuff is not only low down, but is doomed to go lower down. VIII. A Lawyer’s Lerrer. Iwas asked last January to contribute an article to a projected new review. I was told to name my own subject and my own price. I named £20, and, at considerable personal incon- venience, wrote and sent the article within about a week. It was never published, as difficulties supervened, and the idea of starting the review was abandoned. But I had written the article, and had in black and white, in terms fully suffi- cient to satisfy what the Times the other day called the “ Statue of Frauds,” an undertaking to pay me £20 forit. After waiting six months I wrote and offered to take £10, and consider the article as withdrawn. This was refused, and I was told [had no legal claim, so I put the matter in the hands of my solicitor. Three days later he wrote that he was offered £8 8s. for me and £1 1s. for his costs: would I take this? ‘ No,” I replied ; “TI said I would take £10, but, having had the trouble of employing a_ solicitor and writing four letters, [mean now to have £11 11s. for myself, plus costs, or I shall sue for the full £20.” A day or two after I got my cheque; so the projectors of the review in question paid £12 12s. and their own solicitor’s costs instead of £10, which was all I asked. 4 | 7 1 7 i THE AUTHOR. 253 ix DEFAMATORY CRITICISM. A remedy for the crying evils of which “ Rank and File” and Doctor Charles D. Bell complain, in the current number of the Author, appears to present itself in your apposite notes on Mr. Thomas Hardy’s “‘ Review of his Reviewers.” Permit me to repeat your words: “If a man falsely say of a baker that he makes poisonous bread ; or of a chemist that his pills are pure flour and water; or of a physician that he is a quack; or of a solicitor that his advice is not to be trusted—these practitioners have their remedy in a court of law. And so, I believe, has the author upon whose work the reviewer uninvited makes an onslaught. He may bring an action as one who has suffered material injury by the uninvited reviewer. If such an action were ever brought we should hear very little more of the gratuitous and meddlesome uninvited slating and sneering which is now passed over.” Now for an application of the remedy. In a recent number of a certain journal, eight works of fiction, com- prising fifteen volumes, by authors of more or less repute (yourself among the number) are airily polished off in about two thousand words, from which I select an apposite illustration of the “happy despatch” administered to the latest production of an author of four or five books which have passed through various editions : “For misspelling, misquotation, misconception of every usual matter of common knowledge, and constant grammatical atrocities, Mr. ——’s book is the novel of the season.” It must be frankly admitted that this latest specimen of the pseudonymuncule has “a nice derangement of epitaphs.” Supposing his state- ment be a true one, the wretched author is bound to submit in silence—but, on the other hand, suppose it can be proved to the satisfaction of “twelve good men and true” that it is false, wilfully and maliciously false in every particular, would not an action lie for libel, and if so, might not this be made a fest case for the general good of the craft ? The subject invites discussion from both the captains and the rank and file of the army of authors. Possibly, too, some of your eminent legal colleagues will deign to favour us with their views. Rover. [There seems little reason to hesitate. If the book is, and can be proved to be, falsely described, the author is as much injured as the imaginary baker, and has his remedy in a Court of Law. | x. Society oF ARCHIVISTS. With reference to the account of the above society, written by Mr. Cresswell in last month’s Author, kindly allow me to make a few remarks. Stated in a few words, the main objects of the society are, (1) to combat the dense ignorance of the value of old MSS. that prevails among the educated classes; and (2) to form a combinat on or “trade union” for the profit, protection, and pleasure to be derived from the companionship of brother colle: tors. One great difficulty in form ng the society is the indifference, often amounting to coutempt, shown by those who, instead of leading the public taste up to higher things, pander to its grossest forms, and follow its more depraved instincts into the gutters of the police and divorce courts. I refer to the newspapers. There are honourable exceptions, but they are few and far between. The consequence is this: That, although we have been trying to attract public attention (almost the only chance of success) for nearly six months, the number of leading papers which have published accounts of our objects or otherwise drawn attention to us, may be counted on the fingers of one hand, while day by dav unleaded type accounts are minutely fur- nished of the meals eaten and words spoken by the Jatest ‘‘ fashionable” criminal. There is a remedy for this, Sir, and it hes in this direction. Let some of the leaders of public thought, the great writers and literary men who read this journal, join us, if only as honorary members (it costs 5s.), and I make no doubt that the daily papers will soon find it out, and, ever on thealert as they are to flatter the great with an obsequious paragraph, may in the long run serve the cause to which, when it stands on its merits alone, they turn a deaf ear. H. Saxe WynpuaM, Hon. Sec. Society of Archivists Thornton Lodge, Thornton Heath. 2G A PuzzuE. A writer sends a short story to a paper which will not bind itself to return authors’ MSS. It is there for a long time, and he is in doubt about its fate. It is no use writing to the editor of the paper, because he won’t answer. At the end of six months or thereabouts, the writer settles in his own mind that the story is refused, and, liking the idea, rewrites it and sends it to another paper. This paper accepts the story and promptly q i \4 } ; (f iW i i se wegen oer  254 pays for it. A day after the writer receives a much smaller sum for the same story from the paper he sent it to first. Now, what ought he to dor Which cheque ought he to return ?,—A MEMBER. Ss XII. ILLUSTRATIONS. I am not an author, but may I ask whether, if I supply illustrations for an article by one author, his editor or publisher has a right to use them, without reference to me, in any other book he may be bringing out ? XIII. “TL. B.” anp Liserat RemMuNERATION. In the current number of the Author, your correspondent “TL. B.” recalls an experience somewhat analogous to my own. A few years ago, I called upon Messrs. North- ampton and Co., to discuss the publication of a novel. For reasons which need not here be recapitu- lated, the novel was not accepted; but, as certain short stories of mine in the Graphic, Longman’s, Temple Bar, &c., were enjoying a sort of vogue, it was proposed by Messrs. Northampton that I should write a short story for the summer number of a magazine, of which the firm had recently become proprietors. Terms were discussed, and I mentioned those paid me by the Graphic, Longmans, Temple Bar, New Review, &c. On the faith of what I considered to be an honourable verbal understanding, I wrote a story of twenty-four magazine pages, which occupied the place of honour among a series of stories by authors of distinction. A month elapsed—two—three—four—then I wrote suggesting that a cheque would be accept- able. Another month passed without a reply—then I wrote a polite reminder, whereupon I received a cheque for £2 10s., that is to say, 2s. 1d. for 600 words. Now the mere caligraphic process is so dis- tasteful to me, that I protest I would not (except under the pressure of starvation) have even copied the MS. for double this miserable pittance, leaving the composition of the story quite out of the question. Believing that there must be some mistake, I returned the cheque, requesting an explanation. Like “BL. B.,” I was curtly informed in reply that “ my story was paid for at the usual scale of THE AUTHOR. payment for stories published in the ‘ So and So? magazine, and from that scale there could be no departure.” I was “young in crime” then, and did not wish to figure in the County Court, but were Messrs. Northampton and Co. to try that little game with me now, I would put them in the box, and I would put beside them the half dozen dis- tinguished contributors to the “So and So” magazine, so as to prove the actual truth or falsehood of Messrs. Northampton’s statement. Moral All future contributors to the “ So and So” magazine will do well to take care to have a written contract before they commit their copy to the tender mercies of Messrs. Northamp- ton and Co. Once Brit, Twice Suy. XIV. A Sueecrstion—anp Somerurne Mors. The strength of the Society of Authors is proof—if proof were needed — of the excel- lent work it has done in offering an unbend- ing front to the fraudulent publisher. But if authors, individually, relax their vigilance, much of its good work falls to the ground. There are amongst us certain penny journals which, when they are going down, or fall into unenviable notoriety, make a call upon authors of good stand- ing to prop themup. And either from ignorance of the character of these journals, or from that thoughtlessness which prempts many a writer to say “Pl write an article for any journal that pays me my price,” the few at the top are apt, from no unkindness of heart, to rattle stones on the heads of the many below. If this sort of thing has not crossed the mind of any good writer before, may I bring it to him in this fashion. When he has been asked for an article, has he ever considered whether the journal which begs the loan of his name and talent is a journal worth propping up? Has he made certain inquiries about the price it pays its regular con- tributors? Ifhe has not done this, he may be unconsciously supporting that which it is the object of the society to destroy, the art of sweating. When a journal makes a call upon a good author, and in the pages of which he can gain neither honour nor renown, from which, as a matter of taste, he would shrink under ordinary circumstances from contributing to, that journal ought to be subjected to careful scrutiny. It has everything to gain from the influence of his name, the author nothing, save the guineas. Some of the reasons of these journals calling on good  si pe bee Sad Series Boe oe ae St ou ot a THE AUTHOR. 255 authors for help are easily understood. For an instance, the paper may be simply paralysed, it stands on the brink of destruction, with a rapidly decreasing circulation. As a desperate remedy, it cills on certain writers, and faces the public with their names in a string. ‘This is a literary tonic which often places it on its legs again. Where the journal is honest and straightforward, and grows weak through no fault of its own, this is a proper tonic; but where a journal erects a barrier with these names to keep the public off the scent of the regular and sweated contributor, such a tonic is unwholesome. An author, if he be not very careful, is lable to be paid with the bright guineas produced by sweating, and he puts it into the power of a journal to say, “1 sweat ! Look who contributes to my columns! The author of so and so and the equally talented writer of such a work!’ Then the general public, the keen discriminating general public, grows hardened against the sweated. “ Pooh! If the ‘penny soul of humanity’ sweated, do you think the author of this and the author of that would write for it?” Theauthor of repute is saddled with a rare responsibility; the general public never reasons, it goes by outside show, and takes the good writer’s name as a guarantee that all is fair and respectable within. Therefore, if the author of repute is misled, or thoughtless, he finds him- self in a most undesirable position. In perhaps a solitary case authors’ names are put forward to blind the general publi: ; they go down with it as the regular staff, while the poor objects hidden in the background, the regular sweated contri- butors, are writing their stories of 2000 and 3000 words for the magnificent pay of five shillings and seven-and-sixpence a story! In some bewilder- ment, the author of repute, who is not, or has not been till lately, much of a business man, asks how ishe to pick a journal of this sort out. Easily enough. Publish in the Awthor the rates of pay of every journal in the kingdom. Publish it in instalments, a little every month if you like, but by all means publish it. There are enough mem- bers of the Society to do this; let each one make out his little list and send it to the secretary. Then all will be fair sailing, the shoals will all be buoyed off, the rocks marked on the chart, and a good deep channel prepared for the literary ship to sail through. Witha good chart there will be less danger of running ashore. That is my sug- gestion, open to amendment. Some may assert that it is not needed; and those who deal in cold logic declare that mediocrity always will be sweated, it can’t command a price, and a writer of that sort must, in the nature of things, fall into somebody’s grasping clutch. To think thus is to do nothing. If a journal is discovered to be a sweater, it ought to be strictly boycotted, that is, if the Society is going to make any headway. No man who has made a name, or who values his reputation and_ the welfare of the humblest scribbler, should show it in the light of his signa- ture. Show the sweater that he is a sweater, deal with him as a sweater, make even the general public recognise him as a sweater, and, without he be made of wrought iron, or adamant, he will surely fade and die. Peace to his ashes ! CHARLES KING, 7, The Conge, Great Yarmouth. De “Al THE SIGN OF THE AUTHOR'S HEAD.” Dictionary of the World’s Press,’ is preparing an exhibit for the Chicago Exhibition of old newspapers. Contributions or loans may be sent addressed to him, Fleet-street, London. It is stated by the Queen that he will establish a permanent museum of old newspapers in London after the exhibition. There are surely materials in the British Museum for such an exhibition. N -R. HENRY SELL, compiler of “The Mr. James Payn shows all his old dexterity in his new story “The Stumble on the Threshold,”’ which has been running:through the Queen, and has just been published by Mr. Horace Cox Whe tale possesses a strong interest, while its dénouement is in the highest degree original, being, we believe, absolutely new in fiction. Not the least of the many charms of the story is its inexhaustible fund of humour. In ‘“‘ The Master,” Mr. Payn has given us a really great creation. The book of “The Recollections of Gordon Hake, Physician,” is simply delightful. Here is a man over eighty years of age who has always lived with literary and artistic people of the best kind, a friendof Trelawny, Walter Savage Landor, George Borrow, Latham, Rossetti, and to all those poets, painters, novelists, and writers who are associated with their names. The book is filled with anecdotes, and with sharp, caustic, clever things. To me at least, in such a book as this, attraction is the chief thing to be considered ; it proved attractive enough to make me read it from end to end at a sitting. It is more than attractive; it is a most valuable contribution to the literary history of the century. There is a strange charm about Wessex and its people and its dialect. Here is another novel —“Dark” (Smith and Elder)—belonging to Devonshire. The story is anonymous; it is  256 painful; it is lacking in humour ; but it is a true picture of country life. There is the girl—not unlike Hardy’s Tess—who loves and sins and suffers. The author should do much _ better things than “ Dark,” which, however, is a story to note and to read. The advertisement pages give us a few facts to note. Mr. James Payn’s new novel is pub- lished by Mr. Horace Cox—a new departure. The ‘“ Record Press Limited,” is the title of a new publishing firm. Mr. Newnes, proprietor and editor of the Strand and Tit Bits, has become a publisher with books by Conan Doyle, Grant Allen, J. E. Muddock, and George Sims. The continual increase in the number of London publishers is an indication of the rapid growth, as well as the enormous extent, of the book trade. The Orchid Seekers, a Story of Adventure and Peril in Borneo,” by Ashmore Russan and Frederick Boyle, will shortly be published by Messrs. Chapman and Hall, and by Messrs Roberts Brothers, of Boston, U.S.A. It was published serially in the Boys’ Own Paper. “The City and the Land” is a collection of seven lectures delivered in the spring of the pre- sent year on the work of the Palestine Exploration Fund. The lecturers were, Col. Sir Charles Wilson, Major Conder, R.E., Canon Tristram, Walter Besant (formerly secretary to the society), Rev. Dr. Wright, W. M. Flincers Petrie, and Canon Dalton. The lectures are published for the com- mittee by A. P. Watt, 2, Paternoster-square. The life of Lord Tennyson, by Arthur Waugh, seems to be accepted as the best biography we are likely to have until the appearance of that written with the assistance of the private papers in the hands of the family. Mr Waugh is per- fectly modest upon the subject ; he puts forward his work expressly as one prepared upon facts within the reach of everybody; he only professes to have searched into these facts with a little more care than most people are likely to give. The result is a good piece of careful work which will prove acceptable and instructive to every- body. The book has already gone into its second edition. “ Whither?” by Mrs. E. Francis, in 3 vols. (Griffith, Farran, and Co.), was published last month. The fourth edition is announced of Messrs. Gibbons and Uttley’s “Labour Contracts,” a popular handbook on the law of contracts, for works and services. It is revised with an appendix of statutes: (Crosby Lockwood and Son). THE AUTHOR. The Fortnightly Review for December con- tains a powerful and suggestive article by the Rev. Professor Momerie, called “ Religion—Itg Future.” It is a significant fact that such an advanced Broad Churchman as the Rey. Professor should have been selected to write upon this subject; but the time has come for speaking the truth about theology, and Dr. Momerie is the man to speak it. He is in the Church of England, but a member of an obscure sect; if he is wrong in his deductions there are plenty of Churchmen to set him right, and it is their bounden duty to do so if possible. Mr. Mowbray Marras is responsible for the Italian adaptation of “Der Schauspieldirektor,” recently successfully produced, with Mozart’s music, at the New Olympic Theatre, under the title of “L’Impresario.” He is likewise the author of the English version thereof, and both librettos have been favourably noticed. “This Wicked World”? is a final collection of hitherto unpublished essays by the late Hain Friswell, Author of ‘“ The Gentle Life.” There are twenty-one essays in all, presumably, though the fact is not stated, reprints from various magazines and journals. If this new volume achieves anything like the same success as has been accorded to ‘“‘ The Gentle Life,” now in its thirty-second edition, it will be a curious confirmation of the verdict pronounced twenty- five years ago upon that collection of essays on similar subjects and similarly treated. “Willow and Wattle”’ is the title of a little volume of poetry by Robert Richardson (Edin- burgh: John Grant. 1893). The verse is easy and pleasant to read; the metres are those of the latest and youngest poets. Asa writer of vers de société, at least, Mr. Robert Richardson should have a future before him. Yet at times he can strike a deeper note in the very pretty lines called ‘‘ Annette,’ and in a very beautiful ballade on the “Northern Autumn.” Those who are curious about young poets and fond of first editions, which may become scarce and valuable, should get this little volume without delay. Mr. E. J. Goodman has written, in “ The Fate of Herbert Wayne” (Chatto and Windus),a | & highly readable novel. Reference has already been made in the Author to the plot of the story. — Mr. Goodman’s treatment of the theme is fresh © and vigorous. The manner in which the tale — develops shifts suspicions from one person to another to the end, and all with the most deli- cate touch, so that the reader must perforce go finish the book to the last line almost before the secret is revealed to him. The novel has been — i  ne i cH ‘in Saas a ae (et 10 1a a that journal. + author, appears in the current number of Cham- THE AUTHOR. highly successful in serial form, and now as a book should win numerous readers. Headon Hill, whose series of detective stories is about running to a close in the Million, is engaged upon a further ser.es of short sturies for An Indian sketch, by the same ber’s Journal. “The Book of Delightful and Strange De- signs, being one hundred facsimile Illustrations of the Art of the Japanese Stencil-cutter, to which the gentle reader is introduced by one | Andrew W. Tuer, F.S.A., who knows nothing at allabout it.”” (Leadenhall Press Co.) The title islong, but when one gets through it there | follows the most extraordinary book ever pub- lished. It is a collection of the Japanese stencil plates used in decorating the cotton stuffs used in the dress of that people. All kinds of things are pressed into the service: cranes, bamboos, tortoises, umbrellas, chrysanthemums, butterflies, grapes—everything conceivable. Everybody in- terested in art should look at this book, grotesque as many of the plates are. Mrs. Greet tells her story of the ‘‘ Golden Owl” (Leadenhall Press Co.) on brown paper, the illus- trations alone being on white paper. The result is fatiguing to the eye. But the story charms away the 1tatigue. The “ Divers,” by Hume Nisbet (Adam and Chacles Black), is astory for boys—a romance of Polynesia—the only part of the world where the romance ofadventure may now be found. Fortu- nately, before romance has vanished from this, its last haunt upon the earth, the disciples of Romance have found her and captured her. An excellent and stirring book for boys. Hall Caine’s “Capt'n Davy’s Honeymoon,” Wich gives its title to the new collection (Heinemann) of these stories, shows the novelist ina new light. He can write in more veins than one. This story is light, fanciful, and humorous. It is well for an artist to show that he need not be always painting tragic pictures of strong emotions, Mr. R. Warwick Bond, M.A., University Extension Lecturer, is preparing a new edition of a long-neglected poet, William Basse (1602— 1653). It will be published in a limited edition by Ellis and Elvey, 29, New Bond-street. 25] NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. Theology. Bapuam, F. P. The Formation of the Gospels. Second edition, revised and enlarged. Kegan Paul. 53s. Brrecuine, Rev. H. C. Faith, eleven sermons with a preface. 3s. 6d. Percival and Company. Bret, JosepH A., D.D. Through Christ to God. in scientific theology. Hodder and Stoughton. 6s. 6d. Book sy Boox. Popular studies on the Canons of Scripture. Isbister and Company. 7s. 6d. Driver, 8. B., D.D. Sermons on Subjects connected with the Old Testament. EXELL, Rev. J.S. The Biblical Illustrator. James Nisbet and Co. 7s. 6d. Farmer, Jonn. Hymns and Chorales for Schools and Colleges. Edited by. At the Clarendon Press, London, Henry Frowde. 5s. Mamora’s Brete Sroriss for her little boys and girls. A series of reading lessons taken from the Bible, adapted to the capacities of very young children, with engravings. New and cheaper edition. Griffith, Farran. Is. NELIGAN, Rev. M. R. addresses on some teaching. Skeffington. Peer or Day, THE: a Series of the Earliest Religious Instruction the Infant Mind is Capable of Receiving. With verses illustrative of the subjects. Illustrated edition. Cassell. 2s. 6d. Rrvineton, Ruy. Luxe. The Church Visible, a sermon preached in substance on the occasion of the investiture of the pallium of the Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh in St. Mary’s Cathedral on August 25, 1892. Kegan Paul. 6d. SrpeBoTHam, Henry, M.A. Readingsfrom Holy Scripture, with brief comments. SINCLAIR, ARCHDEACON. Stock. Srauey, Rev. Vernon. Plain Words on the Incarnation and the Sacraments, with special reference to Baptism and Eucharist. With a preface by the Rev. T. T. Carter. A study Il. Timothy. The Religion of Life: a course of characteristics of St. Paul’s The Servant of Christ. Elliot History and Biography. Apams, C. Kenpauu. Christopher Columbus: his life and his work. Gay and Bird. 4s. 6d. Arrcuison, Sir ©. U. Lord Lawrence; and the Recon- struction of India under the Crown. (Rulers of India Series; edited by Sir W. W. Hunter.) At the Claren- don Press, London, Henry Frowde, 2s. 6d. ALLEYNE, Forster M. All Saints’, Clifton; The Church, its History, andits Octaves. With a preface by the Very Rev. R. W. Randall, M.A., Dean of Chichester. Tlustrated. W.C. Hemmons, Bristol. Boyp-CarPentmer, H., Green, G. E. Outlines of British History, for pupil teachers and matriculation students. Joseph Hughes and Co., Pilgrim-street, H.C. 2s. 6d. Bremont, ANNA Comtesse DE. The World of Music. 3 vols. The great singers, the great virtuosi, the great composers. W. W. Gibbings, Bury-street, W.C. Brieut, Rev. Wituiam. 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Sir Henry Berens, K.C.M.G. WALTER BESANT. AvuGusTINE BrRRELL, M.P. | R. D. BLACKMORE. Rev. Pror. Bonney, F.RB.S. Lord BRABOURNE. James Bryce, M.P. Haut CAINeE. P. W. CLAYDEN. Austin Dosson. A. W. DUBOURG. HERBERT GARDNER, RicHARD GARNETT, . EDMUND GOSSE. H. Riper HAGGARD. Tuomas Harpy. JEROME K. JEROME. RupyYARD KIPLING. OswALD CRAWFURD, Tue Ear. oF DESART. J. Eric EricuseEn, F.R.S. Pror. MicHaru Foster, F.R.S. Pror. E. Ray LANKESTER, F-.R.S. C.M.G. Lewis Morris. Pror. Max MULLER. J. C. PARKINSON. THe EARL OF PEMBROKE AND Mont- GOMERY. Srr FREDERICK Pouiock, Bart., LL.D. WALTER HERRIES POLLOCK. A. G. Ross. Grorcs AuGuSTUS SALA. W. BAPTISTE SCOONES. G. R. Sims. S. SquIRE SPRIGGE. J. J. STEVENSON. Jas. SULLY. NCE: LL.D. EpwARrD CLODD. | J. M. Ley. Witiram Moy THOMAS. W. Morris Couuszs. Rev. W. J. Lortis, F.S.A. HD. trai, DCL. Hon. JoHN COLLIER. | Pror. J. M. D. MEIKLEJOHN. Baron Henry DE Worms, M.-P., W. Martin Conway. HERMAN C. MERIVALE. E.R.8. F. Marion CRAWFORD. | Rev. C. H. Mippieton-WakeE F.LS. EpMuUND YATES. Hon. Counsel—E. M. UNDERDOWN, QC: Solicitors—Messrs FreLp, Roscoz, and Co., Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Secretary—C. HERBERT THRING, B.A. 4, PoRTUGAL STREET, Lincoxtn’s INN FIELDS, W.C. THE AUTHOR'S HAIRLESS PAPER-PAD A BOOK FOR MEMBERS AND CANDIDATES. { (Tue LeapENHALL PREss Lrp., H.C.) ee Contains hairless paper, over which the pen slips with perfect freedom. Siwpence each: 58. per dozen, ruled or plain. Etre A Pe (SONTRIBUTIONS WANTED for the New SPORTING and DRAMATIC PAPER, “ PLEASURES, AFOOT, AFIELD, & AFLOAT.” NEW EDITION ENLARGED. MYSTERY OF PAIN, DEATH, AND SIN. By Rev. C. VOYSEY, B.A. To vindicate on grounds of pure reason the Goodness and Love of God in ordaining human lot. WILLIAMS AND NORGATE. Price 7s. 6d. Twenty-fourth Issue, Super-royal 8vo., price 15s., post free. ee CLERICAL DIRECTORY 1892. Being a Statistical Book of Reference for facts relating to the Clergy in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and the Colonies ; with a fuller Index relating to Parishes and Benefices than any ever yet given to the public. HorAcE Cox, Windsor House, Bream’s-buildings, E.C. Now ready, Third Edition, with Additions throughout, in demy 8vo., 700 pages, price 15s. AN ANECDOTAL HISTORY OF THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT, From the EARLIEST PERIODS to the PRESENT TIME. With Notices of Eminent Parliamentary Men, their Oratory. and Exampl+s of Compiled from Authentic Sources by GEHKEORGE HENRY JHNNINGS. j CONTENTS : . \ Part L—Rise and Progress of Parliamentary Institutions. Parr Il.—Personal Anecdotes: Sir Thomas More to John Morley. Part Il].—Miscellaneous. 1. Election. 2. Privilege; Exclusion of Strangers; Publication of Debates. 3. Parliamentary Usages, &e. 4. Varieties. APPENDIX.—(A) Lists of the Parliaments of England and of the United Kingdom. (B) Speakers of the House of Commons. (C) Prime Ministers, Lord Chancellors, and Secretaries of State from 1715 to 1892. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS OF THE PRESENT EDITION. «The work, which has long been held in high repute as a repertory of good things, is more than ever rich in both instruction and amuse- ment.” —Scotsman. “Tt is a treasury of useful fact and amusing anecdote, and in its latest form should have increased popularity.” —Globe. “Jt is a work that possesses both a practical and an historical value, and is altogether unique in character.” —Ke ntish Observer. ‘We can heartily recommend this work to the politician, whatever may be his party leanings.”"—Northern Echo. if” Orders may now be sent to ‘Law Times” Office, Windsor House, Bream’s- buildings, B.C. Horace Cox, 264 ADVERTISEMENTS. IT MAKES WRITING EASY RANKS FIRST EVERY WAY FOR LITERARY MEN. SENT ON FREE TRIAL, See Testimonials. APPLY TO THE TYPEWRITER COMPANY LIMITED, 12 & 44, QUBEIN VICTORIA STREET, LONDON. He LOCAL AGENTS IN ALL DISTRICTS. By Special Warrant Makers to H.M. the Queen. MESDAMES BRETT & BOWSER, TY PISsts, SELBORNE CHAMBERS, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR. Authors’ MSS. carefully and expeditiously copied, from Is. per 1000 words. Extra carbon copies half price. Refer- ences kindly permitted to Augustine Birrell, Esq., M.P. MIss R. V. GIL, TYPE-WRITING OFFICES, 6, Adam-street, Strand, W C. spot Authors’ and dramatists’ Work a Speciality. All kinds of MSS. copied with care. Extra attention given to difficult hand-writing and to papers or lectures on scientific subjects. Type-writing from dictation. Shorthand Notes taken and transcribed. FURTHER PARTICULARS ON APPLICATION. J ery AUTHORS’ AGENCY. Established 1879. 1, Paternoster Row. examined on behalf of Authors. Contractors to H.M. Government. MRS. GiLt. TYPE-WRITING OFFICE. 35, LUDGATE HILL, E.C. (ESTABLISHED 1883.) ec Authors’ MSS. carefully copied from 1s. per 1000 words. Plays, &e., 1s. 3d. per 1000 words. Extra copies (carbon) supplied at the rate of 4d. and 3d. per 1000 words. Type-writing from dictation 2s. 6d. per hour. Reference kindly permitted to Walter Besant, Esq. Miss PATTEN, TYPIST 44, Oakley Street Flats, Chelsea S.W. Authors’ MSS. carefully transcribed. References kindly permitted to George Augustus Sala, Esq., Justin Huntly McCarthy, Esq., and many other well-known Authors. Hire - Proof Safe for MSS. Particulars on Application. Stickphast PASTE for joining papers and sticking in scraps: Sixpence and One Shi ling, with strong useful brush. Proprietor, Mr. A. M. BURGHES, The interests of Authors capably represented. Proposed agreements and estimates MS. placed with Publishers. practical experience in all kinds of publishing and book producing. Consultation free. Transfers carefully conducted. Twenty-five years’ Terms and testimonials from leading Authors on application to Mr. A. M. Burghes, Authors’ Agent, 1, Paternoster-row. Printed and Published by Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream’s-buildings, London, E.C. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 03 Issue 07 (December 1892) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 03 Issue 07 (December 1892) Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1892-12-01-The-Author-3-7 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/446/1893-01-02-The-Author-3-8.pdf 26be9fe5479aaa79ec18b53c59f4f9d0 PDF Text Text ���������������������������������������� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1893-01-02 Volume 3 Issue 8 Pages Page range in volume 265–304 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18930102 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin The HMutbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vou. III.—No. 8.] JANUARY 2, 1803. [Prick SIXPENCE. CONTENTS. PAGE | PAGE ) Warnings ae tie .. 267 | Notes and News. By the Editor... = ake oe ene wow 284 | How to Use the Society = ies Pee ee =e aoe cre | Ethics of Criticism ... oe ee Bee see ies ae «se 288 # The Authors’ Syndicate... ae eS Ce oe es .. 268 | Authors, Publishers, and Reviewers... ee a es wes 288 | Notices... ee 269 | Correspondence— The Annual Meeting— | 2 Bs 970 | 1.—An Omnium Gatherum for the New Year... 0 « se. 290 a aaa Retiring Chairman... —... wee eee ee SIO 2.—Religious Firms Pee ok Re er eee OD ‘ y era | 3.—Seale Pay... ae o. ee vse ay ee ae | 1.—Canadian Copyright a aa ae = me + 275 | 3 mhe Reotistical Amateur ... vas 591 2.—Contributors’ Remuneration... 0. ss eve ve 276 EP Opipiahers’ Aereanianita, LL 292 3.—Magazines and Copyright Pee eke ere ene oe a | 6.—The Public Criticism of Books... 9.1 sve ewe, te 292 = v. eget ee au 7.—A Literary Scholarship ... 00 4. se sue aus, ane 298 Sia Sve ot se on Se sre 978 | een ere ieee a ove eo Ps a ee Oe §8.—American Copyright in New Editions... a & cae 11.—The Magazines : a t) 295 - By fh Bo Woveton. 3:5 se eas bee ge ame ti opie a i aon “Very Inaccurate and Very Unreliable.” By S.S. Sprigge ... 279 | ae : Be Bae ore ec Mee @ethor” and the “Bookseller”... ... ss wwe wee 280 | At the Sign of the Sulliors ROMs Sas Ciceeh ey wan aes soe 295 A Rejected Author ... ae ws Be ss Ps nee sc. 28) New Books and New Editions... ore Son oe os see 296 PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1892 can be had on application to the Secretary. 4 § 9. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members. The Grievances of Authors. (The Leadenhall Press.) 1s. The Report of three Meetings on the general subject of Literature and its defence, held at Willis’s Rooms, March, 1887. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Coxtns, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 35. The History of the Société des Gens de Lettres. By S. Squire Spricex, late Secretary to the Society. Is. The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c., with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squire Spricas. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society’s offices, the various forms of agreements proposed by Publishers to ‘Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 33s. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell’s Copyright Bill now before Parlia- ment, With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Leny. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 15. 6d. 266 ADVERTISEMENTS. The Society of Authors (Sncorporated), PRESIDENT. GHEORGHE MEREDITH. COUNCIL. Str Epwin Arnoxp, K.C.LE., C.S.I. ALFRED AUSTIN. J. M. BaRRIE. A. W. A Becxetr. RoBERT BATEMAN. Sir Henry Berene, K.C.M.G. WALTER BESANT. AUGUSTINE BIRRELL, M.P. R. D. BLacKMORE. Rev. Pror. Bonney, F.RB.S. Lord BRABOURNE. JameEs Bryce, M.P. Hatt CAINE. P. W. CLAYDEN. EDWARD CLODD. W. Morris Couues. Hon. JoHN COLLIER. W. Martin Conway. F. Marion CRAWFORD. Austin Dogson. A. W. DusBoure. EpmuND GossE. Tuomas Harpy. J. M. Lery. OswALD CRAWFURD, C.M.G. THE EARL oF DESART. J. Eric Ericusen, F.R.S. Pror. MicHart Foster, F.R.S. HERBERT GARDNER, M.P. RicHARD GARNETT, LL.D. H. Riper HaGe@arp. JEROME K. JEROME. RupDYARD Kipuina. Pror. E. Ray LANKESTER, F.RB.S. Rev. W. J. Lorriz,’F.S.A. Pror. J. M.D. MEIKLEJOHN. HerRMAN C. MERIVALE. Rev. C. H. MippLeTon-WAKE F.L.S. Lewis Morpzis. Pror. Max MULLER. J.C. PARKINSON. THE EaRu oF PEMBROKE AND Mont- GOMERY. Sir FREDERICK PoLLock, Bart., LL.D, WALTER HeRRIES POLLOCK. A. G. Ross. Gzorase Auaustus SALA. W. Baptiste Scoonss. G. R. Sims. S. Squire SPRIGGE. J. J. STEVENSON. Jas. SULLY. Witiiam Moy Tomas. H. D. Trarit, D.C.L. Baron HENRY DE Worms, F.R.S. EpMuND YATES. MP. Hon. Counsel—E. M. UNDERDOWN, Q.C. Solicitors—Messrs Freup, Roscor, and Co., Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Secretary—C. HerBert THRING, B.A. OFFICES. 4, PortugaL Street, Lincoun’s Inn Freups, W.C. Now ready, Third Edition, with Additions throughout, in demy 8vo., 700 pages, price 15s. AN ANECDOTAL HISTORY oF THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT, From the Earliest Periods to the Present Time. WITH NOTICES OF EMINENT PARLIAMENTARY MEN, AND EXAMPLES OF THEIR ORATORY. CoMPILED FROM AUTHENTIC SOURCES BY GHORGE BEN RY JBINNiWN Ge. CONTENTS. Part I.—Riseand Progress of Parliamentary Institutions. Part II.—Personal Anecdotes: Sir Thomas More to John Morley. Parr III.—Miscellaneous. 1. Elections. 2. Privilege; Ex- clusion of Strangers; Publication of Debates. 83. Parliamentary Usages, &c. 4. Varieties. Apprnprx.—(A) Lists of the Parliaments of England and of the United Kingdom. (B) Speakers of the House of Commons. (C) Prime Ministers, Lord Chancellors, and Secretaries of State from 1715 to 1892. Opinions of the Press of the Present Edition. ‘“‘ The work, which has long been held in high repute as a repertory of good things, is more than ever rich in doth instruction and amuse- ment. ’—Scotsman. ‘It is a treasury of useful fact and amusing anecdote, and in its latest form should have increased popularity.” —Globe. ‘‘Its advantage to those who are seeking seats in Parliament, or who may have occasion to assist as speakers during the electoral eampaign, is incomparable.”—Sala’s Journal. “Tt is a work that possesses both a practical and an historical value, and is altogether unique in character."—Kentish Observer. ‘We can heartily recommend this work to the politician, whatever may be his party leanings.”—WNorthern Echo. ‘“Here we have the whole company of Parliamentary celebrities, past and present, reduced to puppets, so to speak, and made to repeat their best and most approved rhetorical performances for our leisurely entertainment, which is not less enjoyable from being allied with edification.” —Liverpool Courier. “ Orders may now be sent to HORACE COX “Law Times” Office, Windsor House, Bream’s-buildings, E.C. 8 | | a  . The #utbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vor. IIL.—No. 8.] JANUARY 2, 1893. [PricE SIXPENCE. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responstble. : HE Secretary begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. During the last six months a number of letters have not been delivered at the Society’s office, and, as one robbery at least has been proved to have been committed, it is reasonab’e to suppose that the letters have been stopped in the hope of stealing uncrossed cheques. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. ol WARNINGS. Sramp your AGREEMENTS.—Readers are most URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements immediately after signature. If this precaution is neglected for two weeks, a fine of £10 must be paid before the agreement can be used as a legal document. In almost every case brought to the secretary the agreement, or the letter which serves for one, is without the stamp. The author may be assured that the other party to the agreement never neglects this simple pre- caution. The stamp duty varies from 6d. up to 10s. or more, according to the form of agreement. The Society, to save trouble, undertakes to get all the agreements of members stamped for them at no expense to themselves except the cost of the stamp. ———— AsScERTAIN WHAT A PROPOSED AGREEMENT GIVES TO BOTH SIDES BEFORE SIGNING IT.— Remember that an arrangement as to a joint VOL, Ill. venture in any other kind of business whatever would be instantly refused should either party refuse to show the books or to let it be known what share he reserved for himself. —— Lirerary Acents.—Be very careful. You cannot be too careful as to the person whom you appoint as your agent. You place your property almost unreservedly in his hands. Your only safety is in consulting the Society, or some friend who has had personal experience of the agent. Sa Reapers of the Author are earnestly desired to make the following warnings as widely known as possible. They are based on the experience of seven years’ work upon thedangers to which literary property is exposed :— (1.) Never sign any agreement of which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part, until you have proved the figures. (2.) Never enter into any correspondence with publishers, especially with those who advertise for MSS., who are not recom- mended by experienced friends or by this Society. (3.) Never, on any account whatever, bind yourself down for future work to any- one. (4.) Nuver accept any proposal of royalty until you have ascertained what the agreement, worked out on both a small and a large sale, will give to the author and what to the publisher. (5.) Never accept any pecuniary risk or respon- sibility whatever without advice. (6.) Never, when a MS, has been refused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever x 2 268 promises they may put forward, for the production of the work. (7.) Never sign away foreign, which include American, rights. Keep them by special clause. Refuse to sign any agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the publisher. If the publisher insists, take away the MS. and offer it to another. (8.) Never sign any paper, either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright, without advice. (9.) Keep control over the advertisements, if they affect your returns, by clause in the agreement. Reserve a veto. If you are yourself ignorant of the subject, make the Society your adviser. (10.) Never forget that publishing is a busi- ness, like any other business, totally un- connected with philanthropy, charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with business men. Be yourself a business man. Society’s Offices :-— 4, Portugat Street, Linconn’s Inn FIevps. ee HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. 1. Every member has a right to advice upon his agreements, his choice of a publisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society’s solicitors. If the case is such that counsel’s opinion is desirable, the Committee will obtain for him counsel’s opinion. All this with- out any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publishers’ agreements are not generally within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books repre- sented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agreements and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The information thus obtained may prove invaluable. THE AUTHOR. 4. If the examination of your previous business transactions by the Secretary proves unfavour- able, you should take advice as toa change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the proposed form to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks, of every publishing firm in the country. Remember that there are certain houses which live entirely by trickery. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the inde- pendence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of the Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. ec THE AUTHORS’ SYNDICATE. R. Colles desires to inform readers of the N Author— 1. That the Authors’ Syndicate is now in a position to take charge in whole or in part of the business of members of the Society. With, when necessary, the assistance of the advisers of the Society, it will conclude agreements, collect royalties, examine and pass accounts, and, generally, relieve mem- bers of the trouble of managing business details. All accounts opened between the Syndicate and members are duly audited. 2. That the establishment expenses of the Authors’ Syndicate are defrayed entirely out of the commission charged on rights placed through its intervention. This varies, and must vary, according to the nature of the services rendered, but the charges are reduced to the lowest possible amount compatible with efficiency. Mean- while members will please accept this intimation that they are not entitled to the services of the Syndicate gratis, and when desirous of seeing Mr. Colles, they must write for an appointment. 3. That he undertakes to work for none but members of the Society.  THE AUTHOR. 4. That his business is not to advise members of the Society, but to manage their affairs for them if they please to entrust them to him. 5. That when he has any work in hand he must have it entirely in his own hands ; in other words, that authors must not ask him to place certain work, and then go about endeavouring to place it by themselves. 6. That when a MS. has been sent from pub- lisher to publisher, and from editor to editor, in vain, it is most likely impossible to place it. 7. That in the face of the present competition, authors will do well to moderate their expectations. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. To this it may be added, that where advice is sought, the Secretary of the Society, and not the Syndicate, must be consulted. NOTICES. ———— > HE Editor of the Author begs to remind members of the society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the society if a great many members did not forward to the secretary the modest: 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. Perhaps this reminder may be of use. With 850 members, besides the outside circulation of the paper, the Author ought to prove a source of revenue to the society. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects con- nected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the society than to make the Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write ¢ 269 Communications for the Author should reach the editor not later than the 21st of each month. Ss All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. > Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office with- out previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly understood that the Society does not, under any circum- stances, undertake the publication of MSS. The Authors’ Club is now opened in temporary premises, at 17, St. James’s Place, St. James’s Street. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, &c. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? If they will do this, and remit the amount or a banker’s order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble 5f sending out a reminder. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the warning numbered (3). It is a most foolish and a most disastrous thing to bind yourself to anyone for a term of years. Let them ask them- selves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest or dishonest ? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign themselves into literary bondage for three or five years ? se Those who possess the “Cost of Production” are requested to note that the cost of binding“has advanced 15 per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble of ‘‘doimg sums,” the addition of three shillings in the pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at £9 4s. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth as can be procured: but a printer’s, or a binder’s, bill is so elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at. THE 270 Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the “Cost of Production’”’ for advertising. Ofcourse, we have not included any suins which may be charged for inserting adver- tisements in the publisher’s own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud: it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. secs THE ANNUAL MEETING. HE annual meeting of the Society was held aL on Thursday, Dec. 15th, in the hall of the Medical Association, Hanover-square. The chair was taken by Sir Frederick Pollock. The business of the meeting was formal except that an address was read by the retiring chairman on the history and progress of the Society since its foundation in the autumn of 1883. This address will be placed in the hands of every member of the Society. In these columns we need only quote passages. LireRARY PROPERTY, “ Now let us interrupt our history for a moment to say a word about literary property and its bearing upon the higher interests of literature. You have all observed, during the last few years, when we have been active in this direction, the constant stream of abuse, detraction, and wilful misrepresentation of our work that has been poured upon us continually. Chiefly we have been reviled for daring to ask what our own pro- perty means. This abuse shows, first, the hostility of those who desire to conceal and hush up the truth as regards the buying and selling of books. That is a matter of course: such hostility was to be expected, and, with all the misrepresentations that can be devised and invented, must be taken as part of the day’s work. It has been, as you perha;s know, a good part of my day’s work, during the last five years, to silence this opposition. I am happy to think that every such misrepresentation published in a newspaper or in a magazine has only resulted in an accession of new members and in an increase in public confidence. But, in addition to the opposition of interested persons, we have had to encounter a very unexpected and remarkable AUTHOR. opposition from those who ought to be our friends —certain authors and certain journalists. Into the history and motives and reason of this opposition I should like with your permission to inquire. “There has existed for a hundred and fifty years at least, and there still lingers among us, a feeling that it is unworthy the dignity of letters to take any account at all of the commercial or pecuniary side. No one, you will please to remark, has ever thought of reproaching the barrister, the solicitor, the physician, the surgeon, the painter, the sculptor, the actor, the singer, the musician, the composer, the architect, the chemist, the physicist, the engineer, the pro- fessor, the teacher, the clergyman, or any other kind of brain worker that one can mention, with taking fees or salaries or money for his work; nor does anyone reproach these men with looking after their fees and getting rich if they can. Nor does anyone suggest that to consider the subject of payment very carefully—to take ordinary precautions against dishonesty—brings discredit on anyone who does so; nor does any- one call that barrister unworthy of the Bar who expects large fees in proportion to his name and his ability; nor does anyone call that painter a tradesman whose price advances with his reputation. I beg you to consider this poit very carefully. For the moment any author begins to make practical investigation into the value—the monetary value—of the work which he puts upon the market—a hundred voices arise, from those of his own craft as well as from those who live by administering his pro- perty—voices which cry out upon the sordidness, the meanness, the degradation of turning lite- rature into a trade. We hear, I say, this kind of talk from our own ranks—though, one must own, chiefly from those who never had an oppor- tunity of discovermg what literary property means. Does, I ask, this cry mean anything at all? Well: first of all, it manifestly means a confusion of ideas. There are two values of literary work—distinct, separate; not commen- surable—they cannot be measured—they cannot be considered together. The one is the literary value of a work—its artistic, poetic, dramatic value; its value of accuracy, of construction, of presentation, of novelty, of style, of magnetism. On that value is based the real position of every writer in his own generation, and the estimate of him, should he survive, for generations to follow. Ido not greatly blame those who cry out upon the connection of literature with trade: they are jealous, and rightly jealous, for the honour of letiers. We will acknowledge so much. But the confusion lies in not understanding that every  THE AUTHOR. man who takes money for whatever he makes or does may be regarded—not offensively—as a tradesman ; that the making of a thing need have nothing whatever to do with the price it will command; and that this price in the case of a book cannot be measured by the literary or artistic value. “Tn other words, while an artist is at work upon a poem, a drama, or a romance, this aspect of his work, and this alone, is in his mind, other- wise his work would be naught. “ But, once finished and ready for production, then comes in the other value—the commercial value, which is a distinct thing. Here the artist ceases and the man of business begins. Hither the man of business begins at this point or the next steps of that artist infallibly bring him to disaster, or at least the partial loss of that com- mercial value. Remember that any man who has to sell a thing must make himself acquainted with its value, or he will be—what? Call it what you please—over-reached, deluded, cheated. That is a recognised rule in every other kind of business. Let us do our best to make it recog- nised in our own. “ Apart from this confusion of ideas between literary and commercial value, there is another and a secondary reason for this feeling. For two hundred years, at least, contempt of every kind has been poured upon the literary hack, who is, poor wretch, the unsuccessful author. Why? We do not pour contempt upon the unsuccessful painter who has to make the pot boil with pic- tures at 15s. each. Clive Newcome came down to that, and a very pitiful, tearful scene it is—full of pity and of tears. If he had beena literary hack, where would have been the pity and the tears? In my experience at the Society, I have come across many most pitiful cases, where the man who has failed must lead a life which is one long tragedy cf grinding, miserable, nnderpaid work, with no hope and no relief possible. One long tragedy of endurance and hardship. I am not accusing anyone ; I call no names ; very likely such a man gets all he deserves; his are the poor wages of incompetence; his is the servitude of the lowest work ; his is the contumely of hopeless poverty; his is the derision of the critic. But we laugh at such a wretch, and call him a literary hack. Why, I ask, whenwe pity the unsuccessful in every other line, do we laugh at and despise the unsuccessful author ¥ “ Once more, this contempt—treal or pretended —for money. What does it mean? Sir Walter Scott did not despise the income which he made by his books; nor did Byron; nor did Dickens, Thackeray, George Eliot, Charles Reade, Wilkie Collins, Macaulay—nor, in fact, any single man 271 or woman in the history of letters who has ever succeeded. This pretended contempt, then, does it belong to those who have not succeeded? It is sometimes assumed by them; more often one finds it in articles written for certain papers by sentimental ladies whoare not authors. Wherever it is found, it is always lingering somewhere— always we come upon this feelmg, ridiculous, senseless, and baseless—that it is beneath the dignity of an author to manage his business matters as a man of business should, with the same regard for equity in his agreement, the same resolution to know what is meant by both sides of an agreement, and the same jealousy as to assigning the administration of his property. “Again, how did the contempt arise? It came to us as a heritage of the last century. In the course of our investigations into the history of literary property—the result of which will, I hope, appear some day in volume form—I recently caused a research to be made into the business side of literature in the last century. Publishers were not then men of education and knowledge, as many of them are at the present moment; they were not advised by scholars, men of taste and intuition; the market, compared with that of the present day, was inconceivably small; there were great risks due to all these causes. The practice, therefore, was, in view of these risks, to pay the author so much for his book right out, and to expect a successful book to balance, and more than balance, one that was unsuccessful. Therefore they bought the books they published at the lowest price they could persuade the author to accept. Therefore—the conclusion follows like the next line in Euclid— the author began to appear to the popular imagi- nation as a suppliant, standing hat in hand beseeching the generosity of the bookseller. Physician and barrister stood upright, taking the recognised fee. The author bent a humble back, holding his hat in one humble hand, while he held out the other humble hand for as many guineas as he could get. That, I say, was the popular view of the author. And it still lmgers among us. There are also, in other callings, if we think of it, other professional contempts. Everybody ac- knowledges that teaching is a noble work, but everybody formerly despised the schoolmaster because he was always flogging boys—no imagi- nation can regard with honour and envy the man who is all day long caning and flogging. The law is a noble study, but everybody formerly despised the attorney, with whom the barrister would neither shake hands nor sit at table. Medicine is a noble study, but the surgeon was formerly despised because in former days he was closely connected with the barber. Do not let us THE 272 be surprised, therefore, if the author who had to take whatever was given him came to be regarded as a poor helpless suppliant. “The kind of language even now sometimes used illustrates a lingering of the old feeling. We constantly read here and there of the generosity of a publisher. My friends, let us henceforth resolve to insist that we do not want their generosity ; that we will not have it; that we are not beggars and suppliants, and that what we want is the administration of our own pro- perty—or its purchase—on fair, just, and honour- able terms. Let us remember that the so-called generosity must be either a dole—an alms—over and above his just claim, in which case it degrades the author to take it and robs the publisher who gives it; or it is a payment under the just value, when it degrades the publisher who gives, while it robs the author who takes it.” ImpRoVEMENT IN PusiisHinc Mernops. “T am now quite certain, and I advance the statement with great satisfaction, that very con- siderable improvement has taken place of late in respect to these methods: solely—mind—in con- sequence of the action of the Society. We have brought no criminal action against anyone. This fact is due less to our own wishes than to the extreme unwillingness of the victims to prosecute. Better, however, than any criminal prosecution has been the publication of the facts. These have awakened a certain amount of public opinion upon the subject: they have made authors suspicious— now suspicion is itself a power; and unscrupulous persons dread nothing so much as publicity of their methods. Moreover, the Society, it is known, has been large:y instrumental in keeping authors out of bad hands. The greatest encourage- ment to virtue is to make its culture and practice profitable. As regards one house guilty of many corrupt things, we were so “abundantly blessed” that in two or three years, as has been told me by our secretary, we were able to keep some thousands of pounds’ worth of work out of their hands. And as regards another house, which proposes to those who go there a form of agreement that is a mockery of the human understanding, our secretary only a few weeks ago kept away three victims in one week, This method of carrying on war these people do not like, and the wider the publicity we give tu their practices; the greater the suspicion we awaken ; the more they find their cdientéle diminish ; the more honest they become. Our weapons, indeed, are more certain than any court of law—that can punish ; we can prevent. There are other considerations that make strongly for us. For instance, when a man has reached a certain social level, he no longer AUTHOR. likes to do things which may be detected and exposed, though he might have gone on doing them so long as there was no danger of their being exposed. And, again, there are things— fraudulent things—which get introduced bit by bit, and become gradually reconciled to the conscience until they are assumed to be right and proper—the true interpretation of an agree. ment—the custom of the trade—and so forth— when these things are set forth in their true light, and exposed and held up to view for the public derision, and it is perceived that they can no longer be defended—then all those men who respect themselves and desire the public respect make haste to abandon these practices. In this way, and without going into court more than once or twice, though in a great many instances an action has been proposed as an alternative, we have succeeded, not only in procuring substantial justice in. many cases for our clients, but we have also done a great deal to put a stop to the former prevalent abuses. ‘Another point in our favour has been the extreme moderation of our demands. We have claimed, in fact, so far, only three points: (1) that we must have the right of audit; (2) that in any agreement based on ro alties we must know what the agreement gives to either side; and (3) that there must be no secret profits, which are fraudulent. Imagine, if you can, two men in the City venturing on a joint enterprise, and one of the partners—the managing partner—refusing these conditions! You cannot imagine such a thing. It is impossible to imagine such a thing. Such a man would be stamped, at once, as one who intended to overreach and cheat his partner.” Extent oF Literary Property. “We have also made a careful and prolonged inquiry into the very difficult subject of the present nature and extent of literary property. By the passing of the American International Copyright Act a writer of importance now ad- dresses an audience drawn from a _ hundred million of English-speaking people. Remember that never before in the history ot the world has there been such an audience. Taere were doubt- less more than a hnndred millions under the Roman rule round the shores of the Mediter- ranean, but they spoke many different languages. We have now this enormous multitude, all, with very few exceptions, able to read, and all reading. Twenty years ago they read the weekly paper; there are many who still read nothing more. Now that no longer satisfies the majority. Every day makes it plainer and clearer that we have arrived at a time when the whole of this multitude, which in fifty years time will be two hundred millions,  THE will be reading books. What kind of books? All kinds, good and bad, but mostly good ; they will prefer good books to bad. Even now the direct road to popularity is by dramatic strength, clear vision, clear dialogue—and this, whether a man write a play, a poem, a history, or a novel. We see such a magazine as the Strand suddenly achieving a circulation reckoned by hundreds of thousands while our old magazines creep along with a circulation of—what? Two thousand ?— Five thousand? Ten thousand? How is this popularity achieved? By pandering to the low, gross, coarse taste commonly attributed to the multitude? Not at all. But by giving them dramatic work—stories which hold and interest them—essays which speak clearly—work that somehow seems to have a message. If we want a formula or golden rule for arriving at popu- larity, I should propose this. ‘Let the work havea message. Let it havea thing to say, a story to tell, a Man or Woman to present, a lesson to deliver, clear, strong, unmistakable.’ “The demand for reading, then, is enormous, and it increases every day. I see plainly—as plainly as eyes can see—a time—it is even now already upon us—when the popular writer—the novelist—the poet, the dramatist, the historian, the physicist, the essayist—will command such an audience—so vast an audience—as he has never yet even conceived as possible. Such a writer as Dickens, if he were living now, would command an audience—-all of whom would buy his works—of twenty millions at least. The world has never yet witnessed such a popularity—so wide spread —as awaits the successor of Dickens in the affections of the English-speaking races. This consideration must surely encourage us to perse- vere in our endeavours after the independence of our calling! And do not think that this enormous demand is for fiction alone. One of the things charged upon us is that we exist for novelists alone. That is because literary property is not yet understood atall. As a fact educational literature is a much larger branch than fiction. But for science, history—everything—except, perhaps poetry—the demand is leaping forward year after year In a most surprising manner. Now, im order to meet this enormous demand, which has actually begun and will increase more and more—a claim which we alone can meet and satisfy—I say that we must demand and that we must have a read- justment of the old machinery—a reconsideration of the old methods—a new appeal to principles of equity and fair play.’’ WHAT HAS BEEN DONE. “To sum up, we have reduced our Copyright Law from chaos to order; we have investigated VOL. III, AUTHOR. 273 and made public the various Methods of Publish- ing, and have shown what each means; we have placed in the hands of every author the means of ascertaining for himself what his property may mean: we have examined and exposed the facts connected with the Civil Pension List; we have stopped an attempt to keep novelists out of that List ; we have established a central office where a Bureau for information and advice of all kinds is freely given; we bring for the first time authors together at our annual réunion ; we have estab- lished a journal for the carrying out of our own purposes, and the record of facts connected with these purposes; we have so far eained the con- fidence of men and women of letters that we have enlisted 900 members, among whom are nearly all the leading men and women in every single branch of letters. That is, I submit, something to have done. Besides these things, which are real achievements to which we may fairly point with pride, there are off-sets, independent branches of our work, not coutrolled by the Committee. There is the Authors’ Club, now fairly established, and in a most hopeful condition ; there is the Writers’ Club for ladies, also, { believe, in a flourishing condition; there is the Authors’ Syndicate, which undertakes to take all the trouble of your business affairs off your hands.” Tur FUTURE oF THE SOCIETY. “What do we intend to do in the future? Here I must speak for myself. I cannot speak for the council, but I should like to tell you what I personally hope will be the development of the society. First, I look for the enlargement of the society to four times, ten times its present numbers. Every one who writes—the journalists who lead the thought of the world—the teachers of all kinds—the scientific men, the medical men, the theologians, the creators in imaginative work—every one who writes a single book should consider it his duty to belong to us. With this extension of our numbers we shall create funds for special purposes, for fighting actions if neces- sary. There are certain disputed points which can only be settled in the courts. We shall give our journal wider aims; we shall give it, even while it continues to be the organ for the Defence of Literary property, a more literary character. We shall also, which I should very much like to see, establish an Institute akin to the Law Institute—it might be called the Authors’ House —which should be a place where members might find books of reference, and a place for quiet work, where they could consult the officers of the Society, and each other—the head-quarters, in short, of our members, 274 THE The next thing that I want—even more than the Tn: titute—is a Pension Fund. That, I see plainly, is above all to be desired. I want a Pension Fund such as that which the Socicté de Gens de Lettres, in Paris, has established, where every one in his turn receives a pension, which is not a dole or a charity, but a right. The member is not obliged to take that pension: if he chooses he can refuse it—then it gves to swell the pensions of those who want the assistance. We have been too much occupied during these last years for this Fund to be so much as started. Perhaps, however, the committee may see their way at no distant period to attempt the thing. A Pension Fund is abso- lutely necessary for the completion of the Independence of Literature. “T am also very much of opinion—an opinion in which I confess that I am not joined by all my colleagues of the council—that an Academy of our own, not a slavish copy of the French Academy, might prove of great service to our literature. I will not now stop to explain why I think so. I wish only to place on record the fact that I do think so. “‘T have also, on several oc asions, stated an opinion that the national distinctions should be as much open to men and women of letters as they are to soldiers and lawyers and engineers. Here, again, I have not been able to carry with me all my colleagues. I will therefore only remind you that the people of every country are accustomed to consider those men and women worthy of honour whom the State honours, and those men and women unworthy of honour whom the State refuses to honour. I will also remind you that it is very good for the people to honour Literature. But in this country men and women of letters are not honoured by the State. The conclusion seems to me to be obvious. I ask your permission to place on record the opinion I have myself formed. “T desire, next, that the Society should be officially recognised as the head-quarters of the literary calling, as the Royal Academy of Arts, the College of Physicians, the College of Surgeons, the Institute of Civil Engineers, are recognised. Hitherto that has not been done. I think we ought to endeavour, in every way possible, to obtain this recognition. With it should come the registration of book, the registration of titles, and all the official acts connected with literature. Especially I think that the Society should be officially consulted in the administration of that part of the Civil Pension List which belongs to literature.” Some CHARACTERISTICS OF LitpRARY MEN. “During this intimate experience of our craft, which it has been my, singular privilege to AUTHOR. enjoy, it is reasonable that I should make certain observations onauthors as acompany or profession, I trust that I shall not give any offence by offering to you some of these observations. I have found, then, among literary men and women, a very curious timidity, even among the successful. It is that kind of timidity which, I think, belongs to a profession whose position is not recognised, its emoluments not defined, and its rewards capricious. Authors are, as a body, timid. They are also suspicious; it has been found, for instance, extremely difficult to persuade some of them that the Society has no secret and selfish objects at heart. It is, therefore, with great unwillingness that they disclose their agree- ments, and produce their accounts. Again, great jealousy of each other prevails, and seems tradi- tional. The jealousy of authors towards each oth. r is, as a fact, most unreasonable. It ought to be removed by the simple consideration that no man can write in a year what cannot be read in a week, which gives fifty-one weeks for other wr.ters. It has been charged upon men and women of letters that they are avid of praise. Iam sure that the charge is quite true; but that can equally be said of any other pro- fession. To desire honour is to desire excellence. Men of letzers, again, have been accused of being ready at all times to stick knives in each other’s backs. This charge may, have been true once, but it can hardly be alleged at the present day. Those authors of any position who still find delight in abusing and scarifying each other are very few. They are not extinct; but I think we may fairly say that they are very rare. What, in fact, does it matter to a writer of position whether a certain popular author is worthy of his popularity. Time—a very short time — will determine his position in the world of letters. Meanwhile, let us leave him to those who are critics by profession. “T think that we ought to imitate, in the matter of criticism, the professional etiquette of the Bar, which compels the outward forms of respect between lawyers. It should be held dis- graceful in an author to “slate,’”’ and revile, and depreciate another. There is one charge, how- ever, which is distinctly true. It is that of being bad at business. I am quite certain that there cannot be any body of men worse over their own affairs than literary men. Publishers tell strange stories on this point. I could tell you strange stories. Just as they are sometimes blind to their own interests, so they are sometimes blind to their own duties. Ihave heard, for instance, of authors who have engaged anagent to conduct their affairs, and then have gone behind that agent’s back, and left him in the lurch, not, I «  THE am sure, with intent to avoid their obligations to the man who had worked for them, but in pure ignorance of theirengagements. It is sometimes, we must sorrowfully admit, as if there were not only no capacity of looking after own affairs, but no perception of obligation towards those who work for one. I have even known cases in which an author could not be made to understand that those who work for him must be paid. Happily, these cases are very rare. The fraudulent a :thor, as was pointed out in our journal the other day, cannot, as a rule, exist. The facts of the case compel honesty, whether he would or would not. Timidity, jealousy, suspicion—these are the three most common vices of the literary craft. They combine —all three together—to make it the more difficult for us to unite for purposes of self-defence. However, only to recognise these difficulties —these qualities— may be the first step to overcoming them. And, indeed, we have, of late years, done so much towards union that we ought to be very hopeful as regards the future.” WHAT CAN EACH MEMBER DO? “Such and such we have done, such and such we are doing for you, our members—what will you do or yourselves ? “Youcan, if you will,dosomuch. You can openly show your active sympathies with our work. Do, especially, what we ask you to do every month. Send us your past and your present agreements, in order to increase the accumulated knowledge of the Society; refuse to sign an agreement until it has been examined at the office; refuse, which you can do very well if you are a successful author, to accept any agreement unless the clauses are fair and reasonable; find out at our office whether your proposed publisher is a right person to be entrusted with your property; enlist new members everywhere; attend to our warnings, and spread them abroad. Send information of all kinds toour Journal. In fat, if we were not helped by you in this way, we might dissolve ; but we have already kindled a flame that you will not suffer to be extinguished. Not only your own self-interest—which I do not calla sordid consideration at all—is concerned in the advance and prosperity of our Society, but your desire for righteousness—your hatred of servility—your love of independence—your sense of duty towards those who come after us and will reap the harvest of our labours,—all these things are working together for our cause. and for our prosperity. The time has now surely come when we ought to call upon you for a more active co-operation. Work for us—work with us—in the full confidence that you are working for yourselves.” VOL. Ill. AUTHOR. 275 LITERARY PROPERTY. i. Re CanapIaN CopyRicHt. T present copyright in Canada, so far as concerns British authors, is governed by the Imperial Act (5 & 6 Vict. c. 45) as modified by the Modern Reprints Act (10 & 11 Vict. ¢. 95) and the Canadian Copyright Act, 1875 (38 & 39 Vict. ¢. 53). The effect of these Acts may shortly be stated as follows:—Under the Foreign Reprints Act and the Order in Council issued thereunder, pirated copies of copyright works are admitted into Canada upon paying an ad valorem duty ; but, as is well known, the duties are practically never collected, and the compensation suppused to be given to authors is wholly illusory. Under the Canadian Copyright Act, however, authors can, by republishing their works in Canada (whether simultaneously with or at any time after publication elsewhere), and registering the same, obtain Canadian copyright, and exclude the operation of the Foreign Reprints Act. The Act of 1875 is, I think, on the whole, as favourable a one as can be expected, having regard to the claims made on behalf of the Canadian public and publishers. It has not, however, I believe, as yet been taken advantage of to any great extent by English authors; but the difficulty has, I believe, been, so to speak, a geographical one, that is to say, it has been impossible owing to tne position of Canada, either to make the pirated American editions pay duty under the Foreign Reprints Act, or keep them out under the Act of 1875. It appears to me, however, that the recent United States Copyright Act should, to a great extent, remove this difficulty, and that English authors should now be able 10 obtain the benefit of the circula- tion of their books in Canada if the provisions of the Act of 1875 can be maintained. At all events it is not, I imagine, likely that they will be able to obtain any more favourable terms. It remains to be considered how far the position of British authors will be prejudiced by the proposed Cana- dian statute if it is allowed to come into force. The first question is whether the statute would operate as a repeal of the Imperial Act so far as regards Canada. In the absence of any pro- vision to that effect in the Act authorising its proclamation, I do not think it would have that effect, but if a British author did not comply with the provisions of the Canadian Act, his copy- right under 5 & 6 Vict. ¢. 45, would be subject to the licensing provisions of the Canadian Act. The y 2 THE AUTHOR. point should, however, be definitely settled by some express provision. The next question is as to the terms upon which Canadian copyright is to be secured. These are (1) registration either before or simultaneously with first publication whether in Canada or else- where, and (2) reprinting and republishing in Canada within one month. Both of these con- ditions appear to be opposed to the principles adopted by the Berne Convention and approved by the English Government. As to the registra- tion it is to be observed that, under the Act of 1886, registration in a colony is recognised as sufficient to secure copyright throughout the British Dominions, and it is hard to see why British authors should be required to register in Canada. At all events, the same period should be allowed for registration as for republication, especially if copies of the work are to be deposited. As to reprinting and republishing, it would probably be useless to attempt to do away with this condition altogether, but I think that an endeavour should be made to extend the period within which reprinting and republishing must take place, though no doubt the Canadians will justify themselves by reference to the provisions of the United States Copyright Act. With regard to the licensing provisions of sections 3 and 4, it appears to me that if exclusive, instead of non-exclusive, licences were to be granted, many of the present objections to these pro- visions would be removed. The collection of the royalties would, I think, be much easier, whilst the publisher would be free from the danger of being undersold directly a work had been brought out at considerable expense began to sell, and he would therefore be more ready to bring out valuable and expensive works, which would be to the advantage of the public. In any case I think that the author should be able to take pro- ceedings against the licensees if he is dissatisfied with the Government returns of royalties, but I am unable to suggest any means by which the due collection of royalties can be easily secured under a non-exclusive licensing system. Of course it should be seen that a provision similar to sect. 4 of 38 & 39 Vict. ¢. 53, prohibiting the importation of Canadian reprints into the United Kingdom is inserted in any Imperial Act authorising the pro- clamation of the Canadian statute. I can hardly imagine that the statute is intended to be retro- spective ; but, if it is not, [do not understand to what sub-sections 3 & 4 of sect. 5 of the Act of 1875, as amended by the proposed statute are intended to apply, and I think it would be as well that it should be made clear that the statute is not in fact retrospective. Another point I think which should, if possible be made clear is that the author should be entitled, in the event of licences being issued under sect. 3, to take pro. ceedings against unlicensed reprints; I think he probably would be able to do so as the matter stands, but the pointis not free from doubt. The above are the principal points which occur to me in connection with the proposed statute, and if, as I understand is the case, the matter is still before Government, the Society might ] think properly make representations with regard to them. They may be summarised as follows : 1. The proposed statute is entirely contrary to the provisions of the Berne Convention and the Imperial Act of 1886. Ifit is allowed to come into force it would seem that Canada must be excluded from the Convention. On principle, therefore, the statute should not be allowed; but, if for any reason it is considered that exceptional legislation is required for Canada, the following points arise in the interests of British authors. 2. Copyright under 5 & 6 Vict. ¢. 45, should be expressly reserved subject only to the licensing provisions of the statute. 3. Hither registration in the United Kingdom should be sufficient or the same period should be allowed for registering in Canada as for re- publication. 4. That one month is not a sufficient period to allow for the republication of works first pub- lished in the United Kingdom. : 5. That ifa licensing system is to be introduced the licences granted should be exclusive. 6. Thatin any case authors should be entitled to take proceedings against licensees for royalties if dissatisfied with Government returns. 7. That Canadian reprints should not be allowed to be imported into the United Kingdom. 8. That it should be made clear that the statute ls not retrospective, and g. That authors should be expressly empowered to take proceedings in respect of unlicensed reprints. J. Rout, 3, New-square, Lincoln’s-inn, W.C. Novy. 22, 1892. IT, Conrrisutors’ REMUNERATION, { should like to add to my brief note in the last number that when I spoke of a contract to pay at the usual rate being im- ferred in the absence of express agreement, I meant to assume that the usual rate was reason- able. As matter of law the agreement, if not defined by the parties, is to pay a reasonable recompense, @.e. what a jury (or judge if there  THE be no jury), may find to be reasonable in all the circumstances. In ordinary cases, and where business is con- ducted in good faith, what is usual is the best measure of what is reasonable. But aman may not offer an obviously inadequate recompense for work of any kind, literary or other (not having been expressly agreed to), on the pretext that so much and no more is what he usually gives. In exceptional, but only in exceptional cases, the work may be on the face of it of such peculiar value (by reason of the writer’s fame, special competence, &c.), that more than the usual rate may be required as reasonable even without express previous agreement. It is however far from easy to fix how much more, though evidence of practice in other like cases may be some guide. The only safe way for both parties is a clear understanding beforehand. BE EEL MaGaziInes AND CoPpYRIGHT. I submit that it is beyond question that the draughtsman of sect. 18 of 5 & 6 Vict. c 45, had not in his mind, when drawing it, the ordinary case of a contributor posting a story or article to a periodical, and, after seeing it in print, receiving a cheque, no other communica- tion passing between the writer and editor. I further submit that the question whether the language of the section covers such a transaction, though not primarily intended to do so, is a diffl- cult and an open one, and one which has never yet been even satisfactorily discussed. I have read your note in the Author for November and that of “J.” in the December number. No mention has hitherto been made of the only case (as far as T can discover) on the subject, that of Browne vy. Cooke (16 Law Jour., Chancery, p. 40): in that case the dispute was between the Medical Gazette and certain persons alleged to have pirated their articles, and the Medical Gazette failed, the affidavits not showing that the pro- prietors had paid for the articles in question. The case, therefore, seems to have been decided on what was almost a technical point, and the authors do not appear to have been either repre- sented or directly interested in establishing their rights. There is, however, an obiter dictum of the Vice- Chancellor at page 142, which supports your view, for, in answer to something which had been said by the court, Mr. Bethell (afterwards Lord Westbury) suggested “. then if I sent to the Quarterly an article written by me which is paid for, it would confer no copyright, because, AUTHOR. 277 according to the language of the Act, there has been no antecedent employment of me.” The Vice-Chancellor replied: “I am not observing upon that, because I conceive that the payment is evidence of a thing at least tantamount to the employment ; I am not putting it in that way.” This was said in 1846, and the Vice-Chancellor took no notice of the words of the section, which speak not only of employment but of ‘“ employ- ment on the terms that the copyright therem shall belong to such proprietor,” &c. I, myself, lean to “J.’s” interpretation of the law ; from my own experience I know that publishers and editors take varying views, usually adopting yours, and I fancy that if a case were fought on the subject, evidence of trade customs might become material. Such a case, however, would, I believe, raise a question of interest to many authors; a question hitherto obscure, and one which would hardly be answered conclusively until it had come under the consideration of their Lordships of the upper House. I beg very strongly to urge upon those respon- sible for the copyright bill now before Parliament the possibility of dealing with the matter in a short clause, declaring the copyright in such cases to remain in the author, the right of the publisher being merely a licence to publish. E. A. ARMSTRONG. IV. WALTER Uv. STEINKOPFF. From the “Notes” of the Law Quarterly Review, Jan. 1893 :— It is perhaps arash thing to say of any judgment covering nearly eight pages of print that it is a faultless exposition of the law. But the judgment of North, J.in Walter v. Steinkopff, ’92 (3 Ch. 489), seems as near perfection both in law and in literary common sense as any deliverance of a human and therefore fallible judge can be. There is no copyright in published information as such. “ But there is or may be copyright in the particular forms of language or modes of expression by which information is conveyed, and not the less so because the information may be with respect to the current events of the day.” If the retailer of other people’s news cannot convey the substance of the news without “ conveying” (as the “ wise it call”) the form also, so much the worse for him. People are apt to forget that there is no positive, much less paramount, right to do all things in themselves lawful or not forbidden. The right, or rather liberty, is to do them without infringement of our fellow-subject’s right. It might be a curious speculative question whether, if the doctrine of copyright at common law had prevailed, a strong argument might not have been framed for an analo- gous right of quasi-property in news or other novel infor- mation. But, as such a natural right would have, appa- rently, no limit in time, it is hard to see how it could be made compatible with recent history being written or publicly discussed at all. Special correspondents, on the other hand, would be rich beyond the dreams of avarice. 278 Y. Stamp your AGREEMENTS. Here is a case which may interest some of your readers. Some time ago I sent a short story to one of the weeklies, and, in reply toa letier from the editor, stated my terms; the story was printed. That was the only answer. A month later I wrote for a cheque, and received one for a guinea, just a quarter the amount for which I had stipulated As remonstrance proved useless, I carried the matter into court. The defence took me by surprise, the editor pleaded that he had paid me at his usual rate, and that as I had no stamped agreement, I could not claim more ; and now comes the curious part or the affair. If he had written accepting my terms, and if I had neglected to get the letter stamped, I should have lost my case ; but he had not written, therefore, the publication of the story completed the contract, and no stamp was required. So the defence fell to the ground. And here I wou'd ask, does not the necessity of having every little agreement stamped press very unfairly upon all who write? If every letter from an editor, agreeing to take a short story on cer- tain terms must be stamped, an author has to pay a heavy tax upoa every day’s work he does. It is not merely the money, bu* also the time and trouble of going to Somerset House. I know that the secretary of the Society of Authors kindly underiakes to do this, but, if every member took advantage of the offer, he would have nothing else tv do. D. [Our correspondent supposes a literary activity quite impossible. If every member sent all his agreements to the secretary the work would take a very small part of the day.—Eb. | VI. INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT. A nearly exact copy of‘ King Solomon’s Mines,” without the author’s :eave, is at present being published in French in a weekly paper called Les Annales Politiques et Littéraires at 15, Rue Saint Georges, Paris. An editorial note from that paper which appeared on Oct. 2 runs :— “* Ta Reine de Saba,’ par Alfred de Sauveniére. “Ce récit est imit¢é d’un roman anglais de M. Rider Haggard, qui s’est vendu en Angleterre et en Amérique a plus de trois cent mille exem- plaires, et qui a valu 4 son auteur une universelle renommée. “M. Alf ed de Sauveniere s’est inspiré de Vouvrage original, mais il l’a accomodé au tem- THE AUTHOR. prament et au goit francais, et l’a allégé de quelques digressions et développements inutiles, ‘“‘L’action de la ‘Reine de Saba’ se déroule dans les contrées mysterieuses de l’intérieur de PAirique; elle transporte le lecteur au milieu dun pays barbare, demeuré stationnaire depuis des siécles, soustrait au contact des civilisations européennes, et rempli @’incalculables richesses. “Au moment ow sous les regards se tournent vers ce continent, et suivent les efforts accomplis par nos soldats, nous avons pensé qu’un tel roman, mouvementé, rapide et dramatique exci- terait une vive curiosité et serait accueilli avec faveur.” SS VII. INJURING THE SALE. As bearing upon the discussion of libellous reviews now proceeding in the Author, the follow- ing extract from the letters of Darwin seem very pertinent. “ The botanists praise my orchid-book to the skies. The treats me with very lind pity and contempt; but the reviewer knows nothing of his subject. . . Whe will hinder the sale greatly.” (June, 1862.) “‘T have no idea who wrote the review in the (on the ‘Descent of Man’). He has no know- lege of science, and seems to me a wind-bag full of metaphysics and classics, so that I do not much regard his adverse judgment, though I suppose it will injure the sale.” (April, 1871.) Now, it appears to me that in cases such as these an action claiming damages for libel should at once be brought. We have the statements of ' Darwin (1) that the reviewer is ignorant of his subject, while, nevertheless, be pronounces a scathing judgment upon an author’s work; and (2) that such criticism will injure the sale. Both these statements might be established ina few minutes in a court of law, and 1t would seem clear that the aggrieved author would receive damages. A few such actions would do invaluable service to literature (both to authors and to readers) by rendering reviewers and critics careful to make their remarks appropriately fair and honest, and by frightening them from presuming to lay down the law concerning subjects of which they are utterly ignorant. VIII. AMERICAN CopyricHt In New EDITIONS. In response to your correspondent’s inquiry respecting the power of copyrighting a new and amended edition of an English book which, in  THE ._ AUTHOR. its original form, has been pirated in America previous to the passing of the Act of 1891, I venture to express the belief that the provisions of the statute sufficiently cover such a case. The words of the Act (clause 5) are these: “The proprietor of every copyright book, or other article, shall deliver at the office of the librarian of Congress a copy of every subsequent edition where any substantial changes shall be made: Provided, h wever, that the alterations, revisions, and additions made to books by foreign authors, heretofore published, of which new editions shall appear subsequently to the taking effect of this Act. shall be held and deemed capable of being copyrighted as above pro- vided for in this Act, unless they form a part of the series in course of publication at the time this Act shall take effect.” Apam W. Brack. 2ecs VICTORY. With all his soul he loves her still, His soul is master of his will; He loves too well to work her ill! Just for a glance from those rare eyes Wherein such subtle magic lies Fain would he forfeit Paradise ! Just for a coil of that bright hair That sweeps her brow—a golden snare— The darkest peril he would dare. Just for one pressure of those lips, Whence bees might take their sweetest sips, Fain would he suffer Life’s eclipse. And yet this yearning—this desire To hold her—this consuming fire Is kept in thrall by something higher! That which he has of the Divine Within him, doth his soul incline To say: “I may not make her mine!” She loves him next to God—she deems Her Love the Hero that he seems; At night he comes to her in dreams. Her virgin breast is all aglow With purity he cannot know, So he will nobly let her go! One stormy eve he steals away, Victorious in the bloodless fray ; He passes with the passing day. His agony he may not tell, Even to her—his Christabel— He leaves a tenderest farewell. She, like a bird with broken wing, Will creep apart—a stricken thing— For Life has nothing more to bring! She in a convent’s holy calm For her deep wound will find a balm ; Above he’ll wear the Victor’s Palm ! F. B. DovEToN. 279 “VERY INACCURATE AND VERY UNRELIABLE.” TR. HEINEMANN, in the Atheneum of IN Dec. 3, 1892, labels the handbooks of the Society of Authors as “ very inac- curate and very unreliable.’”’” May I point out that the epithets have been unduly bestowed ? Literature and the Pension List-——The author said in his preface: ‘‘I have reprinted verbatim the official lists of pensions from the commence- ment, with the reasons assigned for each ap- pointment and the amount.”’ Does Mr. Heine- mann mean that he disbelieves this? Or does he mean that the official lists were, in his opinion, “very inaccurate and very unreliable.” La Société des Gens de Lettres—The facts concerning the French institution were derived from their own papers, courteously supplied to our delegates by their officials. Mr. Edmund Gosse who had previously written on our sister association in the Nineteenth Century, kindly allowed the Author to quote from his article, and read the proofs. Is it the translation that Mr. Heinemann mistrusts? Or some few anecdotes concerning certain eminent French authors? Or does he mean that the original prospectuses were, in his opinion, “ very inaccurate and very unreliable.’’ The Methods of Publishing.--The author im- plied in the preface to the first edition, that all the documents used in illustration of the methods discussed were genume—real letters between authors and publishers, and real agreements under which publication took place, or, at any rate, was proposed. At the end of this book this is said. Does Mr. Heinemann mean that he disbelieves it? 1 can think of no other way in which the book could be “very inaccurate and very unreliable,” and hasten to assure the Society, for whom and at whose expense the work was done, that what I said was true. The Cost of Production.The preliminary statement of the compilers ran—‘‘the estimates here contained have been carefully prepared for the society and examined by three first-class firms of printers.”” Does Mr. Heinemann mean that he disbelieves this? Or does he mean that all first-class printers are ‘‘ very inaccurate and very unreliable.” Surely neither! Surely he means that he finds that, in detail, some of our figures do not agree with some of his. That is not a sufficient reason for miscalling our pamphlet. Our own printers did not agree in their separate esti- mates in any singledetail; while the wages of SIE SIA 5 re: i a eo THE 280 those engaged in the different branches of trade are subject to constant fluctuation, entailing a constant alteration in prices. The work gives the average cost of works of ordinary shape and style. It pretends to do no more, and the fact that here and there 15 per cent. above or below its figures may be paid does not affect its utility. These estimates do not include the publishers’ work- ing expenses. This omission Mr. Heinemann finds “ deliciousinits airiness.” No. Those expenses are not included. Nor is the cost of the author’s pens, nor his stationer’s bill, nor his type-writer’s bill, nor any bill that is his. Mr. Heinemann has not had leisure to read the introductory chapter to the handbook that he finds “ very inaccurate and very unreliable, or he would understand that both sets of omission are legitimate. While I feel hound to object to the adjectives thit Mr. Heinemann has employed towards one section of our work, I should be churlish indeed if I did not recognise the friendship of his other remarks about the Society of Authors. S. S. Spriece. THE “AUTHOR” AND THE “BOOKSELLER.” ————— > HE following is from the New Vork Tribune (Nov. 24, 1892): Other points occur, but let us come at once to the main point, which is this. I give it in the form of a quotation from the Bookseller : “The driving of hard bargains with authors, or debiting their accounts with excessive charges, are, no doubt, matters of which there are occasional reasons to complain; but such practices are a long way short of fraudulent, although we fully admit they are not what is expected from members of an honourable calling.” Mr. Besant’s reply is that these and other frauds were common, very common, deplorably common, until the Society of Authors put a stop to them in so many cases. They would again flourish, he thinks, if the Society were to relax its efforts. Then, with reference to the contention of the publisher’s organ, that “‘debiting accounts with excessive charges,” is a practice “a long way short of fraudulent,” Mr. Besant says with energy : “Does the writer know the meaning of words? Why. what does a common pickpocket or shoplifter do, when he steals anything he can lay his hands on, worse than a pub- lisher who pays £60 for printing a book, and sends in an account stating that he has paid £80? Nota fraud? Then is stealing not a fraud; and lying is truth; and vice is virtue.” This is language well calculated to add to the irritation of the publisher who has been guilty of the fraud which Mr. Besant denounces. But the question is, not whether Mr. Besant is irritating, but whether his description is a true description. That is a question which can be answered without much _ technical knowledge. An elementary AUTHOR. acquaintance with Exodus XX., 15, is all that is wanted for the outside, non-publishing, world. But the publishing view is a thing apart. We have all heard of that magic phrase, “custom of the trade,” and know how much it has been made to cover. There is, id apprehend, no doubt that the publisher’s practice of paying one sum, and telling the author he had paid another and larger sum, and putting into his own pocket the difference expressed by the lie, was at one time a custom of the trade, or of some part of the trade. It was decently covered up under the phrase “ discounts,” and upon the plea that what passed between the publisher and his printer, or paper maker, or advertising agent, did not concern the author. Let us admit, for civility’s sake, that this particular custom of the trade is a thing of the past. What one would like to know is whether it is still upheld and defended, even if no longer practised, by any of those who formerly profited by it. I turned to the current number of the Bookseller. The answer is not there; only a short paragraph explaining that the Awthor—published on Nov. 1—came out too late to be answered in the Bookseller— published on the 8th. But there is an answer, exclaims the publisher’s editor, and it will be forthcoming. We shall have to wait for it, but it must be well worth waiting for, if it be something better than the hoary and threadbare and impudent excuse, so often heard before, which I have summarised above. A REJECTED AUTHOR. their marriage. He was a young gentleman with some brains (which she admired), and no profession, and she was a young lady with some beauty (which he admired), and no dowry. So they married, and ran the household on the brains and the beauty (and the mutual admiration), together with a slender stock of ready-money, and agreed that the world was very blind when it estimated such unions as imprudent, having regard to the acute happiness that was attending their venture. And in the first year they spent the ready- money. The second year, though not without its thorns, still yielded them many gallant ¢ r- lands of roses. For one thing, Mr. Bayard, the eminent publisher, accepted what our author irreverently termed a shocker, for his ‘Detective Series,” and promised to find the round sum of fifty pounds for it upon publication. Again, though they were poor, they found that their plight was not without its pleasant side. For there was romantic novelty in the actual want of money, and keen delight in obtaining it—perhaps unex- pectedly—when need was urgent. Moreover, the necessity of procuring credit made demands upon their ingenuity, and much merriment would follow, as they rallied each other over the success or failure of their little i was the beginning of the third year of  THE plots. And this bright fortitude under privation was itself a source of pleasure to them; for he was led by it to picture himself leading the real vie de Bohéme in a manner that would have done credit to Murger’s rollicking heroes (he was given to French romance); while she felt that she was facing a harsh world unrepiningly, side by side with her choice for better or for worse (and she was addicted to the penny serial). And hope yielded them some joys. For during their year of prosperity, he had written his great book—-and when we mention it by name, all necessity for alluding to its author by more distinct appellative than a pronoun is gone. For has not the world welcomed “The Hill of Tilusion 2” I[t contains jou morbid psychology, social theories, religious discussions, two new crimes, and some elegant versicles. Its main interest centres in an unmentionable problem of heredity. And what more can we moderns want ? But alas for the sanguine expectations of the young pair! ‘“ The Hill of Illusion,” at the time that it was written, failed to find a pub- lisher on its own obvious and now admitted merits. With one firm it remained three months, and with another six hours. Some read it, and some did not. Some returned it unopened, and one lost it fora time. But the result was always the same—rejection. During the second year of its anthor’s married lite, to his humiliation and to the damage of its fairly-written pages, this masterpiece was ever on a circular tour. Thus it will be seen that we find them in a sufficiently gloomy plight. For, indeed, the luck- less couple were more than ordinarily bankrupt. Brains, beauty, and a little money had been their sto:k at starting. The money had at least been indubitable, and it was gone. But what of their other capital? What of the causes of mutualadmiration? Could she still believe in his brains, when he could find no practical believer else? He feared not. And could he still be enthralled by her be auty—could life, however mean and worrying, if spent with her, still and always be glorious to him? When she noted his weary, woody face, she feared not. “¢ (est ’amour, l’amour, l’amour, Qui du monde fait la ronde.’ Do you know that, my dear? ”’ said he, draw- ing her towards him, and throwing his arm round her. “JT don’t,” said she, “ because I don’t under- stand what it means.” ‘« Well,” said he, “ it means just this” (examin- ing a scrawl of figures that he held between his VOL. Ill. AUTHOR. 281 fingers), ‘‘ that to-day we are penniless, that to- morrow we receive fifty pounds from that noble fellow Bayard, that to-morrow we must pay away at least fifty-four pounds, and that, until we get some more money from somewhere, we shall have to subsist off love ae “Tt means a good deal,” said she. “To gubsist off love, the love that makes the world go round,” he continued. “S rely such a power can keep our wheels going round, till another cheque winds us up again. That’s what it means.” “But you don’t want to spend the whole of that money at once in paying people? ”’ said she. “Dearest! Why ask me that question? 7 Ae replied. ‘‘ Of course not. I don’t want to pay anyone anything at anytime. But it happens that if I do not pay that much immediately sordid creditors will remove our possessions,” and he swept a lean hand comprehensively round the sparsely furnished little room. ‘‘ We must pay, we must pay, and worry along as before, till we cet some more.” He felt her tremble. “ Why, it will all come right in time,” said he. “ Trust me, trust me, if you can.” But before he could support her she was down on the floor, with her head in his lap, and between her sobs he caught her words, being helped to their comprehension by his intuition. “ Must they for ever go on like this ? Would they never be out of debt? Would they never have enough to eat, and perhaps a few shillngs over to spend on anything they wished, especially on what was unnecessary? How long must they live in this terrible shabby little Inn, where all were fighting for their bread ; where no one could afford to be respectable, and but few could afford to be honest? Perhaps she was a burden to him? Had she not better go back home? Could he go on loving her? Did he feel quite certain—quite, guite certain— that she would always love him, even if he continued to fail?” “That's a very shrewd question,” said he, when the storm had passed. ‘‘A very shrewd question ! failure. Yet, believe me, ’m not a I receive fifty pounds to-morrow from a creat publisher.” “Qh!” said she, “I didn’t mean allI said, and, of course, dear, you will succeed. And « h!” she repeated, “it’s weary work waiting, and fifty pounds isn’t much for a year’s work.” “Tt isn’t,” he asserted cordially. “ But let us be just. The thing only took two months to scribble, and isn’t really worth a penny more than I am going to receive. Now,” and he touched with a caressing hand a dirty heap of paper on his desk, “here is a year’s work and two years’ Z  282 thought, and the outcome of ten years’ observa- tion, yet no one will look at it. But I’m nota failure.” And he patted the luckless manuscript. “Tm not a failure while I can show this.” “ Of course xot, dearest,” she assented. “You're good, that’s what you are—good,” he continued, running his eye over a page here and there, ‘Yet, because you are uncon- ventional, because you are not improving, no one will have anything to say to you. Why, if you were the work of a man who had made his name, you might be worth a thousand pounds. And I, your owner, stand here ready to commit all crime fora poor fifty.” “But,” said she, “ Your novel that is coming out to-morrow may make your name; and then you can sell this for a lot of money.” “ That rot will do me no good,” hereplied. “It may sell, but no one will want to hear more from itsauthor. And, quite right, too!” “T think it’s such-a jolly story,” said she, with a consoling air. “Tt seems absurd,” he continued, disregarding her amiable criticism, ‘ that Ido not know how to get fifty pounds. I must be a very futile person. JI am crammed with knowledge. Iam a student of human nature. I have ingenuity and invention, I am versatile and venturesome. And 1 can’t get fifty prounds. The world is full of dull dogs who make their tens of thousands, and I cannot make my daily bread! Oh ! it’s absurd. Iam hungry. My wife is hungry. I can’t get fifty pounds, and yet I am as immoral as Mrs. Grundy would have a literary person.” “ Don’t talk like that,” said she. ‘ IT think,” he answered, “that it is only my playful way. And yet—and yet—No! No! NO! It isn’t play! It’s earnest! I have an idea, and by - Here! give me some paper! Some string! Quick !’’ And he sprang from his seat holding the manuscript in his hands. But she thought lightly of any idea, however energetically introduced, that purposed to deal with that luckless work. “ Where are you taking it?’ she asked languidly. “To Bayard.” “ But it has been there.” “Been there ! Why, of course it has been there. There isn’t a publisher in London who hasn’t had his chance of achieving repute as a sagacious critic, and money as an astute tradesman, by issuing this book. I have made no invidious distinctions, as you know. They’ve all had it, and they’ve all rejected it uncompromisingly—save some people who wanted a hundred and fifty pounds down for publishing it. They alone thought it a work of genius, and their reader wrote to me to that effect, and, if I remember THK AUTHOR. right, hespelt Genius with a J. But it’s going to Bayard again, and, what is more, it will stick there, and, what is still more, it will be paid for at once. The paper and the string !” On his return he wrote to half-a-dozeu friends, and made no further allusion to his design, save that over his evening tea he gave his wife the sinister toast of ‘“‘ Here’s to crime!” * * * * * * * The followmg morning the detective story duly appeared, in proof of which Mr. Bayard’s cheque arrived. And hard on this there came six gentlemen of the author’s acquaintance in response to his letters. ‘““Comrades,” said the author, “you are very welcome. May I take it for granted that not one of you has anything to do that is likely to bring him in ten shillings? Encouraged by your silence I venture, then, to hire three of you, at that price, to aid me in crime. The other three of you, being notoriously wealthy, will assist for nothing. Here is a map of London, The districts that I have chalked are rich in booksellers. | This morning the literary world was convulsed at the appearance of a new novel— by me. I want the agony kept up a bit. I want you fellows to choose a district each, and go and worry for that book. I want you to get on *buses and fall to talking ab ut the excellencies of the work. I want you to have accidental inter- views with each other in book-shops, and urge each other to buy the book without delay. I want you to make as much silly racket as you know how. Lastly, each of you will order fifty copies—at different shops, of course, It will not be in stock anywhere, so you will say you will call to-morrow for them. But you need not—unless you like.” “Tt’s a new fake,” said a very dingy-looking man, without removing his pipe, “ But it won't wash.”’ “Ah! but you'll help us all the same,” said the novelist’s wife, with suavity. “For, after all, lots of nice things don’t wash.” ” * * * * * * * Two days later the author stood in Mr. Bayard’s office, and waited his turn to see the great man. His only weapon was a letter from a well-known firm, declining the privilege of reading his novel. He looked about him, believing that he should detect something in his reception that might help him to a guess at the success that was to be his, but apparently no ripple from the little storm that had been raised in book-land had reached this haven of rest and procrastination. He waited. He waited longer even than usual, for Mr. Bayard believed that the author, having  THE heard that his novel had caused some excitement, had come to ask for more money on the strength of his success, and Mr. Bayard was a man of proper spirit, and disliked begging. At last he was admitted, and dispelled the frowns from the forehead of his publisher by saying that he had eome about another book. “T don’t think,” said Mr. Bayard, who was not the man to spoil his own market by any useless congratulation, ‘that we shall see our way to bringing out anything more from your pen just at present. We must wait and see how the other goes.” “Quite so,” said the author with cheerfulness, “Quite so. In fact that suits me altogether, and T’ve come to ask if you'll let me have my manu- script back.” « What manuscript?” “The one you have. One I sent ina few days ago.” “Oh! have we one ?” said Mr. Bayard, loftily. “Tn that case, better leave it Better leave it, and we'll report on it in due course, and” (with an air of handsome concession) “very likely publish it.” : “You're very good,” said the author, but I think I'll take it away, that is if you don’t mind.” And the mendacious one contrived to look the picture of mental distress. “ We don’t mind,” said Mr. Bayard, “ but you are ili-advised? What are you going to do with Lr” “You see,’ said the author shamelessly, ‘‘ I’ve had a letter from Gordon Washington and Co., asking me to send them a novel if I had one ready. And the one I sent here two days ago happens to be the only one I have ready. I know you don’t mind giving it back to me, as you only took the detective story as a favour to me; I remember you told me that, and I thought it so awfully good of you. Gordon’s people say they will bring my book out in America simultaneously if they like it.” “Come, now, won’t you sit down,’ said Mr. Bayard. ‘Just sit down and hear a word of advice from an old hand. Don’t you be in a hurry. Nothing looks so bad in a young author as constantly changing his publisher. It looks so fanciful! So cantankerous! It looks as if he was one of those vain fidgetty fellows that can’t wait for his reward. And, another thing, it does look so cursedly ungrateful. I wonder you are not ashamed to come to me in this way.” “Why, so I am,” said the author, “ more ashamed than you can guess. But you see Gordon and Washington will bring out the book ome they like it, and, if they like it, will__— AUTHOR. 283 “ @o on,” said Mr. Bayard, ‘be frank, always be frank. Goon! You've seen them, and they'll pay you more than I have paid you. Go on.” “ Weil,” said the disingenuous one, drawing from his pocket the envelope marked with the conspicuous chiffre of the great Anglo-American firm, ‘‘ you see their letter is marked private, but I think there is no doubt that they will do so. In fact, if you saw this letter, you would be sur- prised.” “ Now see the ingratitude of that !’’ exclaimed Mr. Bayard. “How did they hear of you? Because we have published your book, and as that has been a bit of a success, you want to run off to someone else to get a higher price.” “But how was 1 to know that it had been a success. Has it?” «“ Ah! well,” said Mr. Bayard, “it’s a little early to say that yet.” “Tt is,’ agreed the author. “But I thought, when I read it, that it had merit,” said Mr. Bayard. « And so you published it—as a favour to me.” “That's it. I’ve always felt kindly towards you since you first came to my office. And now you want to go to somebody else. Better come to us, and see if we can’t manage it for you. Now, let’s see, what is it you want? How long’s the book?” And Mr. Bayard grinned. So the author’s fraud was successful, and ina few minutes Mr. Bayard opened his cheque book and wound up the conference. “Fifty pounds now,” said he, “‘and another fifty if I sell ‘more than one edition in the three-volume form, and a penny in the shilling on all cheaper issues. No need for an agreement. I’m a man of my word. And there isn’t another man in London would have done it for you.” “ Don’t cross the cheque,” said the author, ‘Not another man,” continued Mr. Bayard, “not another man, before seeing the manuscript. But I like you, and I like your stories. I can feel safe about you. I’m sure there’s no beastly character-analysis, and sociology, and rubbishy poetry in your book, Stick to good healthy stories, my lad, with lots of plot, and a happy ending. They’re business. Here you are, and uncrossed. Want to cash it at once and spend it this afternoon, eh? Lightly made, lightly spent, eh? Ah, improvident! improvident!” Here Mr. Bayard wagged his head. “ And come to us first another time when you've anything to sell. Eh? won't you?” ” “Tm a novelist,” said the fraudulent person to his wife when he reached home with the cash, “and [ wish to conform to my knowledge of life.  284 When people frisk the till, I note that they always go to B:ighton to spend their ill-gotten gains. Let us go to Brighton. Are you ashamed of me?” “Not a bit!” said she, stoutly. “JT don’t know that I am much ashamed. of myself,” said he. ‘I’ve sold a book for fifty pounds that I honestly believe to be worth five times the money, and I believe that the agree- ment was dispensed with that I might be robbed with impunity, if necessary. When those books come back to my friend Bayard from the book- sellers, of course he’ll howl, and feel cheated. And when he finds out what sort of thing he has bought, he will howl louder. But he’ll shove it along all the same, and all the merrier, to get his money back. He won’tlose. If I was not quite certain that he will know how to avoid that, I might be more inclined to blush. And, if I know good work at all, and am not an egotistical ass, I shall have no bother in placing my next book. No, I’m not a bit ashamed. I ought to be, but I’m not. Kiss me, dearest.” O. J. NOTES AND NEWS. WRITER in the Daily Chronicle of the A 19th Dec. 1892, asks two questions. (1) What voice the 800 and odd mem- bers have in the election of the chairman of com- mittee ? (2) What the Society is going to do for the writers who live from hand to mouth, and are the prey of every sweater ? The answer to the first question is—‘‘ None.” The members have no voice at all in the election of a chairman of committee. In all committees the chairman is chosen by the committee, unless there is an official chairman of the company. We have a president, elected by the council; a council which elects its own members; a committee elected by the council; a chairman of committee elected by the members of the committee. The government of the Society is distinctly and frankly oligarchic. Whe her it should continue so in the future is a question for discussion. Meantime, in the pursuit of the policy of throwing light—and more light—always more light—upon all matters connected with literary property— which has chiefly occupied the Society up to the present—the present form of government is, I am convinced, the best possible. Considering the natural ignorance of most members on the whole subject, the intervention of the vote of those who THE AUTHOR. had not studied it at all might have been fatal at the outset. : 2. What will the Society do for those who live from hand to mouth, and are, therefore, continu- - ally sweated ? The writer says that he would like to see a separate Society formed for their benefit. But that would only be to shift the burden from one set of shoulders to another. It is, in fact, a dreadful burden. It is the burden of the needle-woman ; it is the burden of the tram and ’bus servants; it is the burden of all labour which is not organised. Can we organise, or devise, anything for the improvement of the position of these writers? Suppose we had such an organisation. Suppose we were to inform the committee of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge for instance, referring them once more to the Author of July 1890, that we will not let our members accept £12 for a book of which they will sell 6000 copies; can we be sure that some one else, outside the Society, will not step in and take the money? There are two ways of helping the sweated worker in any branch of labour: (1.) The first is to publish everywhere and continually—to keep harping upon it, so that people cannot forget it—the treatment to which he is subjected. In this way public feeling is awakened and kept alive. (2.) The second is to form a union, and to make everybody in that branch of work feel that they must join it. But this union must be known to exist for the sole purpose of ensuring justice and enforcing honesty. Can the Society become the centre of such an organisation? It could, but as yet, I fear, the professional spirit is too weak; there is too much jealousy. Perhaps the writer of the letter will put himself in communication with the editor of this Journal. —— There is hope for the great army of the rejected. There is going to be published from a London office, a weekly journal—price to be one penny —which will mainly consist of MSS. that has been refused by the editors of other journals, which may yet be worthy of publication. The rate of pay will be 5s. per column. It is not much, but for the rejected it will be some solatium. It is probable that the immense popularity of the journal will cause all other editors— or rejectors—to cast themselves from a high place into the sea, a  THE A correspondent writes: ‘ Why have you not recorded the fact that Mr. Wilbam Black is at his best in ‘ Wolfenberg ’—his very best?’ Why indeed, except that old friends are sometimes taken for granted. One says, “ Dear me! Here’s a new man! and he is actually good !” and when the old friend comes along, one welcomes him kindly, but makes no remarks. The old friend ? of course he is good. Mr. R. B. Marston (Samps -n Low and Co.), writes to the Times (Dec. 19, 1892) about American spelling. His firm has brought outa book in which the language is beautified by Americanism in spelling. The book is, of course, printed from plates. Mr. Marston asks why sixty millions of people should not choose their own spelling? Why not, indeed ? The question is, why should not we be suffered to choose our own spelling? Time was when we all declared unanimously that we would not tolerate the American spelling in this country. We shall see whether that good resolution will hold. Mean- time, I wonder how many people would unite in resolving never to buy any book with the American spelling ? Se RNS Great is the detective, especially in fiction! So great is he that a company is now forming for the express purpose of publishing the detective stories of a well-known writer in this branch of literature. The company will also start a sixpenny monthly to be called Dick Donovan's Journal, in which the chief feature will be detective stories told by the editor “ Dick Donovan.” There is to be a capital of £15,000, in shares of 41 each. It has been stated in the Pall Mall Gazette that a powerful association of French novelists has been formed for the protection of their interests. One had always supposed that the Société des Gens des Lettres was protecting the interests of all French authors. Can it be that we shall see the formation of separate branches of literature into separate unions? If so, one hopes that a central union will be always main- tained. The grievances of French novelists are stated to be, (1) that their books are sold at any price the publishers can get for them; and (2) that the latter print and sell more volumes than they account for. The Authors’ Club, of New York, is going to raise £5000 or 25,000 dols. for its purposes by a method which I fear would be impossible here. They are going to produce a volume AUTHOR. printed, style possible. 251 copies. illustrated in the The edition is to be limited to Tts contents are to consist of contri- bound, and 285 best butions by about a hundred members of the club : these papers will never be reproduced elsewhere : each article in every co author. yy will be signed by the Each copy is to be priced at a hundred dollars, but the committee reserve the right of raising the price after the first hundred copies have been subscribed. Lastly, the MSS. are to be bound up in two or more volumes and sold to the highest bidder. following : Henry Abbey Felix Adler Henry M. Alden O. Cyrus Auringer Marian Benjamin Poultney Bigelow James Thompson Bixby Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen Alexander Black John H. Boner Arthur Elmore Borthwick R. R. Bowker J. H. Bridge E. 8S. Brooks Noah Brooks W. M. Butler William Carey William Carleton Andrew Carnegie W. H. Carpenter Edward Cary J. D. Champlin L. V. Cheney W. C. Church “ Mark Twain” T. M. Cann A. J. Conant M. D. Antony T. L, De Vihne M. F. Egan i. Eggleston. G, C. Eggleston H. R. Elliot G. W. Elwanger W. D. Foulke H. Frederick W. H. Gibson R. W. Gilder D. C. Gilman Parke Godwin A. 8. Hardy H. Harland John Hay W. T. Henderson R. Hitchcock W. D. Howells Brinson Howard Lawrence Hulton Rossiter Johnson C. A. Kay W. L. Keese J.B. Kenyon Among the authors are the Leonard Kip J. Kirkland T. W. Knox H. E. Krehbill Seth Low W. Marned C. Lewis G. P. Lathrop Percival Lowell J. M. Ludlow H. W. Mabie A. Mathews Brander Matthews W.S. Mayo Theodore H. Mead E. W. Moore J. H. Morie C. L. Norton E. W. Nye B. F. O’Connor D. Osborne C. H. Phelps G. E. Pond H. Porter O. L. Proudfit G. L. Raymond T. Roosevelt Jonah Royce C. Scollard H. Q. Scudder R. H. Stoddard H. Seely J. L. Spalding M. Smith BH. C. Stedman W. J. Stillwall F.R. Stockton F. H. Stoddard O. 8. Straus S. H. Thayer D. G. Thompson H. Vandyke J. C. Vandyke E. 8. Van Zill W.S. Walsh W. H. Ward G. H. Waring C. D, Warner C. H. Webb C. G. Whiting F. H. Williams What would happen if, by such a method, our 286 Authors’ Club were to try to raise £5000? Unless one is greatly mistaken, even with the help of the best hundred men of thisrealm of Great Britain and Ireland, the answer of the public would be that, for the MSS. they cared nothing, and for the things themselves they were content to wait until the papers appeared in the sixpenny magazines. << A copy of the New York Times (Nov. 27, 1892) has been sent to me because it contains a curiously ignorant attack on this Society. It speaks of the Society’s “eager determination to secure better payment for all writing, good, bad, and indiffe- ent alike.” Now, the Society has never for one moment purposed or endeavoured to secure “better payment” for anybody, good or bad. The slightest acquaintance with the objects and work of the Society is enough to show that the question of “better payment” does not concern us at all. Our object is to ensure fair and equitable agreements—fair to both sides. The writer goes on to point out the dreadful results caused by our abominable work. Foremost among these results is a calculated estimate of 70,000 (!) MSS. of novels submitted every year to publishers. The figures appear to be reached by multiplying 2400, the number stated by a certain publisher to be annually submitted to him, by three and subtracting 2000—one knows not why. But is it the case that 2400 MS. novels are annually sub- mitted to any firm of publishers? From my own experience, and the evidence of publishers, I should say 300 was a figure nearer the mark. Now we print the paper again: “Surely it has only leaped to these terrible proportions since the trades-union notion was engrafted upon literature, and the idea was sown broadcast that everyone who was at the pains to write was some- how entitled to be paid something by somebody, and need only join an association to enforce that right.” Yes! But who has sown broadcast that idea? And what words ever uttered in any organ of our Society encouraged anybody to believe that he need only to write in order to get paid ? In these days of rapid journalism, when a volume has got to be filled somehow, the temptation is always pressing to set down things on report. But surely this writer might have perceived, with a moment’s reflection, that it was simply silly to credit the Society of Authors with anything so preposterous. Will he only be so very kind as to read our papers ? A correspondent calls attention to a curious point in minor morals. It is this: Mr. Thomas Hardy has long since applied for purposes of THE AUTHOR. fiction, and used in all his novels, the name of Wessex for certain districts which once formed part of the ancient kingdom of Wessex. Thus Dorsetshire in his books is South Wessex; Berk- shire is North Wessex ; Hants is Upper Wessex; and Dorsetshire is Lower Wessex. Again, his novels are always Tales of Wessex. Has any other person, then, the right to appropriate these names? ‘The correspon ent asks these questions apropos of a novel called ‘ Dark,’’ which was mentioned in the last number of the Author. Dark lived in a “typical North Wessex cottage,” Afterwards mention is made of a Berkshire farm, so that Mr. Hardy’s nomenclature is clearly intended and adopted. Is this quite fair? A correspondent calls attention to a paper published in the Western Daily Mercury, of which he gives a résumé. It is the old story, only rather more amusing. Those ladies who answer firms advertising for MSS. may take note. There are nine letters. Letters 1 and 2.— ‘Reader has reported favourably.” This reader always does. ‘ Pub- lishers are willing to undertake publication on ‘favourable terms.’’’ These publishers always are. Said ‘favourable terms,” that the lady is to pay £100 down and £60 on seeing the last proofs ; that they are to produce an edition of 500 copies of the novel in three vols. at 315. 6d., and that the author is to have three-fourths of proceeds. Let us see. The novel would cost to produce about £120, without advertisement. Clear profit to the publisher of £40, without the sale of a single copy. The question of advertisements is left open. Obviously the author is intended to pay for them. Say she is charged £25 at a moderate estimate, and £5 for corrections. She pays, therefore, £190. If, say, 400 copies are sold at 13s. 6d. each, the sum realised would be £270; the author would receive £200; gain £10. The publisher would net about £130. Very good business, this. Letter 3.—In this they nobly reduced the pay- — ment to £120, Refused. Letter 4,—A new and brilliant idea. Author is to send up £5 15s., in return for which she is - to have 1000 circulars. She is to distribute them, — and as soon as she has got 75 subscribers at 31s. 6d. they will go on. As no one could possibly get 75 subscribers at — that absurd price, the idea seems to be limited to getting a profit on printing the circular.  THE AUTHOR. Letters 5 and 6.—A reduction to £3 15s. for the circular. 7,—Further argument. 8,—Harking back to the advance of £80, and payment of £40 on seeing proofs. g and 10.—Repetition. The MS. has at last been returned to the lady. The calamity which has befallen William Watson is one that all of us must deeply deplore. We can only express, in the name of every one of us, our most earnest hope that he will be restored to the world, his faculties revived and his genius undimmed, very shortly. $e A new fashion is beginning—a fashion which promises to last long and to bring about many useful things, especially a demand for clear thought and dramatic presentation. JI mean the duologues or proverbes, or little dramas of two columns or so that some of the papers are now producing. For instance, in the Court Circular of Dec. 3—a paper which I seldom see, because neither my ways nor my friends are courtly—I found a most beautiful little duologue called “ Merely Players.”’ It is signed by “ Clara Savile Clarke.’ Nothing could be better or more telling. How much better is a short crisp little dramatic sketch, with a long and strong story imagined, than long columns of description with a short and weak story presented. Let us prophesy. The fashion for dramatic sketches will be followed by the power to produce them. That power will be followed by the power to produce plays. There are immense possibilities in the dramatic sketch. << — The Critie contains a most tragic story of the late P. S. Gilmore, who died in Boston last month. He was, among other things, a com- poser of music, and he ardently longed to com- pose a national anthem which would take the place of “Hail Columbia” and the other well- known American National Anthem. He did compose that anthem—he called it ‘* Columbia ”’— and this is what he wrote about it : To be simply honest with you, I believe the Almighty has made me the humble messenger of the grandest national anthem, music and words, ever bestowed upon a people. You know the warmth of my enthusiasm when I am on fire ; but, great as the mountains were to climb in our jubilee days, it was a tremendous mental and physical strain to bring what would seem air castles to terra firma. The con- centrated essence, the germ, the diamond of a life’s Hercu- lean labour in the vineyard of music, has now taken the shape of an anthem for the nation. When you read the words you will see how the history of the nation is packed into forty lines, with a prayer added. It was born without a struggle, for it was the body coming forth to clothe the moral soul—the music, which came first into the world un- sought for, without an effort. In the early stages of the war I wrote a song for the nation, but the music was not heaven-born and consequently it pinedaway. Whatever may be said, of one thing I am satisfied, that a national song should be deduced from its history, and when you hear its music it will take instantaneous lodgment in your heart. May God bless you allis the heartfelt wish and prayer of yours truly and sincerely, P. 8. Gilmore. And yet, alas! the hymn was a failure. In the announcements of new books given in a certain number of the New York Critic it is interesting to notice that by Americ+n authors there are fourteen, by English authors there are thirteen, one French, one German, and one Dutch. In the list of ‘ Publications Received ” there are twenty-five English writers and twenty- three American. ‘These numbers, compared with those published in the Author a year ago, show a great increase in the proportion of American to British authors. This increase is bound to con- tinue if only on account of the International Copyright Act, whose first result must be the development of native American literature. A correspondent objects to the sweeping de- nunciation of the publications of the S.P.C.K., quoted in the last number of the Author. But it was quoted as an opinion from a friendly quarter, not as our own opinion. Speaking for myself, I have constantly, in my most friendly remarks on that venerable and truly religious body, called attention to the dainty and delicate work given to the world by some of the ladies who have the great good fortune to write for it, and who love and venerate the large souled »nd honourable committee, and pray for them daily. It is the true spirit of living Religion that I have pointed out for admirition in the committee of the S.P.C.K —not the nature of the work that they produce. We have frequently advocated in these pages the employment of a literary agent by those authors who have already created some kind of public. We have to adda caution, of the greatest importance, against going to any agent not recom- mended by tbis Society, or by some personal friends who have had experience of his capability. Tt will easily be understood that a so-called agent may, if he be dishonest, serve only as another trap and danger for the wrecking of the author, 5 Dp  288 THE If the following is true, why do we not all turn publishers? For that matter a great many of us are crowding into the profession. ARTNERSHIP.— £2000 will secure share in high-class publishing business, active or sleeping. Above amount will return 30 per cent. per annum without risk. The business will stand the most searching inquiry, and only the highest references will be accepted and given.— Principals or their solicitors may address, in the first instance. London. An income of £600 a year, without risk, on the investment of £2000, and “active or sleeping” ! There have been certain literary forgeries of just the old-fashioned kind in Edinburgh. The following is an account which recently appeared iu the Times :— In May, 1891, an Edinburgh collector had a public sale of his treasures, the most remarkable feature of which was the very low prices which they brought. In August last this same collector was rash enough to send to an Ayrshire paper copies of two autograph poems of Robert Burns, the originals of which he declared to have been in his possession for twenty-five years, and which had never been printed. One of these poems was entitled the ‘Poor Man’s Prayer,” and in the course of it Chatham was appealed to. The collector expressed the opinion that no one could read the verses without being convinced that they were the pro- duction of the national bard. I quote three of the verses in order that the ordinary reader, to say nothing of the literary critic, may be able to judge of the kind of stuff that is described as worthy of Robert Burns : Tur Poor Man’s PRAYER. Amidst the more important toils of state, The counsels labouring in thy patriot soil ; Though Europe from thy voice expect her fate, And thy keen glance extend from pole to pole, O Chatham, nursed in ancient virtue’s lore, To these sad strains incline a favouring ear, Think on the God whom thou and I adore, Nor turn unpitying from the poor man’s prayer. While I, contented with my homely cheer, Saw round my knees our prattling children play. And oft with pleased attention sat to hear, The little history of their idle day. But this is not merely a question of judgment; it is a question of fact. For Mr. George Stronach, one of the librarians of the Advocates’ Library, Edinburgh, has found, not only these verses, but a great many more of the same stamp, printed in the London Magazine for 1766. The verses are there described as “Hxtracts from‘ The Poor Man’s Prayer,’ addressed to the Earl of Chatham ; by Simon Hedge, labourer.” It might, of course, be argued that “ Simon Hedge” was a nom de plume of Robert Burns; but, unfortunately for this supposition, Burns was in 1766 a boy of seven years, and the notion of his “prattling children” playing round his knees at that ageis too absurd to need refutation. This discovery has giventhe coup de grace to the whole scheme of forgeries. With this failure all the other impostures of the same set necessarily assumes the same character. Water Busan. AUTHOR. ETHICS OF CRITICISM, SS HE following notes arefrom a paper by Dr. A. Conan Doyle, published in the Morning Leader of Dec. 21: To review a book without having read it. as in the case of the reviewer who described Barrie’s “ Auld Lichts” asa volume of “very tolerable poetry,” is not criticism. It is obtaining money under false pretences. To review a book without cutting the leaves, by dipping into it here and there is not criticism. It is laziness. To review a book by writing a paragraph which repro- duces the plot of the book is not criticism. It is petty larceny. To hold a brief against a book, and to review it by pick- ing out every weak passage, and holding it up to ridicule without a word upon the other side, is not criticism. It is an aggravated assault. To review a book anonymously in several papers, so that it appears that all these papers have independently come to a conclusion, when really it is only one man who has done so, is not criticism. It is impersonation. But, in spite of all drawbacks, our critical Press is, I think, better than any other critical Press ; and if a man is blamed where he does not deserve it now and then, it is morally certain that he will also be praised where he does not deserve it occasionally; and so the balance is re- adjusted. A. Conan Doyur. coi aa AUTHORS, PUBLISHERS, AND REVIEWERS. ———— > NHE results of some years’ experience in authorship and reviewing have led me to the following conclusions: It is not in any case advisable for a young author to leave the fate of a book entirely m the hands of a publisher. In the case of a book published on commission, such blind belief in the omniscient goodness of a publisher is fatal. In 1885 I paid for the production of 775 copies of a costly genealogical work. I have since ascer-— tained that several copies charged to me by the printer as copies sent for review were lost, and _ five copies described as “library copies,” sent im _ accordance with the Copyright Act, were lost also. In order to procure a belated notice in— two important magazines, I was obliged to send — second copies. Curious discoveries are frequently made by an author under process of review. ‘‘ The familia: friend whom he trusted” may appear in a new light, and the cloud which he dreaded may ‘burst in blessing.” The first and hardest hr I ever had from a reviewer came from one who had received a favour from me, and the kindlies ereetings were sent from sources altogethe unknown to me. One reviewer, who had not  ty THe AUTHOR. received a copy, and could not obtain one on loan, was good enough to purchase the book for the purpose of annihilating it entirely in two columns of a sectarian newspaper. Unconsciously he did me a good turn. So did the Russian Scrutator. One book cost me £170 and three years’ hard labour, besides the labour of an assistant. Another book cost me £40, and no labour at all. The British public selected the last as the most valuable. It requires experience to be able to send out copies for review, and to compose and distribute advertisements judiciously, and when such experi- ence has been gained, the work is best done by the author—at least, that is my experience. As a reviewer IL know that I take more interest in a book sent directly to me with a little note from the author (which note is often an interesting reyelation of character) than I am apt to do if the same book arrives among a pile of others from the publisher. In the case of my third book, out of fifty copies sent for review, I obtained twenty-three reviews, and in addition to these, [ received seven notices from papers to which no review copies had been sent. Probably other notices appeared which I did not see, as my experience proves that even the eagle eye of a Press Cutting Agency has only a limited vision. I once obtained a most remarkable opportunity of blowing my own trumpet. The editor of a provincial weekly wrote to say that, as my book possessed a strong local interest, and he could not possibly find time to read it, would I kindly review it myself—any space up to a column and a half was at my disposal, and would I advertise in his paper? I passed the letter toa friendly reviewer, whose trumpet gave no uncertain sound. He produced the column and a half, and I advertised in the journal of that particular editor. He was a good fellow, a sound Tory, and an excellent judge of champagne and cigars, Publishers keep a list of papers 10 which they send copies of books for review. This list is not elastic. Like the laws of the Medes and Persians, it altereth not. A prominent publisher recently published a book in which 1 felt some interest. A few days after the usual allowance of review copies had been distributed, I wrote to the publisher stating that the author was a personal friend of mine, that I was reviewing for the principal provincial daily in a district where the author was well known, and that if a copy of the book were sent to me, I would give some space to it. No notice whatever was taken of my offer. As my object in reviewing is to give my readers a brief account 289 of all works of merit as they appear, I usually contrive to read them, whether the publishers send them to me or not. I, therefore, read and reviewed this particular book in spite of the publisher’s discourtesy. Naturally copies of the work were vouchsafed to certain editors, who acknowledged the receipt by the barest possible mention of the book, and such copies might as well have been thrown into the sea. : The fact is, most publishers provide for reviews by a hard and fast line, from which they will not swerve an inch, Therefore it behoves young authors to stand guard over their own reputation, and if they get the chance of a good review let tbem see that the chance is not sacrificed by the density of the middle man. The notion that an editor has no right to criticise a book which has not been sent directly to him for the purpose of review is preposterous. Every intelligent editor owes it to his readers to keep them properly posted up in current litera- ture, and to discrimimate for them between the good and the bad in the world of books. Hundreds of books are reviewed in this way every week, and will continue to be so reviewed, to the very great advantage of authors, publishers, and the public generally. A published book is public property, and any attempt to boycott the liberty of the press in reviewing, whether made by author or publisher, is certainly made too late in the day. With respect to advertising, I may say that a single illustrated quarter-page advertisement in a good magazine sold fifty copies of one of my books, whilst I spent £25 in small advertise- ments hidden away among the holes and corners of newspapers having the “ largest circulation in the world,’ such advertisements having no appreciable effect whatever on the sale of the book. In fact, I might just as well have given my £25 to the blind. T consider that the farming of advertisements by publishers is a mistake. They debit your account with £25 or £50 for advertisements without stating when or where these advertise- ments appeared. They contract for so much space, and your advertisement will have to be packed, with perhaps a score of others, into this space. The review quotations will be hanged, drawn, and quartered. Sometimes you will have half-a-dozen quotations, sometimes you will have none. ‘There will be continual changings and choppings. You may complain, and the gentle- man who farms the advertisements will “ much regret, but really the pressure on our space, &c.” Two of my books—a volume of sermons and a volume of humorous reminiscences—were adver- tised together. The review quotations executed  290 a flying leap from one book to the other, and a grave and reverend reviewer was made to declare that the sermons were ‘“ vastly amusing.” Well, accidents will happen. One thing, how- ever, is certain. You will have to pay the piper, pipe he never so sadly. You will have to settle the bill, whether the work has been done well or ill. Mistakes are certain to be made, but it is not equally certain that they will be made in your favour. What is worth doing at all is worth doing well, and my experience teaches me that if you want a thing done well it is often advisable to do it yourself. Ho JS oc CORRESPONDENCE. I. A Lirrte Omnium GatHERuM FoR THE NEw YEAR. ILL you allow me to suggest, a little roughly, some few points for the con- sideration of your readers ? Books Wanted.—A short but comprehensive index to such letters as MA, F.RS., P.C., LL.D., D.C.}., and so on—An unbiassed com- parison of Bimetallism with Monometallism—A short history of the Free Trade Controversy—An annotated and comparative edition of the Con- fessions of St. Augustine, the Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius, and the Confessions of Ros- seau—A. Life of Jay Gould, with an estimate of his moral character—Lives of the Laureates, from Chaucer to Tennyson, with a poem of each— The history and morality of gambling, with special reference to the views of the late Archbishop of York upon the subjects. Biographies—Let there be always an index ; let the biography in no case exceed one volume, and let the letters be very carefully weeded and placed in an appendix by themselve-, the text consisting of asummary of the life, including the letters. If here and there a letter is so important as to justify its beg printed in the text, let it be printed in small type. Suggestions to Editors.—In no case should the notes be allowed to choke the text. Full tables of contents should be placed at the beginning of each chapter, and the table of contents at the beginning of the book should Le a very short one —perhaps not more than a page, to give a bird’s eye view of the whole. Shakespeare’s ‘‘ Neece.”—How is it that Eliza- beth Hall, Shakespeare’s grand-daughter, is THE AUTHOR. described in Shakespeare’s will as his neece? Neither Dyce nor Hazlitt (both of whom print the will) notice this curious point. Has Lady Barnard’s will been sufficiently examined? This might make a good subject for a short article, Tennysoniana.—How is it that “ Timbuctoo ” is not obtainable ? Contents Tables; Machine-cut Pages; Prices and Dates of Books.—Surely every newspaper should have a paged table of contents on its first page or outside cover, as the Spectator, Saturday Review, and some others (the Author included) have. Surely, too, the pages of newspapers should be machine-cut in every case, and books and magazines ought to be issued with machine-cut pages also. Last, though not least, every book should have its price printed on its cover, and its date (as is usual) on the title page. Obscurity of Language.—So many great men have clothed their thoughts in obscure language, that we are running some risk of obscurity of language being considered of itself a mark of greatness, whereas, in my humble opinion, it is quite the reverse. Expressions of which we have had enough.— “Passing Away” or “ Joiniug the Majority ” as a substitute for “ Dying.” “Singer” as another name for a poet. ‘‘ Galore,” except occasionally. Reviewing.—An author should never solicit a review. A reviewer should always quote from the preface, and state the price of the book reviewed. It is worth considering whether the return of an unreviewed book should not be claimed. The author should not know by whom he is reviewed. Presentation Copies.—If sent to strangers, an acknowledgment should not be considered as a due. The copies should be sparingly sent—even to friends. ‘The risk of coming across them uncut is a great risk to run. J. M. Lexy. —————— I. ‘* ReLIgious” Firs. I must write to thank you for drawing — attention to firms and societies of “religious” publishers grinding the faces of authoresses of books, which go some way towards making the fortunes of such firms, who make a great favour of pay ng £20 or £30 for “ copyrights and all rights” of a work calculated to realise £400 or £500. I have sold several MSS. under these very conditions. The last I agreed to write on given subjects, which took me months to prepare, for £25. ‘he book is now published at 3s. 6d.  THE AUTHOR. The publisher said he had never given so much for its compauion volumes published previously, and when I say that even this small sum stretches over eighteen months’ credit, you may imagine what good it has done me. I know the fault les in agreeing to such terms, but with hungry faces around, dry bread is better than nothing. I most earnestly wish we could manage these things better, as one tastes little of the “sweet bliss of providing ” under distressing circumstances. Itis no consolation to me, writing amid the wrecks of a once comfortable, if not luxurious, home, to know that my books sell in America and Australia, that they are beautifully got up, &c., while I and those dear to me are actually starving. (You know the tramp said it was no sort 0’ satisfaction to be chawed up by a fust-class dog.) I should think it a paradise to get a house to take care of, as suggested last week by you; or to live in a lodge or country cottage, where, as my little girl says, “ she could pick real daisies and see blue sky.’’ It is the height of my ambition to get the three acres and a cow, or a poultry farm to supplement my meagre earnings, or to enable me to stand out for better prices for my MSS. I cannot sew cleverly, and to teach is impossible in these days of free education ; neither could I earn auy more at grinding pen points than Frank Stockton’s unpopular journalist, if I tried that experiment. A Scripstine Moruer. Despair-street, Nov. 26, 1892. TEL, Scante Pay. When you headed Mr. Charles King’s letter “A suggestion and something more,’ I hope you designed to hint that the idea of publishing ‘in the Author the rate of pay of every journal in the kingdom,” struck you as well worth considera- tion. If you would like to have the opinions of those interested, allow me to express the warmest approval. I write very little in periodicals with which Iam unacquainted ; but in three instances Ihave received payments so small—by comparison with the importance and repute of the paper— that they dwell in my memory with unholy 1an- cour. I cannot suppose that the sum paid to me was less than is usual. But, if authorities and personages are content to write for such pay, the fact should be made known in order that profes- sional littérateurs may not be tempted to waste their time under a misapprehension caused by those names, or by the standing of the periodical. The owner, if honest—as is not to be questioned— 291 could not object. It is no disgrace to a man if he cannot afford to pay as much as people expect of him. But for all that, I consider myself badiy “done” in two of those three in-tances. In the third case I complained, and by return of post came an additional 50 per cent., or nearly, with a letter of warm appreciatiun. But I am to suppose that the first cheque represented the normal scale of payment. Let those scales be published therefore, and the pages of the Author are the fitting place. iB. LV. Tue HeorisricAaL AMATEUR. I read with feelings of considerable satisfaction “M. L. P.’s” indictment of the “ egotistical amateur.” He isan individual from whom I too have suffered, and whom I have longed desired to see pilloried in the Author. But the egotistical amateur is not the only adverse force with which bond fide knights of the pen have to contend. There is the “ lady of title,” whose aid it would appear is absolutely necessary to insure the suc- cessful floating of a new magazine. It may be said she is included inthe “ H. A.’s,” who bestow their wares gratuitously upon the needy editors ; but this is erroneous, judging from the following anecdote, given to me on the best possible autho- rity. A lady of title and means, well known in the religious and philanthropic world, entered a small publishing office not a hundred miles trom St. Paul’s, and, requesting an interview with the proprietor, offered to compile a certain small book for the sum of £20. Her offer was declined, there not being £5 worth of honest work in the whole affair, and the publisher, unlike others of his kind, apparently not considering her title worth the remainder. Now, Ido not wish to say a word against titled and wealthy ladies writing upon special subjects with which they are specially acquainted, and being paid for it—if they choose ; but why should they trade upon their name and title, as in the case cited, to do work which scores of women who write for a living would do equally well, if not better, for half the money they demand? That the sums “earned” by these ladies are expended in charity, as 1 have heard asserted in their defence, is no justification. It is but “robbing Peter to pay Paul,” and ‘ Paul,” some of us think, has had a pretty good run, and itis time the claims of ‘ Peter” received con- sideration. EK. H.  NE PusiisHers’ AGREEMENTS. 1. Anold and respectable firm agreed to publish a book for me, I paying costs, and they giving me 40 per cent. of the gross returns. Their estimate was higher than that furnished to me by the Secretary; still he thought their offer not bad, and the said estimate would be binding as an agreement, if [had it stamped. It was a very informal little document, and, as it expressly called itself, merely “approximate.” I did not see how it could be binding. It was not signed by either party. I did not have it stamped, and when the accounts came in, I found that the publishers certainly had not considered it binding, as they had allowed me 50 per cent. instead of the 40 per cent. agreed upon. I called their attention to the fact, thinking it might be an oversight, but they said they found themselves able with such books to allow 50 per cent. 2. I was remodelling an MS. by the advice of a publisher, who was interesting himself much in the matter, and going in largely for illustrations ; but nothing had been said about terms. I did not intend to take any share in the expense, but, that there might be no doubt upon the subject, I wrote and said so. In reply, the manager said that his firm were prepared to publish at their own cost, giving me half profits. I expected to have a formal agreement sent me for signature, as I had had before, from the same firm, but none came. By the time I found that none was coming, it was too late to have the letter stamped. I do not mistrust these publishers, but in neither case do they seem to me as businesslike as is desirable. In the case of the first firm, there have been sundry mistakes in their accounts, now in my favour, now in their own; pure mistakes, I quite believe, but not the more satisfactory for that. [ think it would be desirable, if it could be, to have a recognised form of agreement adopted by all; one, too, in which it should be distinctly stated whether copyright is assigned or not. At present an author seems to lose his copyright whenever the publisher undertakes the cost of production, even though the word be not mentioned in the agreement. To whom does the copyright of my second book belong ? I have not signed anything, so I do not know how I can have assigned it, unless silence gives consent. : Is it just that copyrights should form part of the assets of a bankrupt publisher ? Some of the books of a late popular writer THE AUTHOR. were published by a firm which became bankrupt. They were books in steady demand, bringing in a regular income, as they probably do still ; but when the firm failed the copyrights were sold with the rest of their property, and the author received, and apparently could claim, nothing more. This is what I was told, and I know his family were left very poorly off, though his books must still be producing an income for somebody. Surely, if copyright is sold in this way, the author’s rights should be safeguarded in some way, as he certainly did not assign it uncondition- ally, but on an agreement that he should receive a certain proportion of the proceeds. 8. G. [This lette is published as the writer sent it. There is some little confusion, apparently, e.g, (1) The author paid the costs, and the publisher was to give her 40 per cent. on the gross pro- ceeds. Let us work this out with a 6s. novel, ‘| (‘Cost of Production,” p. 31). We will suppose a: 1000 copies to be printed and sold, binding has = advanced 15 per cent. so the figures must be slightly altered : & 8a Gr ss proceeds of 1000 copies = 166 0 Oo Publisher's share (by agree- ment). 4: .. 2 2) 90 te Author’s share (by agree- ment) «3 == 60 8 = Author pays cost, viz... ... 122G ae Author’sloss ... ... ... 62 0 6 Publisher’s gain... ... .., 99 0 O Very good business. But they gave her, instead of 40 per cent., 50 per cent. of the gross proceeds : Publisher’s gain 83.0.0 Author’s loss ... 39 0 O Is there anything wrong here ?—Ep. ] VI. Tue Pusiic Criticism oF Books. According to counsel’s opinion in the current number of the Author, an adverse criticism is only libellous ‘“‘if prompted by malice, or charac- terised by such reckless disregard of fairness as indicates malice towards the author.” This, though doubtless good law, is scarcely consolatory, inasmuch as the generality of unfair criticism contrives to keep clear of the definition here laid down. Take, for instance, the example cited by Dr. Bell in the November number (“‘ Correspondence” IV.). The review there quoted is manifestly unfair, and calculated to injure the author’s reputation, yet he would, I  THE AUTHOR. suspect. have great difficulty in bringing it within the definition above laid down. It was this difficulty of establishing malice, or unfairness indicative of malice, that I had in my mind when I submitted in last month’s number that “for an author to obtain legal reparation would be well nigh impossible.” I never intended to convey, as “F. P.,” in the current number, represents me to have done, “that it would be well-nigh impossible to prove that any criticism is unfair;’’ that of course would be nonsense, but I still venture to maintain that, in the gene- rality of cases of unfair reviewing, it would be extremely difficult to satisfy the legal standard of “libellous criticism.” Rank AND FILE. VII. A Lirerary SCHOLARSHIP. There was an idea at one time that if a man did not die of starvation, and give some one else a chance to get something out of his works, he was no genius, and, it may be added, no man. Even Byron seemed to doubt whether a man ought to ask for his money, for he wrote : ‘“* When the sons of song descend to trade, Their lays are rare, their laurels fade.” The only way to prevent them descending to trade is for the nation to give them a little help. And this the nation at last seems disposed to do. I refer to the case of William Watson. Sons of song,and men of talent generally, have bestowed many gifts upon the nation. What the nation has given them in return is a matter for reflection over their own firesides. The democratic wave is rolling, and it rests with writers to say whether it shall flow over them or they shall ride on the top. If the nation is disposed to be kind, here is a scheme that may well occupy its attention. Ido not advocate it for men of genius. Men of genius have a way of getting out of holes that is denied to mere talent. I advocate it for young and struggling talent, for those of comparatively no opportunities, for those who, if no hand is outstretched towards them, sink, un- honoured and unsung. If it is anyone’s business to stretch this hand, it is surely the nation’s; for the glory of budding talent is the glory of the land that reared it. My scheme is this: that the nation shall make an annual grant of say £600—it is not a large draw on the exchequer —to be competed for by the most promising in poetry, fiction, and the drama, divided, in fact, into three scholarships. The judging, the means of selection could all be left to the Society of Authors, who would manage it, Iam sure, with pleasure and satisfaction. There is one ridiculous #25 functionary in the British Parliament whose race is nearly run, I mean the Usher of the Black Rod. Let his salary be the basis of my scholar- ship. To an anticipated complaint that the output now is large, is enough; I have this to say: Weed it out. Take from it the works of those who publish at their own expense. Those of the driveller, who, after a sail in his yacht, startles the world with a log-book voyage; the people who pass through a foreign country, and come home with an account of its manners and customs, the butter-paper poets and the rest, and it will not seem so large after all. It is not the above class who make a nation famous; they make it a laughing stock. Talent is usually bereft of yachts, but if those who have yachts can wrest the scholarship from it, all the better. A Seasip—E MEemper. VEE A RECOMMENDATION FROM THE SOCIETY. Perhaps you may think the following woith publishing : While realismg, and valuing to the full, the immense benefits that the Society renders to authors in keeping them away from, or helping them out of difficulties with, fraudulently inclined publishers, I would like to point out how it might render another service to many writers, which would be of as great value as its present services are, So far the Society has turned its attention chiefly to safeguarding the interests of authors against publishers, but its scope is not bounded by this work, for in its circular issued in 1890 it is stated that ‘“ other and larger schemes remain for future development.’”’ The services now ren- dered are for those authors who have succeeded in finding a publisher, and, having provided for the relations between them being put on an understandable and equitable basis, it might now he made to render as great a service to those writers who want to find a publisher. What they are most in want of is—if their work be good—some such recommendation of it as will ensure its being published. Were the Society to enter into arrangements with various publishers to bring out any work it might recom- mend to them, and were it to have a committee to read works submitted to it, to which anyone should be entitled to send on payment of a fee, then, those writings that it approved being assured publication, the way of the beginner would be made much easier. The great stumbling block to beginners would thus be removed, as it would no longer be neces-  294 sary to send a work to publisher after publisher (which does sometimes happen with good works), and lose in this process months of valuable time, for it would be known that a work of real merit, whatever its subject, would always be sure of speedy publication. The mere announcement to the public that it was published on the recom- mendation of the Society of Authors would surely ensure any book a large sale. The work already done by the Society was what was wanted by the author who can get published, and it would seem to require as a complement that which is wanted by the author who wants to get published. It surely, then, might become one of the other schemes referred to to organise a means of clearing the road and making a short and direct way for the beginner to reach the publisher by. This is, perhaps, the service that beginners in authorship most want, and I doubt not it has caused disappointment to some to find that the Society could not help them in this, the most needed direction, and that the only service it could render them was of a negative character. The carrying out of this plan would not involve a new departure on the part of the Society, it would need simply a development and combina- tion of work now performed by it and by the Authors’ Syndicate. Were it to become a practice for books to be published on the recommendation of the Society, meritorious works would -always see the light without unreasonable delay ; more writers would be induced to join the Society, and gradually it would have it in its power to set up a standard of literature ; it would in time become a centre or exchange for publishers to apply to for approved works, and be the great mart for literary wares. This manner of a new author reaching a pub- lisher would be more in accordance with advanced civilisation, which would surely exclude such an awful loss of time as is so often involved by the present comparatively haphazard method. Houserr Hass. IX. Wuyr? Is it not strange that, although my Poems and Prose Sketches were highly praised by your reader, as well as other critics, the publishers whom the Society named to me should have rejected them, one after another? I mean so far as taking any share of the risk is concerned, One publisher declines this, although he ad- mitted frankly that they were favourably reported on by his reader, as containing much good work. THE AUTHOR. One or two publishers absolutely declined having anything to do with them—even on commission terms, presumably—and another, who shall be nameless, withheld his opinion of them, even after having promised it to me. I ask, Sir, whether this is not discouraging to one, whose poems have been eulogised not only by the leading poetical critics of the day (probably), but also by such poets as Lewis Morris, J E. Whittier, Robert Browning, Matthew Arnold, and others. Is it not strange that no publisher should be found willing to risk a few paltry pounds for the chance of giving the poetical world considerable pleasure? Iam not speaking of my own case only, but of parallel ones as well. They may say, why not then publish at your own cost? The answer is simple —I can’t afford the risk, and they can! From a purely commercial standpoint they may be right, of course, but how tamely they show here; how utterly lacking in a spirit of enterprise! It is, after all, merely one throw of the dice, and, remember, had not my poems been endorsed so highly, I would never have submitted them. ‘ Nothing venture, &ec.”’ F. B. Doveron. [The above is another proof of the fact so often advanced in these columns, and so constantly denied—that there are very few publishers who ever take any risk at all.—Ep.] X. A Lirrie Sum. A printer’s mistake in the “Little Sum” is, from the printer’s point of view, a very small one —being only the substitution of a 2 fora (ce, line 7 should read, “10 per cent. on the net receipts of such sales’’). Yet it is very unfortunate in its effect on the sum, since, if 20 per cent. were given, it would alter the figures below the line as follows: 50) ee dO 4990 22. 30°92 oes AS 80 9 In fact, the drop of ro per cent. in selling 5 price (between 55 and 45), would thus mean a drop of 20 per cent. in publisher’s share, and only of 10 per cent. in the author’s. As things are, under the real clause, the 1o per cent. drop in selling price makes only a 10 per cent. drop in publisher’s share, and a 55 per cent. drop in the author’s. But the fault of the clause does not, I suppose, reside in this fact, since the publisher has to get back his cost of production. The wrong thing  THE is that he should have an inducement to sell un- necessarily low. It seems to me this might best be remedied by making the clause run :—‘“ Shall pay to the author on all copies sold a royalty of 10 per cent, provided that in no case shall the publisher receive less than 40 per cent. of the published price. No sales below 40 per cent. to take place without consent of the author.” We should then get : Selling price. Publisher’s share. Author’s share. 3 50°! 40°! IO 50 40° 0 IO 49°9 We re 9°9 48 HO 8 ee ee VS i ee 7 ee eee 40 &e. Del. THe Maaazines. Might I suggest that a small space in the pages of the Author should be devoted each month to giving a list of magazines and papers, with the style and length of article, poem, or story contained in each. I venture to think this would be a great saving of time and trouble both to editors and to authors desirous of sending contributions to them, especially if the authors live in the country, and are unable to procure the various magazines, &c., in order to look over their contents, and see what articles or poems are suitable to each one. CAROLINE CREYKE. XI. PLAGIARISM. A tale I lately commenced to write opens as follows: “A long time ago there dwelt an old man of science the few people who ever caught a glimpse of him were wont to cross themselves as he passed by, for they looked on him as a magician; and perhaps they were right, for is not everybody who knows more than we do ourselves a being verging on the supernatural ? ”’ Before I had proceeded far with the MS. it occurred to me to refer to Sir Walter Scott’s “Quentin Durward,” in order to refresh my memory regarding medieval modes of expression. To the best of my recollection I had never read the book, but nevertheless I thought it was probable I should find what I wanted in it. There was some difficulty in procuring a copy, and at length I purchased one, when, turning over the pages at random, the following was the first paragraph AUTHOR. e 295 that attracted my attention: ‘“‘To read and wite!’ exclaimed Le Balafré, who was one of those sort of people who think all knowledge is miraculous which chances to exceed their own.” I have now perused Sir Walter’s admirable romance, and am quite convinced that I never did so before. The circumstances attending this unconscious plagiarism appear to me so extraor- dinary that I am induced to lay them b fore the readers of the Author. H. R Greene. “AT THE SIGN OF THE AUTHOR'S HEAD.” RS. SPENDER’S Christmas d Year books are “ Awaking,’”’ a new and cheaper edition (illustrated, 3s. 6d.), and a family story book for girls, called ‘No Humdrum Life for Me” (illustrated, 5s.). Both are published by Hutchinson. Mr. Reynolds Ball, editor of “ Mediterranean Winter Resorts,” is writing a series of papers on “Coming Winter Resorts’’ in the Queen news- paper. He contributes also an article on “ Sicilian Puppet Shows” to the January number of the Theatre, under his nom de guerre ‘“ Evelyn Ballantyne.” “In the Gun Room” is the title of a series of sketches in prose and verse by Mr. H. Knight Horsfield (Eden, Remington, and Co.). It is a book for sportsmen—for those who love the rod and gun. ‘‘The March of Shem” and other poems, by Alfred Hayes, author of “The Last Crusade,” &c. (Macmillan and Co.). has advanced to a second edition. Let us note the fact as another indication of the increased interest felt in poetry. and New Russian Lirerature.—An analysis has been prepared by the Russian bibliographer Pavlenkoff of the works published in Russia during the year 1891. It seems that—excluding Finland—there appeared in Russia 9053 books ani pamphlets, with an aggregate sale of 29,000,000 copies. Of these 6588, with a total of 23,000,000 copies, were in the Russian language, 840 in the Polish, 393 in German, 380 in Hebrew, and 219 in Lettisch. One of the most popular forms of literature in Russia seems to be calendars, of which 229 were published, many of them having editions of upwards of 500,000. The most notable event in the Russian book world during this period was the expiration of the copyright of Lermontoff’s works, in consequence of which g2 editions of them appeared, having a total sale of upwards of 1,000,000 copies. The largest i i 296 THK AUTHOR. lass of publications was that of educational works, to the number of 574, exceeding bedles- lettres by 65. The third largest section was that of medical works. More thana third of the whole amount of Russian literature appeared in St. Petersburg alone. The Rev. F. Baring-Gould, M.A. (author of “Mehalah”’) has written a new story for the Queen newspaper. Its chief character is a female Cheap Jack—‘“ Cheap Jack Zita” is her name —and under this title the work will be published. Lady Violet Greville’s new novel is called “That hated Saxon,” and is to be published by Messrs. Ward and Downey. Canon Ainger will give three lectures on Tenny- son at the Royal Institution on Jan. 19, Jan 26, and Feb. 2. Mr. Alfred Austin’s new poem, “ Fortunatus, the Pessimist,” is going into a new edition. Mr. George Allen (of London and Orpington) is preparing for publication an interesting volume which will throw new light on that side of Mr. Ruskin’s character least known to his readers. This work, which will include many anecdotes, both pathetic and humorous, never before pub- lished, is being compiled by Mr. Arthur Severn, R.I., whose recollections and reminiscences of Mr. Ruskin dates from his (Mr. Severn’s) boyhood ; the illustrations will comprise various charac- teristic sketches made by Mr. Severn when accom- panying Mr. Ruskin on his driving tours. Mr. Allen has also in hand a “ Life of the late Lady Waterford,” Mr. Augustus J. OC. Hare, of which fuller particulars will be given shortly. “The World of Music” is the generic title which Anna Comtesse de Brémont has given to the three volumes she has written, and Mr. W. W. Gibbings has published “The great Com- posers,’ “The great Singers,” and “The great Virtuosi.” The volumes have been carefully and feelingly compiled, and the author has succeeded ina somewhat difficult task. In a future series the authoress contemplates dealing with com- posers, virtuosi, and singers of the day, “ The Successful Life” by “ An Elder Brother,” which has been published by Cassell and Co., contains many weighty words of counsel, comfort and warning to young men commencing business. It is written in a shrewd, practical, and distinctly wholesome vein, and may be placed with confi- dence in any young man’s hands. “ An Hider Brother,” is obviously sincere in every word he has written, and his book is intended for those who are peculiarly susceptible to the influence of Sincerity. Mrs. L. T. Meade’s “A Medicine Lady,” which has just been published in three volume form by Casselland Co , will rank amongst her best stories. A difficult motif has been delicately handled. Mrs. Meade has kept well abreast of medical science, and has woven round what it has accomplished shapes to accomplish a story which is distinctly human and profoundly pathetic. A new edition of the “ Records of a Naturalist on the Amazons,” by the late Henry Walter Bates, is about to be issued (John Murray). The edition is to be unabridged, and will be accom- panied by a memoir of the author by Edward Clodd. “One Land—One Law.” This is the title of Mrs. Crafton-Smith’s new novel, to be com- menced in Sala’s Journal early in February. Mrs. Crafton-Smith is known under the name of “Nomad*” as the author of “The Milroys,” “A Railway Foundling,” “Holly,” &e. NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. History and Bioeraphy. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL AND FULL HisTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE PERSECUTION OF HamiEetT NicHoLson in his opposition to Ritualism at the Rochdale Parish Church. Barber and Farnworth, Manchester. Barnett-Smiru, G. History of the English Parliament, with an account of the Parliaments of Scotland and Ireland. 2vols. Ward, Lock. 24s. Buacx, Heten C. Notable Women Anthors of the Day. Biographical sketches, with portraits. 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Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1893-02-01 Volume 3 Issue 9 Pages Page range in volume 305–344 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18930201 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin The HMutbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) BONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. FEBRUARY 1, 1893. [Prick SIXPENCE. CONTENTS. PAGE. Warnings ae see wee Be ce ae Be ao: ws. OT The Starveling. By William Toynbee ... How to Use the Society... ae ae e vee ae .-. 308 Notes and News. By the Editor... 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HurBert Turina, B.A. OFFICES. 4, PortuGau Street, Lincoun’s Inn Fiexips, W.C. Now ready, Third Edition, with Additions throughout, in demy 8vo., 700 pages, price lds. AN ANECDOTAL HISTORY oF THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT, From the Earliest Periods to the Present Time. WITH NOTICES OF EMINENT PARLIAMENTARY MEN, AND EXAMPLES OF THEIR ORATORY. CoMPILED rRoM AUTHENTIC SOURCES BY GCHORGE HENRY JBN NTN. CONTENTS. Parv I. Riseand Progress of Parliamentary Institutions. Part II.—Personal Anecdotes: Sir Thomas More to John Morley. Part HI.—Miscellaneous. 1. Elections. 2. Privilege; Ex- clusion of Strangers; Publication of Debates. 3. Parliamentary Usages, &c. 4. Varieties. | AppENDIx.—(A) Lists of the Parliaments of England and of the United Kingdom. (B) Speakers of the House of Commons. | (C) Prime Ministers, Lord Chancellors, and | Secretaries of. State from 1715 to 1892. 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ASCERTAIN WHAT A PROPOSED AGREEMENT GIVES TO BOTH SIDES BEFORE SIGNING IT.— Remember that an arrangement as to a joint venture in any other kind of business whatever would be instantly refused should either party refuse to show the books or to let it be known what share he reserved for himself. Sa Literary Acrents.—Be very careful. You cannot be too careful as to the person whom you appoint as your agent. Remember that you place your property alm»st unreservedly in his hands. Your only safety is in consulting the Society, or some friend who has had personal experience of the agent. ——— Reapers of the Author are earnestly desired to make the following warnings as widely known as possible. They are based on the experience of eight years’ work upon the dangers to which literary property is exposed :-— (1.) Never sign any agreement of which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part, until you lave proved the figures. (2.) Nuver enter into any correspondence with publishers, especially with those who advertise for MSS., who are not recom- mended by experienced friends or by this Society. (3.) Never, on any account whatever, bind yourself down for future work to any- one. (4.) Never accept any proposal of royalty until you have asceitained what the AA 2 rise scanpanieemnaii ee ees  308 agreement, worked out on both a small and a large sale, will give to the author and what to the publisher. (5.) Never accept any pecuniary risk or respon- sibility whatever without advice. (6.) Never, when a MS. hes been refused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises they may put forward, for the production of the work. (7.) Never sign away foreign, which include American, rights. Keep them by special clause. Refuse to sign any agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the publisher, unless for a substantial consideration. If the publisher insists, take away the MS. and offer it to another. (8.) Never sign any paper, either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright, without advice. (9.) Keep control over the advertisements, if they affect your returns, by clause in the agreement. Reserve a veto. If you are yourself ignorant of the subject, make the Society your adviser. (10.) Never forget that publishing is a busi- ness, like any other business, totally un- connected with philanthropy, charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with business men. Be yourself a business man. Society’s Offices :-— 4, Portucat Srreet, Lincoun’s Inn Freups. De HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. 1. Every member has a right to advice upon his agreements, his choice of a publisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society’s solicitors. If the case is such that counsel’s opinion is desirable, the Committee will obtain for him counsel’s opinion. All this with- out any cost to the member. z. Remember that questions connected with copyright: and publishers’ agreements are not generally within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. THE AUTHOR. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books repre- sented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agreements and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The information thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business transactions by the Secretary proves unfavour- able, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the proposed form to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks, of every publishing firm in the country. Remember that there are certain houses which live entirely by trickery. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the inde- pendence of the writer. : 8. Send to the Editor of the Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. THE AUTHORS’ SYNDICATE. [ B. Colles desires to inform readers of the N Author— 1. That the Authors’ Syndicate is now in a position to take charge in whole or in part of the business of members of the Society. With, when necessary, the assistance of the advisers of the Society, it will conclude agreements, collect royalties, examine and pass accounts, and, generally, relieve mem- bers of the trouble of managing business details. All accounts opened between the Syndicate and members are duly audited. 2. That the establishment expenses of the Authors’ Syndicate are defrayed entirely out of the commission charged on rights placed through its intervention. This varies, and must vary, according to the  THE AUTHOR. nature of the services rendered, but the charges are reduced to the lowest possible amount compatible with efficiency. Mean- while members will please accept this intimation that they are not entitled to the services of the Syndicate gratis, and when desirous of seeing Mr. Colles, they must write for an appointment. 3. That he undertakes to work for none but members of the Society whose work possesses a market value. 4. That his business is not to advise members of the Society, but to manage their affairs for them if they please to entrust them to him. 5. That when he has any work in hand he must have it entirely in his own hands ; in other words, that authors must not ask him to place certain work, and then go about endeavouring to place it by themselves. 6. That when a MS. has been sent from pub- lisher to publisher, and from editor to editor, in vain, it is most likely impossible to place it. That in the face of the present competition, authors will do well to moderate their expectations. aul There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. NOTICES. HE Editor of the Author begs to remind members of the society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the society if a great many members did not forward to the secretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. Perhaps this reminder may be cf use. With 850 members, besides the outside circulation of the paper, the Author ought to prove a source of revenue to the society. a ee a°o The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communiations on all subjects con- nected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the society than to make the Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write ? Communications for the Author should reach the editor not later than the 21st of ea:h month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. + > Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office with- out previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly understood that the Society does not, under any circum- stances, undertake the publication of MSS. SE oe The Authors’ Club is now opened in temporary premises, at 17, St. James’s Place, St. James’s Street. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, &c. oo Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? If they will do this, and remit the amount or a banker’s order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the warning numbered (3). It is a most foolish and a most disastrous thing to bind yourself to anyone for a term of years. Let them ask them- selves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest or dishonest ? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign themselves into literary bondage for three or five years  310 THE Those who possess the “Cost of Production” are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble of ‘doing sums,” the addition of three shillings in the pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at £9 4s. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth as can be procured: but a printer’s, or a binder’s, bill is so elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at. Some :emarks have been made upon the amount charged in the “Cost of Production” for advertising. Ofcourse, we have not included any sums which may be charged for inserting adver- tisements in the publisher’s own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud: it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. spec LITERARY PROPERTY. LE AUTHOR AND EprTor. HERE are two question- relating to author- Ty ship which, while of considerable im portance to authors, have never yet, I believe, been the subject of judicial decision. They are, how- ever, merely questions of the ordinary law of contract, and the general principles which underlie that law will be found to afford a sufficient answer. ‘The questions are: I. What are the duties of an editor with respect to an article that has been submitted for his approval, but has been rejected as unsuitable ? i{. What right has an author to deal with an article which he has submitted to the editor of a paper or magazine, and of the acceptance or rejection of which he has not heard ? I. As to the first question, papers may perhaps be divided into three classes, their duties and liabilities varying according to the class in which they happen to fall. They are— 1. Those papers which, by the insertion of a notice, invite contributions to be submitted for the approval of the editor, AUTHOR. 2.. Those papers which neither invite nor refuse contributions. 3. Those papers which give notice that they do not desire contributions, and will not be responsible for articles sent in, nor undertake to return them. 1. As to the first class it is clear that the notice in the paper is an offer to consider all contributions submitted, and to see if they are suitable for publication. The sending of an article by a con- tributor is an acceptance of that offer. But if the editor rejects the article as unsuitable, what are his duties with regard to it? Is he at liberty to put it in his waste paper basket ? Certainly not, any more than I am at liberty, if I ask Maple to send me furniture on approval and do not approve of it, to put it outside my door to take care of itself. There is here a bailment for the mutual benefit of both parties, and the editor must take a reasonable care of the article until it is returned into the hands of the author. But provided that he has exercised such care as a reasonably prudent man would naturally exercise in his own business, he will not be liable for loss. Whether reason- able care has been exercised is a question of fact to be decided in each particular case. Of course, if an author sends in his article in answer to such a notice, and the notice contains special terms, to which he makes no objection, he will be held to have acquiesced in, and will be bound by, those terms, provided they are reasonable. By special terms, I mean, for instance, such a term as a refusal to be responsible for the return of articles. Probably, in the absence of special terms, in such a case as this, the editor would be liable to return a rejected article at his own ex- pense ; because, since the editor expects that he will obtain, at least, as much benefit from the article as will the author, and as, therefore, the contract is for the benefit of both parties, it is difficult to see why one of them should be put to more expense in carrying it out than the other. Still, an author who desires to have hig article returned in case of rejection, will, no doubt, be wise to enclose stamps to defray the cost of postage. Ifan editor were to venture to raise the defence that, at the time of sending in the article, the author had, as a matter of fact, no knowledge of the notice, I apprehend that the principle involved in the class of cases commenc- ing with Williams v. Carwardine (4 B. & Ad. 621), and in the last of which, Gibbons v. Proctor (7 Times L. Rep. 462), Mr. Justice Day held that a policeman might claim a reward offered by advertisement for certain information, although at the time he gave the information he had not, and could not have had, any knowledge of the offer, would apply; and that where something is  THE done (e.g., the sending of an article) subse- quently to an offer (e.g., the offer to consider contributions) which does, im fact, form an answer to that offer, it must be taken to be an acceptance of the offer, although it is not shown that the offer was the motive for the act, and perhaps, even though at the time of doing the act, the acceptor had no knowledge of the offer. 2. In the case of papers which insert no notice, if an author of his own motion sends an article to an editor, the offer comes from the author, and the editor, if he accepts it, does so by dealing with the article in such a manner as to show that he intends to become the owner, for instance, by publishing it in his paper. Tf he rejects the article, he is not bound to put himself to the trouble and expense of returning it; though he might do so as a matter of courtesy, and would be wise to do so ev abundantia cautele. It is possible that an editor would, in this case, be under a liability to take some care of an article which had been submitted to him. If he were bound to do so, it would probably be on the ground of a presumed request preceding the sending of the article (Wilkinson v. Coverdale, 1 Esp. 76), but the offer so clearly appears here to come from the author, that it seems open to doubt whether such a presumption would be reasonable. If there is any liability to exercise this care, it can only be for areasonable time, and the author must allow no great length of time to elapse before applying for the return of his article. 3. In the third case, when an editor gives an express notice that he does not wish for contribu- tions and will not be responsible for any that are sent, it is difficult to see why he should be held liable. If a person enters, or offers to enter, into a contract with a knowledge that there is a notice containing special terms, he is considered to have assented to those terms, and will be bound by them provided they are reasonable (Watkins v. Rymill, 10 Q. B. D. 178). The liability of the editor in this case would, it seems, depend upon whether he had taken “reasonable means to give notice of the condi- tions” to contributors, and it is submitted that such a notice might be “ reasonable means.” If it occupied a sufficiently prominent place in the paper to be generally seen, the contributor would probably be held to have had knowledge of it and to have intentionally sent his article at his own risk, and the editor would not be liable. If the notice were not sufficiently promi- nent to be seen by ordinary readers the editor would be in the same position as if there were no notice, that is to say, he might be bound AUTHOR. ais to take a reasonable care of the article for a reasonable length of time. Whether the notice was sufficiently prominent or not is a question of fact which must be decided according to the circumstances of each case. If, however, an author could prove that there is a well-established custom in the trade that an editor, by publishing a paper, holds himself out as ready to receive and consider contributions, then, in case No. 2, where there is no notice, the editor would certainly be liable if he did not take a reasonable care of the article; and in case No. 3 he would probably have to show that he did take all reasonable means to bring the notice to the knowledge of contributors, possibly even that the notice had actually come to their kaowledge. II. As to the right of an author to deal with an article which he has offered to a paper, but of the acceptance or rejection of which he has not heard. In each of the above cases the author appears to make an offer; but im the first case there is an acceptance on his part as well as an offer. In the first case by sending in his article he, in effect, says: ‘I accept your offer to consider my article, and I further offer to sell it to you if you think that it is suitable for your paper.” In the other two cases there is merely an offer by the author : ‘ Will you purchase my article?’’? There is, therefore, in each case an offer from the author to the editor. To complete the contract there must be an acceptance by the editor, and that acceptance, to take effect, must be com municated to the author (Felthouse v. Bindley, 11 C. B. N.S. 69). Until there has been either a direct acceptance by letter or word of mouth, or an indirect accept- ance by some act, which act has been brought to the knowledge of the author (publication would probably fulfil both these conditions) he is at liberty to withdraw his offer. If he desires to do so, however, he must bring notice of the withdrawal of the offer to the knowledge of the editor (Byrne v. Van Tienhoven, 5 C. P. Div. 344). But it appears than an offer only remains open for a reasonable time, and then lapses (Ramsgate Hotel Company V. Montefiore, L. Rep. 1 Exch. 10g), and that withdrawal of the offer is in that case unnecessary; so that it may be that an author, after a reasonable time has elapsed, may offer his article to another editor without notice to the former. But it is, of course, always safer to give a notice. What is a reasonable time is a question of fact in each case; in the case cited above four months was held to be an unreasonable time to keep an offer to take shares in a company open, and the defendant was considered justified in refusing to  312 THE acknowledge an acceptance of his offer after the lapse of such a period. B. — + II, CLARKE v. Mitts. (Before Mr. Justice Wright, sitting as an addi- tional Judge in the Chancery Division.) (From the Times.) The plaintiff in this action is vicar of Battersea, and an honorary canon of Winchester Cathedral, and for many years has been editor of the well known children’s periodical entitled Chatterbox, and other publications. He now claimed the right to a half share in that magazine as a partner, as against the clam of the legal repre- sentative and executor of the late Mr. James Johnson, who, by a codicil executed shortly before his death in 1891, had treated himself as sole proprietor of the property. For three or four years before the Chatterbox was started, Canon Clarke had had business relations with Mr. John- son, and in 1866 they proposed to publish a maga- zine for young folk, and Canon Clarke hit upon that of Chatterbox, which Mr. Johnson, in the October of that year, registered at Stationers’ Hall in their joint names. The first number was not published until December, so that the regis- tration became irregular, and no steps were afterwards taken to register. Nothing but a verbal arrangement to share the profits was made, Mr. Johnson undertaking to illustrate and finance the paper, while Canon Clarke was to do all editorial work. The periodical soon became a great success here and also in America, producing as much as from £3000 to £5000 a year profit, and Canon Clarke proposed that there should be some deed of partnership prepared, but Mr. John- son, who alone managed all the business arrange- ments, took no steps in the matter. During this time they also produced a publication called Prizes, and continued to divide the profits arising from it after the deed of partnership for seven years had expired. They also shared the profits of a third publication called the Parish Magazine for which they had only a verbalagreement. A few days prior to the publication of the first number of Chatterbox, Mr. Johnson sent to Canon Clarke a slip of paper purporting to be a transfer by the latter of his rights in the Chatter- box to Mr. Johnson. It was signed by Canon Clarke, but not stamped by Mr. Johnson until five days before he executed the codicil in ques- tion. Of this memorandum Canon Clarke says he remembers nothing. Mr. Neville, Q.C., and Mr. Swinfen Eady AUTHOR. appeared for the plaintiff; Mr. Chadwyck Healy Q.C., and Mr. Jenkins for the defendant. Mr. Justice Wricut, in giving judgment, said probably Mr. Johnson doubted whether a partnership existed, as there was no deed, but he had clearly so acted as to give Canon Clarke reasonable grounds for believing a partnership did exist. No question was raised as to there being a partnership in the other properties, which were carried on in the same manner. He could not accept the contention of the defendant’s counsel that the half profits were paid to Canon Clarke solely as a salary for editing the Chatterbox, and, in spite of the codicil, he should decide in favour of the plaiutiff’s claim. He, however, would defer giving formal judgment until next Saturday, in order to give counsel an opportunity of couferring as to what would be a fair arrange- ment to make in regard to the title of which Mr. Johnson's representatives had admitted their legal ownership. eee III. THe First Decrer Unprer tHe New AMERICAN Coprrieut Act. The first decrees entered under the new Copy- right Act, by which English publishers are enabled to obtain copyrights in the United States, have just been entered in the United States Circuit Court for the district of New Jersey. The suits in which these decrees were made were instituted by Messrs. Eyre and Spottiswoode, Her Majesty’s printers, against the New York Recorder Company and the American Lithographic Company, and had relation to a copyright in an engraving entitled “ Little Lord Fauntleroy.” Messrs. Eyre and Spottiswoode, who, as proprietors of the ‘“ Woodbury Com- pany,” publish engravings and works of art of all descriptions, employed Mr. Charles J. Tompkins, an English engraver, to reproduce, in pure mezzotint, the painting by James Sant, R.A., entitled “ Little Lord Fauntleroy.’’ This engrav- ing was duly copyrighted in the United States. Shortly after the first artist’s proofs appeared in the American market the engraving was copied by the defendants, where:pon the plaintiffs immediately instructed their representatives, Messrs. E. and J. B. Young and Co., of Cooper Union, N.Y., to institute suits. Mr. Rowland Cox, an eminent member of the legal profession in New York, was retained to conduct the case, and Mr. W. Hugh Spottiswoode went over to represent the firm of Eyre and Spottiswoode. The statement of complaint was based upon the allegation that the engraving had  | | . | ' ] i } 1 | THE been used in the manufacture of the chromo- lithograph made and sold by the defendants, which fact was supported by numerous coinci- dences which were pointed out. A preliminary injunction was granted by his Honour Judge Lacombe, based upon an inspection of the engrav- ing and the chromos and expert testimony. The final decrees now entered recognise the rights of the complainants, and provide for perpetual injunctions restraining the sale of the chromo- lithographs. The painting after which this engraving was made was in the Royal Academy Exhibition of 18g1. The infringement complained of consisted of a lithographic reproduction issued as an ‘art supplement” to the New York Recorder of Feb. 28, 1892, under the title of “A Noble Friend.” The result of this litigation will be satisfactory to all who are interested in British art.— 7vmes, Dee. 30, 1892. IV. MAGAZINES AND COPYRIGHT. It is not unnatural, perhaps, that a difference of opinion should exist as to the interpretation of a statute so inartificially framed as the Copyright Act of 1842. With this excuse I venture to dissent from the view expressed in your article on page 190, as to the effect of sect. 18; and T notice that some of your readers are appa- rently still in doubt as to the meaning of that section. You say “if the proprietor has paid for the article, and unless the author by express or implied contract reserves to himself the copyright, then the copyright for a period of twenty-eight years resides with the proprietor . . . after that period the copyright for the remainder of the term reverts back to the author.” This view is in accordance with the statement contained in Mr. Shortt’s ‘‘ Law relating to Works of Literature and Art” (2nd edit. p. 101). But the section of the Act says that the proprietor “shall enjoy the same rights as if he were the actual author thereof, and shall have such term of copyright therein as is given to the authors of books by this Act.” Now, the author of a book under the Act has a copyright for life and seven years more, or forty- two years; and this I submit to be the period of copyright which the proprietor enjoys if he is entitled under sect. 18 to any copyright in the article at all. In order that the proprietor should be so VOL. III. AUTHOR. 343 entitled it seems that three conditions must be fulfilled : (1) Employment.—The writer must have been employed to write the article. (2) Terms.—The article must be written on the terms that the copyright therein shall belong to the proprietor. (3) Payment.—The writer of the article must be paid. Tn the absence of any of these three essentials, would the proprietor be entitled to any copyright in the article at all? I would submit that if he wished to procure the copyright he must do so by an assignment in writing (Layland v. Stewart, 4 Ch. Div. 419). Some confusion apparently arises from the limitation contained in sect. 18, by which the proprietor is precluded from publishing the article in a separate form, and the use of the word “revert”? as applied to the right of the author to publish the article in a separate form at the expiration of twenty-eight years. Inasmuch as the proprietor never has the right to publish the article in a separate form, and the autbor cannot have such right until the expiration of twenty- eight years, except by agreement, express or implied, the word “revert” appears to be inappropriate. Haroup Harpy. V. From THE Zvmes. Sir,—The letters that have appeared in the Times on the subject of American copyright prompt me to give you an account of the treat- ment I have received in the United States. In April last I. published, in England, a book on a medical subject. In November T noticed an advertisement of an American mineral water, in which occurred a quotation strongly recom- mending it. The quotation was stated to be taken from a book with the same title as mine, by me, and edited by R. W. Wilcox, M.D., an American. This was the first I had ever heard either of the mineral water, or the American edition of my book, I got a copy of it from the United States, and found that the English edition of my book had been reprinted there, with the insertion in various places of statements I never made, and that there was no indication whatever that they were the work of the American editor. The exact title of my book was retained, and this American edition was stated, on the title-page, to be by me and to be edited by Dr. Wilcox ; consequently I was made to appear responsible for statements T never made, and even to puff mineral waters of which I never heard, and all this without my BB  THE 314 sanction or a single line from the American publisher or editor to say what they were doing. Iam your obedient servant, W. Hare Wuirs, M.D. 65, Harley-street, W., Jan. 9. V1, A Case For THE Socrery. A certain journal recently advertised for stories. Among those sent in was a good one, for which the author asked at the rate of two guineas for every thousand words. The editor offered ten shillmgs. While the correspondence was. still going on, the editor published it as the winner of a guinea prize, profferine that sum in full payment. A claim was made, at the instance of the Society, for the balance due. The case came before a metropolitan small debts court. The judge expressed himself in very strong terms about the proceedings of the magazine. The defendants then asked for an adjournment in order to produce a certain letter which, it was sworn, would be inconsistent with the plaintiff's evidence, The action was adjourned, the defendants paying the costs of the day. With some difficulty an exact note of the matter, so far, was taken, and on the adjourn- ment the case was taken up exactly at the point where it had stopped, with a reminder as to the meaning of this note, and that the court took a strong view of the case if the letter were not produced. The letter was not forthcoming, The defendants were defeated, and the author obtained his claim in full, together with all his costs. VII. THe Harpsuirs or PusiisHina, Mr. Heinemann, in the Atheneum of Dee. 3; contributed a paper on the above title. What follows—the reply of the week following—shows what he said about the Society. He expresses his surprise that the Authors’ Society should “take upon itself ”—‘ take upon itself” !—“to judge the proper remuneration the author should receive.” Here is a confusion of thought into which many have fallen. Literary work, one must remind Mr. Heinemann, is the property of the author—of him who produces, creates, invents, and writes it—not of him who sells it. The author retains that property until he parts with it for a consideration. The AUTHOR. book does not—cannot—belong to the publisher at all until he buys it. This may seem elementary, but it is really the root of the whole matter. The Society of Authors, as the defender of literary property, must consider the proportion of profit—not remuneration—that is to be the author’s and his agent’s respectively. An author who entrusts his property to a middleman to manage must, if he is a wise man, negotiate in his own interests on the same basis as underlies all other business, viz., the value of the property and the proportion that should be paid to the middleman for his services. The Society has in the past endeavoured strenuously to place authors, for the first time in the history of literature, in a position which will enable them to understand the meaning of their property, and I hope it will always continue to do so. ‘ Mr. Heinemann speaks of “a number of very inaccurate and very unreliable handbooks” which we have pub- lished. Indeed! What are these? We have issued a book called “Methods of Publishing,’ in which a great number of actual agreements which have been brought to our notice have been analysed. Is this book inaccurate? If so, in what way? We have also issued a book, called, ‘ The Cost of Production,” in which the cost of producing books of the ordinary and common kinds is considered. This book was most carefully got up with the assistance and estimates of three or four firms of printers. Now I will tell Mr. Heinemann a little story about the book. A certain publisher, with this work in his hand, began to complain of its gross inaccuracies,” to a man, who, unfor- tunately for him, knew the business. He laughed. ‘“ Well,” he said, “I will make yon an offer, Mr. So-and-so. Give me all your printing on these terms, and I will get it done for you ata good profit to myself.’ He did not get that printing, however. I can also tell Mr. Heinemann that I have seen many accounts in which the cost of production, as rendered by the publisher, was actually less than that estimated in our book. Further, on the recent advance of composition, a new edition, then about to appear, contained the necessary alterations ; and on the recent advance of binding our .members were advised that there would be another small change under this head. I do not know what Mr. Heinemann means by congratulating himself that this book, and the “ mischief’? produced by it have not gone very far. ‘“ The Cost of Production” has, I believe, nearly completed its third edition. There are certainly not 3000 authors of all branches in this country whose productions can be considered as literary property. It is therefore to be presumed that nearly all those authors worth considering have got the book. As regards royalties, I do not know what individual members of our Council may say—itis not evidence as to the work of the Society—but there are one or two questions which naturally occur, as, for instance, what proportion of profit, i.e., difference between sales and cost of production, should a publisher claim for his services ? And why? And what royalty, in the case of a popular book, represents Mr. Heinemann’s views? And on what figure, is his opinion based? We have given our figures in our book, and, until good reason otherwise is produced, we shall stick to them. But it may help us to have Mr. Heinemann’s figures, especially if he will allow anyone to make some such offer as was quoted above. Mr. Heinemann suggests a publishers’ union. Excellent! Nothing could be more desirable. Honourable men can only combine for honourable purposes, and will exclude dis- honourable men from their association. This letter has been followed by one from Mr. Arthur D, Innes, which would call for no com-  THE ment but for the stale old charges which are blindly copied. Thus—Mr. Innes says (1) that publishers “have a natural objection to being spoken of in a lump as little better than thieves.” Quite so. When did the society so speak of them ? (2) “That the authors do not include office expenses in the ‘ Cost of Production.” How far publishers’ office expenses ought to be considered in an agreement is open to argument: so is the question of authors’ expenses. (3) That the authors say that no publisher ever loses on a book. The authors have never said any such thing. (4) The Society “ differs from publishers ” as to the cost of producing a book. One did not know this. We produce figures based on the estimates of most respectable printers who cannot be accused of sweating. These four statements have been made over and over again. They willcontinue to be made, I supp se, so long as it is thought they will serve any purpose. WB. oc ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN AUTHORS. HE stated monthly meeting was held on Dec. 7, at the Hotel Brunswick in Boston at 3 p.m., and was a large and representative gathering. Colonel T. W. Hig- ginson presided. The minutes of the last mect- ing were read and accepted. The stamp plan of publication, which had been discussed and laid over at the last meeting, was then taken up and elicited an animated debate, nearly every member present speaking pro or con. The majority of the speakers favoured the adoption of the plan or of some other that would prove as effective. Mrs. Julia Ward Howe remarked that she had not been present at former meetings, and asked as to the object of the proposed stamp plan. The Secretary explained, that it aimed to afford the author sume knowledge as to the number of books sold; that under the present system a publisher might sell an edition of 5000 copies and report but 3000, and the author could only accept his statement, having uo means of veri- fying it. It was proposed by this plan to apply business methods to what was purely a matter of business. In reply to the Chair, the Secretary said that he had received from Mr. Coolidge, our Minister to France, a letter enclosing one from the Secretary of La Société des Gens de Lettres, VOL. Ill. BUTHOR. 315 which he follows < would read. The translation was as SIR,— It is to be desired indeed that publishers should be obliged to affix upon each copy sold a seal furnished by the author, in order to assure control of the number of volumes ; but there exists no law upon this subject. The Committee is. now occupied with this question, but it is as yet only being studied. From this it appeared that the plan had not yet been adopted, but was being agitated. Mrs. Louise Chandler Moulton and Mrs. Elizabeth Phelps Ward spoke in favour of the general uprightness of publishers; they ferred the stamp plan might be con-idered an imputa- tion on their honesty Prof. N. 8. Shaler was opposed to the plan; he favoured the accountant system; if he believed his publish r was cheat- ing him he would seek another publisher. stamp could be counterfeited. If authors lieved that they were being cheated they could demand that an expert accountant should examine the publisher’s books. Prof. W. M. Griswold replied. He thought the stamp system perfectly feasible. If it made uniform no publisher could object to it as an imputation on his honesty. As to counterfeit- ing the stamp, that would be forgery, and forgery was a serious crime. Mr. W. Blackburn Harte favoured the stamp plan if it could be made general. No young author would dare demand an accounting from his publisher; it would ruin him. Miss Cynthia Cleveland, Mr. James Jeffrey Roche, and Mr. Hunter McCulloch spoke in favour of the plan. President Higginson said that to object to the stamp plan because many publishers were honest was like objecting to divorce laws because most husbands and wives were happy. Laws were made for exceptional cases: because successful authors were on pleasant terms with their publishers was no proof that young and in- experienced authors were not ill-treated and de- frauded. He gave several examples of this fact. The case of a lady author had been brought to the attention of the Society. Her publisher had issued two editions of her book, one legitimate, the other of 20,000 copies without her name as author, without her knowledge, and without giving her a penny of royalty. She only dis- covered it by accident. What was a woman without money or friends to do in such a case? Many other similar examples might be cited. It was the object of the law and of this Society to protect the weak from the strong. Continuing, he said that it would be ruin for an author to enter into an indi- vidual contest with his publisher; it was not wise BB 2 pas The 1 ve- Was  316 for him to have a difference of opinion with him. There was good reason for adopting the stamp system if only to help others who could not help themselves. Mr. Robert Grant thought the effect of the stamp plan might be to widen still further the chasm between author and publisher. He favoured the accountant system, and the making of a list of reputable publishers for the use of members. Mr. Todd, for the committee, said that the plan was reported for discussion, not for adoption at that time and that it might be well to postpone the matter until more light could be had. It was resolved to accept the report of the com- mittee, and to indefinitely postpone further con- sideration of the report. Mr. Todd, being about to visit France, was then instructed to make a special investigation of the French stamp plan, and learn what efforts were being made to secure its legal adoption. It was resolved that the President appoint a committee of three to prepare a circular giving, first —the different methods of publication ; second—the cost of publication ; third—a form of a model contract between author and pub- lisher, and that such circular be printed and mailed to our members. Passed, with an amend- ment offered by Mr. Grant, that a list of reputable publishers be made out and added. Secretary Todd, of New York, Professor W. M. Griswold, of Cambridge, and Dr. Titus M. Coan, of New York, were appointed as said committee. The Secretary proposed the name of Freling H. Smith, of 115, Broadway, N. Y., as legal counsel of the association, and that he be recommended to such of our members as may desire legal advice; referred to a committee of three. Mr. Robert Grant, Miss Cynthia Cleveland, and Mr. James Jeffery Roche were appointed such comunittee. CuarLes Burr Topp, Secretary. ees. FROM THE DAILY CHRONICLE. L _\NE or two letters have recently appeared in () the Daily Chronicle. One of those, signed ‘““A Member,” was indignant because the members do not elect the Chairman of Committee, and because more is not done for the assistance of the struggling aspirants. As regards the first grievance, every committee has the privilege of electing its own committee, except when the Chairman or President of the Society is in, when he is, ea officio, the chairman of that committee THE AUTHOR. as well. The constitution of this Society, it is repeated, is contained in the articles of associa- tion, The government of the Society is like that of the Law Institute, the College of Surgeons, the Society of Arts, the Palestine Exploration Fund, and so many others. That is to say, the administration rests with the Council, or the Fellows, not with the members ; and the Council elects its own members. The complaining member has since communi- cated with the Editor. He reduces his claims, or propositions, to six. We gladly give publicity to these: 1. He would havea Free Register of all persons engaged in literature—Such a list, or register, has been proposed and seriously considered But there are difficulties. What is literature? Is it journalism? If so, journalism including the penny-a-liner? How far down is literature to go? And who is to draw the line? Even if we include only those who have written books, the question of expense is very serious. We could hardly charge authors so much for putting in their names, and the question arises how far such a volume—which must be no more than a dictionary —would pay its way? 2. Public advertisement of the pay of maga- zines and journals.—This has also been asked for in the Author before now. The difficulty is this: The better-class English magazines, unless special terms are made—which is generally the case with well-known names—pay a guinea a page. The inferior sort pay just exactly what they think the author will take. If it is a very miserable sum they fall back on the excuse that it is their “ scale pay,” their “regular” pay, their “tariff” pay. 3. The granting of certificates to literary agents.—Humph! Suppose the agents do not want certificates. There would be some sense in this if authors were agreed to employ no agent without such a certificate. First let us make our members fall into line and agree together. We have not yet got so far. 4, Monthly meetings of members.—Certainly. But what will they do when they meet ? 5. A bi-monthly Author at 3d.—A weekly Author would be better. But it cannot yet be afforded. Shall we ever afford it? Such a paper would cost a good many thousands a year, and would require a circulation of 6000 at least to pay expenses, not reckoning the possible advertisements. 6. “A Union Branch.’ — Well, we are a union, so far as authors, have ever yet been united. What any further union can effect outside the lines on which we are steadily advancing is not intelligible.  THE i The second letter, signed ‘ Resignation,” is appended as a very pretty specimen of deliberate malignity. It appeared in the Daily Chronicle of Jan. 6, 1893: S1r,—The letter of “A Member” on the management of the “ Incorporated Society of Authors” is, in my view, very much to the point. It appears from the January number of the Author that the society “is distinctly and frankly oli- garchic,” and that ordinary members have no more rights or privileges than are covered by the monthly receipt of the journal, which can be purchased in the open market for 6d. a month. To ask poor devils of authors to pay one guinea annually for the honour of sitting at the feet of the fifty odd Gamaliels who compose the council, without ever seeing them or sharing in the benefit of their united wisdom, is too much of a joke. Like others, I joined the society in the belief that it was organised, like any other association, for the union of certain interests or persons; and it is, there- fore, staggering to be told that membership carries with it no earthly advantage save advice gratis on publishing agree- ments, which, however, can be had anywhere for less than half the subscription. There are no published rules in con- nection with this society, no special annual report, no list of members, no publications at all save the Author (and this members are asked to subscribe for in addition as much as they can). Ihave never seen a financial statement. There are no meetings for the transaction of business, and, to crown all, it appears from recent statements that no voice whatever is allowed in the management of the society to any ordinary subscriber. In these circumstances it seems that resignation (not in the sense of enduring) is the best course for those dwellers in Grub-street who cannot spare guineas like members of the “ oligarchy.’”—I am, Sir, yours truly, RESIGNATION. This letter was written, it is clear, with the deliberate intention of injuring the Society by the use of absolute falsehoods. 1. “ No published rules.”’—It is a public com- pany with Articles of Association which it is bound to produce on application. 2. “No special annual report.’”—Not a single year has passed without a special annual report. 3. “ No list of members.”—There is a list at the office. It is not published, and is not likely to be published, for very good reasons. 4. “No publications except the - futhor.’— There are six volumes which are advertised in every number of the Author. 5. “Members are asked to subscribe for the Author as much as they can.”—Members are told that, if they choose not to pay for the Author, they will go on having it; but they are told that those who send up their 6s. 6d. a year help the com- mittee inthe expense of the paper (see p. 309). 6. “He has never seen a financial statement.” —One duly audited by professional auditors appears with every annual report. 7. “There are no meetings for the transaction of business.”—There is at least one every year at which members are invited to comment on the Report. AUTHOR. ot7 8. “Members have no voice in the conduct of the Society.” The Council, through the Com- mittee, manages the Society, but no member has ever yet sent in a suggestion which has not been. properly considered. g. “ Members get nothing but advice gratis on an agreement, which can be had anywhere for less than half the subscription.”—Can it? One would like to know where. Moreover, this is not all that the member gets. He has the right to free legal opinion in any difficulty that arises in his business. He has his agreements examined for him. He has his agreements stamped for him. He can consult the secretary in any arrangement, proposal, or trouble that he may happen to be engaged in. The letter was answered by Mr. Thring. It is only quoted here to show the desperate straits to which the enemies of the Society are reduced when such a string of falsehoods can be devised and thrown into the form of a letter with intent to deceive the readers of a paper and to injure the society. pect A CONFESSION. \ PENITENT Publisher” sends a paper he has contributed to the Western Daily Mercury on the general subject of pub- lishing. It is a remarkable paper, and deserves to find a more lasting place than in the columns of a daily paper. Here are some extracts and compressions : 1. Why, he asks, do publishers publish ? “In order,’ he replies, ‘to make money.” That was known before, but it is useful to repeat it if only to put an end to the ‘ Patron of Litera- ture” impersonation which is so favourite a réle with some publishers. 2. “The prizes are few and the risks are ereat.” It is evident that the writer of the paper uses the word “risk ” ina sense different from that to which we are accustomed. By ‘risk’? we mean the danger of not covering the small outlay of production with a certain amount above. By “risk” this writer clearly means uncertainty of a large and remunerative sale. Now, most pub- lishers will refuse a work unless they see their way quite clearly to covering their outlay, and many, unless they see their way to a remunerative sale. a. “the MSS. came in at the rate of 1500 a ear.” Those which were selected were laid before the partners assembled, 4. Proposals were made to the authors of these MSS. These proposals varied, but they will all  318 be found in the Society’s book—the “ Methods of Publishing.” 5. “Authors sometimes behave badly.”” Some will sell a book and then go away and write another on the same subject for another house. One man assured this firm that his last novel had run through seven editions. So it had: but they were editions of fifty each. Another—a clergyman —said that the last work had sold 25,000 copies. Perhaps; but the work he brought this firm did not reach 200. Authors sometimes plagiarise. Authors sometimes obtain money in advance for works they take five or six years to complete. 6. On estimates. An author cannot be too cautious in accepting an esti- mate. He is usually tempted to ask for one in order that he may know the expense to which he is likely to be put. But the better plan is to get a general idea of the cost, and to bargain that he shall be charged the actual amounts which the publishers pay. He should never attempt to get his book printed for himself. A publisher can always get it done more cheaply. There are few printers who can resist the temptation of making a handsome profit out of an inexperienced hand. Why, indeed, should they? But the author must see that he gets the advantage of the cheap production, and not the publisher. A keen look out should be kept for possible discounts. Advertisements should be paid for at “actuals,” and not at list or scale prices. A publisher receives in some cases a discount of as much as one-third of the price. The cost of “ corrections ” is a fruitful source of dispute. These are charged for by the time they take to make, and cost from tod. to 1s. an hour. It is difficult for a publisher to check this item in the printer’s bill; for an author it is almost impossible. It will perhaps be useful if I give a few examples of the cost of books. These figures may be relied on, as they are drawn from my own actual experience. I have selected the classes of books more usually published by the author at his own, or partly at his own, expense. 1. A crown octavo three volume novel, making in all about 850 pages. This was considerably longer than the average. The edition was one of 500 copies. It may be mentioned that printing (or “machining,” as it is techni- cally termed) is usually estimated for by the double sheet of 32pp., while crown paper is often bought in reams of quad sheets, each of which gives 64pp. & & a. Composition (i.e., setting the type).................. 68 0 0 Corrections (made by author in proof) ............ LS 12 6 Binding at 36s. 6d. per 100 vols................ 000505 a2 2 {e 6 Paper, 12} reams quad crown of 120Ib. per ream at SO Per ll, ue 19° 26 Machining 26} reams at 12s. 6d. .......0....0000.. Ws 3 Total (not including advertising) ...... 143 9 9 2. Novel. One crown 8yo. volume. 1000 copies. 340 pages. s. d. Coniporition (0 34.9 9 COrechions 406 13 15 0 Binding at 86. per 100° 3 8 Binder’s letterings ................, £2050 Paper, 22 reams double crown .....,...... 3 EL 16.56 Machining at 6s. 6d. perream ......................7 3 0 THE AUTHOR. 3. Shilling Shocker, 1000 copies. 192 pages. 2 sd Composition ..0.s. ce Corrections: 9 ...50 205.3 2 4°16 Binding 210 0 Printing 1000 wrappers .. 2 6 0 Pape? oat 7 4 0 Machining ...... eau sie y ibis eels ae Moulditig. ee 210 6 Potala 30 2 7 To this, at least, £10 must be added for advertising. The sale of the whole edition would realise about £30, and there would, therefore, be a loss on the book of about £10, which would have to be made up in subsequent editions. In order that these may be cheaply produced, “ moulds” are taken of the type in papier maché. From these a stereotype cast is taken when required. The cost of this would be about £5. A second edition of 1000 copies would then cost £20 18s. Bringing forward the £10 lost on the first edition, and adding £5 for further advertising, the loss on the book would, after the second 1000 were sold, be reduced to £5. Athird edition would cost £15 18s. After the sale of 3000 there would therefore be a profit of £10 to be divided between author and publisher. Roughly speaking, no shilling book is worth producing unless at least 3000 copies can be sold. 4. Volume of verse. Foolscap. 500 copies. 280 pages.. ae Composition ..055... 22 10 10 Corrections 4.(, 3.05. 2) 312 6 Binding | 32 we LO Binders’s letterings ......4.060..00 0 8 3 Paper 7.45.50 3814 4 Machining ......... ee ay See Moulding 00 a 316 8 Potala ee 50 8 7 5. Volume of Essays. 250 copies. 256 pages. sd. Paper oe a ee 210 0 Binding 32.3 4 Los Composition and machining .. 18-8: 0 Corrections: <30). i 119 6 Voted oe 2618 9 The above examples will serve, to some extent, as a guide to my readers as to the cost of production. The figures given may be taken as a fair price for country printers. London work is more expensive. It is interesting to compare the “ Publisher’s ” figures with our own. Turning to the ‘Cost of Production” (Third Edition), p. 15, we there find the estimate for a novel of about the same number of pages. It comes out, though it is I think longer, at £12 less for composition ; alittle more for machining ; our binding is a great deal less, viz, 28s. instead of 36s. 6d. per 100 vols.; but binding has gone up 15 per cent. The only real difference is in the item composition, which perhaps shows that the work was done in London. Then he allows £18 odd for corrections, which is a very large sum. Perhaps the type was smaller than that for which we estimated. This would make the  THE difference in composition. As regards the one vol. novel, we are not given the type or the length of the page, but, roughly speaking, the cost 1s about the same as our own. The shilling shocker, according to us, costs £29 12s. gd for 1000 copies; according to the “ Publisher” £30 2s. 7d., which is near enough. 7. Royalties : In the case of books of little or no risk the most satis- factory arrangement is to have a royalty on every copy sold. The author is not troubled with accounts. All he has to see is that he does receive his royalty on all copies sold, as instances have been known of several thousand copies being disposed of secretly without the author’s know- ledge. Publishers usually insert a clause in the agreement to the effect that in the case of sales at special prices the author shall only receive 5 per cent. on the amount so realised. It is often necessary to dispose of books in this way, and no wrong is done the author so long as the clause is legitimately used. It does, however, afford a loophole for sharp practice, and the author should, therefore, keep an eye on its working, more especially with regard to sales for America, &c. 8. Agents: On the whole, I should advise young authors to have nothing to do with agents. These intermediaries are quite unnecessary, and their honesty is not invariably cast-iron. I have known cases in which the agent was paid by both sides, and more heavily by the puhlisher than by the author. An author should learn to make his own terms. He should take every opportunity of investigating the cost of produc- tion and the methods of the trade. He should keep an eye on the literary papers and notice what publishers produce particular classes of books. And he should not neglect the simple and ordinary precautions of business, such as getting his agreements stamped, &c. g. Solicitors If the author’s agent is undesirable, the solicitor is use- less. I never knew a solicitor yet who undertood the tech- nicalities of the trade, who could distinguish sheets from quires, or pearl from pica. Some of the worst agreements I have known were those drawn by the help of solicitors. They are always suspecting the wrong thing, and guarding against trickeries which no publisher outside of an asylum would think of perpetrating. The Author’s Society : This society has done good work, and authors would do well to provide themselves with its publications. Pub- lishers have no quarrel whatever with the work of the society. en 9 MISS MITFORD; OR, "TIS SIXTY YEARS SINCE. > HE following letter was written by Miss Mitford, from her house near Reading, to Mrs. Trollope. It was just after the appearance of Mrs. Trollope’s ‘‘ Domestic Manners AUTHOR. 3'2 of the Americans,” and before her first novel ‘‘ The Refugee in America.” It was also just before the appearance of Miss Mitford’s fifth and con- cluding volume of ‘‘ Our Village.” The difficulties of an author with editors were far greater, it will be perceived, thenthan now. The editor who refuses to pay, does not answer letters, and pre- tends not to have received letters sent, is now a creature who presides over obscure and struggling papers, not the representative of great houses. It is a glimpse of a bad anda bygone time. “Three Mile Cross, “ My dear Friend, « April 30, 1832. “T am going to write you a very long and strictly confidential letter; for, as a dramatic author, I am so much in the power of these magazine and annual editors, who are all, more or less, connected with the weekly or daily press, that nothing short of my strong affection for you and my warm sympathy with the cause of your writing would induce me to unveil my opinion of them. The fact is that, for the most part, they are so dishonest that I should entirely Lives you to abstain from writing for them. Two magazines, and two only, paid me last year, though of cne other it is confessed by their own bookseller that my article, and mine only, sold the book!!! If the »y serve me so, it is like ly that they would be e >qually remiss, even with you, though I have no doubt that they would grasp at your papers eagerly. I will gladly oive you notes to two of the editors if you lke, warning you that for certain reasons, of which T will ie you se your papers are likely to be declined. With the other persons IT have made up my mind to have nothing to de. itis too bad to have been for years the main prop of their publications, and then to be cheated (as I have been during the last two years) out of nearly £100 amongst them; and all this, not merely because their works are going out of fashion, but because they live at an expense and give parties, and vie with each other in dress, furniture, and finery to a degree actually incredible. My price is ten guine as an article—higher, I believe, than they give anyone else. It answered to me, because, also reserving the copyright, I thus get, as, it were, doubly paid for the volumes of ‘Our Village,” in which the papers were subsequently collected. But, besides the pecuniary disappoint- ment, it provokes one not to be paid one’s honest earnings. So that I really thought it only right to give you fair warning. What makes it that these people pretend to be my worse is, friends!!! “The magazines will, I fear, suit you as little.  THE 320 The inferior oves pay little, and often not at all. Colburn’s, the New Monthly (which would be sure pay, but is altogether Radical), the Metropolitan, I know (for I have just had a demélé with the editor), is as tricky as if it were an annual, and Fraser's, besides that the pay is very small—only £10 a sheet of sixteen pages, double columns— is hardly such as a Jady likes to write for. On the whole, I think Whittaker’s Magazine would suit you best, though the pay is only £10a sheet. To him you can, of course, speak without scruple. But, in my mind, my dear Mrs. , I really think that you will find it better to write novels—I mean, better for money. There is no doubt of your finding a ready pur- chaser, since this work has done its office of making a reputation most speedily and effec- tually, and have not a doubt but that it is by far the most profitable branch of the literary profession. I shall be most anxious to see your novel. May I ask of what sort it is? English or foreign? modern or ancient ? If ever I be bold enough to tr; that arduous path, I shall endeavour to come as near as I can to Miss Austen, my idol. I do not think that Whitaker has done badly by you. The work was well advertised, as it deserved to be, though Captain Hall’s review was the best advertisement. I suppose that he has made a good deal of me— but so they do all—and I don’t know that one gains much by changing. You are very good about my opera. I am sorry to tell you, and you will be kindly sorry to hear, that the composer has disappointed me, that the music is not now yet ready, and that the piece is therefore neces- sarily delayed till next season, I am very sorry for this on account of the money, and because I have many friends in and near town (yourself amongst the rest) whom I was desirous to see ; but I suppose that it will be for the good of the opera to wait till the beginning of a season, It is to be produced with extraordinary splendour, and will, I think, be a tremendous hit. I hope also to have a tragedy out at nearly the same time in the autumn, and then I trust we shall meet, and I shall see your dear girls and Mr. Henry. Your elder and younger sons I already know. How glad I am to find that you partake of my great aversion to the sort of puffery belonging to literature. I hate it, and always did, and love you all the better for partaking in my feeling on the subject. I believe that in me it is pride that revolts at the puff, and then it is so false— the people are so clearly flattering to be flattered. Oh! T hate it!!! Mrs. Wilson is better, but she breaks fast. I scarcely evér see Mr. B , and fear for her much, The man is spending three times her income, and she will be a very wretched AUTHOR. oor woman. Moreover, he’s a fool. > T hope that dear Marianne will be benefited by her tour. I had an illegible crossed letter from her. from which I contrived to make out that she was very happy—the best piece of information to those who love her. Adieu, my dear frien, Pray keep my secret, and forgive this hasty scrawl, Make my kindest regards, and accept my father’s.—Ever most faithfully and affection- ately yours, ““M. R. Mrrrorp, “I suppose my book will be out in about a month, I shall desire Whitaker to send youa copy. It is the fifth and last volume.” Sees AN OMNIUM GATHERUM FOR FEBRUARY. AY I once more propound a few discon- nected suggestions ? Subjects for Books or Articles—A list of pseudonyms, including (with their consent) those of living writers; Political Nomenclature; A paged index to the Bible; An annotated edition of Mill on Liberty; A short (with all acknowledg- ments to Mr, Moncure Conway) life of Thomas Paine (with extracts from the “ Age of Reason ” and the “ Rights of Man,” and special reference to Paine’s scheme for pensioning the aged poor) ; The Evils of Early Marriages ; Fifty Years of Life : an Inquiry whether the possession of political and other power should not be confined between the ages of 25 and 75; The Curtailment of the Testa- mentary Power, with special reference to the morality of Charitable Bequests. Copyright.—Is not the time arrived for the Society to put forward an amending Bill on the subject of copyright — say, about ten clauses, dealing with the term of copyright, the dramatisa- tion of novels, newspaper copyright, the absur- dity of existing artistic copyright, and other pressing matters? Our consolidating Bill, so grotesquely dealt with by the late Government, must wait till it is taken up by the Government of the day. The Magazines—Not long ago, the Author contained a few particulars of the terms on which the magazines receive MSS., whether they engage to return them with or without stamps, &c. Could not a complete list be printed in the Author of these terms, with the addresses of all the maga- zines P Handwriting.—Is not the chance of an article being accepted the less, and is not the cost of printing it the more, if the handwriting of the le  THE. AUTHOR. author be bad P should be so ? Is it not quite right that this American Spelling.— Could not a conference at the Chicago Exhibition come to some reasonable and amicable arrangement as to the extent to which the books of English authors may be printed with American spelling. Could not a list of the discrepancies (not, I believe, very many) be published in the Author forthwith ? The Laureateship.—Could not the Laureateship be made tenable for five years only (as the office of Commander-in-Chief in India is), so as to give more than one of our contemporary p ets a chance of wearing the laurel ? A Tontine for Authors—The Société des Gens de Lettres has an admirable plan whereby each member subscribes up to a certain age, on arriv- ing at which he may either \ake a pension or de- cline it as his means may allow (see Mr. Besant’s address in the Author of last month). Could not our Society imitate this plan with or without the help of one of our great insurance companies, and possibly with help from the Royal Literary Fund? J. M. Leny. A NATIONAL NAME. ANTED, a single name for “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Treland.” Estne bonum nobis “ Anglobriceltia ’’ nomen An melius, queso, “ Briscoterinna ” sonat ? Nil refert, titulis dum fortis Hibernia nostris Accedat, patrie nomine lata novo. Scilicet hase multos vixdum appellata per annos Non minima augusti pars fuit imperii. ORNITHORHINCUS PARADOXUS. eee NOTES FROM PARIS. iL (These Notes arrived just too late for the last Number.) TYNHE dinners known as “ Les Diners de la Plume” are rapidly becoming the pleasantest of the many monthly dinners wn Paris, La Plume is a literary society founded by M. Léon Deschamps, who publishes a magazine of that name. In connection with this magazine weekly réunions of litterateurs are held at one of the transpontine cafés, whilst every month a dinner, known as “le Diner de La Plume,” brings together the best known and the least known of VOL. ILI. sak Parisian men of letters. La Plume is the magazine of the new schools of French literature, and is contributed to by the Decadents, Symbo- listes, Romanes, and so forth. The bulk of its contents are poetry, but prose and criticism have a large place in its pages also. The contributors meet together once a week at some café, and there read their poems and discuss their art, and are as serious about it as a board of railway directors discussing their balance-sheet. The “ dinners of La Plume” are less formal. The price is five francs, including wine, and the banquet is usually held in some small café on the other side of the water. Some well-known man usually takes the chair. Zola was president a month or two ago, Coppée and Lecomte de Lisle have also presided. Tt is an excellent institution and does much to keep up that solidarity which in our métver, more than in any other, should be the desideratum of one and all, but which it really seems hopeless to look for in England. There was rather a dismal letter printed in the Daily Chronicle a few days ago in which a “member” of the Authors’ Society rather bitterly asked what the Society did for its un- successful members. ‘The question struck me as very unreasonable, but, before writing on that point, I should like to repeat, as to the passage in his letter in which I am personally touched up, that I consider it very bad form for any journa- list, who is a member of the society and who may have complaints to make about the literary con- tents of the Author, to make this complaint the subject of a paragraph in another paper. Every house is, I suppose, more or less divided against itself, but there is no reason for letting the general public know that our particular house is in that state. There are only too many people who would be delighted to see us fall, and such remarks must be unction to their souls. Let us grumble about the Society as much as we like entre nous, but still, to the outside world, present a beaming and cheerful front, as if ever since we syndicated ourselves we have a fowl in the pot every Sunday and change for a five-pound note in every one of our pockets. Se - As to what the Society ought to do for its unsuccessful members, beyond what it does in the way of advice, I for one am puzzled to answer. Still I think much good might be done by the issuing to each member who may consider himself unsuccessful a card, which he could hang up inhis room, on which should be painted in fair letters that text of Thomas a’Kempis, “ Limit thy cc i i i 322 desires and thou shalt know peace.” A man enters the literary profession either as a trades- man or as an artist. If as a tradesman, and he find that his wares don’t sell, let him sell any- thing else for which he can find a market, matches or slippers, or pastilles du serail. Tf as an artist, his success or nonsuccess financially must be matters of perfect indifference to him. All that he requires is the means of living, his enjoyment in life will come from his art. As an artist he will despise money, remembering that while Edgar Allen Poe died without a penny to his name, a certain Jay Gould has recently bequeathed seventeen millions sterling to his heirs ; and that quite recently that great man Ernest Renan died without leaving anything to his children beyond his books and manuscripts, whilst the Baron de Reinach’s heirs are dividing three million sterling between them. Of course, if a man wants to live in a perfect feu de joie of champagne corks, he never should take to litera- ture at all; on the other hand, the man who is satisfied with a very simple life, can find none more desirable than a literary life. I would personally rather live on a pound a week as an independent homme de lettres than on fifty times that amount at the sacrifice of my tastes and principles. One can get a lot of comfort for want of success out of the very genuine contempt for money which those who study the question of how wealth is acquired cannot but feel, and at the same time the pleasures which money purchases are, compared to the pleasures which we can get out of our métier, whether successful or not, so mean and miserable that one wonders at the zeal with which other men pursue them. I was never happier in my life than, when, a few years ago, I was rowing a ferry-boat between the quay of St. Lucia at Naples and the Ischia and Capriz steamers. My duty was to convey old market women backwards and forwards between the quay and the steamer, and I got a penny for each passenger, with a halfpenny for every basket carried, After deducting the rent of the boat and the pay of a scoundrelly assistant, who played the mandoline and was always drunk, my income amounted to an average of twenty-three francs a week, It was very tirmg work, but I had my evenings to myself, and I never did better literary work, nor ever shall, than at that time. I have also had pound-a-week spells in London, and was quite happy all the while. Anybody, however unsuccessful, can earn a pound a week with a few hours’ toil, and have all the rest of his time for the work which he feels it is in him to produce, And if he is a genuine artist and the kind of man of letters who is more interesting than the cheesemonger, it will THE AUTHOR. be a matter of complete indifference to him whether his books sell or don’t sell, are published or not published. The Soci¢té des Gens de Lettres have recently published the tariff at which reproductions of works by authors belonging to the society are permitted. This tariff varies from one penny a line to twopence halfpenny, according to the circulations of the papers. The tariff for serial stories, moreover, is rather less than for short stories. The longer I live the more I see that a course of journalism is the very best training that the writer of fiction can undergo. I don’t say this nastily, although in journalism as in company- promoting, a certain amount of imagination is an indispensable qualification. I mean that jourua- lism will do much to teach a man what life really is, and give him an insight into human nature which he could acquire nowhere else. I should say that a couple of years of interviewing for instance, would teach a man more about his fellow beings than years of reading, or of such society as he might have time and occasion to frequent otherwise. The interviewer is brought into con- tact with all sorts and conditions of men, and if he knows how to keep his eyes and ears open, and is endowed with a certain power of analysis, can learn aa immense amount in the course of his visits. It is, moreover, with the big men and women of the world that he is brought into con- tact, and I suppose there is more to be learnt from one big man or woman than from a thousand nonentities. Iam afraid, however, that such a course would destroy in him to a large extent, that healthy optimism, that admiration for his pastors and masters, which seems an essential characteristic of the British novelist. He will be considerably dissappointed with the great of this world, and often find himself wondering how they came to be great at all) Guy de Maupassant, in his admirable novel “ Bel-Ami,” describes th!s disillusioning piovess on the character of his hero Georges Duroy with his usual power and truth. All French authors of any value, commenced their areer as journalists, if not as interviewers. So In the leisure of writing his new work, M. Emile Zola will contribute to Ze Journal, the new paper, which is being financed by Mr. Menier, the chocolate manufacturer, a series of studies on “ How people get married.” It will be remem- bered that many years ago he published a series of sketches on “How People die.” I presume the new series will be somewhat of the same nature.  THE AUTHOR. I am sorry not to be able to answer the query addressed to me in the last number of the Author by a gentleman, apropos of Stendhal’s « Amour.’ I have not got my books by me where I am writing, and of late have been think- ing of things very different from ]’Amour, Stendbal’s or anybody else’s. But I will look the matter up, and answer my correspondent next month. R. H. SHERARD. Christmas Day, 1892. ET, Alphonse Daudet has asked me to deny the statement, which was published some time ago, in the English papers, that he has any intention of visiting London this year. He said that possibly one of the many false Alphonse Daudets, who are de par le monde, may have proposed to go to London, and to masquerade there in bor- rowed plumes. He added that it has long been his wish, and always his hope, to visit England, but that at present the state of his health makes travelling quite impossible. I was sorry to find him looking aged, and obliged to use a crutch- handled stick to help him about his room. He is, however, still able to work, and is at present engaged upon a novel which is on the subject of youth, and which he proposes to eall “ Soutien de Famille.’ He says that it is giving him a great deal of trouble. +> Jules Verne writes to me that his health is far from satisfactory, and that he suffers especially with his eyes, which are so bad that he is often obliged to interrupt his daily task. At the same time he says that he is encouraged to hope that the trouble will only be temporary. I have always fancied that Verne makes a mistake in living in Amiens, a damp, misty, and most dismal of the cities of the plain. I should fancy it to be one of the least healthy of French towns, as it cer- tainly is one of the most depressing. SS The wife of a New York millionaire, who recently rented the country house of one of our literary lords, has, I hear, taken to authorship. Her first novel will be published in New York in the spring, and will, I fancy, create a sensation in society circles in England. It is a satire on the ways of the London world, and a keen one. T hear that Miss Marie Belloc, who is one of the cleverest of the young ladies in London who 323 make a living by their pens, has been commis- sioned by a firm of London publishers to write a biography of the De Goncourt Brothers, She was recently in Paris to collect material for this purpose, and was most amiably received by M. de Goncourt, who placed himself entirely at her disposition. A few days ago I made the acquaintance of an American at the counter of one of the American bars here. He was a most respectable-looking old gentleman, and I was much impressed both by his manners and his conversation until J learned that this benevolent and dignified person was nothing more nor less than a pirate publisher of New York City, and one of the worst of them. It was amusing to hear him speak of his various business coups, and I can’t deny that I was rather flattered when, in answer to my question as to what he had “done” with a certain volume of my own which he had “handled,” he mentioned a figure, or number of copies, which made me feel quite popular. I did not even attempt to discuss the morality of his transactions, so firmly convinced did he seem of their perfect legality and straightforwardness, but I did venture a timid objection to his having changed the title of my book, and “ edited” it up or down to the tastes of his clientele. To this he answered that he knew best what fetched his public, and no doubt he did. After a whiskey or two he invited his “author” to dinner, and took him to a Bouillon Duval, where he regaled me to the extent of four francs, and seemed to think that he was acting very handsomely by me. Had he only given me a 5 per cent. royalty on the copies he had sold of my book—but he didn’t. Apropos of American pirates. I don’t know why this name should be specially applied to a certain class of publisher in the States. I remember offering an MS, of special interest to the American reading public to one of the best and most reputable of New York publishing firms. Their answer was that, as I was doubtless aware, “I was liable to be republished in America,” and that they should prefer to wait— i.e., until they could get my book for nothing. a Albert Delpit, who died since my last letter appeared in the Author, was one of the most popular hommes de lettres amongst his confreres. Although his talents were not such as arouse the enthusiasm of the fraternity—although he was very popular with the reading public—he was so  324 THE AUTHOR. good-hearted, gallant, and generous, that every- body liked him. He was always willing to give a young author a helpiog hand, and there are many writers in Paris to-day who owe their start to him. Delpit was a great duellist, as ready with his rapier as with his pen. His most famous duel was with Alphonse Daudet, and only shortly before his death he very nearly “ went out” with Brunetitre, the critic, for reviling his dead friend, the poet Baudelaire. Ropert SHERarp. THE STARVELING. Her little hands to wraiths were worn, Her face was weirdly wan ; She lifted up one look forlorn Then feebly faltered on ; The flowers she in her basket bore, Poor, sad, forsaken elf, As afternoon to evening wore, Seemed spectres, like herself. High o'er the turmoil of the town, Above the traffic’s beat, A bright-eyed star beamed softly down Upon the squalid street ; But as it watched that wastrel there, So desolate, and drear, Shining no more serenely fair, It clouded with a tear! * * * * Dawn glimmers from the calm cold sky Across a garret-bed, Where, ah, how strangely placid, lie Two little hands outspread— Into the room a star smiles clear, As tho’ with gladness fraught That Death, in answer to its tear, At last had rescue wrought ! WILLIAM TOYNBEE. ee NOTES AND NEWS. ROFESSOR Brander Matthews very kindly P sends me a little book of his called “ Americanisms and Briticisms.”’ The first two chapters are devoted to the national differences of speech and spelling. These do not, after all, amount to very much. I hope that we shall not be forced into the adoption of American spelling, which seems to me even worse than our own, what nobody can defend and yet we must retain. On the other hand, we cannot expect to convince Americans that our way is better than their own, and we may just as well leave off considering the subject, or at all events, writing essays and articles about it. The author hardly touches on the question of pronunciation, which is a much more interesting one, because some of the older- ways of pronouncing words are kept up in the States. Then Mr. Matthews says that he was brought up to pronounce again and been as if they were written agen and bin, which is Eliza- bethan. All the essays are more or less marred by a singular spirit of jealousy towards our writers, and by a needless persistence in com- paring American writers with our writers, always to the advantage of the former. Every man does well to be jealous for his own country: but it surely shows some suspieion of weakness to be always comparing. It is as if one was not sure of one’s ground. The best essay in the book is that on the Art of Criticism. Here we must all be heartily on the side of this American writer. More, we must acknow- ledge that he has put his case clearly and forcibly, as well as pleasantly. What we call “slating ”—a Briticism—is, for the most part, a brutal, useless, degrading, and degraded kind of criticism. The true critic—to quote from the book—“ is no more an executioner than he is an assassin; he is rather a seer sent out to spy out the land, and most useful when he comes back bringing a good report and bearing a full muster of grapes.” The great critics do not go out of their way to deride and expose an impostor. Nor is it. worth the while of a critic to slate an unfortunate man merely because he is popular and has a wide circulation. Must, then, humbugs and vulgar writers thrive? Certainly, for their little day. Must we not expose the impostor and point out vulgarity and keep up the standard of literature ? Certainly, but accordmg to the laws of good manners and with courtliness — not with a bludgeon, or a flail, or a quarter-staff. M. Edouard Scherer, Mr. Matthews says, once handled M. Emile Zola without the gloves—with what result? ‘ Since Scherer fell foul of him, M. Zola has written the strongest novel, Germinal (one of the most popular tales of this century) ; and his rankest story La Terre, one of the most offensive fictions in all the history of literature.” The author speaks of certain praises bestowed upon certain writers in c-rtain papers as hopelessly un- critical. Very true; but every paper must have its reviews, and how many critics have we? The difficulty of getting a book well reviewed is too great for any editor to encounter quite success- fully. I would suggest that Mr. George Suints- bury’s suggestion be adopted, and that the young critic should pass an examination, and obtain a certificate or a degree. Q.C. might thus mean  THE AUTHOR. Qualified Critic as well as Queen’s Counsel; or C.C.—Competent Critic—as well as County Councillor. Mr. Matthews gives ‘“ Twelve Good Rules for Reviews,” and these are so good and so simple that I wish every editor in this realm or empire would have them printed and given to every critic with every book he hands him for review. I. Form an honest opinion. Il. Express it honestly. IfI. Don’t review a book which you cannot take seriously. IV. Don’t review a book with which you are out of sym- pathy. That is to say, put yourself in the author’s place, and try to see his work from his point of view, which is sure to be a coign of vantage. V. Stick to the text. Review the book before you, and not the book some other author might have written ; obiter dicta are as valueless from the critic as from the judge. Don’t go off on a tangent. And also don’t go round in a circle. Say what you have to say, and stop. Don’t go on writing about and about the subject, and merely weaving garlands of flowers of rhetoric. VI. Beware of the Sham Sample, as Charles Reade called it. Make sure that the specimen bricks you select for quotation do not give a false impression of the facade, and not only of the elevation merely, but of the perspective also, and of the ground-plan. VII. In reviewing a biography or a history, criticise the book before you, and don’t write a parallel essay, for which the volume you have in hand serves only as a peg. VIII. In reviewing a work of fiction, don’t give away the plot. In the eyes of the novelist this is the unpardonable sin. And,as it discounts the pleasure of the reader also, it is almost equally unkind to him. IX. Don’t try to prove every successful author a plagiarist. It may be that many a successful author has been a pla- giarist, but no author ever succeeded because of his plagiary. X. Don’t break a butterfly on a wheel. worth much, it is not worth reviewing. XI. Don’t review a book as an east wind would review an apple-tree—so it was once said Douglas Jerrold was wont todo. Of what profit to anyone is mere bitterness and vexation of spirit ? XII. Remember that the critic’s duty is to the reader mainly, and that it is to guide him not only to what is good, but to what is best. Three parts of what is contemporary must be temporary only. If a book is not In another part of this paper will be found a poem written by Mr. John Saunders. The names of certain powerful and dramatic novels —such as “ Abel Drake’s Wife,’—and others, will be remembered by everyone in connec- tion with ths name. But there are not many surviving writers, or readers, who remem- ber Mr. John Saunders’s work in the Forties. Mr, Saunders has published a new story written for the Leisure Hour last year, and has now another completed. He came up to London more than sixty years ago. After a_ brief experience of the boards, he settled down to a lite of letters, which he has ever since continued. He has been dramatist, essayist, historian, and 375 novelist by turns. He has done everything well, and he is still vigorous and ready for new and strong work. Many of us possess Charles Knight’s book on “ London.” It was in six volumes, and contained 150 chapters, each chapter ona different subject. Mr. Saunders contributed a half—75 chapters—to that work. Let us wish him many more years of life and good work. SS The use of the word “ middleman” or “ agent’”’ applied to a publisher seems to have been received with scant favour. Let us therefore distinguish. When the publisher buys the work of the author, he is certainly not a middleman—he is the pur- chaser of an estate. When he engages the services of an author to perform a certain piece of work, he is not a middleman—-he is an employer. When he accepts articles for his magazine he is not a middleman—he is again the purchaser of a pro- perty, or the limited use of a property. When he publish: sa book on commission he is distinctly an agent or middleman. When he publishes a book on some kind of royalty, either to himself or to the author: or on some share of the profits; he may be regarded either as a partner or part venturer ; or as an agent. poe I strongly recommend our readers to study the document called “ A Confession,” which has been quoted from a country paper. They will find curious and ample corroboration of what we have maintained so strongly in the teeth of every kind of denial. Our ‘“ Cost of Production” is indi- rectly confirmed, and the hints and suggestions are precisely those which we have advised for the last four years. Note, especially, what is said about advertisements and agents. Note also what is said about solicitors. Ordinary solicitors —indeed all solicitors except a very few—know nothing whatever about literary property. Like the rest of the world—like authors themselves— they have to learn what it means. aa A society has been started called the ‘‘ Brother- hood of Poets.’”” The prospectus now before me speaks with some bitterness of the contempt with which the minor poet is too often regarded. This is quite true, and it is a very remark- able thing—one not quite easily explained. Why should a minor poet be spoken of with contempt ¢ We do not despise the minor preacher; the minoc traveller holds up his head; the minor essayist looks about him cheerfully and even proudly ; the minor novelist is trampled upon, but, on the whole, does not feel himself an object  4 4 i | ie of contempt; for the minor poet especially is reserved ridicule and contempt. Why? Is it be- cause only the best poetry is tolerable to the most cultivated class ? But this is a very small class. The great mass of mankind are not cultivated. But they also despise the small poet. Perhaps there is a feeling of incongruity between their endeavours and their performance which seems ridiculous. The comic man who fails to make us laugh is ridiculous ; so is the tragic man who can- not compel tears ; so is the poet who would fain, as this prospectus says, make men better and nobler, and cannot influence them one whit. Granting the fact, and denying the justice of the fact, the “ Brotherhood ” is organised with the general intention of cultivating the muse. Why not? A poet cannot be made, but he may be encouraged, taught, put in the way of good models; in fact, there may be a school of poetry. Whether any great poet will ever come out of such a school, I know not. Perhaps not. But its students will most certainly learn what the best poetry should be; the taste for, and reverence of, good poetry will most certainly be imereased and stimulated, and a great many people will be encouraged to pursue the most delightful recreation in the world—the writing of verse—the compelling of thought to fall imto the order of metre and rhyme—the fitting of noble words to what should be noble thought—this certainly will be a great gain. If the world chooses to laugh at the spectacle of this Brotherhood of young poets, let them. The laugh will not continue long, and the Brotherhood may. Perhaps, too, some of the recognised living poets will join the Brotherhood as an encouragement. a A new business has been started, that of a “Literary Revision” Office. This office undertakes to revise MSS, with a view to correcting gram- matical error; to find out accuracies, anachro- nisms, wrong references, &c., in MSS.; or to rewrite a MS. from beginning to end. Nothing is said about terms, except that they are “ moderate.” One might ask certain questions as (1) How if a MS. on being read, is proved to be free from any grammatical errors? (2) How do we know the competence of the readers? It is hardly enough to tell the world that the work is to be done by “Anglophil” and “ qualified experts.” To begin with, an expert is an expert, but what is a “ qualified’? expert? Here at the very threshold we stumble grammatically. A ‘qualified ” expert? A “ qualified” professional man generally means one who has passed examina- tions and taken degrees. But how is an English THE AUTHOR. grammarian ‘ qualified?’’ Then in the matter of anachronisms and inaccuracies. Why are we to trust the “ qualified” experts? How do we know that they are historical students of such experience as to make them quick to detect such things as, say, a fork in the reign of Henry VII ? Again, as to the rewriting of books. Who is to assure the author (?) that his MS. will be improved by the process? How can we be sure that the “ qualified expert,” who will be put on to the job is a master of style? If he is, one would ask, cruelly, why be has not made his own mark in literature for himself? However, there is the Office and these are the things it proposes. We give the Institution a free advertisement. And if any reader feels that his grammar is a weak point, or that his style creeps, or that his history is rusty, let him apply to the Society, and ask further particulars, especially with regard to the “ qualification” of the experts. The following alphabet of the Disappointed Author is sent by one who says that if it may help in dissuading only one from entering on literature as a means of livelihood, he will gladly see it in the Anthor. So here it is—the O and the X a little shaky :— A was the Author, who-turned down his collars ; B was the Bookman, who trousered the dollars. C was the Critic, impartial and ealm ; D were his Drops of omniscient balm. E Expectation of early reviews : F for their Flutter who slily peruse. G for the Guerdon of agony past ; H for the Hope that is sinking at last. J for the Joke of the careless condoler ; K for the Kiss of the only consoler. L for the Limbo of copies unsold ; M for the Mystery—Who took the gold ? N for the Number assigned to the Press ; O the returns—and they could not be less. P Periodical balance of cash ; Q for its Quaint unmethodical hash. R for the Ruin that neighbourly stared ; S for Suspicion the critics were squared. T for Tranquillity, banished of late ; U for Unrest—in the crown of the pate. V for the Venom distilled in the mind ; X for the infinite fancies unkind. Y for the Yesterdays wasted and run; Z for the Zenith— but that is all done. A correspondent writes :— “ Apropos of the present controversy in the Athenxum, it has occurred to me that there is a point of view from which Messrs. Heinemann, Tnnes, and Co., might be ruled out of order. “The Authors’ Society came into existence to make known to its members various things, ignor- — ance of which means loss to them. In effect  THE AUTHOR. there were practices of trade which flourished on this ignorance ; practices then known to a few, now known widely, which need not be charac- terised. In opposition, it is now proposed to form a Publishers’ Union. But why? There are no malpractices on the part of authors to be made known, to be resisted, to form a razson @étre. Itis not suggested that there are such. Then why the proposed league? Unless it is to devise new methods of . . .!” What has been said in the Athenwum may be repeated here. Since a body of men cannot unite for openly avowed dishonourable purposes, such a union would comprise only the honourable houses. Since, too, we have never advocated or demanded anything more than honesty and justice—these simple and elementary things— we should only rejoice at such an union. A secret union is one which honourable men would not join, and which would have to be fought with such weapons as are at our command. The Atheneum has abandoned the practice of reviewing novels ina batch. Hach novel is now presented with a separate notice. This conces- sion will give great satisfaction to many readers as well as writers. Water BEsant. THE EMPTY PURSE. By Greorcxe Merepirnx. Macmillan and Co. 1892. FFN\HOUGH, within the last few years Mr. | George Meredith’s achievements in fiction have been so widely recognised, it is only a very short time ago that many or his most ardent admirers began to know him as a poet of rare power and distinctive originality. It was, of course, a long time before the far-seeing reviewer discovered Mr. Meredith as a novelist at all. But there was always a certain number of people who appreciated the author of ‘‘ Richard Feverel” —delightful, selfish, esoteric, esthetic people, ever wishing to keep the good things of this world to themselves; and, just as these, were the few who recognised that one day he would take his true place among the first novelists of England. There were also a few (smaller, perhaps, in number) who had the good fortune to know ‘Modern Love,” and acknowledged the author’s high poetic gifts. The first critical and appropriate tribute to his genius—the first, that is to say, from anyone qualified to speak on such matters— came, we believe, from Mr. Swinburne, just as the a7 same magnificent capacity for appreciation with which Rossetti was endowed, enabled him to delight inthe ‘‘ Shaving of Shagpat ” now one of Mr. Meredith’s most popular works. A mar- vellous House of Poetry it must have been when the three poets lived under the same roof. Since then ‘“‘ Modern Love” has been happily reprinted ; and the name of George Meredith, with that of William Blake, Michael Angelo Dante Rossetti, and Victor Hugo, stands as a splendid contradic- tion to that well-nigh exploded canon “ that a man cannot excel in two arts;” for the art of poetry is as distinct from fiction as it is from painting. In this short notice it is impossible to give any adequate idea of even so small a volume as Mr. Meredith’s latest poems. There is far too much thought behind the language to be discussed in half a column, and dismissed with a few adjec- tives. Besides, two of the longerand perhaps the finest poems, the “ Empty Purse” and “ Youth in Memory,” do not bear quotation. They are too concentrated and too synthetic to allow of detachment. One can only say that they are steeped in that thought pec ‘uliar to this author, and are of Meredith Meredithian. Many modern poets, indifferent to matter, pay, it is thought, undue attention to form, and very elaborate form indeed; it will therefore rejoice the more old fashioned to learn that Mr. Meredith is still on the side of the angels. It requires the ethical genius of Browning or Mr. Meredith to bring a Salvation lass within the limited capacities of poetic art In “Jump to Glory Jane,” this has certainly been done, and the poem is perhaps the literary feat-of the volume. Though Mr. Meredith possesses that essentially modern quality, the feeling for Nature (the absence of which is regarded almost as a crime), he has made us realise that in modern poetry we have had more thanenough and are well-nigh nause- ated with commonplace observations and atmo- spheric phenomena, the physical condition of the earth’s surface, and the attractions of young ladies whose names are disguised like unto a classical or music hall nomenclature. For such practically forms the substance subject-matter of three- fourths of our modern poetry. ‘The Empty Purse,” not differing from Mr. Meredith’s other works, comes, therefore, not only as an intel- lectual pleasure, but as a mental relief. F.  a eee POs SELES NT FEUILLETON. I. A Writer or STORIES. F ND Vm sure I wouldn’t say go, Miss, I A wouldn’t, indeed ; but, with my husband ill and five children to keep, if I could get someone to take the room as could pay regular, it would make a deal of difference to me.” “Yes, I know, Mrs. Smith; you have been very patient. I—TI will move out this evening.”’ “Oh, no, Miss; I don’t mean as sudden-like as that—just if you could make your arrange- ments to go when I hear of anyone else.” “Thank you,’ Mary Allen said; “I think I can make my arrangements to-day.” Sbe closed the door of her room when her landlady had passed out, and, sitting down, she reviewed the story of her life. When she had begun to write she had been ambitious, and she had intended to succeed. Poor girl! Nay, her ambition had soared higher still, for she had intended to deserve success. Again, let us say: Poor girl! This would-be successful writer of stories had had before her as beacon-lights the words: Local Colour, Atmo- sphere, and—Heaven help her!—Style. Doubt- less, they are good words all; but this girl was not the possessor of a competence. She dreamt of writing for Art’s sake, and she had to write to live. She began, of course, as young beginners do; she sent her stories—crammed with those good intentions concerning Local Colour, Atmosphere, and Style, and, also with youthful ignorance of the technique of her art—to the best magazines open to receive fiction. One’s pity for their editors would be supreme, but that superlative emotion must be reserved for some of those who persecute them. The manuscripts were rejected and rejected again; until they were dog’s eared and soiled; until they were rewritten and again despatched ; until others were written to take their places, and went forth in their stead. And, alas! they, too, came back. ‘hen she declined to the magazines of the second rank; and, subsequently, to those still lower down the scale; until, at last, she reached the weekly publication issued at the price of one penny, and then sometimes her tales were ac- cepted — sometimes at long intervals—and paid for. Nay, not always; it was the Family Cup- board, 1 believe, which accepted one of her stories, published it without attaching her name thereto, and paid her not at all. Happy the day when the Weekly Want, with its fixed scale of half-a-guinea a column, and its honourable habit THE AUTHOR. of payment on publication, gave shelter to one of her offspring. It happened but seldom, And of other papers, wherein her work some- times appeared, what shall I say ? and what of their sliding scale of payment?’ Possibly better nothing. Let us hope the scale had descended to its zero when a woman who was writing to live —still more, when a woman who was writing for art’s sake, was offered, and was driven to accept, five shillings for two thousand words, carefull wrought over, laboriously planned, delicately polished, till the whole satisfied her fastidions sense of style. Better had she sat stitching from morn ull night with other women, oppressed of the sweater. Better, far better, had she bought a broom and swept a crossing. “Tt’s simply a matt r of supply and demand, Miss Allen,” said the editor who proffered the five shillings, when she ventured to remonstrate. “We can get plenty of this sort of thing, and we can’t afford to pay you any more.” “Youcan afford to pay Mr. X. for the serial you are running just now,” Mary was bold enough to suggest ; she knew it was unwise to annoy an editor who would pay anything, but she doubted if her boots would hold together another week if they remained unmended. The editor smiled at her pityingly. “That sells the paper,” he responded, curtly. ‘Do you imagine this does P” with a contemptuous flick at her manuscript. “There is more careful work in that,” said Mary, driven to desperation by the thought of boots, “ than Mr. X. has put into his story, big man as he is. His is written anyhow; every paragraph contains a violation of style.” “ Oh, style be hanged,” said the editor. “‘ What do the public care about style? Take my advice and chuck over all that tommyrot.” There was not much style in his conversation ; but there is little in that of the average modern, and he was an excellent husband and father, besides being a capital man of business, “ Chuck it over; pile up your incident, start with a mystery, and be dramatic ; I don’t say- but you might make your way then. We can offer no more than five shillings for this, Miss Allen; you can take it or leave it.” And Mary took it. His advice she could not take ; she must live for Art. There are some men who must do this, and there are a few—a very few —women, of whom Mary was one. She must live for Art, or if she might not, then for Art she must die. By this time—I know not, but it may be— had she gone back to those editors whose lives she had erstwhile helped to burden, she might have met with recognition and encouragement;  THE for hard practice had been perfecting her in the details of her craft. It might have been so, but she had tried so often she had grown to think it hopeless. Everything was hopeless; the penny papers could not afford to take her highly finished pictures; and to fling together crude reds and blues and yellows, such as their public loves to have dashed in its face, was to her an impossibility. The end had come, and she sat in her room and faced it. She could not pay for a roof to shelter her; she no longer possessed even what would purchase a loaf of bread to keep life in her. For Art she might not live, therefore for Art she must die. When dusk began to gather she went down- stairs, and knocked at her landlady’s door. “T am going now, Mrs. Smith,” she said. “Goodbye, and thank you. I have left my things ; they will not bring much—not as much as I owe you, I’m afraid.” “ Oh, Miss,” broke in the landlady, “I didn’t mean that! and you'll want them wherever you go.” “T shall not want them where I am going,” said Mary, calmly. ‘“ 4nd if a letter should come for me, will you open it? Perhaps there might be a postal order—will you take it ?” “Oh, Miss,” the landlady began again, and paused, as the postman’s knock was heard. A small bundle by book-post for Miss Allen. Mary held it in her hand and looked at it, as she stood by the fire. “There will be no letter or postal order,” she said. “I am sorry.’ And she dropped the bundle into the flames. ‘‘ Goodbye,” she added quickly ; then, turning, walked to the door, and out into the closing darkness. The landlady looked after her uneasily. “I don’t like it,” she said. ‘I don’t like it. But there, with Joe and the children, what was I to do? I did it for the best. Please God, I haven’t turned a decent girl on the streets.” There was a mist in the air, not thick enough to be designated fog by a Londoner ; but damp, clinging, chilling to the bone. The sireets had not reached the period of slush; they were still only slimy,and on the wood pavement the horses slipped and sometimes fell. Mary walked on; not hurriedly, there was no reason for haste: her goal would await her. She looked about as she went, vaguely and quite calmly; there was no more reason for anxiety than haste: she had got to the end. She would never write again; but, as she went along, she was noting and describing her surroundings ; she was even studying her own emotion, or lack of it; and once she drew her brows with slight annoy- AUTHOR. 349 ance when she found she had embarked on an awkward and ill-balanced sentence. Why not? If aweman, whose motive power has been her- self, her own fair exterior, can spend her last moments “laying herself out’ in pale blue draperies, or whatever she may ¢ nsider her most becoming setting—as has teen done, why wonder if a woman, whose soul has been given to Art, should go quietly to death, her thoughts still penetrated and consumed by what has been the passion of her life? If the history of last thoughts could be written, how might not a con- ventional world, believing in the salvation of ‘“‘an editying end,” be amazed and shocked. Mary wandered on, always moving towards her goal, though not by the most direct ways. She was half-unconsciously putting in the Local Colour and the Atmosphere around that central figure of her story, the girl who was going to her death, and she turned along the Strand; she would paint in the noisy traffic, the surging humanity to be found here. She went not im any haste, and looked about her. Possibly for this reason there happened what had never happened to her before—for a girl who looks quietly respectable, and keeps her eyes in front of her, as though she knew her business and were going about it, can, strangely often go unmolested, in London—a man touched her on the arm, and offered her—life. Can you wonder if a girl who wants to live, if a girl who has the strong animal joy in life, the stronger animal fear of death—and the river is so cold, so black, so terrible a last refuge down there in the dark--can you wonder if she some- times lives P But this girl did not want to live ; life had no more to offer her; life without art was death. I suppose it is strange for a man—even if of the common vermin—to have eyes that have said farewell to life, that have looked full at death, and are going to meet it, turned on his. This man moved in recoil even before there fell from the girl’s lips tne words quietly spoken: “ You have made a mistake.” And it required the restorative tonic of raw brandy to make him again feel attractions in his nightly haunts. The incident roused Mary ; she left the Strand, and turned down towards the embankment. She had been startled out of her abstraction, and the half-mechanical working of her mind. But, as she came in sight of the river, the old habit re-asserted itself, and the word-painting began anew. The dark span of a bridge, faintly out- lined with spots of lamplight, the flickering yellow gleams upon the dusky water flowing between misty banks, with here and there a dim  THE ao° suggestion of barge and boat upon it, were noted with the careful manner of long use. Nearer the scattered sickly light fell upon the broad, slimily glistening embankment she was approaching. It had to be crossed to reach the end. She paused on the kerb to let a waggon roll by, and then, her eyes still dreamily fixed on what lay beyond, and her mind moulding a sentence to its perfect form, she stepped into the road. A carriage, with rapidly driven horses, was drawing near; the girl went on unheeding, then stumbled on the slippery road and fell. The coachman shouted and made a futile effort to bring the horses to a sudden stand; but the carriage had passed on full ten yards before he pulled them on their haunches; and looked back at a motionless figure, which had never uttered a cry, lying in the road. A small crowd took form in the dusk, evolving itself out of what a moment before had seemed almost deserted space, rapidly as London crowds can. That it should contain the ubiquitous doctor and policeman was a matter of course. “Dead,” said the doctor, as he rose from bending over the woman. “No clue to identity,” added the policeman, examining a handkerchief marked “M. A.” he had taken from the pocket, which did not even contain “twopence halfpenny in bronze,” to be described by the also ubiquitous reporter. “A shop girl,” suggested the doctor. ‘‘ Not smart enough,” said the policeman. ‘Perhaps a servant,” hazarded an onlooker. “Too shabby,” responded the policeman. And it did not occur to anyone that she was a writer of stories. E. N. Leteu Fry. EL My Criric on toe HeEArrs. When I first heard of the Society of Authors, whose object is clearly to blend the “ wisdom of the serpent’? with the “harmlessness of the dove,” it reminded me of a certain happy incident, which occurred in my literary life, a few years ago. In a cosy little house, situated in that cheerful country on the outskirts of social Bohemia, we sat round the fire, one winter evening, a homely party of three. My critic filled his pipe. (He was not my critic then. That was the night on which he first entered upon his duties in that capacity.) He filled his pipe, and proposed that I should tell a story, while he smoked, and his wife, with fairy fingers, conjured into existence wonderful little garments for the sleeping babies upstairs. AUTHOR. I had been disheartened lately. My fairy tales had been returned to me. They were too fanciful, too imaginative—always too something ! I did not respond immediately to the request, but my knitting needles flew a little faster, for a minute or so, then subsided into my lap, while I told my story : “Once upon a time there was an old fairy called Fancy, and she had a hundred million grandchildren, She christened them all after her name, and sent them out into the wide world to seek their fortunes; but they could not find them.” I paused and resumed my knitting There was silence for a few minutes, not broken, but enhanced by the snoring of the Bohemian dog, the purring of the Bohemian cat, the click of knitting needles, and the flickering of the fire, Then my critic spoke: ‘Once upon a time there was an old wizard called Fact, and he had a great many grandsons, He christened them all after his own name, and sent them out into the wide world to seek their fortunes. Now certain of these, in the course of their wanderings, met some very pretty but for- lorn little princesses of the name of Fancy. So they married them, and they all made their fortunes immediately.” It was thus that the valuable institution of a Critic on the Hearth first came into existence, He undertook to criticise and verify my Facts, leaving me to perform the wedding ceremony with the poor little wandering Fancies, if I would submit my stories to his criticism. So I put on a moral skin, which I happened to have by me, as thick as that of any rhinoceros, and I read and showed him story after story, while he patiently considered and _ criticised, always to my very great benefit. The help which this has been, and still is, for critic continues to chirp occasionally, is beyond my calculation. I still have in my pos-ession an old cracked post-card, in my critic’s handwriting, containing the following satire on an expression he found in one of my stories, describing a man with “ sorrow- ful eyebrows.” ‘Yes, quite so,” runs the post-card, “and thus we find in ‘ Verity’s Characteristics of the British Monarchs’ that not only was Charles I. noted for his sorrowful eyebrows, but William I. for his patient nose. Richard II. for his singularly truthful neck. Elizabeth for her haughty teeth. Anne for her ill-tempered knees, &e.”” . In this way I know I have been preserved from thrusting many an absurd expression, many a half-fledged fact before the public, and I cannot help thinking that authors would often be spared  THE AUTHOR. a a smarting blow from that envenomed weapon the critic’s pen, if they would only keep a Critic on the Hearth to “smite them friendly and reprove them.” Such criticism is, as somebody once observed all criticism should be, not an “extinguisher’’ to put out the struggling spark, but a “pair of snuffers,” freemg it from all extraneous matter to make it burn and shine more brightly. SETT. MR. HAWLEY SMART. FTNHE late Mr. Bale Smart, Like many another prolific novelist, was not always at his best. But whereas it is usual for the public to disagree about the comparative merits of an author’s different works—not only to dis- agree among themselves, but to disagree very directly with critical opinion—in Mr. Hawley Smart’s case his best novel, according to his ceritics—the one, that is, to which he had obviously devoted the most care in structure and present- ment—has attained to by far the greatest popularity. ‘‘ Breezie Langton ” is a more finely conceived story than many of Whyte Melville’s —the author’s model—and in our opinion will hold its own with a goodly proportion of modern novels of the simpler and more popular style. It is, however, as an exclusively sporting novelist that Mr. Hawley Smart is best known, and in this limited field he has produced the best novel of its sort that has ever been written. ‘‘ Bound to Win” is an excellent story, and deals with the technicalities of racing and the mysterious intricacies of betting in a manner that makes these rather sordid subjects not only highly interesting (mystery might have done that for them), but perfectly intelligible. This book has received two very high compliments. Mr. Burnand re-wrote it for Punch, and ‘* What’s the Odds? or, the Dumb Jockey of Teddington,” is one of Mr. Burnand’s best parodies, and many people have since imitated it seriously, and have all failed to achieve any success. Of Mr. Hawley Smart’s other novels, ‘‘ Broken Bonds” is a very good example of the straightforward, rattling, sensational story, and contains an example of an escape from Portland Prison, that may he placed alongside of the remarkable evasions of MM. Le Duc de Beaufort and Le Comte de Monte Cristo. Without claiming for Mr. Hawley Smart any very exalted position in contemporary letters, we see that we have lost in him the author of at least one good book, the inventor of a not un- popular school of novel, and the teller of very many wholesome readable stories. : LABOUR'S SUNDAY. Come toil-bowed Artisan, walk forth with me, And taste the blessings thou may’st still enjoy, It is the Sabbath—hallow it—be free ! Let not thy labours all thy soul destroy. There’s something yet to live for: the fresh breeze That makes the dull blood rush along the veins ; The countless tiny spirits of the trees Hymning their gladness in more gladdening strains : Th’ eternal changes of the glorious sky, All glorious! Whether floating now in gold, Where thousand islets on its bosom lie, Each like a dream of Paradise of old. Or when hot-headed Lightning darting by Its slow-winged Herald Thunder flashes round Its sheets of flame upon the murky sky, Its blazing glimpses of the depths profound! Are these not blessings even unto thee ? Untaxed too, thank God, untaxable! Then forth, and let thy better parent see Thou art not thankless, thou dost love them well. For Nature is a parent. She can teach If thou with guileless heart will strive to learn Diviner duties than most churches preach ; She will not make thee but a living Urn To hold the ashes of the purest aims; Th’ impassioned yearnings for unworldly bliss ; The God-like faith that partial good disclaims ; The Love that greets the wide world with its kiss. Behold now Nature’s Church—yon airy downs ! With murmurous sea, at giddy depths below ; Scenes of sublimity, that God’s hand crowns, And gently guides us, whither we should go. No verger’s itching palm appeareth here ; Vho, back to Choir, and open-handed greets The well dressed stranger. Then with brazen leer Directs the half-clad to the Pauper seats. Thing with a soul scarce breeches pocket high! Thou sayest right, we have no business there. Our lives have other aims than Vanity, Enough for us to sweat to make it’s gear. Patience! We bide our time. So come along. Lo, how our spirits mount, just like these hills ! We gaze toward the future, and our song Glowing with rapture every hope fulfils. Take warning Despots, shades of mental night ! See, daylight ‘ake man’s fast awaking mind ; Eternal day to know no future blight ; Nor leave of all your realms a wreck behind. Then shall man’s soul feel truly a New Birth: Nor longer grope all darkling through his life ; But walk erect, a demi-god of Earth, And claim his parentage from Love not Strife. No longer then shall man’s presumptuous speech Make God the creature of his idle dreams ; Or guiltier far, most impiously preach As ’twere from God, his selfish, wicked schemes. No longer then shall man dare say to man ‘I must be rich, and thou be ever poor; The idle lord, the hungry Artizan Are God’s decrees, so thou must still endure.” Saith Christ, Come unto me all ye that labour, All heavy laden, I will give you rest— Immortal blessings of Divinest savour To draw the poor, maimed, blind, unto My breast.  332 THE And Christians then shall understand Christ’s creed, Not one of names, or sects, or colour—clime ; Not one to hang men, or to make them bleed, For being famished—nurtured into crime. Oh, for a second holier Holy War, To drive these Christian Pagans from the shrine! These *‘ godly” men, who most God’s sweet world mar; Who, soulless, prate to Souls of things Divine. But Hope laughs out. The wilderness looks green. The seeds of human weal are budding fast ; By Martyrs sown, blood watered, they have been, And lo—the gladdening harvest waits at last. JOHN SAUNDERS. THE OUTPUT OF 1892. TJ NXE following is a classified ‘‘ Return of books for 1892,” furnished by the Publishers’ Circular. It is a little thing to look at, but it involves an enormous amount of work. We owe a great debt of gratitude to this journal for this annual return. While we acknowledge the debt, might we suggest a little change in the classi- fication? It is to put together all the scientific books, not to place them with the books on Art, to take away Year Books altogether, and to sub-divide the Miscellaneous, separating the pamphlets. 1891. 1892. Divisions. Rae New New New Books. | Editions.! Books. Editions. Theology, Sermons, | Biblical, &6).2.,... 3. o20 | 107) 528 145 Educational, Classical, | and Philological ...... o8% 1-107 | 579 | lo Juvenile Works and | | Vales 2 348 | 99 292 | 53 Novels, Tales, and other | Fiction................. | 896 | 320 | 1147 | 390 Law, Jurisprudence, &e. 61 | 48 36 29 Political and Social | | Econonomy, Trade | | and Commerce......... | 105 | 3i 151 24 Arts, Sciences, and | | | Illustrated Works ..| 85 | 31 | 147 62 Voyages, Travels, Geo- | | | graphical Research... | 203 | 68 | 250 |} 86 History, Biography, &c. | 328 | 85 | 293 75 Poetry and the Drama | 146 | 55 | 185 42 Year-Books and Serials | | | in Volumes ............ |, 810 | 6 | 360 13 Medicine, Surgery, &.| 120 | 55 | 127 50 Belles-Lettres, Essays, | Monographs, &c....... | 131 | 123 107 | 32 Miscellaneous, includ- | | | | ing Pamphlets, not | | | Sermons... 589 | 142 713 223 4429 | 1277 4915 1339 | 4429 | | 4915 | 5706 6254 AUTHOR. Let us consider this return. Figures may be made to mean anything. As they stand they seem to show an enormous activity in one or two directions. We, therefore, will inquire what this activity means. There is a grand total of 6254 ‘books ” published during the year. But we note, first, that 373 of these are Year Books, which are, as Charles Lamb says, not books at all. Deducting these there are 5881 books. Again, there are 936 miscellaneous, including pamphlets, “ not sermons,” These, again, are not books. Deduc- ting these, we have 4945 books. There are 694 educational books which concern colleges and schools. Remain 4251 books. There are 345 books for children. Deduct these, remain 3906 books. Law, Jurisprudence, Political Economy, Trade, Medicine, &¢.—in fact, scientific and technical books 416. Deducting these, again, there remain 3496 books for the general reader, including Novels, Arts, Illustrated Works, Voyages and ‘Travels, History, Biography, Poetry, Belles Lettres, Monographs, and the Drama. Some of these, say 200, are by Americans. Remain 3290 books as the total in general literature, including all the above general divisions in a year. Since 601 are new editions, we have 2689 new books in general literature for the year 1891. Is that a very great amount for an Empire numbering sixty millions who read English under the British flag? Why, in ten year’s time—so fast does the habit of reading grow, so widely does it extend—we shall have an output of five times that amount. Let us not take the parochial view of literature generated by Mines a too exclusive contemplation of London. The ~ empire is not all London. Literature goes beyond — Wimbledon. There are readers outside the clubs. But there are 1147 new novels. Terrible! Terrible! And how many have most of us us read during the year? Twenty at the most. For my own part I certainly did not read twenty new novels in the year 1892. Who reads, then, all the rest ? Well, there are a good many which are never read by any mortal man. Published at their authors’ expense, they fall flat and die before they are born. Mostly they cannot be said to be published at all, being vilely printed on villainous paper, about a hundred copies printed, which even the remainder-man refuses to buy. Others, again, well printed, at the author's” expense, in an edition of 350, have a few copies” taken by Mudie, and the rest sold to the remainder-man. They go to seaside circulatin libraries, where they are gradually read to pieces [tis a pity that such trash should go to the sea- side? True! But, after all, does it greatl matter what is read by idle girls at the seasid between talks about dress and flirtations? Wha  THE We must turn to the new In 1891 there were 320 new editions of novels; in 1892, 390, an ay er rage of 355 a year, of new editions. This includes what remains of all the fiction in English, or translated into English, since fiction began in this nation. Suppose we deduct roo for dead authors. There remain 255 living novelists whose works are good enough for a new edition. And that very nearly corre esponds with what we made out in a previous number of the Author. Surely there is room in this vast empire for 255 novelists of some repute! We do not claim for them that all the world shall wish to read them all. They deal with different worlds—the world of sport, the world of fashion, the world of war, the world of letters, the world of sc ive he novelist gets the clientele which suits himself and his own special knowledge. There need be no outcries of horror over this immense and dread- fuloutput. Nor need we be in the least disturbed because a great many thousand people tried last year to capture the pub vic with works of fiction. ‘And why? Because it is understood that money may be made iv that way. In these times there is a frantic rush in ever y direction where money is to be made. Out of those who tried, 1147 succeeded far as to get printed, either at their own expense or not. How many succeeded in getting a single penny by their venture? Perhaps 400, counting the smaller works of fiction issued by the religious societies, for which they pay such tiny sums, and make such mighty profits, and set so Christian an example in mercy, charity, and justice to their lay brethren. about the rest? editions to answer that question. >< CORRESPONDENCE. SS i On Many Tunes. ETURNING to England, after an absence extending over several months, I found a pile of Authors awaiting me. I read the whole number through at a sitting, and send you a few brief reflections caused by them. The first impression I derived was that the writers in our journal seem, in nine cases out of ten, or ninety-nine, perhaps, out of a hundred, to be directing their attention only or mainly to novels. I should like to know what proportion novels, long or short, bear to the total literary output of the day. Secondly, I noticed the continual presence of the following idea, or something like it. Litera- AUTHOR. 335 ture is a matter of supply and demand, like any other commodity. The reading public consists largely of people of a mean sort who like trash. There are a number of estimable people very capable of producing trash, and this product of theirs has a value more or less high. It is a chief part of the work of the Society of Authors to help them to get the true value for this commo- dity. I confess that this portion of the Society’s activities seems to me of little importance. The question of reviewing has aroused a good deal of discussion in our pages; it has been treated almost wh olly f ‘rom the novelist’s and espe- cially trash-writer’s point of view. To “slate” one piece of trash when the bulk of the stuffis passed over in silence must seem hard to the writer who depends for his living on that kind of product. But to writers of any other kind of book except novels the knowledge that there are rods in pickle is most helpful. Bad history, bad science, mac- curate observation, slip-shod description of little- visited countries, and other the like failures and shortcomings, are not negative faults—they are active poisons. A reviewer of a bad book of that kind has to try and stop the sale of the book, and if possible, to make it difficult for the writer to find a publisher to disseminate his future poisons through the world. I find that a good review in a prominent journal is considered a great help to the selling of a book. I find also that gratitude to a publisher is considered to indicate meanness in an author. I am the author of about a dozen volumes, whose history is briefly as follows. It affects my attitude towards the points in question. I wrote the first volume at college. It was a kind of a guide-book of a rather scientific sort. I paid a cheque on account of cost of produc- tion, and sales paid the rest. I got some of my money back, but, by an oversight, the book was sold just at cost price. A few years later, the half-crown volume was selling for a guinea second-hand (I afterwards found out that there were still ninety copies of the book in the hands of a French bookseller), so I published the thing again at ten shillings, and lett the monstrous price to do all the advertising the volume ever got. I sent it out freely for review, and all the reviewers held up holy hands of horror at the price, as I hoped—lI printed the price on the title-page for that reason—and the book sold excellently. ‘ I wrote two books in succession on historical matters. They were full of research, and each involved some months’ travel on the Continent. They were printed at a publisher’s expense. The first, printed ten years ago, has sold about ten copies a year ever since; I was paid £25 for it.  334 THE The second, kindly taken by the same publisher, went off a little better, and still goes on selling at the annual rate of a dozen copies. I got £25 for that book, too. Both books were reviewed at great length inthe Zimes, Saturday (whole page) : Atheneim (two long articles in consecutive weeks), Academy, Spectator, New York Nation, and the rest. If reviewing would sell unpopular, though not uninteresting, and not unreadable books, these would have sold. In both cases the publisher thought he was issuing a volume that would attain a fair popularity. In both cases he lost heavily. One popular book I did once attempt to write, and found no difficultv in selling the copyright of it toa publisher. He issued it with plenty of charming illustrations; it was praised beyond its merits in all manner of papers. It was a dead failure. The same publishers issued another book of mine about six years ago on the _half-profits system, they paying all costs. It also was excel- lently reviewed in France and Germany, as well as England and America. Ruskin, | remember, bought a noticeable fraction of the edition, had the books bound in a costly fashion, and gave them away right and left. The book continues to sell slowly, but not more than 600 copies have gone off yet. My other volumes tell the same story. On most of them publishers have lost money. The only profitable ones are those that deal with the same subject as the first mentioned, and I have always kept them in my own hands, I ask, then, are favourable reviews so powerful, and is gratitude towards a publisher so mean a sentiment ? In conclusion, let me add that for years I had to live by my pen, and I hope I should have preterred to starve rather than to supply any demand for ‘trash.’ I was hungry often enough, and those hungry hours of strug- gling youth are amongst my pleasantést remi- niscences. Cc. P. G, Answers to the Above. 1. Novels form nearly one-fourth of the literary output—see our paper (p. 332) on “The Output of 1892.” But “C. P. G.” need not be alarmed at their figures. He will not have to read them all. 2. Literature has its business side. “CO. P. G.” mixes up, as usual, the business side with the literary side. They are quite distinct. On the business side is the demand, the popularity, there- fore the commercial value of a book; on the other side is its literary or artistic value. The two are incommensurable ; when they exist AUTHOR. together, as sometimes they do, it speaks well for the national taste. 3. It is the first duty of the Society to define and maintain the property created by the book, it “C. P. G.” has no feeling of the importance of this duty he had better present his next book to his publisher. Then both sides will be happy. If he is not superior to the common desire to have his own property for himself, he would do well not to sneer at those who are working to protect hig preperty for him. 4. Gratitude to a publisher is nowhere in the Author taught to be meanness. One might ag well say that the Author teaches that gratitude to friends is meanness. What is mean, and degrad- ing, and deplorable, is the attitude of the literary man, hat in hand, humbly begging for another guinea, and crying out with admiration when another comes. Again, if ‘‘C. P. G.” prefers the attitude,let him by all means assume it. But we shall continue to think it mean. 5. The personal experiences are too vague to be of any use. For instance, take the two books on historical matters. They had, presumably, a first run of some hundreds—perhaps not miny—with ten years more at a dozen copies each year. One knows not the price or the size of the volame—_ but this does not look like a “ heavy loss” Did “C. P. G.” audit the accounts ? We are, then, to understand that a publisher, for year after year, brought out books by ‘‘C. P. G.”— on which he lost every year. This isnot takinga risk; itis incurring a certain loss. If the thing is a fact, there must have been some special reason —a business reason—for the continued loss : there must have been something in the subject, or in the name and position of the author. wise the thing cannot be. One has only to con- sider the point from the common-sense point 0 view. A few such continued losses and where will the income of the man of business be ? As to reviewing, no one in the Author has suggested that there should be no reviewing. What is maintained is, that the old bludgeon style of. ‘ slating”’ a writer is degrading to criti- cism and to the men who practise it. But we refer “C. P. G.” to Mr. Brander Matthews on this subject (see ‘‘ Notes and News,” p. 324). The time will come, one supposes, when such letters as the above will no longer be possible, But it has not yet arrived. There are evidently some writers still left to whom a publisher isa god of capricious mind, who sits on his money- bags, doles out his gold, produces all the books that nobody wants, and gets rich on his losses. Other- —  districts of Mercia, THE EE: WESSEX. Can your correspondent possibly imagine that the word Wessex has been invented by, and reserved to the sole use of, Mr. Thomas Hardy? Any educated dweller in the district would tell your correspondent that the word is in common vogue among us. We talk of Wessex ways, Wessex speech, Wessex manners. Those of us who are humble students of Anglo-Saxon have taken care to learn the language from books which deal avowedly with the Wessex variant of the tongue; those who delight in tracing great similarities and small distinctions between peoples of different, yet neighbouring, races take a keen interest in the points of contact between the inhabitants of Wessex and those of the boundary Cornwall, &. Are we never again to cill ourselves West Saxons because an author of great renown and power has taken a fancy to the word? Are we to be content with the smaller name-divisions of Berkshire, Dorset- shire, Wiltshire, when the comprehensive word Wessex indicates our imtimate relations, our mutual brotherhood? Perhaps your correspon- dent is living in ignorance of the great race- differences which exist between our peasant populations in the south of England. If this is the case, let him encourage in himself a study which will give him keener joy than almost any other, and will, moreover, enable him to perceive that the name “ Wessex ” is the property of no one man, but is the heritage of the happy people who can trace in themselves the ancient blood of those colonising West Saxons whose traditions still linger in some of our country districts—a race in a large degree unmixed, and uncontami- nated by foreign alliances from Mercia, East Anglia, or any other country. Tuer AutHor oF “ Dark.” [Yes. But the point is not that the author of Dark” used the word Wessex. Anybody can speak of Wessex. Our correspondent knew as well as the author of ‘“‘ Dark” all that 1s meant by Wessex. But can the author of “ Dark” show that anybody, except Thomas Hardy, calls Dorsetshire, South Wessex x; Berkshire, North Wessex; and Hants, Upper Wessex? And this point is not met by the author of “ Dark” at all. The thing is a case of minor morals. But certainly, if, as is suggested, Thomas Hardy invented these sub-divisions, it would be well to acknowledge their origin in adopting them.—Ep. | AUTHOR. So ou Lg. AUTHOR AND EpirTor. The following editorial letter, addressed to me in reply to a remonstrance respecting undue delay in pub lication of a contribution, may be of interest to your readers. I may mention that 1 had eon »d out that in any case there could be no possible reason for postponement of payment pending production : ‘Dear Sir,—Herewith I beg leave to hand you a cheque for your contribution, with the edi tor’s compliments and regrets for the unfortunate delay in the appearance of the poem. He hopes to imsert if im an early number. I should explain that there are, to the editor’s regret, many authors who, lke yourself, have been waiting (and writing) for a period of years for the insertion of their respective articles and stories, but the exigencies of making up each monthly number of the magazine are greater than anyone outside the editor’s office can guess at. To deal with the old materials on hand; to yet keep up to date with new; to select the right variety for each number; to get all (including serials) into the circumscribed number of pages ; to pacify the (justly) impatient authors ; to please the general public taste, &c., are all matters to be considered at one and the same time. Hence the difficulty with the great mass of material already accepted. Slam, we. To this, at all events courteous, explanation I rejoined with a suggestion that if an author were distinctly informed, on the acceptance of a con- tribution, that there might be considerable delay in publication, but that in any case he would be paid within, say, the next six months, the editor’s “ nacifying ” functions would be very considerably lightened. W. iV. Mr. Husert Hass’ Lerrer. He would have the Society undertake to help the unknown author. I fear if they held out the least inducement in that direction they would be swamped with oo And yet, as a would-be novelist, I fee fancy I do—what a boon it would be. But let us think a moment. The Society undertakes to read any work sub- mitted to them; and it seems likely to me that if a work of real excellence in matter and con- struction came before them, the writer would be put in the way of getting it published. Could the Society, judiciously, go farther than it now does? That seems to me an open question. As a writer [am gradually, I hope, getting over the crudeness of first attempts, and slowly learning  336 by repeated failures. I have received the greatest assistance and encouragement from one of the society’s readers, who has seen two of these faulty attempts, and am beginning to see that it is as necessary to serve an apprenticeship to the art of fiction as to any other of the arts. And I believe that if ever I produce anything really good I shall not find it impossible to obtain a publisher. I may, however, not be the fortunate one out of ninety-nine failures, which, I take it, is about the percentage of success in these days of fierce competition. ALAN Oscar. Ve Prompt PAYMENT. Some little time ago one of your correspon- dents drew attention to the hardships incurred by young and struggling authors whose MSS. are only published (and consequently paid for) several months after they have been accepted. Thisis bad enough, but in my opinion still more suffering is caused to journalists by the incon- siderate system pursued by a large number of editors, of paying contributors at irregular inter- vals. Ihave the blessed privilege of writing for some three or four papers, only one of which appears to have any punctual system of payment. Surely contributions ought to be paid for within a month of their appearance, or at any rate upon some fixed date during the followmg month. A man naturally hesitates about dunning his editor, and yet, how, in the name of reason, is he to keep on pacific terms with his butcher and tailor, if his own cheques are constantly overdue ? Why should not all papers follow the example of the St. James’s Gazette, a model of prompt punctual payment, and pay their contributors on the first of each month D. J. VE Tue Lapy or Tire. I wish to break a lance in defence of the scribbling “lady of title,’ upon whom vials of wrath were outpoured in your last number. The aggrieved person, “ E. H.,”’ tells us that he does “ not wish to say a word against titled or wealthy ladies writing upon special subjects with which they are specially acquainted, and being paid for it if they choose; “but,” he asks, “why should they trade upon their name and title to do work which scores of women who write for a living would do equally well, if not better, for half the money they de- Why, indeed, Iecho? but the ques- The particular case cited by Pp? mand tion is, do they ? THE AUTHOR. “E. H.” in favour of his own argument is, I venture to think, very like the proverbial rara avis, and that its blackness, instead of being a merit, is quite the reverse. And it may be noted that the shabby endeavour was not successful, which so far goes to show that “ladies of title” are not pounced upon for the sake of their prefix quite so eagerly as “E. H.” seems to imagine. “ One swallow does not make a summer,’ neither can one black swan turn all the white ones its own colour, and I ask justice for the latter. Does “HE. H.” suppose for one moment that a handle to the name and money in the purse go of neces- sity together? If he does he is vastly mistaken, Speaking upon a “ subject with which I am specially acquainted” I can assure him that to many a “lady of title” the sum offered for and got by honest work is a matter of considerable importance, and that the “sums earned” by her brain and pen are not expended in “ robbing Peter to pay Paul,” but in settlmg such unavoidable items in daily life as butchers’ and bakers’ bills. Farr Pray. << VIL. A RECOMMENDATION FROM THE SocrIeEry. Permit me tothoroughly and heartily indorse the valuable suggestion of Mr. Hubert Haes in the January issue: “That the Society form a medium of introduction between author and pub- lisher.” He has ably voiced what has long been my own desire, and, I am sure. that of many struggling authors. E. H. [Has the writer heard of the Authors’ Syndicate ? What else could the Society do, if it were to take up this kind of work? Will “ E. H.” suggest any thing practical ?—Ep.] De “AT THE SIGN OF THE AUTHOR'S HEAD.” \ R. JAMES BAKER, who is a journalist as well as author, has been acting at Sigmaringen as special correspondent for a syndicate of provincial papers, and also with Mr. F. Villiers for Black and White, and an article from his pen on the wedding will also appear in Fashions of To-day for February. Whilst at Sigmaringen the Duke of Edinburgh was pleased to accept from the author, as a wedding gift to Princess Marie, copies of first editions of two of his novels, “ Mark Tillotson ” and “ John Westacott.” The description of the Danube  THE AUTHOR. » scenery in the latter has been so much praised | that it is by no means an inappropriate gift to the 9 Princess, whose future home will be so near the banks of the Danube, and whose wedding was solemnized on its banks. The author had conversa- | tions at Sigmaringen with the Prince of Hohen- » zollern, the Duke of Edinburgh, Tewfik Pasha, &c. In a lecture on “ Novels and Novelists ” during {1 the last month, before the New Court Literary and Debating Society, at the Congregational Chapel, Tollmgton Park, Mr. Joseph Hatton enlightened North Londoners on the ar of novel- # writing, and gave some interesting reminiscences © of Charles Reade and Wilkie Collins, as well as @ many personal items touching the works of i Kipling, Barrie, Black, Besant, and other well- J known authors. Mr. Hatton’s lecture was rather * in the nature of a gossip than a discourse, and it * was interspersed with some capital _ stories. f Touching the oft-recurring question in fiction and / in real life as to what a poor man suddenly 7 becoming rich would do with his mon-y, Mr. 1 Hatton said that recently at a political meeting * near Chatsworth, the princely seat of the Duke 6 of Devonshire, he heard the other side of this = momentous question. Said one poor Derbyshire + fellow to another poorer than himself, *‘ What * would thou do if thou hadst Duke of Devon- shire’s income?” “Nay,” was the reply, we dinnat knoa; but what would Duke o’ Devon- shire do if he’d my income ?”’ Notwithstanding the dicta of Mr. Clement Scott, the novelists appear to be coming to the front as dramatists. ‘lhis is a point gained for Mr. Archer, whose suggestion that novel writers should naturally possess the dramatic faculty was scoffed at, curiously enough, by certain critics who are out of sympathy with Mr. Archer almost as a matter of principle. Mr. Joseph Hatton’s two plays, ‘ John Needham’s Double” and “ The Scarlet Letter” (founded upon the sublime romance of that name), are both running successfully in the United States, the first with Mr. E. 8. Willard, the second with Mr. Richard Mansfield. Mr. J. M. Barrie has only written three pieces for the stage, all three successful, the third beg “The Professors’ Love Story,’ which seems to have made what the American chioniclers call “a phenomenal hit” for both author and actor. Mr. Willard appears to have astunished the critics with the subtlety of his comedy acting in Mr, Barrie’s play. ‘‘ Walker, London,” by Barrie, at Toole’s, is t» have a companion in “ Homburg,” a one act sketch by his contemporary novelist Hatton, who, report says, is likely to be heard of again next season in New York ina dramatisation of his ‘‘ Queen of Bohemia.” a x et IR OD ge At ST Ee: Fe Re SRE OR CL ee Fre ff * ra 337 Two books, by My. R. H. Sherard, will be published in New York early in the sprmg. The tirst of these is entitled “‘Shearers and Shorn,” and deals with American society in the French capital. The second, for which the author has not yet selected a title, is a psychological study. The scene of it is also laid m Paris. Another story, by the same author, entitled “The Disap- pearance of Reginald Westcott,” is at present in course of publication in a serial form in New York. A “Songbook of the Soul,” by Marjory Kinloch (Kegan Paul, Triibner and Co.), stands out from the general run of collected verses by unknown poets. The book consists almost entirely of religious meditations, which seem to us to reach a very high level. They must not, at least, be classed with what we generally expect in religious verses. The writer is a Catholic. Our space does not allow us to quote the verses, but the book is full of promise, and there should be a future for the writer. The “History of a Church Mouse’’ is told by Mrs. Edmunds, and published by Laurence and. Bullen. The church is a Greek Church. The mouse, too, belongs to the Greek Church. It is quite a little book, and a pretty, witty, little book, with surprises in it. The story ought to be popular. “ Out of the Depths,’ by H. Dutton Durrard (Kegan Paul, Trench, and Co.), is a thoughtful little volume of verse which may be commended more for its attempt to express thought than for the music of its lines. But it is a book to be looked into. There should be an English edition of the charming volume of verse called ‘The Winter Hour, and other Poems,’ by Robert Underwood Johnson, the late secretary to the International Copyright League. Certainly the contention of many Americans that their minor poets are superior to our own, seems to be not without ground. “The Queen’s English (?) Up to Date,” by “ Anglophil” (Literary Revision Office, 342. Strand, price 2s.), has reached its second edition. As an exposition of prevailing errors in language and literature, it has attracted considerable atten- tion, and it may be safely consulted. ‘“‘Love’s Minstrel,” by H. C. Daniel (W. W. Morgan and Son, Hermes-hill, Pentonville Road). From the appearance of this book, it would seem to be intended for private circulation. The poems are young and immature. It would be a pity to subject them to public criticism; but there is distinct promise in them.  338 “ Pearla,” by Harrie Whyte, and other Tales. Published by J. W. Arrowsmith, of Bristol. Written for girls, by a girl, apparently. The stories are too slight to warrant any conclusion as to the author’s possible powers. “Basil the Iconoclast,’ by Mrs. Frederick Prideaux, author of ‘ Claudia,” ‘The Nine Days’ Queen,” “ Philip Molesworth,” &c. (David Nutt). This is a drama of modern Russia, that country where all the new dramas and stories seem to be laid. It is in three acts: the first in St. Peters- burg, the second in South Russia, and the third in a District Town. There is great power in this tragedy. It could not be acted without cutting out immense portions of the dialogue. It is therefore essentially a chamber drama. A new novel, entitled “A Born Player,’ by May West, is being published by Messrs. Mac- millan and Co. in England and America. It will also be taken for Messrs. Macmillan’s Colonial Library, which circulates in India and the British Colonies. A novel by Mr. Archer P. Crouch, author of “On a Surf-bound Coast,’ and ‘“ Glimpses of Feverland,” will shortly be published by Messrs. W. H. Allen and Co. It is called “ Captain Enderis, First West African Regiment.” “Weeds,” a story in seven chapters, by K. McK., recently published by J. W. Arrowsmith, of Bristol, is by Mr. Jerome K. Jerome. Miss Beatrice Whitby has recently issued (Hurst and Blackett) the followmg:—‘‘ One Reason Why,” new edition, 3s. 6d.; “ Part of the Property,” new edition, 3s. 6d.; “In the Suntime of Her Youth,” three vols. Mr. George Allen announces for Feb. 1 a new and cheap edition of Mr. Augustus Hare’s “Walks in Rome,” in handy form, similar to Baedeker’s Guides. The “Life of Lady Waterford,” by Mr. Hare, now in preparation, will contain, amongst other illustrations four steel engravings, two of them from the portraits of Lady Waterford, by Mr. G. F. Watts and Sir John Leslie. Mr. Allen is at present unable to say whether the book will contain any of Lady Waterford’s own drawings. A new edition of Miss Mary Rowsell’s “ Petro- nella’ has been issued. (Skeffington and Co.) This is the story which has been dramatised under the title of ‘‘ White Roses.” There will be presented at the Globe Theatre in February a copyright reading of a new and original five act drama written (in collaboration) by the same author. THE AUTHOR. In the last number of the Author reference was made to the new edition of Mr. Alfred Hayes’ volume of poems entitled “The March of Man and other Poems.” By a printer’s error this appeared as the March of Shem. Among the new books are ‘ Amethyst: the Story of a Beauty,’ by Christabel R. Coleridge, © 2nd edit., 1 vol. (A. D. Times and Co.), 3s. 6d.; 7° “Max, Fritz, and Hob,’ by Christabell R © ~ Coleridge (National Society), 35.; “A Pair of Old Shoes,’ by Christabel R. Coleridge (Wells Gardner, Darton, and Co.), 1s. 6d. NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. : Theology. Bromsy, Bishop. The Power of the Presence of God. Third edition. Skeffington. Drewnourst, E.M. Pleasant Fruits. Thoughts after Con- firmation. Skeffington and Son. Evans, W. Howey. Sermons for the Church’s Year, with a preface by the Bishop of St. Asaph. Skeffington and Son. Farrparrn, A. M.,D.D. Christ inthe Centuries, and other Sermons. Preachers of the Age Series. Sampson Low. 3s. 6d. Fry, J. H.,M.A. Tears. Ten Sermons, preached for the most part during Lent, 1892. Skeffington. : Jonzs, C. A. and Innes, Ruy. S. G. Stories on the ‘=| Collects. With Questions and Answers. In 2 vols. =i New edition. J. §. Virtue and Co. oo Lirrine, Rev. Gzorcr. Sins Worthily Lamented. A 4 course of sermons or Church readings for each day in © Lent. Skeffington. 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Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1893-03-01 Volume 3 Issue 10 Pages Page range in volume 345–384 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18930301 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin The Hutbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. MARCH 1, 1893. Vot. [l—No. 10.] PAGE. Warnings ae oe ee eee eee aie es Seu wee B47 How to Use the Society... ae sa 6 ie 205 «-. 348 The Authors’ Syndicate... pee ae me sae ao wo. 348 Notices... & ie tat oe re awe ae Bae wes B49 Literary Property— 1.—The Rights of the Nameless 2.—Copyright and Magazines 3.—In Bankruptcy : 4.—American Copyright see ee ae 5.—The French Society of Dramatic Authors 6.—Publishers’ Accounts eS oe ee 7.—The Output, 1800 and 1892 8.—A Case of Collaboration ... 9.—Is this Fair?... as 10.—A Tale of a Journal 11.—Lost MSS. ... aS 12.—Artistic Copyright... 13.—Title and Copyright Hardships of Publishing ... sue ae ons on An Omnium Gatherum for March. By J. M. Lely ... [PRicE SIXPENCE. What they Read Defoe and the Publishers A New Translation of Rabelais ee Notes from Paris. By Robert H. Sherard The Conveyance of a Gift ... ae as Notes and News. By the Editor... The Professor's Pheenix ... ne iF Carlyle on the Position of Literary Men Correspondence— 1.—A Register of Books Wanted 2.—Misstatements in Review... ties 3.—The Example of Richard Savage 4.—Inaccuracy in Fiction aS 5.—Unknown Writers ... 6.—Times of Payment ... 7.—Prompt Payments ... ise 8.—The Record Press Company Fe “At the Sign of the Author’s Head”’ ... a0 ate ak wee O16 New Books and New Editions... ts nee eae aoe «we 88 PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1, The Annual Report. That for January 1892 can be had on application to the Secretary. 9. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members. The Grievances of Authors. od (The Leadenhall Press.) 1s. The Report of three Meetings on the general subject of Literature and its defence, held at Willis’s Rooms, March, 1887. 95, Strand, W.C.) 3s. the Society. Is. o ov Be Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris CoLzzs, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, The History of the Sociéte des Gens de Lettres. By S. Squrrm Spricar, late Secretary to The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c., with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. 7. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squrre SpriecE. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society’s offices, the various forms of agreements proposed by Publishers to Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. I J g Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 35. 8. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell’s Copyright Bill now before Parlia- ment. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lety. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1s. 6d.  346 ADVERTISEMENTS. Che Society of Authors (Sncorporated), PRESIDENT. GHRORGH MEREDITH. COUNCIL. st Srr Epwin Arno.p, K.C.LE., C.S.1. OswaLpD CRAWFuRD, C.M.G. Lewis Morris. ALFRED AUSTIN. Tue Earu or Desart. Pror. Max Mi.urr. J. M. BARRIE. Austin Dosson. J. C. PARKINSON. ; A. W. A Becxert. A. W. Dusoure. THE Ear. OF PEMBROKE AND Mont- — =, ¢ Rosert BaTeman. J. Eric Ericusen, F.R.S. GOMERY. Sir Henry Berane, K.C.M.G. Pror. MicHaru Foster, F.B.S. Siz FREDERICK PoLiock, Bart., LL.D. a WALTER BESANT. HERBERT GARDNER, M.P. Water Herrizs Poutock. AUGUSTINE BIRRELL, M.P. RicHAaRD GARNETT, LL.D. A. G. Ross. R. D. Buackmore. EpmunpD Gossz. GrorGe AuGausTUs SALA. Rev. Pror. Bonney, F.RB.S. H. Riper Hace@arp. W. BaprisTE Scoonss. Lord BRABOURNE. THomas Harpy. G. R. Sms. James Bryce, M.P. JEROME K. Jerome. S. Squrre SPRIGGE. Hatt Carne. Rupyarp Kipuine. J. J. STEVENSON. P. W. CLaYDEN. Pror. E. Ray LAnxester, F.R.S. Jas. SULLY. Epwarp Cropp. J. M. Leny. : WItiiAm Moy Tuomas. i W. Morris Couusgs. Rev. W. J. Lorrin, F.S.A. H. D. Traru, D.C.L. i Hon. JoHNn Couturier. Pror. J. M. D. MErKLEJoHN. Baron HENRY DE Worms, MP., W. Martin Conway. Herman C. MERIVALE. F.RB.S. F. Marion CRAWFORD. Rev. C. H. Mippueron-Waxe F.L.S.| Epmunp Yates. Hon. Counsel—E. M. UNpERDowy, Q.C. Solicitors—Messrs Fiznp, Roscoxz, and Co., Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Secretary—C. HERBERT THRING, B.A. OFFICES. 4, Portugat Street, Lincoun’s Inn Freups, W.C. aan Now ready, Third Edition, with Additions throughout, in demy 8vo., 700 pages, price 15s. AN ANECDOTAL HISTORY oF THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT, 4 From the Earliest Periods to the Present Time. WITH NOTICES OF EMINENT PARLIAMENTARY MEN, AND EXAMPLES OF THEIR ORATORY. CoMPILED FROM AUTHENTIC SOURCES BY GHORGH HENRY JENNINGS. CONTENTS. Part I.—Rise and Progress of Parliamentary Institutions. | APPENDIx.—(A) Lists of the Parliaments of England and — Part II.—Personal Anecdotes: Sir Thomas More to John of the United Kingdom. Morley. (B) Speakers of the House of Commons. : Part III.—Miscellaneous. 1. Elections. 2. Privilege; Ex- (C) Prime Ministers, Lord Chancellors, and clusion of Strangers; Publication of Debates. Secretaries of State from 1715 to 3. Parliamentary Usages, &c. 4. Varieties. 1892. Opinions of the Press of the Present Edition. _ The work, which has long been held in high repute as a repertory | ‘It is a work that possesses both a practical and an historical of good things, is more than ever rich in doth instruction and amuse- value, and is altogether unique in character."—Kentish Observer. ment. ”—Scotsman. ‘* We can heartily recommend this work to the politician, whatever “Iti . . may be his party leanings.”—WNorthern Echo. 5 seat tee get oa page aga Zc and in its | ‘‘Here we have the whole company of Parliamentary celebrities, : A i | past and present, reduced to puppets, so to speak, and made to ‘Its advantage to those who are seeking seats in Parliament, or | repeat their best and most approved rhetorical performances for our } wio may have occasion to assist as speakers during the electoral leisurely entertainment, which is not less enjoyable from being allied vempaign, is incumparable.”—Sala’s Journal, | with edification.” —Ziverpool Courier. a Orders may now be sent to HORACE COX “Law Times” Office, Windsor House, Bream’s-buildings, E.C.  Che HMuthbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vou. III.—No. 10.] For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. HE Secretary begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. During the last six months a number of letters have not been delivered at the Society’s office, and, as one robbery at least has been proved to have been committed, it is reasonab‘e to suppose that the letters have been stopped in the hope of stealing uncrossed cheques. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. Oe WARNINGS. Serian Ricuts.—In selling Serial Rights stipulate that you are selling simultaneous serial right only, otherwise you may find your work serialized for years, to the detriment of your volume form. Stamp your AcreEMENTS.—Readers are most URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements immediately after signature. If this precaution is neglected for two weeks, a fine of £10 must be paid before the agreement can be used as a legal document. In almost every case brought to the secretary the agreement, or the letter which serves for one, is without the stamp. The author may be assured that the other party to the agreement never neglects this simple pre- caution. The stamp duty varies from 6d. up to 10s. or more, according to the form of agreement. The Society, to save trouble, undertakes to get VOL. III. MARCH 1, 1893. [PRIcE SIXPENCE. all the agreements of members stamped for them at no expense to themselves except the cost of the stamp. fT ASCERTAIN WHAT A PROPOSED AGREEMENT GIVES TO BOTH SIDES BEFORE SIGNING IT.- Remember that an arrangement as to a joint venture in any other kind of business whatever would be instantly refused should either party refuse to show the books or to let it be known what share he reserved for himself. Literary AceEnts.—Be very careful. You cannot be too careful as to the person whom you appoint as youragent. Remember that you place your property almost unreservedly in his hands. Your only safety is in consulting the Society, or some friend who has had personal experience of the agent. Reavers of the Author are earnestly desired to make the following warnings as widely known as possible. They are based on the experience of eight years’ workupon the dangers to which literary property is exposed :— (1.) Nevzr sign any agreement of which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part, until you have proved the figures. (2.) NEveRr enter into any correspondence with publishers, especially with those who advertise for MSS., who are not recom- mended by experienced friends or by this Society. (3.) Never, on any account whatever, bind yourself down for future work to any- one. (4.) NevER accept any proposal of royalty until you have ascertained what the DD Z  348 agreement, worked out on both a small and a large sale, will give to the author and what to the publisher. (5.) NevER accept any pecuniary risk or respon- sibility whatever without advice. (6.) Never, when a MS. has been refused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises they may put forward, for the production of the work. (7.) Never sign away foreign, which include American, rights. Keep them by special clause. Refuse to sign any agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the publisher, unless for a substantial consideration. If the publisher insists, take away the MS. and offer it to another. (8.) NevER sign any paper, either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright, without advice. (9.) Keep control over the advertisements, if they affect your returns, by clause in the agreement. Reserve a veto. If you are yourself ignorant of the subject, make the Society your adviser. (io.) Never forget that publishing is a busi- ness, like any other business, totally un- connected with philanthropy, charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with business men. Be yourself a business man. Society’s Offices :-— 4, Porrueat Street, Lincoun’s Inn Frewps. _—_—_— oS Oe HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY, 1. Every member has a right to advice upon his agreements, his choice of a publisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society’s solicitors. If the case is such that counsel’s opinion is desirable, the Committee will obtain for him counsel’s opinion. All this with- out any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publishers’ agreements are not generally within the experience of ordinary solicitors, Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. THE AUTHOR. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books repre- sented. This is in order to ascertain what hag been the nature of your agreements and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The information thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business transactions by the Secretary proves unfavour- able, you should take advice as toa change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the proposed form to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks, of every publishing firm in the country. Remember that there are certain houses which live entirely by trickery. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the inde- pendence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of the Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. THE AUTHORS’ SYNDICATE. SPECIAL report of the Authors’ Syndi- cate has been prepared, and will be issued to those members of the Society for whom the Syndicate has transacted business. The accounts of the Syndicate for 1891-92 have been audited by Messrs. Oscar Berry, and Carr. A transcript of every client’s account as audited and vouched, has been sent to that client. Members are informed : 1. That the Authors’ Syndicate takes charge of the business of members of the Society. With, when necessary, the assistance of the legal advisers of the Society, it concludes agreements, collects royalties, examines and passes accounts, and generally relieves members of the trouble of managing business details. 2. That the expenses of the Authors’ Syndi- cate are defrayed entirely out of the commission  THE AUTHOR. charged on rights placed through its intervention. This charge is reduced to the lowest possible amount compatible with efficiency. Meanwhile members will please accept this intimation that they are not entitled to the services of the Syndi- cate gratis, a misapprehension which appears to widely exist. 3. That the Authors’ Syndicate works for none but those members of the Society whose work possesses a market value. 4. That the business of the Syndicate is not to advise members of the Society, but to manage their affairs for them. 5. That the Syndicate can only undertake arrangements of any character on the distinct understanding that those arrangements are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all negotiations relating thereto are referred to it. 6. That clients can only be seen personally by appointment, and that, when possible, at least four days’ notice should be given. The work of the Syndicate is now so heavy, that only a limited number of interviews can be arranged. 7. That every attempt is made to deal with the correspondence promptly, but that owing to the enormous number of letters received, some delay is inevitable. That stamps should, in all cases, be sent to defray postage. 8. That the Authors’ Syndicate does not invite MSS. without previous correspondence, and does not hold itself responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. ee NOTICES. HE Editor of the Author begs to remind members of the society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the society if a great many members did not forward to the secretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. Perhaps this reminder may be of use. With 850 members, besides the outside circulation of the paper, the Author ought to prove a source of revenue to the society. 349 The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects con- nected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the society than to make the Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write ? Communications for the Author should reach the editor not later than the 21st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office with- out previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly understood that the Society does not, under any circum- stances, undertake the publication of MSS. — The Authors’ Club is now opened in temporary premises, at 17, St. James’s Place, St. James’s Street. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, &c. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? If they will do this, and remit the amount or a banker’s order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble o9f sending out a reminder. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the warning numbered (3). It is a most foolish and a most disastrous thing to bind yourself to anyone for a term of years. Let them ask them- selves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest or dishonest ? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign themselves into literary bondage for three or five years P  THE 359 Those who possess the “Cost of Production” are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble of “doing sums,” the addition of three shillings in the pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at £9 4s. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth as can be procured: but a printer’s, or a binder’s, bill is so elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the “Cost of Production” for advertising. Ofcourse, we have not included any sums which may be charged for inserting adver- tisements in the publisher’s own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud: it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. ee LITERARY PROPERTY. I. Tuer Ricuts or tHE NAMELESS. I. HE following letter appeared in the I Athenzxum of Feb. 11 :— A Warnine To AUTHORS. Please let me recount my experience of Messrs. Warne and Co., publishers. Sixteen years ago I wrote a semi-religious story for girls. It appeared in the Quiver in 1877, and was called “ Their Summer Day.” In 1883 I offered the copyright of it to Messrs. Warne. They bought it for £20 or £25. I stipn- lated that my name should not appear, orI should not, even then, have sold a story for sosmallasum. Mr. Warne, I think, did not send me proofs; he certainly altered the name to “Marie May; or, Changed Aims,” without con- sulting me. It was published by him in 1884 in a series of juvenile books by different authors. No name was printed on the title-page, only the titles of a few other early stories that had also been written for the Quiver. Yesterday, to my surprise, I came across this book for girls—published sixteen years ago in a religious magazine, and nine years ago in the manner I haye described, by Messrs. Warne themselves—got upin the guise of a new novel, with my name upon and in it, as well as those of AUTHOR. the works I have quite recently published. Moreover there is no date on the title page, so that unsuspecting editors may review, and innocent readers buy, as a new book this very old one. Iam aware that Messrs. Warne had a right to republish the story, but I feel that they have taken advantage of my foolishness in not having the clause about the book being anonymous put into the agreement; that I made the con- dition the title-page of the early edition shows. In regard to the story itself, I hope I may not be judged by it. Itis uninteresting and rather foolish, so that Messrs. Cassell (who were always very kind to me) gave me back the copyright, not caring themselves to reprint it. offered it to Messrs. Macmillan, who had just published my children’s book (m 1883); but though they are my intimate friends, they could not bring themselves to think this story good enough forthem. I therefore took it to Messrs. Warne ; but I should not have allowed them to publish it, except on the understanding I have stated. I think it was quite up to the average of the semi-juvenile series in which they first published it ; but I contend that it is most unjust to put it forth, with a dateless title-page, in a manner that shall make it pass as my recent work. : Lucy Cuirrorp (Mrs. W. K. Currrorp). II. The following appeared in reply, Feb. 18 1893 :— ? Chandos House, Bedford-street, Strand, Feb. 14, 1893. An ex parte statement having appeared in your columns from the pen of Mrs. W. K. Clifford, re her work “ Marie May,” you will please allow us to place your readers in pos- session of the facts by publishing this letter. Mrs. Clifford makes three statements :— 1. That we changed the title of the book without con- sulting her. 2. That the present edition is got up in the guise of a new novel. 3. That an understanding was given—not mentioned in the agreement—that the book should be issued anony- mously. Lastly, she complains of there being no date on the title-page. The first of these statements is untrue, as a proof of which we hold Mrs. Clifford’s duly completed receipt for £25, transferring the entire copyright to us under the title of “‘ Marie May,” distinctly. The second is wilfully misleading. The book is not got up in the guise of a new novel, but is issued in a series of cheap reprints, published in the usual form, at 2s. picture boards and 2s. 6d. cloth. Re the third. No condition whatever was made as to anonymous publication, and we are morally certain that the matter was never broached at all, The fact that the first edition was issued anonymously in no way proves the contrary,as the book was first placed in a series where a large proportion of volumes were issued in the same way. Further, the insertion of her name at that date would have been of no assistance to the sale of the book. Fourthly. Re the dateless title-page. Surely Mrs. Clifford puts herself altogether in the wrong on this point. If the title had borne the date 1893, both she and the public — might have had cause for complaint. The fact that it was not dated, and that the book was not sent for review (as she too eagerly concludes it was), proves our bona fides in the matter. In view of these facts, while expressing no opinion of the book itself, we maintain our perfect right—as holders ae  THE of the copyright—to issue the volume in its present form, with any advantage that may accrue from Mrs. Clifford’s name having become better known to the public. At the same time we decline to take a lesson in just dealing from a lady whose principles may best be judged by the fact that she has been willing to sell a work—which she herself designates as “uninteresting and foolish’—for the sum of £25, and afterwards to decry it. Further, it appears to us a moot question whether a journal like the Athenewm should open its columns for ex parte statements of this nature without ascertaining if there is any justification for them. FREDERICK WARNE AND CoO. III. To this Mrs. Clifford makes rejoinder to the Author :— I did not give any receipt at all (for an obvious reason) till some time after the publication of the story. I could hardly have given it under any other title than that by which it had been published. If Messrs. Warne publish it now as a reprint or new edition, why do they not say so on cover or titlepage? There is no hint of it, nor of its being one of a series. And why is it announced in the Publishers’ Circular for Jan. 28 and the Bookseller for February as a new book? If I did not make the anonymous condition why did Messrs. Warne not use my name? It was of no value in 1877 when this story was written; but it must have been worth something in 1883 when they republished it. For in 1881 Messrs. Wells, Gardner, and Darton had published a little book called “ Children Busy,” of which 31,000 copies were sold in the first year. The stories were known to be mine though they were not signed. In 18821 published “ Anyhow Stories” with Messrs. Macmillan, so that my name must have had some value even then, and the inference is that Messrs. Warne would have used it had they been at liberty to do so. Lucy CLIFFORD. LY: The St. James’s Gazette and the Westminster Gazette comment upon the case as follows :— I. We referred only a month ago to a dispute Mr. Clark Russell had with Messrs. Kegan Paul and Co. as to their right, as assignees of copyrights purchased from Messrs. H. S. King and Co., to republish to-day, under Mr. Russell’s name, youthful work contributed years ago, under a pseu- donym, to the Liverpool Daily Post. The alleged right struck us, we confess, as wholly untenable. Mrs. W. K. Clifford has to complain of a similar and flagrant grievance against Messrs. Warne and Co. Il. A curious case in the ethics of publishing is raised by the treatment to which Mrs. W. K. Clifford has been subjected by a certain firs. In her early days, when her intellectual standpoint was very different from what it is now, she wrote some goody-goody but (if she will pardon us for saying it) somewhat dull stories for the Quiver. In 1883 she sold the copyright of one of them to the firm in question, stipulating that it should be published anonymously, though she neglected to put this stipulation in the agreement. In 1884 the story was duly published in a series of religious books for young people. So far so good. But the other day, without a word to the authoress, the publishers re-issued the work, in the guise of a new novel, with the name of Mrs. Clifford on the title- page, to which they added the titles of her recent books (“* Mrs. Keith’s Crime,” “ Aunt Anne,” &c.). In charity one AUTHOR. 351 must suppose that the publishers meant no harm; but the effect is that an unsuspecting public will imagine this imma- ture story, written by Mrs. Clifford when she was a girl, to be a new book written in direct succession to ‘‘ Aunt Anne.” Doubtless the firm in question have acted entirely within their legal rights. But is the proceeding one which com- mends itself to the publishing conscience? When the Publishers’ Union is an accomplished fact perhaps we shall know. Meanwhile, what does the Society of Authors think of the case? v. These letters speak for themselves. The author says that there was the condition of anonymous publishing; that the title was changed without consulting her; that the new edition is presented as a new novel ; and that there is no date on the title-page. The publisher says that there were no conditions. Very well. There is, perhaps, no written agreement. But the book was published anonymously. Why? The publisher says that the insertion of the author’s name would not have helped the sale. Then are we to understand that a publisher is to please himself whether a name is to be given or not? In that case what becomes of reputation? How is a name to be made? If a book is anonymous, the world always understands that it isso ordered by the author. Such a case as this seems to us one that should be decided by the courts of law. It seems a simple thing. The point does not appear to have ever arisen and been decided at law, but it seems at least arguable that the publisher of an anonymous book buys the work, but not the name. Otherwise one may conceive of a great deal of mischief being done to a writer. We all have our beginnings; some of us have our necessities. When these are surmounted, the most serious injury might be done by reviving immature work for the sake of trading upon an honourable and popular name. Once more, the case is another warning for every writer. it CopyrigHt and MaGazines. With reference to the article appearing in your last issue, p. 313, on the subject of magazines and copyright, there is one point on which I would venture to differ from the opinion expressed by Mr. Hardy on sect. 18 of the Copyright Act, 1842. Mr. Hardy suggests three conditions which must be fulfilled before the proprietor can become entitled to the copyright in articles written for him by others. The second of these conditions is, ‘that the articles must be written on the terms that the copyright therein shall belong to the proprietor,” and in support of this contention he cites the case of Layland y. Stewart (4 Ch.  352 THE Div. 419) — but that case, I would submit, only shows that, where an author enters into an agreement for the publication of his work, no copyright will pass to the publisher without an assignment in writing, and that it does not govern a transaction in which the author has written an article which he was employed to write for his employer. Such a case, I submit, would be governed by the decision in Sweet v. Benning (24 L. J. 175, C. P.), where it was held that in order to give the proprietor of a periodical a copyright in articles composed for him by others, and paid for by him, under the 18th section of the Copyright Act (5 & 6 Vict. ¢. 45), it is not necessary that there should be an express con- tract that he should have the property in the copyright. E. CuartEris. Temple, Feb. 7. Seen IIT. In Bankruptcy. A publisher who has agreed to produce an author’s book on royalty, becom-s bankrupt, and offers a composition of, say, 5s. inthe pound. The composition isaccepted. Hethen carries on his busi- ness as before, and sells a number of copies of the book in question. Upon these sales he proposes to pay one-quarter of the stipulated royalty. But the author says: “No; I consented to accept 5s. inthe pound on all debts due to me at the date of your composition. I did not consent to accept 5s in the pound on any debts that might be incurred afterwards. I want my royalty in full.” Which is right, author or publisher? Will some member, who is learned in the law, please answer, quoting the cases on which his opinion is based ? D. =e IV. AMERICAN COPYRIGHT. An author arranges to bring out a book on royalty in England, and also sells the American rights. The American firm who agree to buy are informed of the date when it will be pro- duced in England; but in spite of that fact, for reasons of their own, delay publication, and the American copyright is lost. As the book is thus rendered practically valueless to them they refuse to complete their contract. What is the author todo? If he were to sue in the American courts, I suppose his evidence could be taken upon com- mission; but even then would not the expense be enormous? Also upon what basis should he assess damages? It they were considered too high, would not he be mulcted in part of the The matter is important, as two cases of costs r AUTHOR. the sort have already occurred, and though in both the American firms involved have even tually paid, other cases are sure to crop up. In order to protect the interest of members, would not it be possible for the Society to co-operate with the American Association of Authors, a small addi. tional subscription being paid for this service ? Each subscriber would then practically become a member of the Association, and enjoy all the rights of membership. Of course, a similar privilege should be offered to all who belong to the American Association. It seems to me that some such arrangement would greatly benefit authors in both countries, D. Vv. THe Frencu Society or Dramatic AUTHORS. The French Society of Dramatic Authors, in their capacity as a syndicate, collected in 1890-91 no less than £136,444 as authors’ rights for its members. Beaumarchais was the real originator of this society. Having given his first two pieces, The Enigma and The Two Friends, to the actors, free, gratis, for nothing, when it came to the Barber of Seville and its tremendous vogue, he claimed an author’s share of the profits. The comedians sent him 4500 livres, which would be some £450 to-day, but without any account or computation of the sum. Beaumarcbais brought the matter before the licenser of plays—then a gentleman of the King’s bed-chamber, the Due de Duras—who suggested to him to get the dramatic authors together, and draft a regulation for the future. Diderot, La Harpe, and others opposed Beaumarchais—these authors always will have a sylit—but he, in 1777, got together some twenty-three colleagues, and in 1780 succeeded in fixing an author’s rights in his play at one-seventh of the net receipts. For the sixty- five first performances of the Marriage of Figaro, for example, Beaumarchais thus obtained 41,440 livres, say, nowadays, some £4140. The National Assembly made the first legislative recognition of dramatic copyright in January, 1791, but Beau- marchais had to petition about this law in the following December. Out of this petition came another unsatisfactory law in 1792; but at length, on Sept. 1, 1793, the playwright was assimilated to any other writer in the ownership of his own works ; and ever since then—for just a hundred years—the Society that the indefatigable Beau- marchais started has gone on prospering, and earning their bread for all its members. ‘Lhe Revue de Belgique contains an article on the subject which is of interest to us all. J. O'NEILL.  THE AUTHOR. VE PusLIsHERS ACCOUNTS. The following judgment has been pronounced by the Court of Cassation in Paris on a case between publisher and author. The case is still pending, this decision being only a step im its progress. When it is finally settled we hope to report the whole : “ When, in the carrying out of a contract between publisher and author, the publisher, in order to increase his profits and reduce those of the author, renders accounts which dissimulate the real number of copies in the editions, and at the same time falsifies his books to make them agree with the accounts rendered, this combination of fraud and falsification presents the character of the crimes of forgery and of the employment of forged documents.” And the Court of Cassation has accordingly sent down the case anew to the “ Chambre des mises en accusation,’ or Court of Indictment, as it might be translated—being a sort of grand- jury of judges. If they now find a true bill, the case will then at length be tried by some Court of First Instance. VEL. Tux Output, 1800 AND 1892. The following is a classified list of new books for the year 1800. The population of the three kingdoms was then 15,000,000. It is now, counting English readers in the colonies and India, about four times as great. We have therefore placed in parallel columns what would be the output of to- day in the same proportion, and what is the actual output. The arrangement of the Publishers’ Circular is followed. | 1800. | 1892 1893 | (in same (actual). | | propor- | | tion). eae oe | Se | Theology and Sermons | 96 384 528 Educational, Classical, Piilological .......:... | 56.31. 200 579 ae... (2 | ie 1147 Law, Jurisprudence, &c. | Bio | Lee 61 Political and Social | Economy, Trade, and | Commerce ............ | 137 |< 048 151 Arts, Sciences, and | | Tllustrated Works ...| 63 | 252 147 Voyages and Travels ... | 20 80 250 History and Biography | 52 | 208 293 Poetry and the Drama | 110 440 185 Medicine and Surgery... | 60 | 240 127 The second and third columns show (1) VOL. III. ‘ accident. 3§3 the increased proportion of readers to population, and (2) the changes which have taken place in their reading. Thus, without change, we should have had 384 new books on theology, we actually get 528. Now the people who read theological works certainly use the old standard books more than new ones. Educational books are multiplied by nearly three, which shows the immense spread of education. Novels are multiplied, in propor- tion, by five, but then a very large number of those which swell our numbers are stuff which no one will publish except at the author’s expense. Voyages and Travels are multiplied by three, History and Biography by one andahalf. Poetry and the Drama have decreased by from 446 to 146. Books on Medicine are diminished by one-half. Political and Social Economy, Trade and Com- merce, reduced from 548 to 105. The propor- tional increase is not so great as we might have expected, but it grows; in ten years’ time, one ventures to predict, the increase in educational books will be very great indeed ; there will be a great decrease in novels; there will be a large increase in poetry and the drama, and a decrease in voyages and travels. Lastly, the whole output of new books in 1892 in the same proportion to that of 1800, when it was 693, should have been 2772: instead, it was, excluding year books and serials, 4555, or nearly double. The number of those who read books is therefore doubled in proportion to the population. The case, how- ever, cannot be disposed of in this simple way, because the editions are now very much larger than they were formerly, and the apparent increase by no means represents the real increase. VALE. A Cask oF COLLABORATION. A lady translated a series of stories from the French, and arranged with a gentleman to super- vise the MS., and correct any errors that might occur. He was further to try and place the stories in magazines and other suitable periodicals. The financial arrangement was based on_ half profits. Under the circumstances, a fairly equi- table arrangement, though what advantage there was lay on the side of the man, the lady being a erson of some literary attainment and culture, and therefore needing in her MS. not much cor- rection. In due course a story was placed in a well-known weekly journal. No mention of the fact was made; the truth was discovered by The lady, who constantly met the gentleman in society, taxed him with it, and was informed that she should receive a cheque in due course, but the cheque never came, and a EE  354 year has passed. Another story has been placed, and no cheque has as yet arrived. Under ordi- nary circumstances an action at law would be an easy way to awaken the male partner to a sense of duty and responsibility. Unfortunately the lady lives abroad, and this point is a safeguard to her partner. He knows the fact, and trades upon it. IX. Is tHis Farr? An editor of a certain journal or periodical happens to be also a member of the Society. In the information column of his journal he is asked several difficult questions concerning copyright, and various particulars about publishers. As a member of the Society he writes off to the Secretary, stating the complicated legal conun- drums, and asking advice generally as to the publishers referred to. The Secretary, in the innocence of his heart, writes him a full letter containing valuable information and critical ex- planations. In the next week’s issue of the periodical the correspondents are fully answered. Is this fair to the Society? A member who really had the work of the Society at heart ought to refer correspondents to the Secretary, and not suck the Secretary’s brains for his own aggran- disement, and to the detriment of the Society, or, at least, he might acknowledge the source of his information. X. A TALE oF a JOURNAL. The public life of third-rate journals and perio- dicals is full of interest, not only as showing the ingenuity of the human mind, but as setting forth the dangers attendant on MSS. forwarded for insertion in their columns. A limited liability company is generally the first step in the career of vice. In the memorandum of association powers are taken to publish a magazine, paper, book, or anything that may be printed. The paper is in due course floated. With the little money pro- duced from the sale of shares and collected from the gullible public, advertisements for MSS. are freely posted. In a short time quite a collection of literary wares is brought together, but the printer is left unpaid, and the landlord is clamour- ing for rent, and the contributors are wild for their small pittances. There is only one haven of rest—the bankruptcy court. Now is the editor’s or proprietor’s chance, the chance of the man who conceived the brilliant idea, the chance of the man who knew of its inevitable failure. All the THE AUTHOR. assets of the company are sold for the benefit of the creditors. The proprietor puts forward a nominee and buys them in at a small knock-down value. There is nothing for the creditor. The printer rages and the contributors are in tears, But the former proprietor, in a nice new office, is running a fresh and perhaps successful magazine of his own with this distinct advantage that for some time at least he has no contributors to pay. Xi. Lost MSS. It is curious to hear of the difficulties encountered in finding MSS., when the impatient owner, after long delay, at length clamours for their return. A few cases may suffice to put this before the minds of the readers of the Author. One publisher, in a case brought before us, could only discover an MS. when the irate author with his back to the door of the private office threatened personal violence, This is not every one’s chance, but this author was an accomplished athlete, Another writer, a lady of gentle and patient disposition, who could in no other way get her MS., took her lunch and a novel, and sat down in the office to wait, stating her readiness to wait all day and every day. Presently the MS. was handed to her from a shelf quite close to where she was sitting. In another case the address had been lost, and in another the author’s letter had been mislaid. Authors, however, are not without blame. They forward the MSS. recklessly. They give inadequate instructions as to their return, and they demand infallibility. XIi. Artistic CopyRiGcuHt. The society has been applied to recently by one or two artists for advice on questions of copy- right, and for help in the negotiation of terms with publishers and engravers. This is no doubt a wide field, but it is a field in which the society, through its knowledge of copyright, can be of great assistance to fellow workers. Many artists are, of course, also authors. Many, however, are not. One or two elections of artists have been made whose contracts are similar to those of authors and to whom the society’s experience may be of equal service. a a Af a  THE XIii. TirLE AND COPYRIGHT. A novel difficulty in regard to the law of copyright has just come under my notice. A retired naval officer wrote a nautical novel, and for some time before it was complete spent considerable sums in advertisements and “ prelimi- nary puffs.” Just as the work was on the eve of production another astute novelist brought outa book with the title which the first writer has been sedulously advertising. He thus appropriates a great part of the fruits of his rival’s expenditure. So far as I can see, the injured scribe has no redress; what is more, there appears to be no means by which an author desirous of advertising his work before pub- lication can guard against this form of piracy. The Society of Authors might well address themselves to the amendment of the law in this respect. The above is from 7ruth. It certainly seems a most flagrant case. But a similar case has has already been decided in the courts in Max- well v. Hogg and Hogg v. Maawell (15 L.T. 204). The whole question of title was dealt with at some length in our issue of December, 1892, and we would refer readers who are interested to that number for information. HARDSHIPS OF PUBLISHING. laa has been little of importance added to the talk in the Athenewn on_ the “Hardsbips of Publishing.” Mr. John Murray wrote (Jan. 28) to say that he has lost about £7000 by three books. We might very fairly contend that we were talking of dealings with authors, not of reference books. But as nobody ever supposed that Mr. Murray never takes risks, we are quite prepared to admit that Mr. Murray is one of the “few publishers who take risks.” The fact does not in the least alter our position. And Mr. Rudyard Kipling (Feb. 18) sends the following :-— At this distance I cannot quite see what in the world my private notes have to do with Mr. William Heinemann’s public scufflings. If he had told me that he wanted my views on the hardships of publishers for publication, I should have been most happy to have forwarded them, though I do not think that he would then have considered them of interest to your readers. What I wrote to him was an ordinary civil acknowledg- ment of his letter to the Atheneum. If I had imagined that he was going to give my letter to the public, I should not have been at such pains to dwell upon what seemed to me his one fair contention. Nor should I have confined my remarks to the justice on his side. My practice (for I have bought my experience in the market) is to deal with pub- lishers entirely through an agent. RupyARD KIPLING. VOL. III. AUTHOR. 355 To this appears the following reply (Feb. 25) : 21, Bedford-street, W.C., Feb. 20, 1893. Mr. Rudyard Kipling’s letter to you has grieved and surprised me. Ihave written to him to express my regret. But I also remind him, and hope you will let me inform your readers, that my action was caused by a complete misunderstanding of his views. In the letter from which I made-the quotation for the Athenzwm, Mr. Kipling wrote, in reference to another controversial matter : “If you choose to quote anything I said that you think will do you good, of course I can’t stop it, and I shouldn’t kick at it. Your mistake lay in asking.” In the next paragraph there occurred the words I sent to you for publication. How could I know that what applied to Jack was not intended to apply to Jill? W. HEINEMANN. The “one fair contention” alluded to is the prac- tice, too common among authors, of attributing failure of their books to the publisher, whose interest it certainly is to do all he can to make them succeed. The result of the rather angry controversy is that nothing whatever has been done to shake our contention—based upon such an experience of publishing houses as no single person can have— that few publishers take risks; or that few risks are taken by publishers. This is not, of course, saying that no risks are ever taken. Next, that after asserting that the society, or any one con- nected with it, has ever called publishers “in a lump, thieves,” the accuser, to support his charge, has to interpret such an adjective “ widespread ” as “universal” ; and, lastly, that where an offer has been made, and been refused, to undertake work at the alleged “cost of production,” the refusal to accept that offer is virtuously inter- preted to be based on a desire not to sweat the poor printer. This is a very fine result of the last attack. Let us now await the next. Why do publishers, whenever they talk about risks, constantly assume that they are all carrying on business in the same way, with the same capital, and the same power of ineurring risks ? When some penniless clerk, backed by a little credit with a printer, startes publishing, what risk can he afford torun? The small amount of capital with which many publishing houses have to work for years, and until they ‘turn the corner,” absolutely precludes the possibility of taking risk. It is vitally necessary for them, not only that a book shall pay for its cost of production, but that it shall also pay some margin of profit. It is in order to secure this margim that so many frauds have been introduced—overcharge of printing, paper, binding, advertisements—getting large discounts on every item and pocketing the whole. In advertisements, for imstance. an EE 2 356 advertising agent recently informed a member of this society that he does not take publishers’ business because they want such large dis- counts. Some of them ask, he says, as much as 40 per cent. discount—not, of course, in the great papers, but in the smaller journals. Do any of these discounts appear in the accounts? Would it not be more dignified for the great Houses when they read our experience, embodied in the form of a perfectly true statement, such as “‘ Few publishers take risks,” or “ Few risks are aken by publishers,” to assume that everybody knows that they are of the “few”? For instance, when one says, which is perfectly true, that many solicitors are—what many solicitors’ certainly are we do not see our own friends, who are solicitors, writing to the papers to say that they are not— they really are not—such as these gentry. They take it for granted that the world knows them tou well to suppose that they are meant. Nor, if one mentions the word “ Quack”’ in the presence of a medical man, does our personal friend the doctor jump up with a red face and fiery eyes to explain that he himself.is a qualified practitioner and an M.D. of London. Besides, our statement about risks is in itself so plainly and manifestly true, to every one who has any real knowledge of the trade and its conditions, that it is wonderful to see publishers objecting to it. Why should they take risks when they can avoid risks? The small Houses have not the capital which would enable them to take risks. The large Houses alone, which can afford to wait, may at times take needless risks, and sometimes make money and sometimes lose it. They may also make mistakes. There is in most men of business a certain element of the gambler. Perhaps without a little speculation trade would be dull. Is it, again, quite dignified to announce the fact of these failures? We do not find other business men advertising their losses. Mistakes must be made, it is certain, when speculation is introduced; all that is claimed is (1) that there are, and should be, few mistakes in publishing, considering the reputation and the position of certain writers ; (2) that the majority of Houses, which include the hundreds outside the few generally placed in the first line, either cannot afford, or will not afford, to run any risk whatever, and if they publish a risky book they make the author pay. Therefore, to repeat again and again, few publishers take risks, or publishers take few risks. And again, by risk we mean the speedy recouping of the cost of production, which in most cases is not paid until the sales have covered it, so that there is no cost at all. But we do not mean the expectation of profit, which is another question altogether. THE AUTHOR. Here is an illustration of the curious attitude of mind which is assumed by many in arranging for the publication of a book. “I have just; left,” said a certain person to the Secretary the other day, “the office of Messrs. They showed me by their own accounts that they are always losing money by their books. It is quite wrong to say that they never take risks.’ Well, nobody says that they never take risks. But consider what this means. The partners of this firm live in great opulence; they have arrived at their present prosperity by the publication of successful books. Their success proves their per- ception of what is wanted ; it isa faculty of which they may be justly proud because it has made them rich; yet they are constantly pretending and professing that they lose money by publishing books. That they do sometimes lose a little is quite intelligible; that they ever knowingly pro- duce a book which will probably or certainly fail to pay expenses may be doubted—except for reasons which are not apparent to the world, Then why this pretence? Is there any other business in the world in which the principals live in great houses, and yet are always publicly wailing over their losses? And, of course, to say that they prove these losses to a visitor by afford. ing him a glimpse of accounts is perfectly ridicu- lous, and for this reason, An account, to prove anything, must be audited. And in auditing a book account, many things have to be examined, as, for instance, the vouchers and receipts of printers, paper makers, and binders. And it must be proved how much was actually paid, and to what papers, for advertisements. And, again in the case of advertisements, not what is the tariff price, but what discounts were allowed; and not what is the scale for such and such a magazine, but, was the advertisement an exchange? And what adver- tisements, if any, are charged for the House's own magazine? Imagine, if you can, one of the great drapers of Regent-street driving home in his carriage and pair to sit down and lament over his daily losses! Now, if the more consider- able houses, which chiefly concern us, will give over publicly protesting or suggesting that their business is entirely a gambling one, and that the more they publish the more they lose, and will acknowledge, what every man of common sense perfectly well knows, that they must, as men of business, do their very best to run as few risks as possible ; then the smaller fry will have to leave off too, and shall be able to discuss matters as reasonable beings. Meanwhile we have at least given to the world the figures which show what book publishing means. ———  i i oa dl 4 ia q til if t a cf Es] g $3 ae iy Se SE THe AUTHOR. There are no fewer than 416 publishers in the London Trade Directory. A few more—religious societies—are not on the list. There are, there- fore, say, 420 houses which profess to call them- selves publishers. A rough division of this list shows that there are about twelve which may be called first-class houses, having regard to the class of literature they produce, their resources and history, and the general character they possess for integrity—but in this list we must be careful not to include all the firms which advertise long lists. Among those in the first rank are pub- lished most of the books--not at the author’s expense—which carry risk. Next to them stand some seventeen houses which we may fairly place in the second class; after them about sixteen of the third class. Then a few hangers-on in general literature ; chiefly, they publish the inferior novel. As for the rest they are American and foreign houses; religious houses; theological, scientific, legal, medical, geographical, and tech- nical houses; publishers of elementary educa- tional books; some printers who sometimes publish; some papers whose proprietors call themselves publishers; the producers of penny novelettes. For purposes of general literature there are between forty and fifty houses which need to be considered at all. And in some of these the unwary will most certainly be robbed, while in many of them he will be entrapped into aone-sided agreement Considering these things, writers, it cannot be too often repeated, should take the advice of the Society before sending MSS., and should, above all, seek the advice of the Society before signing agreements. spect AN OMNIUM GATHERUM FOR MARCH. Suggestions for Books or Articles.—A History of Publishing, with special reference to plural publication, as that of Chalmers’ “ British Essayists ” in 1823, in the publication of which fifty-seven publishers joined; The Force of Jealousy in Politics, Literature, and Art; The Duty of Delight; The Budgets of 1842, 1846, 1853, 1869, and 1892; The History of the three Reform Acts; The disadvantages of Civilisation ; The Rise and probably approaching Fall of Party Government in England; “ One Woman, Two-thirds of a Vote,” with special reference to Plato’s Republic, book v. A Publishers’ Union—The rumoured Pub- Jishers’ Union seems to have been given up. How sad! Authors have everything to gain and nothing to lose from such a Union. 3o/ Prefaces—It is unfortunate that so little labour should frequently be bestowed on prefaces. In novels they are almost unknown. Why should this be? Wilkie Collins, I believe, never wrote a novel without a preface. Beyond doubt the preface assists the reviewer, and conduces to a favourable review. Dedications.—These, which used to be almost universal, seem to be dying out, which is rather a pity. They afford opportunity for a pretty compliment, but it is suggested that the author should not dedicate to a person much above him in social or literary position. Bedside Books.—As good “bedside books” for those who may suffer from sleeplessness, I would respectfully recommend “ Le Mie Prigioni,” of Silvio Pellico, Boswell’s “Life of Johnson,” and Burton’s “Anatomy of Melancholy.” For the first to take the desired effect, the reader should know enough Italian to enjoy it, but not so much as to dispense wi' h an occasional puzzling over it. Copyright.—Is not the principal point of Copyright Law which requires amendment that clumsy 18th section of the Copyright Act of 1842, which irregulates (if such a word may be coined) the respective rights of the magazine proprietor and his contributors ? Is there a single human being who would oppose the amendment of it, suggested by the Royal Com- mission of 1878? Advertisements.—Should not an auth r exercise some control over the advertisements cof his books, so that, e.g., the favourable extracts from reviews should not be too profusely printed ? Books sent for Review.—Ought not a book sent for review and not reviewed to be returned to the sender? J. M. Lety. a WHAT THEY READ. ee OFTEN hear it asserted that the public read “what they like.” That is said with reference to circulating libraries, and the books which there “read best.’ It is said with reference to “ public libraries” formed under the new Act, and the works which “go out’? most often, It is said to authors — as an end of all controversy respecting why some books are successful and some are not. Certainly there is no person whom the point concerns more than the author. Now, I may be mistaken, but I believe that 358 people do not read ‘“‘ what they like,” but what they can get. This is certainly the case at the new public libraries. People go, day after day, for weeks, hoping to secure some wished-for book. They look at the “indicator,” discover that the work which they wish to have is “out,” and take in- stead—what they can get. I believe that it would be no exaggeration to say that, at the public libraries, for one volume which people take from choice, they take ten others, because they cannot get what they want. At the circulating libraries the case is rather different. Itis very different at the headquarters of the great London libraries. There a good many people do get what they choose. But not all. Some folk are wonderfully easily persuaded to believe that new works are “at present out,’ and to read instead something which they are told “they are certain to like.” Nor does anyone get all he wishes. I have been asking for e ght weeks for a small French work out of print which I desire to see before a certain date. Some other man has had the only copy all the time. I suppose he is learning it by heart; for to read it through would take scarcely two hours. But all this applies to the great libraries in the metropolis. What is to be said about the country libraries? Do they always promise their customers the books they wish to see? The other day a country girl said to me, “Ifa book is at all popular we frequently cannot get it. If we ask for it as soon as we hear of it, we are told, ‘It has not yet been sent down.’ Next, ‘It is out. Afterwards, ‘It bas gone back to London.’” Did this lady read what she liked, or what she could get ¥ Still, a book not out of print can always be bought. Can it? Is there no such thing asa prohibitive price? Is there no such case as its not being upon the bookstall when Belinda, who has resolved to read it in the train, asks for it ? Is the e no such thing as not having heard of a work? — It will be said that, at present, everthing possible is done to bring books under the notice of people whom they are likely to interest. That may be true. It is most important that it should be true. Even so, does anyone really believe that the persistent efforts of the publisher and of the bookseller to make the public buy, not what they would like to purchase, but what these tradesmen have to sell, are altogether without result? Of course they are not without result. The whole effect of these efforts of tradesmen, combined with the other circumstances mentioned above, is enormous. The reading public really peruses with a small proportion of works chosen by itself, THE AUTHOR. a vastly larger number of other works which are forced upon it by countless ingenious contrivances, E. K. DEFOE AND THE PUBLISHERS. N his preface to the “True Born English. man,” Defoe, in 1701, wrote that “No author is now capable of preserving the purity of his style—no, nor the native product of his thought—to posterity; since, after the first edition of his work has shown itself, and perhaps sinks into a few hands, piratic printers or hackney abridgers fill the world, the first with spurious and incorrect copies, and the latter with imper- fect and absurd representations, both in fact, style, and design. “The ‘True Born Englishman’ is a remark- able example. By it the author, though in it he eyed no profit, had he been to enjoy the profit of his own labour, had gained above a £1000... A book that, besides nine editions of the author, has been twelve times printed by other hands ; some of which have been sold for a penny, others for twopence, and others for sixpence. The author’s edition, being fairly printed and on good paper, could not be sold under a shilling ; 80,000 of the small ones have been sold in the streets for two- pence or at a penny; and the author, thus abused and discouraged, had no remedy but patience. And yet he had received no mortification at this, had his copy been transmitted fairly to the world. But the monstrous abuses of that kind are hardly credible. Twenty-five, and in some places sixty, lines were left out in a place; others were turned, spoiled, and so intolerably mangled that the parent of the brat could not know his own ehild.”’ Authors were thus certainly worse off as regards their copyrights two centuries ago. Before two more come about perhaps they may hope to be in the full enjoyment of their own again. Later, in the “ True Collection” of his works, Defoe wrote that ‘A certain printer, whose practice that way is too well known to need a name, printed [1703] a spurious and erroneous copy of sundry things which he called mine, and intituled them a Collection of the Works of the Author of the ‘True Born Englishman.’”’ Among these was the “Shortest Way with the Dissenters” (of 1702), and “the most absurd and ridiculous mis- takes in the copies’’ (note this word. which then had the exact meaning that survives in ‘“‘ copy- — right”) ‘“ were such as rendered it a double  THE AUTHOR. cheat, the author having in his first perusal of it, detected above 350 errors in the printing. “The author having expressed himself, though in decent terms, against the foulness of this practice, the printer (having no plea to the barbarity of the fact) justifies it, and says, ‘He will do the like by anything an author prints on his own account, since authors have no right to employ a printer, unless they have served their time to a bookseller.’ This ridiculous allegation seems to me [Defoe] to be as if, a man’s house being on fire, he had no right to get help for the quenching of it of anybody but the imsurer’s firemen.” Whence we may see that the publisher’s lien on the hapless author, body and brains, is no new thing, and that he has always boldly defended his spoils. J. O'NEILL. De A NEW TRANSLATION OF RABELAIS. ———So HE appearance of a new translation of Rabelais, after that by Urquhart and Motteux has held the field unchallenged by any rival, is a literary event. Mr. W. F. Smith, Fellow and Lecturer of St. John’s, Cambridge, has achieved this task, one of amazing difficulty, and now sends it forth with learned notes, appen- dices, and introductions. Tbe work makes two large volumes of royal 8vo, of 600 pages each. It has been a work of love extending over many years. The notes seem to leave nothing unex- plained. They give the origines of incidents, phrases, and characters; they are as valuable for their Touraine folk lore as for their classical references. The first edition is limited to 750 copies, of which 250 go to America. Urquhart’s translation, as Mr. Smith frankly acknowledges, is spirited from beginning to end, and written in idiomatic English. A slavish trans- lation of Rabelais would, in fact, be absurd. But Urquhart, and in amuch greater degree Motteux, amplified. He made use of Cotgrave’s French Dictionary, in which is embodied a remarkable glossary of Rabelaisian words often marked “Rab.” In translating a single word of French, Urquhart sometimes empties into his page every synonym that he finds in his dictionary. Motteux not only does this, but adds words out of his own varied English vocabulary; and when he lights upon a piece comic after the fashion of Rabelasian fun he plays with it, amplifies and adds to it. The new translator has so far recognised the merits of Urquhart that he has done his own work 309 with Urquhart always open before him. He thus preserves something of the archaic style, which is one of the chief charms in Urquhart, and suits especially a writer of the age to which Rabelais belonged. A comparison of two passages taken almost at random will show the differences and the similarities of the two versions. The passage is from the famous Eulogy of Debt. The first is from Urquhart’s translation; the second from _M. W. F. Smith’s. 1. ‘ Yet doth it not lie in the power of every one to be a debtor. To acquire creditors is not at the disposure of each man’s arbitrament. You nevertheless would deprive me of this supreme felicity You ask me when I will be out of debt. Well, to go yet further on, and possibly worse in your conceit, may Saint Bablin, the good saint, snatch me if I have not all my lifetime held debt to be as an union or conjunc- tion of the Heavens with the Earth, and the whole cement whereby the race of mankind is kept together ; yea, of such virtue and efficacy, that I say the whole progeny of Adam would very suddenly perish without it. Therefore, perhaps, I do not think it amiss when I repute it to be the great soul of the universe, which according to the opinion of the academics vivifyeth all manner of things.” 2. “ Notwithstanding it is not every one who wishes that is a Debtor; it is not every one who wishes that mak~s Creditors. And yet you would deprive me of this sovereign felicity. You ask me when I shall be out of Debt. ‘And the Case is far worse than that. I give myself to Saint Babolin, the good saint, if have not all my life looked upon Debts as a Connection and Colligation of the Heavens and the Earth, the one single Mainstay of the Race of Mankind. I say, that without which all human Beings would soon perish—perhaps that is the great soul of the universe, which according to the academics, gives Life to ali things.” The latter version is shorter and quite as effec- tive. In fewer words it conveys the idea more clearly. But let us compare the two passages with the French. “Toutes foys, il n’est debteur qui veult; il ne faict crediteurs qui veult. Et vous me voulez debouter de ceste felicité soubeline, vous me de- mandez quand seray hors de debtes? Bien pis y ha, je me donne 4 Sainct Babolin, le bon sainct, en cas que toute ma vie je n’aye estimé debtes estre comme une connexion et colligence des cieulx et terre; ung entretenement unicque de Vhumain lignaige (je dy sans lequel bien tost tous humains periroyent) ; estre par adventure celle grande ame de l’univers, laquelle, selon les acade- micques, toutes choses vivifie.”’ 360 Similar comparisons made here and there show that the new translation, while it preserves the spirit, and even some of the style of Urquhart, is both closer to the original and stronger. It is to be hoped that this smail first edition will be speedily followed by a cheaper edition. Two or three chapters are left in the original. But, as everyone who has seriously read Rabelais knows, the common charge against him has been grossly exaggerated, and considering what things are suffered among our Elizabethans it seems super- fluous either to bring it at all or to defend it. Let it be acknowledged that he is a great sinner, and, that tribute paid to an age of cleaner exterior, let us pass on. NOTES FROM PARIS. EFORE the réprise of Musette at the Gymnase Theatre, de Maupassant’s friends thought to make the communication of the news that his successful piece was to be put on the stage again, a test of what intelligence and memory might remain in him. When the poor Master had heard the news he merely shook his head and said, ‘“‘ Ah, c’est bien mauvais.” Maupassant is neither better nor worse than he ever has been since his first attack. The mind has quite gone, but the body remains strong and vigorous. He spends his days in working hard in the garden of the maison de santé, and seems to take pleasure in tiring himself out. His appetite is good, and he looks better than he did in the old days, when he seemed constantly jaded and overwrought. I may also contradict the report that his financial affairs are so embarrassed that there has been some difficulty about the pay- ment of his pension at Doctor Blanche’s hospit- able house. No such difficulty has ever existed or would be allowed to exist. Zola has finished about a half of his new novel “Le Docteur Pascal,” and one-third of the manuscript is already in the hands of the pro- prietors of the Weekly Times and Echo, in which paper it is to appear as a serial, commencing in March. Zola told me that heis satisfied with the realisation of his conception, as far as it has gone. It certainly must be giving him very much less trouble than ‘‘ La Débacle.”’ THE AUTHOR. Pierre Louys, who is one of the most remark- able poets of the young generation, has been discharged from the army as unfit for service, and is now back in Paris, where, in conjunction with Hérold, the grandson of the composer, he is engaged on a prose translation of certain of the librettos of Wagner’s operas, with the consent of Madame Wagner. He is also finishing his verse translation of Meleager. Taine is not expected to live very much longer. He himself seems to have abandoned all hope of life. Only a few days ago he wrote a pathetic note to the poet de Hérédia, who at last has made up his mind to publish his sonnets, begging him to send him the proofs of his book, as he did not expect to live until it should be published. It may earnestly be hoped that his mournful anticipa- tions will not be realised, as Taine is one of the most valuable men that France possesses. He is one of the few Frenchmen who know anything whatever of English literature. Taine always led a most healthy life, bemg a great believer in exercise, fresh air, and regular hours. He had a huge pair of dumb bells in the antechamber of his fine apartment in the Rue Cassette, and told me that he practised with them regularly every morning and every evening. He had also the English habit of the daily tub of cold water. When down at his country house he used to take long walks. He has always been a man of a very sober, temperate life, though an incessant smoker of cigarettes. One day I had an hour’s conversation with him, and during that period we emptied a box of Khedives between us. Taine is a kind-hearted, amiable man, but has very fixed opinions on matters in general and on literary affairs in particular. For instance, he would never hear of Zola as an Academician. Monsieur Berthelot, the savant, who was set up against Zola as candidate for Ernest Renan’s fauteuil at the Academy, told me yesterday that he was no longer a candidate, that it had amused his friends to put up his name, and that, no result having been obtained, he had now with- drawn. He shrugged his shoulders when speak- ing of the Academy, and said that people largely exaggerated its importance, and that personally he had no wishes or expectations on the subject.  THE Tam rejoiced to see from the papers that my good friend H. E. the General Tcheng-ki-Tong has not only been discharged exonerated from all the charges brought against him of malpractices and so forth, but has been re-instated in office, and is now even more of a Mandarin than ever. It was not so very long ago that his friends in Paris understood that bastinado, decapitation, or worse, waited the spirituel Chinaman, and the regret was universal here. Tcheng-li-Tong was a model homme de lettres and a wonderfully well-informed man. He wrote several books about life in China, besides poems, novels, magazine articles, and so forth. He had quite caught the Parisian turn of thought and fashion of style, and held a high place in the esteem of his confréres. He was a good linguist. I once translated one of his books for Trischler and Co., and sent him the revised proofs. He pointed out to me about thirty errors which I had overlooked, and set me right on one or two points in which in writing I had not had my Lindley Murray before my eyes. He was a bright charming man, and his face was familiar in all the worlds of Paris from the highest to the lowest. And he had the most wonderful tea and tobacco that I have ever tasted. The tea was perfumed with dried Howers, and the tobacco was some which the young Emperor of China had sent him as a present, and which he himself had received from the Sultan of Turkey. We used to smoke it in Chinese pipes after the Chinese fashion, loading the pipe afresh for each whiff. Stéphane Mallarmé presided at the last dinner of La Plume. Verlaine was also p esent and in high spirits. Whistler had been expected, but was not able to come. We dined, about one hundred strong, at the Café du Palais, and the bill of fare was ornamented with an allegorical device in whih pigs and geese represented certain well-known critics. I sat next to Stuart Merrill, who is one of the most charming poets that I know. M. Léon Deschamps announced, after Mallarmé had read us a sonnet in guise of a speech, that Paul Verlaine would be our next President, an announcement which was loudly applauded. The evening after dinner was spent in the sous-sol of the Soleil d’Or, where various poets recited verses. Mallarmé’s, Verlaine’s, and Stuart Merrill’s verse was the favourite, and a young poet named De Maré¢s, who is considered very talented, also recited some verses of his own composition, which were greatly applauded. It was a novel experience, and very French. Much of the verse we heard was really of the first order, and the whole nature of the evening was highly interesting. VOL, III. AUTHOR. 361 x Stuart Merrill is a young American of some fortune who has lived many years in France, and who has published a volume of poems, which are considered masterpieces in the world of letters. He is immensely liked by his confréres, and his Friday evenings at home in the Bohemian lodg- ings he has in the Rue de Seine are always crowded with literary men. Everybody of interest amongst the younger men may be met there. He is a singularly modest man, and this quality is the more to be appreciated that it is rather rare amongst the poets of the other side of the Seine, and that Merrill might really be very proud of what he has written. He is a great Wagnerian, and detests New York, but piously spends a certain number of months there each year for the sake of his family. Writing about Taine above, I said that the majority of Frenchmen are wofully ignorant of English literature. As an example of this igno- rance | may mention that a day or two ago one of the best known of our French Jlitterateurs asked me whether English poets rhymed their verses or not, his belief being that we used nothing but blank verse. Sa Alphonse Daudet receives his literary friends on Sunday mornings, and very interesting and agreeable the hours spent with him are. Daudet is a brillant talker, and there are always present people who are also worth listening to. The last time I was at his house there was present a very clever young man, whom, by the way, Daudet calls “mon fils,’ and says “thou” to, whom Daudet asked to relate what he had felt on the evening on which his play, which failed, was produced. The young man said that he had watched the performance from a stage box, and that all the time he had been thinking how singularly ugly was the director of the theatre. He afterwards added that what had most troubled him when his play was condemned was that he had made his wife come up from the country to assist at the premicre, and that he knew how disappointed she would be Daudet said that henever was present at any premiere, and that it was only from the demeanour of his concierge next morning that he knew whether his play had succeeded or not. If it had succeeded the concierge was abject, but, if not, her manners were those of pity blended with contempt. Daudet’s maxim is that every sin which a man commits on earth is punished during this life. I told him that Goethe had held the same views, and had, indeed, expressed them in the line. ‘Denn jede Schuld recht sich auf Erden,” and Daudet said that Goethe was quite FR 362 right. “My fault,’ he added, “is that I have been too happy. I am paying for it now” he said raising the crutch with which he moves about the room. Rozsert H. SHEerarp. THE CONVEYANCE OF A GIFT. HE following letters speak for themselves :— Dear Bssant, It is with unusual pleasure that we have to announce to you to-day the desire of no fewer than 360 members of the Society of Authors (whose names are given on the enclosed list), that you will favour them by accepting the accom- panying service of plate as a very small expres- sion of their gratitude and attachment to you. This feeling, which all alike have expressed to us, is no new one on the part of the members of the Society, but your retirement from the chair- manship, a step which you have with difficulty persuaded your friends to permit you to take, seems to offer an apt occasion for a review of past services. In taking such a review, the members of the Society are at a loss to find words for their appreciation of your unselfish goodness and of the value of your powerful advocacy. They contem- plate the present flourishing state of the Society, and they are tempted to attribute nearly the whole of its success to you. Pray believe us to be, dear Besant, Yours very sincerely, (Signed) J. M. Barris. Epwarp CLopp. Epmunp Gossz. THomas Harpy. W. Houtman Hunt. Water Herries Poutock. Aurx. Gaut Ross. S. Squire SPRIGGE. 123, Chancery-lane, W.C. Feb. 4, 1893. My prEArR Ciopp, I received last night your letter of the 4th, together with the noble service of plate therein referred to. Your letter alone, signed as it is by the names of those who composed your committee, would be in itself, without the plate, a gift of priceless value to me. I beg that you will kindly convey to these gentlemen—my friends—my most sincere grati- THE AUTHOR. tude for this expression of appreciation of my humble labours. I should like you also, if you can, to thank all those members of the Society who have joined you in this generous gift. I value it especially, because, although I have never hoped to carry with me allour members in all my own views, it shows that in the essentials which constitute the strength of the Society we are all agreed. I am in great hopes that the initial difficulties of the Society have now been successfully over- come, and that so strong a feeling for the neces- sity of association and associated action has been created that the Society is on a stable basis, and will advance more and more every year in numbers, honour, and respect. As for me, I desire nothing more than to be permitted to serve the Society in any capacity in which I may be useful. I remain, my dear Clodd, Very sincerely yours, (Signed) Waurer Besant. Frognal End, N.W. Feb. 7, 1893. NOTES AND NEWS. EADERS are requested to consider the appeal made by Mr. Sherard. The secre- tary, Mr. Herbert Thring, will receive, acknowledge, and forward all contributions for this object. “The committee for the Baudelaire Memorial, which is presided over by M. Leconte de Lisle, being aware that the poet Baudelaire has numerous admirers in England, has asked me to see if any of these admirers would care to con- tribute a trifle to the fund which is being collected for the Baudelaire Memorial. The committee is formed of all the leading Litterateurs of France, including Paul Bourget, Francois Coppée, Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Verlaine, and Emile Zola. Our own Master, Swinburne, is a member. The statue will be executed by Auguste Rodin in a manner worthy of the sub- ject. I should be glad to receive any subscrip- tions for this fund, and to transmit them to M. Léon Deschamps, the treasurer, who will acknow- ledge them in the magazine La Plume. I may add that money is needed for the completion of the work, and that the Philistines will exult if for want of funds the project cannot be realised. R. H. SHerarp.” —  oot THE AUTHOR. The following paragraphs are extracted from the Queen of Feb. 25: The Author is sent to me every month, and from no comic paper do I get so much enjoyment. Its delightful suggestions as to why editors should not be compelled to do this and publishers to do that are really too funny. By the way, the Author has a double function in journalism. It not only trots out the woes of authors and journalists, and the iniquities of publishers and editors, but it gives these last a hint or two. I, for example, know an editor who says he never knew how ridiculously he overpaid his contributors until he read in the Author the plaints of some of that unhappy class. May. The only reason why these little malignities, which do us no harm, are continually perpetrated must be that some person who ardently desires to rob and sweat writers has been either prevented or detected. The Author has certainly done good service both to publishers, editors, and writers alike, by ascertaining the law as it exists with regard to their contracts, and it will go on in the same course. The present relations of editor and contributor in all high-class journals, daily, weekly, or monthly, are apparently quite satis- factory, and it certainly is not the mtention or the desire of this journal to interfere with, or to disturb, these relations. As regards the treatment of certain writers by the humbler journals—the miserable pay, the delay in pay- ment, the refusal of payment—the Author will certainly not desist from the publication of these facts. The writer of the above paragraphs has a friend—they are probably kin spirits—who has found out from this paper how ridiculously he overpays his contributors. Very likely. There is everywhere a lower deep. The only figures pub- lished here have been those of the worst kind of sweaters. One can always, in sweating, “ go one better ” than the worst sweater on record. Yes; many a hint may be picked up from the Author by the sweater. I am asked by Mr. Colles to call attention to two or three points in connection with the Authors’ Syndicate. They are these: (1) That the report for the year 1892 has been prepared and is now ready; (2) that the accounts have been examined by professional auditors, Messrs. Oscar Berry and Carr, and that they certify to the effect that no moneys have been expended except on the necessary establishment, so that nobody makes any profit except the authors themselves. I should like to add that, to my certain knowledge, Mr. Colles has made very considerable pecuniary sacrifices in carrying on this work. Many difficulties were interposed at the outset. The more successful authors for the most part were already pledged to others or 363 engaged a long way ahead. It was difflcult to persuade authors that this was not a scheme for personal plunder, even though the Syndicate sprang out of the Society itself. The difficulty now appears to be, that while authors accept the work done for them, they seem to think that it should be done for nothing. Well: but there are clerks to pay; rent, stationery, postage—the last item alone is about £5a month. Is Mr. Colles to give all this as well? This grumble is called for by the fact reported to me that some who have been greatly helped by the Syndicate—helped, I mean, to the extent of getting work placed where they could not by themselves have placed it—have resented the small charge which the Syndicate has imposed, There may, again, be some suspicion in the minds of members, that the so-called “advisory committee” have knowledge of the private and pecuniary affairs of those whose work goes to the Director. They may rest assured that this is not the case. The ‘advisory com- mittee” are only there in order to act as referees in case of dispute or misunderstanding. Its members are not informed of the transactions undertaken by the Director—who is sole Director —and they are not in any other way responsible for the conduct of the Syndicate. A correspondent, writing on the question of remuneration for articles and stories supplied to magazines, compares the writer who accepts a miserably small fee with a general practitioner who charges sixpence for advice with a bottle of physic. Such a man, he says, is deservedly held in contempt. Quite so. And an author who writes for a few shillings a column stands certainly in the same rank as_ the sixpenny “doctor,” and is entitled to all the contempt, whatever that may be, which poverty deserves. But our correspondent must note that the SIX- penny medical adviser cannot be got rid of. He is necessary. So—alas!—is the sixpenny author. Tt isa lamentable fact that men and women are found to write for next to nothing. Necessity compels them; the sweater is merciless. It 1s also lamentable that many magazines are simply not able to pay those who stand above the sixpenny author. “The only way,” says my correspondent, “to exact our just dues, is to com- bine—strike, boycott, or whatever else may be the best name for sticking up for our rights. Is it hopeless to expect this?” No, it is not hopeless. On the contrary, the combination of authors for any just and reasonable object is becoming distinctly possible and even visible. | But the possibility has not yet arrived. And it must be remembered that no hard and fast rule as to what 364 is right pay for a contributor—no minimum—will ever be possible ; first, because there are so many magazines which are written for a limited circle only, e. g., the journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, a Law journal, a Cuneiform Literature journal—if there were one: and next, because so many exist which are quite poor, and are written by quite poor people, glad to take what may be offered. Ss In another column will be found the testimony of a member to the benefit he has reveived from the society. He also advocates, like Mr. Haes (Author, Jan. 1893), that the committee should do something to facilitate the publication of new books by new and unknown authors. It is one of the stock charges against us that we are helping to flood the market with new books. The exact contrary is, as our correspondent writes, the truth, that we do little or nothing for young authors. First of all, it is not part of our programme to do anything for them. We exist for the defence, not the creation, of literature. But, if we desired to help them, a thing greatly desired by many of us, what could we do? So faras I can see, nobody but himself can possibly help the young author. He often writes to me and asks for my “in. fluence”’ with editors. I know a great many editors, but there is not one with whom I have any such “influence.” Editors, strange to say, are guided solely by the interests of their papers. Nobody, therefore, can help the young author but his own wit and his own pen. At the same time, if our correspondents can suggest anything, the advice would be gratefully received. “It has been proposed that the Society should recommend works, and that publishers should accept their recommendations. Very good, and if I were a publisher I should give to the opinions furnished by the Society’s readers respectful considera- tion, but I,should still refer the MS. to my own reader. The Authors’ Club has its rooms at Whitehall Court nearly ready; the Club will take up its quarters in a week or two; the next monthly dinner will be held in the new rooms. The Directors invite all the members of the Society to inspect the rooms. The shares have been taken up very well so far; the original number, how- ever, is not yet allotted. The design of the Directors has been to provide a club which shall be simple in its fittings, good in everything provided, and extremely cheap. Every member will be supposed to know every other member; the situation is as central as can be desired. As a cheerful, but not a noisy, club, as a meeting- THE AUTHOR. place of men of letters, as a central place for lunch, dinner, or supper, or as a place for quiet work, it is hoped to make the club attractive and pleasant. The “ Uncut Leaves” will continue. The Chairman is Mr. Oswald Craufurd, C.MG. The Honorary Secretary is Mr. Douglas Sladen, Is marriage fit for literary men? The question is treated in a little volume published in the year 1769 by one P.H.M.D. It professes to be a trans- lation from the Italian of one Cocchi, formerly a physician, of Florence. The subject is treated from many points of view: that of passion; that of affec- tion; that of friendship; that of esteem ; that of the weakness and frivolity of women—our author is not polite to the other sex—and many others. The literary man, it appears from the book, is unfit for the state of marriage for many reasons. He cannot bear the ignorance and the folly of women, their love of fashion, their ungoverned tempers— the author was an Italian—the necessity of re- ducing a shrew to silence is “ most disagreeable to a thinking and literary man.’’ He cannot bear the expense and trouble of children. He does not want to be hampered with the new ties of his wife’s relations. Unless he marries a woman with money he increases that poverty which is the recognised accompaniment of the literary calling, “otherwise the poor devil of a husband, oppressed by grinding poverty, must be overwhelmed with want and misery; for a wretched man of genius, with a wretched wife and a group of wretched children, is a most shocking sight and a flagrant disgrace to literature.” Finally, the literary man must not allow his mind to be disturbed from his favourite occupations and concentrations by the light thoughts of love or the desire to pay court to a girl, or to find amusement for a wife. The question is so thoroughly and completely answered that there is not a word to be said on the other side, except, perhaps, that all the arguments apply with equal force to every pro- fession or vocation whatever. And in spite of this excellent and convincing body of argument, literary men have gone on marrying as much as any other men. Perhaps that is the chief cause of the inferior nature of modern literature. The Zimes, taking its figures from the ‘‘ News- paper Piess Directory,” points out that while in the year 1846 there were 551 journals—weekly or daily—published in Great Britain, there are now 2268; that while there were then only 14 daily papers, there are now 192; that there are to-day 1961 magazines, mostly monthly, and that 456 of these are of a religious or sectarian  THE AUTHOR. kind. The population of these islands was then 26,000,000. It is now 37,000,000. There was then one newspaper to every company of 47,000 people ; there is now one for every company of 16,300; while, therefore, the population has increased by less than 50 per cent., the propor- tion of papers to population has increased. three- fold. But even this means little, unless we con- sider the increase in circulation as well as in the number of papers, and this has gone up in- credibly. Sixty years ago the Daily News, the Daily Telegraph, the Standard, the Daily Chronicle did not exist. The combined circula- tion of the London daily papers alone must now be three-quarters of a million. And we must con- sider the vast improvements in the provincial papers. Some of them are as well written, as ably supplied with news, as imperial or national in their character, as a great London daily. Where is the house in the whole country, removed by but one step from the working man’s house, which has not its morning paper? Inthe trains, in the omnibuses, in the trams, all the people are reading—when they are not reading the paper they are reading a magazine. It is difficult to realise this vast—this enormous—increase in the area of readers; we cannot understand that men hitherto thought hardly worth considering as factors of the national intelligence, whose vote we have granted grudgingly, and still regard the act with regret, actually read the same lead- ing articles, debates, speeches, arguments, and news, as ourselves. They are taught the same doctrines; they are led by the same considera- tions. Nothing of all the changes that a middle- aged man remembers is so extraordinary as this change of Great Britain and Ireland into a nation of readers. They do not, as yet, greatly desire books; but that will come; it is, indeed, fast coming. What the influence of the demand upon literature will be one hardly ventures to predict. Enormous popularity for a few writers, certainly. What writers? Purveyors of trash and garbage? I think not. The penny novelette ? This is the literature of the servant-maid and the factory girl. They will always be with us. Men will not read the penny novelette. What will they read? Fiction? Perhaps. But it will have to be dramatic. Trash? Not much. Poetry? I fear not. History, politics, socio- logy of the simpler kind, science of some kind— books on these subjects will, I believe, become in great demand. Life to the craftsman is a serious thing ; he will read, as he works, seriously. There will also be produced for the baser sort a litera- ture just as base as the law allows. Meantime, those who consider the revolution which is quietly going on, of which we unconsciously form a part, 365 will do well to watch the popular journals, and above all, the popular magazines, which circulate, not by thousands like their respectable elder brothers, but by hundreds of thousands—and to inquire carefully into the characteristics of these magazines. For they indicate what this new nation of readers will want to read. ————$ > We are going to make an attempt to carry into effect a proposal advanced in a nother column (p. 373) and to institute in the Author a Register of Books wanted. This paper circulates exclu- sively among men and women of letters, so, if they please to make known their wants in these columns, the fact will certainly become known among our friends the second-hand booksellers, who have at present, so far as is known by the writer, no means at all of knowing what their customers are looking for. We will begin with the nextnumber. Care will be taken that the booksellers shall learn what we are attempting. Most of us have friends among these benefactors of literary men and women, and would willingly oblige them if we can. Even by reading their catalogues it is impossible for us to ascertain if they have what we want, because a catalogue does not contain a tenth part of the books which form a large book- seller’s stock, And we have no time to go about from shop to shop inquiring what they have. What isto be done with those booksellers’ assis- tints who save themselves trouble, and injure their masters’ interests, by saying that a book is out of print? Theard the other day this anecdote of a certain bookseller’s assistant in a well- known watering place. A clergyman, either in a lecture or a sermon, invited his congregation to read a book belonging to Arrowsmith’s well- known Bristol Library. They therefore asked for it at the shop. “Out of print” was all the answer they could get. One of them asked me for information as to the cause of this eclipse of the book. I wrote to headquarters at once, and learned that, as I expected, the Bristol Library is very much alive indeed. Perhaps that young man somehow will hear of it. ———— The Lady’s Pictorial announces that the Society of Authors “ will in future allow young poet members to read aloud their unpublished works at the Society’s festive gatherings!” The Society, unhappily, has no festive gatherings except the Annual Dinner, and the committee have not yet expressed their intention of having 366 unpublished poems read at the Banquet; there- fore, the Lady’s Pictorial has been wrongly in- formed. The Authors’ Club has started the “Uncut Leaves” readings, but the Club is not the Society. The writer goes on to say that the poet is sure to read his things very badly, and gives reasons for this opinion. Alas! Theory and practice so often contradict each other! There is so much of independence even in a poet. So far, the poets have read their verses admirably. Should we—it has been suggested — hold memorial lectures on our deceased members ? Why not? We should have a Tennyson—a Browning—a Lowell—a Matthew Arnold—a Wilkie Collins—a Charles Reade — Memorial Lecture. Should it be held every year? And, if so, for how many years in succession? And who is to decide upon its continuation? Should it be a plébiscite of all the members? And who should deliver the lectures? The idea is interesting, but opens up many questions. Here is a case which seems to warrant us in asking assistance from our members. The lady is one of those who write stories for girls. Her stories are very good, and, I believe, popular. TI have submitted two of them to the criticism of the age for which they are written, and have obtained a review most laudatory. I have not myself read the books, because I am neither a maiden nor am I young. This lady was attacked by influenza last year; her chest was affected ; she could do no work for many months. The Royal Literary Fund found itself unable to help her. She has two young nieces or cousins to support ; she has no private means at all ; she is too weak to undertake any other kind of work. Indeed, she can do no other kind of work. She is now in debt to her doctor and to her landlady. Perhaps some of our readers will take pity on this poor lady, and send her something. If they will have confidence, so far, in me, I will receive and forward anything, and I will communicate the name and address of the lady to the donor. A libel case was recently heard before the courts in which a close relation to the author of a certain work had been callednames. The thing is new in criticism, and introduces quite a novel terror. We may shortly expect to see the parents, brothers, sisters, children, of an author, trembling lest the daily paper should bring them, too, into the scathing review of the new book. The case, otherwise, does not concern ourselves, except for a remark which THE AUTHOR. was made by the counsel for the plaintiff. He ig reported to have said, “ Authors must, of course, in these days expect harshand brutal criticism from the Press, and the law protects them with the shield of what is humorously called ‘ the doctrine of fair criticism.’”” The counsel for the defence did not repudiate this statement, nor did the judge object to it; the statement was accepted. Dowe, then, expect harsh and brutal criticism? Is the criticism of the Press always harsh and brutal ? Certainly not. We neither expect brutality, nor, as a rule, do we receive brutality. The bludgeon is, happily, going out of use; the laws of good manners are, for the most part, obeyed, even in criticism. But one notes the statement here as showing the popular estimation of criticism. Old habits of thought are very difficult to change. An author is still, in the mind of the world, a helpless, starving wretch ; a publisher is a man with a great bag of gold, which he distributes capriciously to needy authors, losing by all his books, and getting rich on the quantity ; a critic is still a man with a bludgeon. Little by little we may change these views. Meanwhile, they linger. A correspondent tells me that the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge has adopted a new and uniform system in buying books. That is to say, they now pay £1 for every penny in the published price, or £30 for a 2s. 6d. book, £60 for a 5s. book and soon. I do not know if this infor- mation is correct, but let us see how it might work out. A 5s. book would presumably be less costly than a6s. book. Let us take off only 10 per cent. from our published estimate. Now, a 6s. book in small pica, of seventeen sheets, and about 258 words to a page can be produced, according to our published estimates, for an edition of 3000 at less than £146. Let us therefore estimate £128 for the 5s. book, and let us grant £20 for advertising. We have, therefore, the following table : Cost :— & s. d. Composition, Printing, Binding, Paper, Adver- Tsing ee 148 0 0 Author a 60 0 0 Totals Ge 208 0 0 By Sales :— Baad 3000 copies at Be. 2... 450 0 0 Profit to SPOCK oe 242 0 0 Profit to Author... 60 0 0 Now, I do not adopt my correspondent’s statement as true, but I put the case, and what it would mean, supposing it to be true. Observe that in all future editions, the whole profit would go to  THE AUTHOR. the Society. in approaching the question from the equitable There are two. simple considerations or righteous or religious point of view. First, whether the wage paid to the author is a just and proper wage, with reference to the commercial value of the work, the time given to the work, the character of the work, the position of the work- man in the craft, and the necessities of life. Second, the proportion which the distributor of the work should receive for himself, and, therefore the proportion which the creator of the work should receive. With regard to the first, there are not many who could produce two good books of this kind ina year. To give, therefore, no more than £60 could only be defended on the ground of a very limited sale. To give only £60 when the publisher knows that he is going to make four times—six times—ten times that amount is—what? Is it not, in the case of a religious society, to cumber the courts of the Temple with the stalls and tables of the money-makers? I shall be glad to hear that my correspondent has been misinformed. So At last—after all these years—there is to be a life of Douglas Jerrold, with his letters. It is very much to be regretted that, while there are still two or three authors living who remember that group of writers of which he was one, some account of the literary circles of the Forties and the Fiftics has not before this been written down. The life abovementioned will be written by Mr. Walter Jerrold. In every college and in every University, except Cambridge, there is a Professor of English Literature. But I have never heard that any single Professor in any college or university, English or American, has ever given a course of lectures on the History and Development of the Novel. Single lectures by professors and critics have undoubtedly been delivered. And we all know that when subjects are lacking, an article on the Decay of the Modern Novel by one who cannot write novels and never reads any ; or by one who has written novels and failed; can always be put into a magazine to fill up. But, so far, learned Pro- fessors have avoided the subject, being themselves, probably, under the illusion so beautifully ex- pressed by a recent lady writer in the Spectator that novels grow of their own accord, and that the novelist has only to sit down and write. Strange, that a Fine Art should have grown up all over the world in. the last two hundred years without the least recognition until recently—and even now only grudgingly—that it is one of the Fine Arts! Mr. Brander Matthews, Professor 367 of English Literature in Columbia College, has been holding a course of lectures on the History of Fiction and the Development of the Modern Novel. He has up to the present reached the beginning of this century. He has sent me the enclosed examination paper. I pre- sume, from the date upon it, that the examina- tion was held on Feb. 7, so that no mischief will be done by publishing the paper for our readers. CoLumBIA COLLEGE IN THE City oF New YoRK. Mid-Year Examination. LITERATURE II. 1. Explain the successive stages of the development of the art of fiction from the Gesta Romanorum to Don Quixote. 2. Explain the distinction between the Rabelaisian tradi- tion and the Cervantine. Give the names of such writers of fiction as are followers of Rabelais. Give the names of such as are followers of Cervantes. 3. Explain what is meant by the sense of form. Mention several works of fiction having the merit of form; and give your reasons for crediting them with this quality. 4. Give a brief sketch of the life either of Cervantes or of Goldsmith. 5. Give a brief outline of the plot either of Clarissa Harlowe or of Pride and Prejudice. 6. Give a critical explanation for the abiding popularity of Robinson Crusoe and of Gulliver’s Travels. 7. Arrange the following in chronological sequence, giving the dates of publication and the full names of the authors : Sorrows of Werther, Tristram Shandy, Vicar of Wakefield, Humphrey Clinker, Tom Jones, Paul and Virginia, Castle Rackrent. 8. Why is the Castle of Otranto important in the history of fiction? Why is the Princess of Oleves? Why is Paul and Virginia? Why is Wilhelm Meister ? 9. Do women novelists regard life from a different point of view from men? Llustrate your answer from the novels of Madame de Lafayette, Miss Edgeworth, and Miss Austen, as compared with the novels by Le Sage, Fielding, and Goethe. 10. What benefit, if any, have you derived from this course P Tuesday, Feb. 7, 1893. oo What a fine field would be open to the Society if we could institute examinations for critics, so that no one should be allowed to criticise any- thing without our certificate! Imagine the wail- ing when the uncertificated critic should find him- self firmly put aside! For the examinations would have to be stiff. The dramatic critic would have to show that he knew the principles of dramatic art; that he had read and studied the plays of two countries at least ; and that he could himself construct a play—if not a great play, at least a play artistically constructed. And so with everything else. The Society could, as we said last month, confer those magic letters which are so ardently desired by the members of the Society mentioned below, though the Society of Authors will never, I fear, rise to the Greatness of a  368 Gown and Hood, a Ring, and a Badge; the Badge, especially, we must regret. << There exists—one is happy in making it. better known—an association known as the Society of Science, Letters, and Art, of London. The “International” Society of Literature and Science, under the management of the notorious Morgan, is immediately suggested by this title. There is, however, no connection between the two societies, and very little resemblance. Morgan’s association was a bogus: this is a real thing, é.e., it actually does, as shall be shown, what it professes to do. You can:become a “ Fellow ” of the society, and you can call yourself F.8.Sc., by sending a trifling subscription of two guineas a year. Think of being an “ F.S.Sc.”—nothing short of that—for two guineas a year! There, as the advertisers say,is Value! If you can only afford a guinea, you can still be a Member. The following is a list of the splendid achievements of the society up to the present date :—First, they meet once a month, and, after passing minutes and electing more distinguished men, who want nothing but the F.S.Sc. to complete the glory of their career, they sing songs and listen to papers. Many of the Fellows have, it 1s stated—actually, many !—written books— actually, books !—in Science, Literature, and Art. The society has endeavoured to introduce Volapuk—a most useful attempt. The society has issued a register of American colleges, a step calculated to advance enormously the cause of Science, Literature, and Art in this country. The society has photographed a map. The society has given women a new occupation—that of cameo cutting. The society has sent papers to exhibi- tions. And the society has instituted a set of examinations called the Kensington Locals. In fact, the work of this society, except for its song-singing, reads exactly like a parody of that of the Society of Arts—local examinations and all. But, as was said above, it is manifest from the account of their work that this is no bogus society. The committee do what they profess to do. But is it not wonderful that 2000 people—they say there are 2000 members— should pay two guineas a year for the sake of calling themselves F.S.Sc.? And is it not more wonderful still that schools should be found to prefer the examinations of such a body to the examinations of Oxford and Cambridge? It is, however, stated, and this is so far satisfactory, that the accounts are duly laid before the members, and “ passed unanimously.” Humph —Yes—But—are they audited and published ? We must not forget to mention that the THE AUTHOR. Fellows are entitled to wear Gowns and Hoods, and to carry a gold or silver Badge, thus resem. bling a Master of Arts, a parish Beadle, and an omnibus Conductor all rolled into one. Think of the Glory of it! 4 Atarecent meeting of the Society of American Authors (Colonet Thomas Wentworth Higginson, President) Mrs. Kate Tennant-Woods, among others, was elected a member. The importance of this election, over and above the adhesion of Mrs. Woods to the Society, lies in the fact that some years ago Mrs. Woods organised an associa- tion of ladies only, called the “ Guild of Authors,” and that by this election she acknowledges that all literary men and women should write and work together for the common object. An American magazine was so very good, the other day, as to expose the tricks, cajolements, and flatteries and arts by which autographs are procured, and persons whose autographs are desired, are induced to write letters. After this exposure, the following note may perhaps be regarded as suspicious: Dear Sir, Will you kindly tell me your opinion of Alphonse Daudet compared with Dickens as a novelist ? I see that a critic in one of our magazines says his “Sappho” is infinitely better than anything Dickens ever wrote. Tam personally unknown to you, but should like very much to know what you think of this, and trust, if your time permit, you will answer,—Very respectfully An AMERICAN ADMIRER OF YouRS. Then follows the name and address, at a “ whole- sale Dry Goods and Notions” establishment. The writer, bearing in mind the article referred to, must not take it unkindly if no answer should be sent. The book of the month is Mr. Walter Pater’s “Plato and Platonism” (Macmillan and Co.). Another book of the month is Mr. W. F. Smith’s Translation of Rabelais, noticed elsewhere. 'To this a third may be added in “Salome,” the forbidden play by Oscar Wilde. Watter Besant. Ae  THE, AUTHOR. 369 THE PROFESSOR’S PHENIX. o ATHER, couldn’t you make the story end -K there? It is such a pretty bit—it seems a pity to add anything more.” “No, no, my dear ; you don’t understand. The paragraph you want to suppress is the most important in the book. Are you ready ? Then let us proceed.” And the Professor resumed his slow tramp up anddown the room, his hands clasped bekind him, his eyes rolling “in fine frenzy” in spite of their restlessness, while he dictated certain ponderous sentences with the air of a man inspired. “There, Ihave done!” he cried at last. “‘ This, I think, should rouse the world. It will be forced to hear my voice now—though I stand on the threshold of the grave, I have strength enough left to drive the lesson home. The world must hear—must attend. This voice of mine will preach to it still when I myself have passed away ; this book will be as it were a Phcenix rising from my ashes—unique, beautiful, strong. Oh, glorious thought !” He threw himself into an arm-chair, resting his white head on his hands, and smiling to him- self; but presently he sighed. “ Ella, if this work is not recognised I think I shall die! But it cannot fa'l—it is a beautiful story. You, even you, can see that it is a beautiful story.” “Yes, yes,” cried the girl eagerly ; “ it is a beautiful story—one of which I could never tire—”’ “ Full of fancy and delicate feeling ¢ “ Full of fancy and feeling.” “And then the style,’ went on the old man, leaning forward and speaking excitedly, “ culti- vated, polished, dignitied; every word giving evidence of erudition and research. As for the message which it is given to me to deliver, do I not trumpet it forth for all the universe to hear? Why, each page contains its lesson. Iam a teacher, Ella, a teacher before everything, and this book is, I may say, an epitome of all my other work ; it is the ripe and perfect fruit of all my wisdom and experience—it must succeed.” The girl rose, and, leaning over her father’s chair, drew him gently backwards so that his head rested on the cushions. Then she kissed his upturned face. “You must rest,” she said; “your work is done.” “Yes, yes,” he assented, “it is done, and I await the reward. Make a parcel of the manu- script quickly, dear; we must send it off at once.” ” Ella gathered up the papers, and left the room stifling a sigh. For well she knew what was likely to be the result of her father’s labours, All his life he had been fanciful, and imprac- ticable, and didactic. He could indeed conceive a charming story, rich in incident, full of delicacy and tenderness; but he invariably marred it m the telling. He must needs paint his lily; he must point his moral and adorn his tale. No simple everyday language was good enough to convey his meaning; he must wrap it round in a curious antiquated jargon of his own, illustrate it with a thousand flowery figures of speech, interlard it with cheap wisdom and secondhand philosophy. He had a passion for teaching, poor, good, simple old fellow! and having long ago resigned his Professorship, and being unable of late years, by reason of his blindness, even to take pupils, he had devoted himself to the task of instructing the world at large. Treatises, essays, tales — he composed them by the dozen, and Ella’s little fingers ached with writing them ; but as he was too poor to bring them out at his own expense, no publisher could be induced to produce them, and, indeed, it is doubtful if, even in the event of their seeing the light, anyone could have been persuaded to read them. “ Dear father,” Ella would say, half pleadingly, half impatiently, “if you would only let me write your stories as you tell them to me sometimes, as we piece them together by the fire, in—in plain words, I know they would be more successful.” “ Nonsense, child! What are you thinking of? I tell them to you in that way, to give you just an idea of them; but when I speak to the world I must use language of a different kind— language that readers of intellect and learning may not cavil at.’ And another overwhelming sentence would come booming out. It seemed to Ella in her despair that every remonstrance ot hers rendered his phraseology more bombastic, and whetted his appetite for words of five syllables. “ ] think his heart will break if this book fails too!” she thought as she mounted the stars. “ And yet of course it must. Poor dear! as he says, he has put all his wisdom, all his wisdom in it—all those dreadful little bits which ruined his other books, and those terrible long words which make one feel hot all over!” She had gained her room, now, and unlocking a drawer took out the remainder of the manu- script. « Let me see, though ; perhaps, after all it is i that am wrong in not sufficiently appreciating it. Let me try to imagine myself a publisher’s reader lancing through the work for the first time.” She sat down and read half a page with a A A OIE  37° most business-like expression on her small, bright face. She was small and bright altogether, this little eager creature—small and bright and brown. Her eyes were bright and brown, too, but large—the only Jarge things about her—and very alert and intelligent. She had little quick movements, and saucy ways, and occasional flashes of temper, such tiny flashes that people only laughed at them. Her father called her The Robin, and the name suited her. “Tt’s no use!’ she sighed presently, pushing away that MS. “Oh, my dear precious old father, why will you not do justice to yourself ? ” When the parcel came back—as was inevitable —from the publisher towhom Ella had entrusted it, it chanced that the Professor was unwell, and the girl, not liking to distress him, concealed the fact of the failure of his book from him. She undid the fastenings, and glanced mechanically through the: papers. The first two or three pages were slightly soiled indeed, but the remainder were painfully, ironically clean—a very little of the intellectual feast within had apparently sufficed to satiate the reader. And yet, as Ella turned overthe pages with a kind of ind'gnant anguish, her eyes fell on the descrip- tion of what was really a pretty scene, deliberately imagined. The old man had in truth something to say if he did but know how to say it! Suddenly a thought struck the girl, so daring, so tremendous, that she reddened to the very roots of her hair, and her heart began to thump wildly. “Tl do it,’ she said. “It’s wicked, it’s de- ceitful ; it’s base in every way, but I’ll do it. He shan’t break his heart—his dear, kind old heart— he shan’t be disappointed again; his story shall be read!” She sat down then and there, and wrote out the first chapter of her father’s book in her own way and her own words. Those big eyes of hers were not -o wide open and intelligent for nothing, and those curly brown locks covered a very clever little head. Sbe had read much and appreciatively, and was, besides, endowed with a naturally acute literary sense, a nice perception of artistic pro- portion. As she went on the work interested her more and more; the characters became real to her ; and by-and-bye, not content with lopping, and paring, and reproducing, she began to develop and to create. After many days, the book was finished, and she read it through, startled at her own temerity, and yet triumphant at her success. The success was undeniable. The theme, always fascinating and now divested of its florid orna- mentation, proved itself to be a fine melody, appealing to the heart with direct and simple force. THE AUTHOR. Palpitating with anxiety Ella despatched the book once more, and one morning received a letter from the publisher announcing his willing- ness to produce it, and offering certain terms; not high ones, for it was a first book and in one volume, but fair. ; She went up to her father’s room to tell him the joyful news—joyful, but rather embarrassing too—how should she break. to him her share in the transaction ? He was still in bed, and looked very frail and feeble. “Father,” she began, hesitatingly, ““I—I have heard from the publisher, Mr. S “ Well, child, well? Don’t tell me he has sent back the book—don’t tell me! Iam not able to bear it.” “No, dear, no—it’s all right. keep it, he a “He wants to keep it!” cried the old man with a shout of triumph. ‘Oh God,I thank Thee! My life has not been without fruit afterall. I had a mission—you see, Ella, I was right! I knew I was right—and now it is fulfilled.” “Yes, but, dear father, I have not told you everything yet. There are—some drawbacks. The first publisher I sent it to—” “ There, Ella, I don’t wish to hear, Let me be happy for once—entirely happy! Don’t you know what a relief it is to make yourself heard when you have been calling a person for a long time? I have been calling, calling, calling, all these years, all my life, to a whole world full of people, and found no one to listen to me— not one! Think what it must be to know that my voice is heard at last. It isa relief and a joy; do not disturb the blessedness of it. Let me rest now; my work is done. I wish to hear nothing more until you place the book in my hand. I leave the management of all the minor details to you. Make what terms you like; correct the proofs. Ido not even want to know when they come, I might be tempted to alter and perhaps spoil my work, and it is perfect as it is. I must not change a word.” Ella’s intended confession died on her lips. How could she bring herself to wake her father from his dream of bliss? She wished now that she had not begun to practise this deception, but since, after all, it made him so happy, and since he was, alas! so easily deceived, why not carry it out to the end? Why need he ever know that this which he hugged to his bosom was not the child of his fancy, but a changeling? Nay, it was his child, after all—did it not owe its beg tohim? Ella had but dressed it in other clothes. So she said, trying to comfort herself and to quiet her conscience, for, as the days passed, she He wants to  THE found it mcre and more impossible to tell him the truth. When, however, at last she laid the little yolume in the Professor’s guileless hands, she acknowledged that it was worth while running any risks, and enduring any number of secret pangs to see the old man’s ecstacy. How he fondled the book! With what eager trembling fingers he examined paper and binding, with what a deep sigh of content be laid it down at last ! “My Phenix, Ella!” Presently he requested her to sit down and read him the story from beginning to end, and 1etiring to a safe distance she proceeded to read the original manuscript with which she had thoughtfully provided herself, blushing fiercely with shame the while, and feeling a very monster of deceit. But the Professor had:no misgivings. He sat listening with a smile, rapturously happy. Now and then he would interrupt with an inter- jection of approval, or ask her to read a sentence or a paragraph again. “That will make a point, my dear,” he would say. “You'll see. The book will make a hit.” Curiously enough it did. This youthful render- ing of an old man’s fancy had a fresh, charm- ing, unusual flavour which suited the public taste. It went into a second edition almost immediately, and the reviews were unanimous in praise. Ella’s satisfaction, however, was not unmixed ; she lived in dread of her secret being discovered, though, thanks to the retired life led by her father, and to her judicious ‘ cooking” of the notices which she read to him, there did not seem much chance of his being enlightened. But was there ever a labyrinth of which some one did not solve the mystery? Did not the Serpent find his way even into the Garden of Eden? How could the Professor remain secure in his fool’s paradise? It happened that one of his former pupils—Bodersham by name, if that matters—a journalist and critic, but still in some ways quite human—chanced to find the name of his old tutor on the title-page of a book of which he and his brother reviewers approved, and was genuinely pleased. It seemed to him, indeed, that he could do no less than congratulate his friend in person, and accordingly one day he betook himself to the small house in the little suburb, where the old man had set up his house- hold Gods. Ella was out, but the Professor received him with pleasure, accepting his congratulations with entire satisfaction, enumerating the compliments be- stowed.on the work iv question, and speaking of AUTHOR. 371 his publishers, his profits, his reviewers, with a gleeful sense of importance. “I agree with the Times,” remarked young Mr. Bodersham, presently, “the scene just before the parting of the lovers is the finest in the book. You ought to feel flattered—they have quoted nearly the whole of it. “Bh? Havethey? Let me see. Imust have missed that. I dont remember Ella reading it to me. Find it for me, that’s a good fellow. Here’s the book. Excuse the impatience of an author—a young author who has just brought out his first book! Eh? A young author of seventy-five !”” He rubbed his hands and chuckled; preparing himself to listen, and already blushing with grati- tied vanity. But, as Bodersham read, the smile died out of his face, and a puzzled and startled look came there instead. “1 —T don’t remember that bit,” he said, as the young man ceased. “ What has happened to my book? I—cannot recollect—it is strange. Go on, go on—let me hear more.’ Bodersham read on, but presently paused again. “ What an exquisite sentence!” he exclaimed. “ Exquisite perhaps, but not mine. I never wrote a word of it. Good God! Someone has been tampering with my book—that fool of a publisher, perhaps. Bodersham, for Heaven’s sake turn to the beginning of the chapter—does it open thus:—‘ There are sundry idiosyncracies easily recognisable in certain individuals, in whom an adept in pathognomy may readily detect infallible signs—— ’”’ “No, nothing of the sort. It begins with a conversation—— ” and he read a few lines. “As I thought!” groaned the Professor. “Someone has been meddling with it—it is not my book at all—not mine, but so like it. Someone has stolen my ideas, and made another work of it. Yet then again! Taat little conversation was mine. What has happened? What shall I do? There is hideous wrong somewhere, and I am so helpless, so helpless, they can impose on Us as they like. But Ella, Ella should have known !” He fell back in his chair, panting, trembling, straining bis poor sightless eyes, and at this moment Ella walked in, rosy, fresh, smiling, and laden with packages. One glance told her what had happened, and, flinging down her purchases, she rushed to her father’s side. “It’s all your fault!” she cried, glancing furiously at the bewildered Bodersham, and immediately bursting into tears. “Qh Ella, Ella child—something dreadful has happened — something inconceivable! I have IEE  372 been robbed—deceived! This is not my book— _you know it is not my book ?” “ Yes, dear, it is yours,” cried Ella, flmging her arms round his neck. “It is indeed yours—your story, and your beautiful idea, only—only a little altered and modernised. ’ “Then you knew,” faltered the old man, feebly pushing her away from him. ‘ You knew—and you let them do it!” “Oh, dearest father, how shall I tell you? and yet you must know, since people will meddle so,” pausing to scowl through her tears at poor Mr. Bodersham. “It was I did it. I, Imyself! I wrote it out and changed it.” “You did it!” he repeated, almost in a whisper. ‘ You /—because I was blind!” It was the only reproach he made her, but it almost broke her heart. She threw herself on her knees beside him, kissing his hand, and gasping out her confession between her passion- ate sobs. He accepted her caresses passively at first, but, presently, moved by her distress, he stooped and kissed her. “Poor child,’ he said, “do not ery. You meant well, and of course my work was of no use. They would not have it. -But it would have been kinder not to have deceived me. Yet I should not reproach you, for I have been deceiving myself all these years I—I thought I was a venius, and I am only—a fool.” There was infinite pathos in words and tone— pathos, and a certain dignity for all their naiveté. Bodersham, standing by the table, miserable and awkward, felt a lump rising in his throat. The Professor presently addressed him : ‘“‘ Bodersham, will you be so good as to read the book to me from the beginning? It will not take you long, and I should be grateful.” _ The young man complied, his voice, somewhat husky at first but clearing and steadying itself as he went on. Ella, turning a pettish shoulder on him, curled herself up at her father’s feet, and buried her face in her hands. He listened for the most part in silence, though he interrupted now and then with a muttered commentary, There was a moment’s pause when the reading ceased, and then Ella, raising her head timidly, saw that his face was glowing, and working oddly. “My little girl,” he said, “it is beautiful. I am foolish and old . . . but I can see that. Though I should have thought,” he added, rub- bing his nose meditatively, ‘that it might have improved it to amplify a little now and then—but perhaps I am wrong. I have antiquated notions, Iknow. Ah,” he cried with sudden exultation, ‘my little bird can sing—my little bird can sing! You are a wonderful little woman. I think that THE AUTHOR. you—you—you—are my Phenix! Yes—yes— not my book at all—but you—you—you.” M. E. Francis, CARLYLE ON THE POSITION OF LITERARY MEN. HAT had Carlyle to say on the status and organisation of literary men? Take his ‘“‘ Hero as Man of Letters,” and much will be found on a subject which has received new interest and impetus from the death of the Poet Laureate. When “Hero Worship ” was written, Carlyle felt deeply on the then gene- rally disorganised condition of society:— “perhaps if we look at this of Books and the Writers of Books, we shall find here, as it were, the summary of all other disorganisations ; a sort of heart from which, and to which, all other confusion circulates in the world.” The sage dwells for pages upon the art of writing, upon the marvellous effect of writing, the revolutions it has created in thought, in art, in politics, in government, in education, in religion. It has made democracy inevitable, “it is the purest embodiment a thought of man can have. No wonder it is, in all ways, the activest and noblest.” Admitting all this, Carlyle then goes on to pro- phecy: “If men of letters are so incalculably influential, actually performing such work for us from age to age, and even from day to day, then I think we may conclude that men of letters will not always wander, like unrecognised, unregulated Ishmaelites, among us. Whatsoever thing has virtual unnoticed power will cast off its wrap- pages, bandages, and step forth one day with palpably articulated, universally visible power. That one man wear the clothes, and take the wages, of a function which is done by quite another: there can be no profit in this; this is_ not right, it is wrong. And yet, alas! the making of it right,—what a business, for long times -to come. Sure enough this that we call Organisa- tion of the Literary Guild is still a great way off, encumbered with all manner of complexities. If you asked me what were the best possible orga- nisation for the Man of Letters in modern Society; the arrangement of furtherance and regulation, grounded the most accurately on the actual facts of their position and of the world’s position, I should beg to say that the problem far exceeded my faculty! It is not one man’s faculty; it is that of many successive men turned earnestly upon it, that will bring out alone an approximate solution, What the best arrangement were, none  THe AUTHOR. 373: of us could say. But if you ask, which is the worst? I answer: This which we have now, that Chaos should sit umpire in it; this is the worst. To the best or any good one, there is yet a long way.” Thus wrote Carlylein 1840. He was convinced that the regulation of the literary life was coming. “This is a prophesy,” said he, “one can risk. For so soon as men g-t to discern the importance of a thing, they do infallibly set about arranging it, facilitating, forwarding it; and rest not till, in some approximate degree, they have accom- plished that ‘Literature will take care of itself,’ answered Pitt, when applied to for some help for Burns. ‘Yes,’ adds Mr. Southey, ‘it will take care of itself, and of you too, if you do not look to it?” Carlyle had in his mind, when he wrote these words, Jean Jacques Rousseau, driven to exasperation and lighting the torch of Revo- lution by his paradoxical writing ; and he might have added the name of Theobald Wolfe Tone, who, instead of fom-nting Irish revolution, might have been a British governor in some quarter of the Empire, had he been given employment by Pitt when he asked for it. But what would Carlyle have said to the reten- tion of the Laureateship? Generally he would have been in favour of it, if we may judge by his writings in these lectures on Hero worship. Not that he cared much, or at all. for money and rank. He even doubted whether there ought not to be literary men poor, to show whether they were genuine or not. But recognition of worth was what he craved for himself, and for all strong men born in the lower classes of life, ‘‘ who ought to stand elsewhere than there.’ He was con- vinced that it deeply concerned society “whether it will set its light on high places, to walk thereby ; or trample it under foot and scatter it in all ways of wild waste (not without conflagration) as here- tofere. Light (he continues) is the one thing wanted for the world. Put wisdom in the head of the world, the world will fight its battles vic- toriously, and be the best world man can make it.” If light is the one thing wanted for the world, we may well ask why hesitate to put it on a candlestick, that it may give light unto all who are in the House of Literature, and out- side it too? All that need be insisted on is that the best candle be placed in the candlestick. We must have the best illuminant in our Poetic Beacon. Po. B: eo CORRESPONDENCE. iE A RectsterR oF Books WANTED. PREGNANT thought arises out of the fact that the writer of these lines, in common, no doubt, with many other members of his club (which contains a fair number of literary men) is in the habit of receiving from dealers in second-hand books, not only in London but in some provincial towns, printed catalogues of the works they have to offer, comprising several hundreds in number, and alphabetically arranged as regards, the names of their authors. The compilation of these lists, including a short description of contents of each book and a statement of price, must be for certain a work involving very con-. siderable time and labour, and the revision of the proofs must require exceeding accuracy and care. It would be, perhaps, a safe guess to say that the mere cost price of each catalogue cannot be much under 2d., to say nothing of postage. How many of the receivers of these lists ever buy (if at all) or even peruse them, there is no means of knowing. The writer, indeed, does make a habit of glancing through them; and very occasionally he makes a purchase. Not having that amount of spare time or money which should make him wish to possess books. or- indeed a library wherein to place them, he is obliged to content himself with the large facili- ties for the reading of books offered by public libraries. Still he does want a book sometimes, but he is willing te give for it only a fair second- hand price. How can his want be met? He may collect these catalogues by the score or by the hundred, or. visit shop after shop in. a vain. search for it; and all the while it may be lying in some shop down a back street within a few yards of the ground over which he has just passed. It seems to me that the present plan inverts the whole process by which —as proved by Beecham, Pears, and others—the old adage has, been falsified, and now “Supply [er rather the advertisement of it] creates the demand.” Every one wants soap; millions want—or think they want—pills ; and the public buy. the article the name of which is stamped on their brain. But these puffers advertise one thing only; and the cost to them, when divided among the millions who read, who cannot help reading, is almost as a drop of water in the ocean. On the other hand, the booksellers spend, say, 2d. or 3d. in. sending-to a few individuals catalogues of several o14 hundred books, of which the great majority need not one, and by chance a single person, here or there, may want one or two. What is required is a catalogue (or register) of “hooks wanted,” properly classified and arranged, the fee paid by the “ wanter” for imsertion being divided between him and the “supplier” on completion of the bargain. The scheme would require organisation, and, probably, in the end an office and a staff. I can only here indicate the bare outlines of such a scheme; but I enter- tain no shadow of a doubt that, if once properly started and supported by the hearty co-operation of the second-hand booksellers, they would save many thousands of pounds in the cost of all but useless catalogues, and gain many other thou- sands in the quicker and better sale of ‘ Books wanted,’ which now cumber their shelves and lie there year after year, representing so much sunk capital and a prey to dust, moth, damp, and the destructive habits of rats and mice. E. F. Wourerstan. + II. MissTaTEMENTS IN REVIEW. You have, I think, expressed the opinion in the Author, that the reviews written about a book influence to some extent its sale. If this is the case, it is the duty of a reviewer to be careful as to the accuracy of his statements; it is also, I venture to think, the duty of an editor to allow space to an author to correct any misstatements which have appeared in a review in his paper, always supposing that the nature of the paper in question admits of letters or explanatory para- graphs. The same publicity ought m common fairness to be given to the correction of a mis- statement as was given to the misstatement itself. This, unfortunately, does not appear to be the opinion of the editor of the Atheneum. Some weeks ago (Dec. 10, 1892) a notice of a book of mine—* Animal Coloration ’—was published in that review. The reviewer said that I bad not given “references” to the investigations of a certain physiologist, and expatiated upon this supposed omission to the extent of one-third of the whole notice, thereby perhaps giving the impression that my book was defective in an important particular. As a matter of fact, I had referred both to the name of the physiologist and to the journal where most of his papers were to be found. I accordingly wrote to the editor and pointed this out, in a perfectly civil way, begging him to correct the error. At first he declined to do anything, stating that the reviewer saw no reason for altering anything written, since I had THE AUTHOR. not given any account of the discoveries mentioned. I wrote again to the editor, suggesting that a reference to an author and his work and a discussion of his results were two very different things; finally he published (Feb. 3, 1893), not a letter stating the bare facts which I had sent him, but a paragraph grudgingly admitting that I had mentioned the name of the author in question, but omitting to mention the equally important fact that I had given a reference to the journa! where the author’s papers were pub- lished; in fact, having said in the notice that I had neglected a reference, he preferred to stick to that misstatement. Frank E. Bepparp. TI. Tur EXaMpLeE OF RICHARD SAVAGE. There is one aspect of the perennial author- publisher question which we might sometimes consider with ourselves. Just 150 years ago John- son sent forth his admirable “ Life of Savage,” which was republished in the still more admir- able “Lives of the Poets” some six-and-thirty ears later. Speakivg of Savage’s production “ The Wanderer,” he said : From a poem so diligently laboured, and so successfully finished, it might be reasonably expected that he should have gained considerable advantage; nor can it, without some degree of indignation and concern, be told that he sold the copy for ten guineas, of which he afterwards returned two, that the two last sheets of the work might be re- printed; of which he had, in his absence, intrusted the correction to a friend, who was too indolent to perform it with accuracy. That he sold so valuable a performance for so small a price was not to be imputed either to necessity (by which the learned and ingenious are often obliged to submit to very hard conditions), or to avarice (by which the book- sellers are frequently incited to oppress that genius by which they are supported), but to that intemperate desire of pleasure and habitual slavery to his passions which involved him [Savage] in many perplexities. He happened at that time to be engaged in the pursuit of some trifling gratifica- tion, and, being without money for the present occasion, sold his poem to the first bidder—and perhaps for the first price that was proposed—and would probably have been content with less, if less had been offered him. Authors have a great deal of human nature in them; so, indeed, have publishers, but it shows itself in a different aspect. Savage’s particular exhibition of human nature is perhaps incurable, ineradicable; but had he been in the habit of resorting to an Authors’ Syndicate, it is just possible that his feet would have turned quite naturally in that direction, and deposited the copy of “The Wanderer” in its safe custody ; finding there, too, perhaps—waiting for him from some such previous famous performance as “The  THE AUTHOR. 375 Author to be Let ”’—the means for his “ trifling gratification.” And the mention of that last pamphlet, which Johnson said “ would do honour to the greatest names,” leads one to add the confession that we still have our Iscariot Hackneys with us, and that some of them do now attack the Society of Authors, and ring the changes, with ‘“ damned iterations ” unartful aid on the dull, short list of oft-refuted empty charges against it. Johnson sometimes used strong language, and he described Iscariot Hackney as “a prostitute scribbler.” ee LV: Tnaccuracy IN Fiction. If room could be found in the pages of the Author, it would be interesting to know what opinions some of our leading authors hold re- specting inaccuracy in fiction, and the duty of the novelist to be exact in his handling of circum- stances drawn from real life. Perhaps an instance should be cited. This one I read, not long since, in an exceedingly clever and successful tale. Two people rush to catch a certain train leaving a London terminus. A gate is slammed behind them so that a third person cannot follow. The time of the departure of the train has also been advanced ten minutes. These circumstances completely account for very impor- tant incidents which follow. But the time of the departure of important trains isnot advanced by ten minutes without great care being taken to inform the public of the fact, and here a man who made due inquiries at the terminus a few days before is ignorant of it, and, as a fact, no gate prevents access to the platform from which this train starts. I speak from expe- rience, haviog travelled by it. Now anyone who reads many novels will be able to think of similar instances of inaccuracy. It would be vastly convenient to be permitted to take such liberties, when the exigencies of the tale demanded them. Are they to be held legiti- mate? I can perfectly understand the man who says, “Tf the tale be a good tale, what do such trifles matter f” But I know others who assert that inaccuracies of this kind quite spoil their interest in a story. It was one such man that first pointed out to me Dickens’s mistake of putting red lights in front of a train (“ Dombey and Son,” chapter 55, not far from the end). A more striking inaccuracy oceurs in “ Oliver Twist” (chapter 46), where sunshine is, in the morning, reflected on the ceil- ing from blood spilled on the floor, in “‘ the faint light of breaking day.” The blood must have coagulated in less than half an hour—rather in a comparatively few minutes. If a novelist could keep blood liquid as long as he liked he could probably raise the dead. But how far does the novelist’s privilege of doing as he pleases extend ? Henry CrEssweLL. MG UnkNown WRITERS. I do not consider myself sufficiently experienced in literary matters to “suggest anything prac- tical” in the matter of authors and publishers to such a body as the Committee of the Society of Authors; but I still think that Mr. Haes’s sug- gestion that “some development and combination of work now performed by the Society, and the syndicate ” might be arranged that would facili- tate the publication of works by unknown but able writers. In every other respect save the one in question, the Society is doing immense service, and I gladly take this opportunity of bearing testi- mony to the valuable, and most cordial and kindly help it affords to young or struggling authors. Substantial help, as I hope the malig- nant critic of the Daily Chronicle will duly note, so far from “receiving no earthly advantage” from my guinea subscription, I have, taking only the past year, received back, through the inter- vention of the Society, that exact amount (as compensation for detention of MSS.), besides payment of a much larger sum which I should not otherwise have obtained without considerable trouble and expense. This in addition to the monthly copy of the Author, and valuable advice upon various matters connected with my work. As for ‘‘a share in the management,” every member has that, through the pages of the Author, and will have it so long as criticisms and suggestions receive the courteous consideration which they do at present, e.g., the valuable sug- gestions in Mr. J. M. Lely’s recent “ Omnium Gatherum,” which will doubtless bear fruit.— Hh. VI. Times oF PaYMENT. The question of the regular times of payment to writers in magazines has been broached in the Author, and one writer expresses a pious wish that all journals should pay ona recognised date. There is another similar question on which opinion might be expressed, and this is, the times  376 of payment of accounts to authors of books. Usually, when a fixed time is mentioned, the publishers stipulate for payment every six months. This is often, it would seem, somewhat of a hardship on the author, especially if a beginner, and the book is successful. The publisher gets in his return, and holds the money. Why should not at least quarterly accounts be the rule? The difficulty of balancing accounts at least approximately quarterly should not prevent such an arrangement. Only rich men can well afford to wait six months. H. {Should not our correspondent consider the great trouble of making up accounts every three months? In cases where money is due to authors, many publishers of the first rank are constantly advancing sums on account.—Eb. | VII. Prompt PayMENTs. “W.” writes to point out certain journals which follow the good example set by most of the daily papers in promptitude of payment. He says that “we should discriminate and not class all together.” Certainly. But has anything been said which has led our readers to class all together? In that case great injustice would be committed. Surely, however, no one has been so foolish as to suppose that proprietors of great and important papers are accused of these injurious delays. The sinners are the small papers, very poor themselves, who not only have to pay little, but also seek to postpone or to avoid payment as long as possible. VIII. Tue Recorp Press Company. The manager of the “ Record Press Company, Limited,” 376, Strand, asks publicity for the fact that the company has no connection at all with the “ Literary Society,” now defunct. It appears that the Company is the third tenant of these offices since the lamented decease of that admir- able association. The “Society” has been exposed over and over again; it has been succeeded by publishing firms carrying on the same game—one, at least, still exists and still. attracts the credulous; it has been exposed in these pages, in the daily press, in every- way. Yet, says the manager of the Company, not a week passes without some one—chiefly ladies and country clergymen— applying for membership and forwarding postal orders. Why do they want to become members? Is it — like the THE AUTHOR. “ Fellows ”’ of the Society above mentioned—ijp order to wear a hood and gown and a badge? Ig it for some imaginary distinction? Is it to assist the imagination and to further the belief that the “member” is a literary person? We ought— we must, the nation demands it—we ought without any delay to create an order—a distinc. tion—for the undistinguished. It should consist of a hood and gown with a badge. Then every. body will be perfectly happy. oct “AT THE SIGN OF THE AUTHOR’S HEAD.” “ CYALOME. Drame in un Acte. Wilde.”’ The forbidden play is published at last. It appears in a first edition of 600, and-is produced by Messrs. Elkin Matthews, and John Lane (Vigo-street). There can be no doubt that the first edition will be run out in a few days, and very little doubt that copies will be at a premium a few days later. There the play is, and those who please may consider the Lord Chamberlain justified or not in his action. The poems of a young writer, whose poems are greatly extolled by those who know him and his work — Mr. John Gray — are also to be pro- duced by the same publishers in a very limited ~ edition of 250 copies. The book will be called “ Silverpoints.”’ Mr. James Ashcroft Noble, whose name is known in connection with good and delicate work, both in poetry and criticism, will immediately produce (also through Messrs. Matthews and Lane) a book of essays, called “‘The Sonnet in England.” The new Handbook (Murray) of Constanti- nople, “Brusa aud the Troad,” is edited by Col. Sir Charles Wilson, G.C.B. Mr. John Cordy Jeaffreson’s “ Victoria, Queen, and Empress” is now ready at Mr. Heinemann’s. Charles Leland’s translation of “ Heme” has now advanced to the 7th and 8th volumes. Messrs. Chatto and Windus have produced a separate edition of Charles Reade’s masterpiece, “The Cloister and the Hearth.” It is in four volumes, with an introduction by the editor of this paper. There is a new book by the author of ‘Some Emotions and a Moral.” It is called “ A Study in Temptations” (Fisher Unwin). - Mr. Andrew Lang’s new book ‘‘ Homer and the Epic,” is nearly ready. (Longmans. ) Par Oscar  THE AUTHOR. It is pleasant to notice the growing recognition of Mrs. Croker’s powers. The Times of Feb. 24 selected it for a review of a column and a quarter in length of “ A Family Likeness.” Sucha review has been a turning-point on the road to popularity for many an author. “Her tales,” says the reviewer, “are buoyant, romantic, satirical, and, above all, picturesque.” Among other good novels of the season, Messrs. Chatto and Windus have this book of Mrs. Croker’s, Mrs, Hunger- ford’s “Lady Verner's Flight,’ Mr. Christie Murray’s ‘“‘Time’s Revenges,’ Bret Harte’s “ Susy,” and Grant Allen’s “ Blood Royal.” Miss Mary Angela Dickens has produced a new novel called “ A Mere Cipher.’ The publishers are Messrs. Macmillan and Co.) ‘Personal and Social Evolution, with the key of the Science of History in the Old and New World of Thought and Opinion, containing the Mental Development of a Modern Scientist ; Sociological Miniatures of the Great Religions of Mankind: the Pedigree, Periods, Products, and Prospects of the Leading Nations of the Old and New World; and a Review of the New Revelation of the Modern Sciences which has dispelled the hereditary survivals and superstitions of Primitive Culture.” This is rather a long title, but it is copied from the title-page, and it is here repro- duced in full, because the author—‘“a historical scientist ’’—evidently desires to convey in the title an abstract of the contents and scope of the book. It is cast in the form of dialogues, in which the topics promised m the title are all discussed. It is published by Fisher Unwin. “The Scientific Study of Theology ’’ is the title of a little book on a great subject. ‘The author is the Rev. W. L. Paige Cox; the publishers are Messrs. Skeffington and Son. The work treats of the Scientific Study (1) of the Nature of God ; (2) of the Future Life; (3) of Miracles; (4) of Worship. ‘There is nothing,” the author says, “of such profound importance to man as to know what his religious beliefs should be.” That is quite true. it is also quite true that the greater part of mankind have not the power of ascertaining what their religious beliefs should be—all they can do is to apply such limited knowledge as they possess to the examination of religious beliefs offered them. The book is written with the in- tention of clear.ng ther minds and stating the case before they apply that limited knowledge. That differences in religious belief must always remain is absolutely certain, even with all the knowledge that the greatest scholars can ever acquire, but it is well to know the conditions of the problem. | Mr. Joseph Skipsey has collected his songs and lyrics. They are published by Walter Scott. These verses, by a self-taught poet, have the true ring. Their flight is not very high nor is it very long; nor are the wings of the singer. very strong; but they are sweet and pure. Among the minor poets of the century Mr. Skipsey should find a place. The Descent of Charlotte Baroness Compton, daughter of James, fifth Earl of Northampton, and Elizabeth Shirley, Baroness Ferrers de Chartley, has been examined by Isabella G. C. Clifford, her great granddaughter (Methuen). It is more than a merely genaological study ; itis the history of a house which includes among its members the Cliffords, the Howards, the Devereux, and the Comptons, with stories of each. Genealogists, heralds, and family antiquaries are not found in great numbers, but this little book should please the few to whom it appeals. Mrs. Macquoid’s new novel—a tale of modern English country life—is named “Berris.”” It will be published immediately by Messrs. Ward and Downey in two volumes. Miss Eleanor Holmes’s new novel, “‘ Through Another Man’s Eyes,” in three volumes, is now ready. The publishers are Hurst and Blackett. Miss Iza Duffus Hardy has arranged with Messrs. F. V. White and Co. for the publication of her new novel (2 vols.), called “ A Woman's Loyalty.”” It has been running as a serial in Belgravia. The author of the “ Story of a Penitent Soul” is bringing out a new edition in one volume, with Messrs. Heinemann. Mr. Dykes Campbell has completed the Life of Coleridge. It will appear in an introduction to the new edition of Coleridge’s ‘Collected Poetical Works.” Tne Life contains a great deal that is quite new, or at least much more accurate than anything previously published. And there are many poems, fragments, &c., pre- viously unpublished. ‘The book will be uniform with the Macmillan’s one volume editions of Tennyson, Shelley, and Wordsworth. A dinner at Edinburgh celebrated the com- pletion of “‘ Chambers’s Encyclopedia.” The con- tributors presented their photographs in an album to Mr. David Patrick, the editor. Mr. Joseph Hatton’s new novel, “ Under the Great Seal,” 3 vuls., will be published by Messrs. Hutchinson. A selection from the works of Jeremy Taylor has been made by Mr. John Dennis for Messrs. Innes and Co. 378 Mr. John Underhill has been engaged for some time upon a new edition of Gay for “The Muses’ Library.” It is now nearly ready, and is announced for next month. Mr. Rudyard Kipling will shortly publish a new volume of verse. Mr. William Watson, who is reported to be much better, will produce immediately a volume called “ Excursions in Criticism.” Mr. Quiller Couch has issued a book of verses called “ Green Bays, Verses and Parodies, by Q.” (Methuen and Co.) spec: NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. Theology. A PLEA FoR TRUE Union between the Sister Churches in England and America by the joint issue of their “ Books of Common Prayer,” with the same Scripture references. Castle and Lamb, Salisbury-square. 6d. BricHt, James W. The Gospel of St. Luke, in Anglo- Saxon, edited from the manuscripts, with an introduc- tion, notes, and a glossary. Oxford, at the Clarendon Press; London, Henry Frowde. 5s. Byne, Hon. Mrs. Francis. Friends and Foes at the Cross of Jesus ;_a Good Friday Service of Song. Skeffington. CaiRD, Epwarp. The Evolution of Religion. The Gifford lectures delivered before the University of St. Andrews in sessions 1890-91 and 1891-92. 2 vols. Maclehose, Glasgow. 14s. net. CuurRcH BELLs— special part, containing the weekly numbers with Archdeacon Farrar’s course of sermons on the Lord’s Prayer, preached at Westminster Abbey. Church Bells Office, Southampton-street, Strand. Paper covers. Is. 6d. COLLINGRIDGE, Rev. C.F. 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G., M.A. Latin Prose Composition, adapted for the Scotch Leaving Certificate and University Pre- liminary Examinations. Third edition, volume IL, containing passages of graduated difficulty for trans- Percival lation into Latin, together with an introduction on con- _ tinuous prose. Oxford, at the Clarendon Press; London, Henry Frowde. 4s. 6d. Rern, Pror. W. Outlines of Pedagogics. Translated by — C. C.and Ida J. Van Liew, with notes by the former. — Swan Sonnenschein.  ADVERTISEMENTS. NEW NOVEL BY JAMES PAYN. Now Ready, at all the Libraries, Booksellers’, and Bookstalls, in 2 vols, crown 8vo, cloth extra, price 21s. A STUMBLE ON THE THRESHOLD, i y tS owe eS PAY WN . OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. THE TIMES: ‘'Mr. James Payn’s pleasant story contains a startling novelty. he leading actors are a group of undergraduates of Cambridge University. Mr. Payn’s picture of University society is frankly exceptional. Exceptional, if not unique, is the ‘nice little college’ of St. Neot’s. Cambridge men will have little difficulty i in recognising this snug refuge of the ‘ploughed.’ . An ingenious plot, clever characters, and, above all, a plentiful seasoning of genial wit. The uxorious master of St. Neot's is chs armingly conceived. If only for his reminiscences of his deceased wives, ‘A Stumble on the Threshold’ deserves to be treasured. We turn over Mr. Payn’s delightful pages, so full of surprises and whimsical dialogue. DAILY News ‘The dramatic story is told ah an excellent wit. It abounds in lively presentation of character and in shrewd sayings concerning life and manners. - That study of mankind which is ‘man’ has furnished a liberal educa- tion to this genial humorist. The men and women he pourtrays move before us, as do our friends and acquaintances, distinct individualities, yet each possessed of that reserve of mystery a touch of which in the delineation of human nature, is more convincing than pages of analysis. Needham, Fellow of St. Neot’s, Cambridge—simple, loyal, gently independent—is a beautiful study. The story alternates in its setting between Bournemouth, Cambridge, and some charming spots near the Thames. The description of life in the Alma Mater on the banks of the Cam gives Mr. Payn opportunities for humorous sketches of professors and students, and he shows himself in the light of an excellent raconteur. This part of the narrative furnishes some delightful reading; we seem to be listening to the best talk, incisive, racy, and to the point. Space will not allow us to quote some of the wise and witty sayings, tinged it may be with cynicism, which are the outcome of Mr. Payn’s philosophy of life, and which are not the least entertaining part of this attractive novel.” DAILY CHRONICLE: ‘‘Mr. James Payn is here quite at his usual level all through, and that level is quite high enough to please most people. . The character drawing is good. The story of the master sounds strangely like truth. A book to read distinctly.” DAILY GRAPHIC: . . . The dramatic unity of time, place, and cir- cumstance has never had a more novel setting. ‘6 SATURDAY REVIEW: ‘A very interesting story, and one that excels in clever contrast of character and close study of individualism. The characters make the impression of reality on the reader. . Extremely pleasant are the sketches of University life.” THE WORLD: ‘‘The most sensational story which the author has written since his capital novel, ‘By Proxy.’ Never flags for a moment.” BLACK AND WHITE: . . . Ingenious and original. Mr. Payn knows how to invent and lead up to a mystery.” LEEDS MERCURY: ‘Three more distinctive characters have, perhaps, never been drawn by Mr. James Payn than in Walter Blythe, Robert Grey, and George Needham, Cambridge undergraduates, who figure prominently in ‘A Stumble on the Threshold.’” GLASGOW HERALD: ee . Mr. Payn’s latest invention in sensational episode ; “put wild horses will not drag from us a statement of the mystery. It is new and thoroughly original, and worthy of the ingenuity of the loser of Sir Massingberd.” “ BATLEY REPORTER: Is most attractive reading.” ir HAMPSHIRE TELEGRAPH AND CHRONICLE: ‘‘Mr. James Payn’s latest story, ‘A Stumble on the Threshold,’ which has been the chief attraction in the ‘ Queen’ during the last few months—where, by the way, it was most admirably illustrated—has just been issued in two handsome vols. by Mr. Horace Cox. The story is written in Mr. Payn’s happiest vein; it sparkles with wit, the characters are most unconventional. and the old, old theme is worked out on quite novel lines.’ HEREFORD TIMES: ‘‘ With all their sparkle and gaiety, Mr. Payn’s novels would not be complete without the dread Nemesis, mysterious in operation, and casting suspicion for a time on every side but the right one. The novel is thoroughly attractive, and a credit to the practised hand which penned it.’ THE OBSERVER: . Is a characteristic story, remarkably quietly told, always pleasing and satisfying, and pro- viding a startling incident at a moment when everything seems serene.’ “ London : HORACE COX, Windsor House, Bream’s Buildings, E.C. "CHEAP JACK ZITA” NEW SERIAL STORY Be S&S. SARIN G- ao U- ty. , ENTITLED . CHEAP JACK ZITA,’ Wi-h Illustrations by a Prominent Artist, commenced in the “ Queen” on Jan. 7. 384 ADVERTISEMENTS. MESDAMES BRETT & BOWSER, TYPISTS, SELBORNE CHAMBERS, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR. Authors’ MSS. carefully and expeditiously copied, from Is. per 1000 words. Extra carbon copies half price. Refer- ences kindly permitted to Augustine Birrell, Esq., M.P. THE AUTHOR’S HAIRLESS PAPER-PAD. (THe LeapenHatt Press Lrp., E.C.) ee Contains hairless paper, over which the pen slips with perfect freedom. Sixpence each: 5s. per dozen, ruled or plain. LITERARY PRODUCTIONS OF EVERY DESCRIPTION SS REVISED on Moderate Terms by the Author of “The Queen’s English up to Date” (see Press Opinions), price 2s. Address ‘‘ Anglophil,” Strand, W.C. LITERARY WOMAN, residing in Oxford, OFFERS BOARD and a pleasant HOME (terms Two Guineas per week) to any Lady desirous to read in the Libraries or to attend Lectures.—Address ‘“ Literary,” Messrs. Parker, Circulating Library, 21 and 22, Broad-street, Oxford. Literary Revision Office, 342, MRS. GIirdq. TYPE-WRITING OFFICE, 35. LUDGATE HILL, E.C. (ESTABLISHED 1883.) rrr Authors’ MSS. carefully copied from 1s. per 1000 words. Plays, &c., 1s. 3d. per 1000 words. Extra copies (carbon) supplied at the rate of 4d. and 3d. per 1000 words. Type-writing from dictation 2s. 6d. per hour. Reference kindly permitted to Walter Besant, Esq. Miss PATTEN, TYPIST. 44, Oakley Street Flats, Chelsea S.W. Authors’ MSS. carefully transcribed. References kindly permitted to George Augustus Sala, Esq., Justin Huntly McCarthy, Esq., and many other well-known Authors. Fire - Proof Safe for MSS. Particulars on Application. “T always stick in my ) TICKPHAST- scraps and papers with § PASTE. Ellen Terry.” Price One Shilling ; by Post, 1s. 3d. = QUEEN ALMANACK, and Lady’s Calendar, 1893, Contains a Chromo-Lithograph Plate of an Album Cover in Imitation Boule Work, Winter Comforts in Knitting and Crochet, Designs for Pyrographic, Hand-painted, or Inlaid Work, and Bent Iron Work. &c. The ‘‘ Queen ” Office, Windsor House, Bream’s-buildings, E.C. TWENTY-FOURTH ISSUE. Now ready, super-royal 8vo., price 15s., post free. CROCKFORD'S CLERICAL DIRECTORY HOF 1892 Being a Statistical Book of Reference for Facts relating to the Clergy in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland. and the Colonies, WITH A FULLER INDEX RELATING TO PARISHES AND BENEFICES THAN ANY EVER YET GIVEN TO THE PUBLIC. LONDON: HORACE COX, WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM’S BUILDINGS, E.C. COX’S ARTS OF READING, WRITING, AND SPEAKING. LETTERS TO A LAW STUDENT. BY Tem LATE ME. SHRIBANT COX. RE-ISSUE (SIXTH THOUSAND). PRICE 7s. 6d. LONDON: HORACE COX, “LAW TIMES” OFFICE, WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM’S BUILDINGS, E.C. Printed and Published by Horacz Cox, Windsor House, Bream’s-buildings, London, E.C, Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 03 Issue 10 (March 1893) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 03 Issue 10 (March 1893) Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1893-03-01-The-Author-3-10 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/449/1893-04-01-The-Author-3-11.pdf 56691dc2bc5e3cadc98741c41fa4394a PDF Text Text ���������������������������������������� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1893-04-01 Volume 3 Issue 11 Pages Page range in volume 385–424 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18930401 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin The Mutbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vou. I11.—No. 11.] APRIL 1, 1893. CONTENTS. [Prick SIXPENCE. PAGE. | PAGE. | Warnings oe ae . 387 | Notesfrom Paris By Robert H. Sherard oe ere 402 How to Use the Society 388 | Ballade of the Primrose Way. By Robert Richardson .. 404 The Authors’ Syndicate... oe oes =e 388 Notes and News. By the Editor ... oe = wee 405 Notices... ns aes 389 | Correspondence— From the Committee... 390 1.—Prompt Payment = 410 Literary Property— | 2.—Justice from America ... 410 LC echt ard Magazines 3.—For a Union... pe ee par 420 ae ey ce oe Vi ee 4.—Misstatements in Review... ... 410 ee nm Amencan 18 : ae - 5.—The Conceit of Amateurs... we 411 3.—The Rights of Copyright ... ae i 6.—The Paris Typist 411 4.—The United States Publishing Company yok Gepieter a eae Wild hoe 5.—An Old Author on Literary Property ... | Re Tent MSS. a Be 5 io eS 412 The Hardships of Publishin, | 9. An Easy French Lesson . 412 Attack and Defence... Les | From the Fapers— The Book of the Future | 1.—The Hardships of Publishing =: S18 Books and Printing ... eee eee ave es | 2.—Authors at Home ... i eae woe 413 Omnium Gatherum for April. By J. M. Lely 3.—The New Irish Literary Society wo | te B18 t The S.P.C0.K. again ... cB ae ssa “ At the Sign of the Author’s Head"’ ... sa a Se wee 414 i The Authors’ Club The Book Exchange... oe AAT | The New York “ Nation”... New Books and New Editions . 418 ‘i pee s z ip Sa ae ae z : Abts see me u i PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. B eee ee aeecenge reer rs 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1892 can be had on application to the Secretary. ‘ 9. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary i Property. Issued to all Members. f 3. The Grievances of Authors. (The Leadenhall Press.) 1s. The Report of three Meetings on ; the general subject of Literature and its defence, held at Willis’s Rooms, March, 1887. 4. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Couuzs, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C.) 3s. 5. The History of the Société des Gens de Lettres. , the Society. Is. 6. The Cost of Production. In this ‘work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c., with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. 7. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Seurre Spricer. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society’s offices, the various forms of agreements proposed by Publishers to ‘Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, WC. | 36: | : Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell’s Copyright Bill now before Parlia- ment. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lety. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 18. 6d. By S. Squire SPRIGGE, late Secretary to oo  386 ADVERTISEMENTS. The Society of Authors (Bncorporated), L PRESIDENT. GHEORGHE MERMDITEH. COUNCIL. OswaLp CRAWFuRD, C.M.G. THE Ear or Desarr. Austin Doxson. A. W. Dusovura. J. Eric Ericusen, F.R.S. Pror. MicHart Fosrer, F.R.S. HERBERT GARDNER, M.P. RicHaRD GARNETT, LL.D. EpmuND Gossr. H. Riper Hacearp. Tuomas Harpy. Jerome K. Jerome. RupYARD KIPLina. Pror. E. Ray LANKeEstTER, F.R.S. J. M. Lety. Rev. W. J. Lorrir, F.S.A. Pror. J. M. D. MerxieJonn. HERMAN C. MERIVALE. Rev. C. H. Mippneron-WakeE F.L.S. Hon. Counsel—E. M. UnDERDOWN, Q.C. Solicitors—Messrs Freup, Roscor, and Co., Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Sir Epwin Arno;p, K.C.LE., C.S.1. ALFRED AUSTIN. J. M. BARRIE. A. W. A Becxerr. Rosert BATEMAN. Str Henry Berene, K.C.M.G. WALTER BESANT. AUGUSTINE BIRRELL, M.P. R. D. BLACKMORE. Rev. Pror. Bonney, F.R.S. Lord BRABOURNE. James Bryce, M.P. Haut Carne. P. W. CLAYDEN. EDWARD CLopp. W. Morris Couuxs. Hon. JoHn Conuier. W. Martin Conway. F. Marton CRAWFORD. Lewis Morris. Pror. Max Mij.urr. J. C. PARKINSON. Tue Hart or PEMBROKE AND Monv- is GOMERY. : Sir FREDERICK POLLOCK, Bart., LL.D. WaLter Herries Potiocr. A. G. Ross. GroreEr AuGustus SALA. W. BarpristEe Scoonszs. G. R. Sms. S. Squire Spricee. J. J. STEVENSON. Jas. SULLY. Wittiam Moy Tuomas. H. D. Train, D.C.L. Baron Henry bE Worms, M.P., F.R.S. Epmunpb YATEs. Secretary—C. Herpert Turina, B.A. OFFICES. 4, PortuaaL Strext, Lincoun’s Inn Freups, W.C. Now ready, Third Edition, with Additions throughout, in demy 8vo., 700 pages, price 15s. AN ANECDOTAL HISTORY oF THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT, From the Earliest Periods to the Present Time. WITH NOTICES OF EMINENT PARLIAMENTARY MEN, AND EXAMPLES OF THEIR ORATORY. ComMPILED FROM AUTHENTIC SOURCES BY GHORGH HaNRY JHNNIN Ge. CONTENTS. Part J.—Riseand Progress of Parliamentary Institutions. Part IJ.—Personal Anecdotes: Sir Thomas More to John Morley. Parr IJJ.—Miscellaneous. 1. Elections. 2. Privilege; Ex- clusion of Strangers; Publication of Debates. 3. Parliamentary Usages, &c. 4. Varieties. ApprrnpDix.—(A) Lists of the Parliaments of England and of the United Kingdom. (B) Speakers of the House of Commons. (C) Prime Ministers, Lord Chancellors, and Secretaries of State from 1715 to 1892. Opinions of the Press ‘* The work, which has long been held in high repute as a repertory of good things, is more than ever rich in doth instruction and amuse- ment. ”—Scotsman. ‘It is a treasury of useful fact and amusing anecdote, and in its latest form should have increased popularity.”"—Globve, ‘Its advantage to those who are seeking seats in Parliament, or who may have occasion to assist as speakers during the electoral cempaign, is incumparable.”—Sala’s Journal. of the Present Edition. ‘It is a work that possesses both a practical and an historica value, and is altogether unique in character.”—Kentish Observer. ‘We can heartily recommend this work to the politician, whatever may be his party leanings.”—WNorthern Echo. . ‘Here we have the whole company of Parliamentary celebrities, past and present, reduced to puppets, so to speak, and made to repeat their best and most approved rhetorical performances for our leisurely entertainment, which is not less enjoyable from being allied with edification.” —Liverpool Courier. : “a Orders may now be sent to HORACE COX “Law Times” Office, Windsor House, Bream’s-buildings, E.C.  Che HMuthbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vout. I1.—No. 11.] For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the committee unless they are officially sigued by G. Herbert Thring, sec. NHE Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknow- ledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. > eee WARNINGS. EADERS of the Author and members of R the Society are earnestly desired to make the following warnings as widely known as possible. They are based on the experience of eight years’ work by which the dangers to which literary property is especially exposed have been discovered :— 1. Ser1au Rieuts.—In selling Serial Rights stipulate that you are selling the Serial Right for one paper at a certain time, a simultaneous Serial Right only, otherwise you may find your work serialized for years, to the detriment of your volume form. 2. Stamp your AGrEEMENTS.—Readers are most URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements immediately after signature. If this precaution is neglected for two weeks, a fine of £10 must be paid before the agreement can be used as a legal document. In almost every case brought to the secretary the agreement, or the letter which VOL. III. serves for one, is forwarded without the stamp. The author may be assured that the other party to the agreement never neglects this simple pre- caution. The stamp duty varies from 6d. up to Ios. or more, according to the form of agreement. The Society, to save trouble, undertakes to get all the agreements of members stamped for them at no expense to themselves except the cost of the stamp. 3. ASCERTAIN WHAT A PROPOSED AGREEMENT GIVES TO BOTH SIDES BEFORE SIGNING IT.- Remember that an arrangement as to a joint venture in any other kind of business whatever would be instantly refused should either party refuse to show the books or to let it be known what share he reserved for himself. 4. Lirerary Acrenrs.—Be very careful. You cannot be too careful as to the person whom you appoint as your agent. Remember that you place your property almost unreservedly in his hands. Your only safety is in consulting the Society, or some friend who has had personal experience of the agent. Do not trust advertisements alone. 5. Cost or Propuction.—Never sign any agreement of which the alleged cost of pro- duction forms an integral part, until you have proved the figures. 6. Cuoice or Pusiisners.—Never enter into any correspondence with publishers, especially with those who advertise for MSS., who are not recommended by experienced friends or by this Society. 7. Fururs Work.—Never, on any account whatever, bind yourself down for future work to anyone. 8. Royaury.—Never accept any proposal of royalty until you have ascertained what the agreement, worked out on both a small and a large sale, will give to the author and what to the publisher. ac 2 Staten  388 g. Personan Risk.—Never accept any pecu- niary risk or responsibility whatever without advice. 10. Resectep MSS.—Never, when a MS. has been refused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises they may put forward, for the production of the work. 11. AmERicAN Rieurs.— Never sign away American rights. Keep them by special clause. Refuse to sign any agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the publisher, unless for a substantial consideration. If the publisher insists, take away the MS. and offer it to another. 12, Cesston or Copyrriaut.—Never sign any paper, either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright, without advice. 13. ADVERTISEMENTS.—Keep control over the advertisements, if they affect your returns, by a clause in the agreement. Reserve a veto. If you are yourself ignorant of the subject, make the Society your adviser. 14. Never forget that publishing is a business, like any other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy, charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with business men. Be yourself a business man. Society’s Offices :— 4, PortucaL Street, Lincoun’s Inn FIrevps. rr HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. 1. Every member has a right to advice upon his agreements, his choice of a publisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business. or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an o;inion from the Society’s solicitors. If the «as» is such that Counsel’s opinion is desirable, the Committee will obtain for him Counsel’s opinion. All this with- out any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publishers’ agreements do not eenerally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors, Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books repre- sented, This is in order to ascertain what has THE AUTHOR. been the nature of your agreements and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The information thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business transactions by the Secretary proves unfavour- able, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the proposed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks, of every publishing firm in the country. Remember that there are certain houses which live entirely by trickery. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the inde- pendence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of the Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. THE AUTHORS’ SYNDICATE. SPECIAL report of the Authors’ Syndi- cate has been prepared, and will be issued to those members of the Society for whom the Syndicate has transacted business. The accounts of the Syndicate for 1891-92 have been audited by Messrs. Oscar Berry and Carr. A transcript of every client’s account as audited and vouched, has been sent to that client. Members are informed: 1. That the Authors’ Syndicate takes charge of the business of members of the Society. With, when necessary, the assistance of the legal advisers of the Society, it concludes agreements, collects royalties, examines and passes accounts, and generally relieves members of the trouble of managing business details. 2. That the expenses of the Authors’ Syndi- cate are defrayed entirely out of the commission charged on rights placed through its intervention. This charge is reduced to the lowest possible amount compatible with efficiency. Meanwhile members will please accept this intimation that  THE AUTHOR. 389 they are not entitled to the services of the Syndi- cate gratis, a misapprehension which appears to widely exist. 3. That the Authors’ Syndicate works for none but those members of the Society whose work possesses a market value. 4. That the business of the Syndicate is not to advise members of the Society, but to manage their affairs for them. 5. That the Syndicate can only undertake arrangements of any character on the distinct understanding that those arrangements are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all negotiations relating thereto are referred to it. 6. That clients can only be seen personally by appointment, and that, when possible, at least four days’ notice should be given. The work of the Syndicate is now so heavy, that only a limited number of interviews can be arranged. 7. That every attempt is made to deal with the correspondence promptly, but that owing to the enormous number of letters received, some delay is inevitable. That stamps should, in all cases, be sent to defray postage. 8. That the Authors’ Syndicate does not invite MSS. without previous c¢ yrrespondence, and does not hold itself responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. NOTICES. TYNHE Editor of the Author begs to remind members of the society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a_ very heavy charge on the resources of the society if a great many members did not forward to the secretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects con- nected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the society than to make the Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write ? Communications for the Author should reach the editor not later than the 21st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office with- out previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly understood that the Society does not, under any circum- stances, undertake the publication of MSS. The Authors’ Club is now opened in its new premises, at 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, &c. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? If they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker’s order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the warning numbered (3). It is a most foolish and a most disastrous thing to bind yourself to anyone for a term of years. Let them ask them- selves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest or dishonest ? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign themselves into literary bondage for three or five years ? Those who possess the “Cost of Production ” are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble of “doing sums,” the addition of three shillings in the pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at £9 4s. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth as can be procured: but a printer’s, or a binder’s, bill is so elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the ‘Cost of Production” for advertising. Ofcourse, we have not included any sums which may be charged for inserting adver- tisements in the publisher’s own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a 39° book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud: it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. es FROM THE COMMITTEE. T a meeting of the committee held on Thursday, March 9g, the following resolu- tions, proposed by the chairman and seconded by Mr. J. M. Lely, were unanimously passed : “ That in the opinion of the committee— “1, The practice of issuing books and new editions without date is embarrassing to librarians and bibliographers, and may be injurious to authors and misleading to the public, and is there- fore to be deprecated. “2. The practice introduced by Messrs. Mac- millan and Co., of specifying in every issue of a book the date of all former issues, is highly con- venient, and its general adoption is desirable. “That copies of the foregoing resolutions be sent to the leading publishers.” An answer has been received from Messrs. Chapman and Hall showing that they have already adopted this system by printing the date and number of each edition published. Mr. Walter Besant and Mr. S. S. Sprigge have been elected delegates to represent the Society at the conference of authors to be held at Chicago on July 12, 1893. J. Hersert Turing, Secretary. ees LITERARY PROPERTY. L CopyricHt AND Magazines. I. N reply to the criticism of Mr. Charteris in your last number I should like to explain. Mr. Charteris misunderstood me when he says that I cited the case of Layland v. Stewart (4 Ch. Div. 419) in support of my contention that the articles must be written on the terms that the copyright therein shall belong to the proprietor. The case was cited in reference to that portion of the paragraph immediately pre- THE AUTHOR. ceding it (on p. 313), and it was given merely ag an authority for the general rule that an assign. ment of copyright must be in writing. My suggestion was that the proprietor of a magazine does not acquire copyright by any other means than by such assignment, unless the conditions of sect. 18 have been so fulfilled as to bring the case within the operation of the section. The decision in Sweet v. Benning (16 C. B. 459) does not, as I submit, conflict with my view. The case decides that it is not necessary for the terms in question to be the subject of an express contract. In the absence of any express con- tract the court, no doubt, would hold that such terms are primd facie to be implied. Any evidence, however, rebutting such implication would, in my opinion, defeat the operation of the section ; so that the terms, whether arising from an express contract or implied, are nevertheless, I still submit, an essential condition to entitling the proprietor to copyright under sect. 18. Harouip Harpy. II. High Court of Justice.—Chancery Division — Before Mr. Justice North. Strahan v. Wilson. His Lordship this morning (March 22) gave judgment on this copyright motion. The hearing of the motion was reported in our impression of Nov. 14. The motion was treated as the trial. Mr. Justice North said: The plaintiff, who has brought this action to restrain an alleged infringe- ment of his copyright, is the author of a work published in the year 1892, called “ Marriage and Disease: a Study of Heredity and the more Important Family Degenerations.”’ Itis a work of considerable pretensions, extending over 300 pages, and is, moreover, of great interest, rela- ting as it does to the mental and vital well-being of our race in successive generations; and, for the purpose of appreciating the complaint against the defendants I have read it more than once with much attention. The eighth, ninth, and tenth chapters are headed “ Marriage and Insanity.” “Marriage and Drunkenness,” and “ Marriage and Epilepsy,” and the 14th chapter is called “ Harly Marriages, their Effect upon the Children,” and they contain a great deal of wise and useful advice, though more likely, I fear, to be com- mended than followed. The defendants are the proprietor and publisher respectively of a paper called Health: « Weekly Journal of Domestic and Sanitary Science, and in the numbers of that journal published on March 18, April 22, June 18, and July 22 of last year there are four essays of about a page and a half each, with exactly the same headings as the plaintiff's  THE AUTHOR. 391 chapters to which I have referred, except that the last essay is called “ Premature Marriage and its Infants,” and they deal with the same topics as the plaintiff had done in those chapters and other parts of his work, though much more succinctly. The plaintiff's treatise is there referred to three or four times, not without approval, and a few quotations are made from it, the source from which they came being stated. But the plaintiff’s complaint is that far more than these passages are appropriated from his work, the copying from which is, as he contends, much in excess of what can be justified as a fair and reasonable use of what he has published. Having given my careful consideration to the productions of both authors, I have come to the conclusion that I cannot grant the injunction asked. In many respects I find very great resemblance between the essays and the plaintiff's book, so much so that, if the subject were new and the ground untrodden, no one could doubt that the former were to a great extent taken from the latter. But the common subject is far from novel; many authors have written thereon before, and many of the passages in the two publications which were compared with one another, are mere statements of matters which are common pro- perty, with respect to which no writer, whether a medical man or not, has any monopoly. The plaintiff has not any exclusive right to discuss these subjects, and he has no copyright in mere theories and ideas. The topics discussed by him are open to discussion by others also; and there is no reason why the matters which he has treated very ably are to be wholly forbidden ground to other writers. With respect to these matters, of which both parties have made use, I find myself unable to say that the essays published by the defendants are not a fair exercise of a mental operation deserving the character of an original work; and this applies to a large number of the passages in the two productions which were made the subject of special comparison and criticism. There are other portions of the defendants’ essays which are specially complained of by the plaintiff ; for instance, quotations from other authors found in the plaintiff’s treatise which are also found in the defendants’ essays. With respect to these I am asked by the plaintiff to draw the inference that they are all copied by the defendants from the plaintiff without reference to the authorities quoted. I find myself unable to do so; the only evidence before me consists of the affidavits of the plaintiff and that of Mr. Hawkins, the writer of the essay in question, who has not been cross- examined. and I do not feel justified from this evidence in drawing the inference which the plaintiff invites me to do, and saying that the copying is proved. There are some of these with respect to which I cannot say that there are not grounds for suspicion ; but, upon the whole, Iam unable to hold that the plaintiff has given me sufficient proof, the onus of which is upon him, to decide iu his favour. There is also another subject of complaint ; there are certain instances given by the plaintiff by way of illustration which I believe that the writer of the essays has taken from him, though he does not admit it (his Lord- ship mentioned certain passages and continued) ; but I do not consider these and other like passages to be sufficiently substantial or material to furnish ground for my interfererce by in- junction with the publication of the defendauts’ essays, especially when I find that the nature of the two publications is so different; that by the plaintiff being a standard work, while the defen- dant’s productions are merely short essays of ephemeral attraction in weekly newspapers, many months old, which cannot compete practically m any way with the treatise of the plaintiff, and would never, in my opinion, have prevented the sale of a single copy of it. Under these circum- stances, as I find myself unable to say that the defendants have infringed the plaintiffs copy- right, I must dismiss this action ; but, as I feel satisfied that the writer of the defendants’ essays has, in fact, made much greater use of the plain- tiff’s work than he states in his affidavit, I shall dismiss it without costs. Mr. M‘Swinney and Mr. Strahan were counsel for the plaintiff; Mr. Cozens-Hardy, Q.C., and Mr. Morten for the defendants.—From the Times. LE An American VIEW. Probably no one thing has caused more sus- picion and discontent among authors, or created more ill-feeling between authors and publishers, than the matter of returns of books sold when the contract between them is on the royalty plan. Not as many of the author’s books are sold as he expected; he suspects that full returns are not made; in some cases no doubt his suspicions are unfounded; in more, we believe, they are not. The discontent is widespread. In Rome, Signor Rossi, a distinguished Italian author and savant, told us that this was the great grievance of Italian authors, and that they would gladly engage in any movement that promised a remedy. In Paris we were informed that a committee of La Societie des Gens de Lettres is considering a plan for attaining this object. In Great Britain  392 THE your powerful Society of Authors seeks to ac- complish the same end by appointing auditors to examine the publisher’s books in behalf of its members. In the United States one of the first acts of the newly-formed association of American Authors was to appoint a committee to draft a plan for securing this object. If a plan for remedying this universal evil at once simple, practical, and effective, could be de- vised, its benefits must be apparent. Such a plan is believed to have been devised, and the writer has been invited by the Author to call the attention of British men of letters to it in the columns of this paper. But first a word as to the plan of auditing the publisher’s books. In America we find these objections to its adoption. It is expensive, it is not effective; the publisher can write up his books to suit himself, and it subjects the author to the ill-will of the publisher; for on such a request being made the latter assumes an injured air, asks if the author suspects he is being cheated ; and, although he may grant the request, it is at the expense of the entente cordiale that formerly existed between them. Now, it is a truism among American literary men that it is suicidal to quarrel with your publisher; very few even of the greatest and most popular have the nerve to attempt it. How improbable it is, therefore, that the average author will engage in one by demanding an account from his pub- lisher! The plan reported by the committee of the American Authors above referred to was in brief as follows: The author to prepare a stamp bearing his autograph, and to furnish the pub- lisher with as many as there are copies in the edition. The publisher to affix a stamp to each volume sold or given away, and to make up his quarterly or semi-annual returns on the basis of the stamps sold. Presence of an unstamped book on the market to be accounted primd facie evi- dence of default. This plan, on being submitted to several leading American publishers, was con- demned by them. They objected to the extra labour of affixing the stamps. They said further, that the plan would not be effective; that the dishonest publisher would either counterfeit the stamps or fail to affix them; that tue stamps would come off, &c. : To meet these objections the following plan has been proposed : That the present copyright law be so amended as to provide that imstead of the usual printed form—copyright 18 , by Richard Doe, &c.—it shall be the duty of the author of every book seeking copyright to provide a stamp bearing the above words with his autograph. That instead of the printed page the publisher shall affix one AUTHOR. of said stamps to the book under pain of the usual penalties. In his contract the author to stipulate that the stamps should be used as a basis for making returns of books sold, or given away. We confess we can see but one objection to this plan—that it will entail some expense on the author; in that case half the expense of the stamps might be borne by the publisher. The stamps must be placed on the book, or there is no copyright. They could be counterfeited, but that would be a serious crime. The cost of affixing the stamp would be little more than that of setting up, plating, and printing a page; and it would (und r any royalty system) do away with the necessity of keeping any books between publisher and author—the former in making up his returns would simply count his stock- in-trade, adding to it the books sent out on sale, if any ; and by substracting the total from the number of stamps received from the author could get the actual sales for which he would account. As for the author, he would be abso- lutely sure—unless the stamps were counterfeited, in which case the rogue could easily be detected— that he was getting accurate returns of books sold. Were it a part of the copyright law, no publisher could complain that it was sought to cast a stigma upon him, and no author need fear incurring the resentment of his publisher. We think this plan would be accepted by all honest publishers, who admit that the present business relations between authors and publishers are most unsatisfactory—and that by concerted action it might be made a part of the copyright law of all countries included in the present International Copyright Law. CuaRLes Burr Topp, Secretary, Association of American Authors. IT. Tue Rieuts oF CoPpyRicHt. If an author sells the copyright of the manu- script of a proposed book to a publisher, has the publisher a right to publish the book anony- mously ? Such is the question propounded in the March number of the Author, in which the opinion is expressed that the publisher has ‘no such right. The reputation of an author is, it is contended, of so much value to him that the publisher must be taken to have impliedly con- tracted not to smother that reputation by not publishing the author’s name. We cannot accept that as sound law. It seems to us that what the author sells to the publisher, at common law, is the right of reproduction, but with no correspond-  THE ing obligation on the publisher to reproduce. If this be the law (and we cannot say that the ques- tion is free from doubt) all the more necessary is it that authors should part with their copyrights only by full and carefully expressed agreements, and not be content with mere undertakings to pay the purchase money. The law, we may observe, would be different in case a book were published with such alterations as to damage the reputation of an author. In that case the author would seem to have a clear right of action, but in tort only, and not on any implied contract.— Law Times. TV: Tae Unitep Srates PusitisHine Company. The smash of the United States Publishing Company is a disaster which had been foreseen by some. It has been stated that the cause of the failure was the granting of royalties larger than could be safely paid. This is rubbish. The royalties granted were seldom, if ever, more than would be represented by a bond fide half-profit agreement, and in some cases, as in some English houses, were far less. A writerin the Sketch states that 10 per cent.is “a royalty which the best houses accept as safe.” This is simply not the case with writers of standing and houses of repute, as is known to the Society “from information received.” The same writer warns English authors against expecting too much from America. That is a very ‘wise and judicious counsel. A few novelists will largely increase their incomes, but very few. A few writers of educational books will double their incomes by the American copyright, but very few. ‘And a few historical writers will find the value of their work increased. V. An Outp Auruor on Literary PROPERTY. The following is printed from an autograph letter written by G. P. R. James in the year 1846. It illustrates the condition of literature in the Forties. It isnot known whether it was ever sent round among publishers : “The treaty regarding international copyright between England and Russia, and the probability that all the other States of the German Customs Union will adhere to the same, and that France will sooner or later conclude a treaty of a similar kind, afford great opportunities for the extension of the English book trade; but, to render the opportunities available, it is absolutely necessary that English publishers should exert themselves energetically to take advantage of the position in VOL. III, AUTHOR. 303 which they are placed; and, in order to do so effectually, they have to consider and decide upon the best means of meeting the new circumstances which surround them. You will forgive me for saying that the great body of the trade neglected most lamentably the opportunity afforded by the exclusion of the American piracies from our colonies, and this induces me to press the subject upon your attention at the present. T know that several difficulties embarrass the whole question and render the English publishers timid in action; but these difficulties cannot be got over without taking ¢ general view of the position in which they stand. This I shall endeavour to give, although I may omit several particulars, which your greater experience will suggest. The English publisher about four or five years ago was only possessed of the English market, and that not altogether without competition. It usually afforded a safe and profiab e business ; but he as well as the author thought it hard that foreign publishers should be allowed to make use of the produce of an Englishman’s mind without giving him any compensation ; and representa- tions were made to Government which induced Ministers to support a Bill which excluded piracies from our colonies, and to negotiate with foreign powers for a reciprocal recognition of copyright. Thus the colonies, the whole of the Prussian dominions certainly, the whole of the Zoll-Verein probably, and France possibly, are added to the market of the English book trade. It seems to me, under the circumstances, not only to be politic, but to be an absolute duty, to afford to our colonists and foreigners a constant supply of English literature on terms which they can accept. You are well aware that before the changes were effected an enormous number of the American cheap reprints were sold in our colonies and in India, and that very large editions reprinted by Herr Tauchnitz and M. Baudry were disposed of on the Continent ; but the whole condi- tions, on which these large sales were obtained, was cheapness. Neither the Colonies or the foreigner is willing or able to give a high price for English works. They must be very low or he will not read them, Thus, if the colonial and foreign sale is to be preserved, cheap editions of English works must be published for the Colonies and the Continent. Three or four difficulties, however, present themselves to the mind of the English publisher. It is said, if we send out cheap editions, they will be returned on the English market and interfere with the more hand- some and expensive editions, which we are vbliged to print for England, where we have great outs lays to incur in advertising, &c. It is also said HH yaa gona tS!  394 that returns from such editions would be very uncertain from the difficulty of establishing colonial agencies, the want of solidity im the booksellmg houses of the Colonies, and various other {causes ; and, again, it is objected that there are obstructions, regarding transmission which would increase the price. In regard to the first difficulty vou are aware that I have always believed a reduction must be made in the price of books in England, and that I once made a great sacrifice to effect it. But setting that point aside for the present, as I find the great majority of gentlemen engaged in the book trade are opposed to immediate reduction, I think the difficulty can be obviated in regard té lighter literature, such as romances, &c., at least by a delay in the transmission of the cheaper edition to the Colonies and the Continent of two or three months. These will not operate un- favourably on the sale of the cheaper editions, as such a work is more likely to havea rapid and extensive sale in the Colonies, after it has obtained a reputation and has been noticed in reviews, &c. Nor will it admit of return on the English market ; for, supposing that the delay be three months, the time consumed in the passage to and from the colonies and in making arrangements would in addition be sufficient to secure to the English publisher the sales which an ordinary work of light literature usually commands. If the work by accident were to prove extremely popular, it would become requisite for him to publish a cheap second edition for England also ; and he might charge a price considerably higher even for that than for the colonial edition, which would still be as low as the returned books would be sold for, with the addition of freight and other incidental expenses. You will allow me here, however, to remark that it is my belief that a complete reorganisation of the book trade must soon take place : that the trade allowances are enormous, and must be diminished ; and that they have been created by, and have fostered in return, a false and most prejudicial system of doing business. You and I know, that with one deduction or another, the trade allowances and agencies do not amount in general to less than forty per cent.; but what would the public say if they were informed that out of the total proceeds of an edition of 1500 copies of an ordinary romance, supposing all sold, no less than the enormous sum of nine hundred and forty-five pounds goes into the pockets of persons who have had nothing to do with the production of the work, either as author or publisher? The heads of the trade should meet and bind themselves to set their faces against such a system. THE AUTHOR. In regard to the second difficulty, it must be met by some means. No one will persuade me, that in a great commercial country like England. it is impossible in the book-trade to arrive at the same degree of certainty which is obtained in other mercantile transactions. Some risk must always be incurred; but either by offering to supply the colonial booksellers with the number they calculate they may require of the cheap edition, only by the condition of providing them- selves with an agent in England empowered to accept your bills for the amount, by requiring prompt paymene at a discount, or by some of the usual courses adopted by firms having dealings with the colonies in other articles, this end may be arrived at. In regard to our North American colonies, there are many most respectable houses in the United States which would, I doubt not, readily undertake to be your agents for supplying them ; and the edition being published in London would be admitted in the colony. I throw these suggestlons out merely as hints, for this part of the subject is more within your competence than mine; but of one thing be assured, the matter requires immediate decision, for things can no longer go on as they have hitherto done, or you will have a change in the law which will be very detrimeutal. In regard to the difficulties of transmission I am not fully informed in what they consist in, but Mr. Murray once told me that they did exist, and that they lay in a considerable degree with our Government. Freight, however, to all our colonies is not very high, and if the small weight and bulk of a book are considered, it would make but a trifling addition to the price. In the above observations I have principally considered the colonies, but some part of what I have said refers also to the trade with those countries which have entered, or may enter into treaties with ourselves. No difficulties of trans- mission will here arise, and little difficulty in regard to agency and to payment. The question of the speedy return of the cheap editions upon the English market is the great one for us to consider, and how such a return may be obviated unless you find by experiment that the increased sale wil justify you in reducing the price of books in England so far as with the duty and the expenses of freight here may render the return unprofitable. The only means that suggests itself to my mind is the delay I have mentioned printing the cheap edition. However, I must inform you that Herr Tauchnitz, the Leipzig publisher, came to Baden some weeks ago to confer with me on the sub- ject, and, after a careful examination of the treaty, which has also been agreed to by his own country, Saxony (though it has not yet been iii  THe AUTHOR. 39 ratified), we drew up several questions, which I inclose separate, for a legal opinion upon the construction of some of thearticles. Herr Tauch- nitz is a highly respectable man, and I should wish to give him every advantage in republishing my works in Germany, consistent with my own security, and, if that cannot be done, grant him the agency for the sale. On considering all these points, I have sketched out a plan for myself in a very vague manner for supplying our Colonies and foreign countries, in which, together, at a very low price, there were formerly sold not less at Jeast than 20,000 copies, and I now submit it to you for observation and amendment. On looking over one of Herr Tauchnitz’s volumes, I find that the height of his page (I mean the printing without the margin) is precisely the same as that adopted in your edition of “ Heidelburg.” Now what I propose for you to do is this: to ascertain pre- cisely what would be the expense, when printing a new work of mine after the treaty comes into operation, of overrunning the whole so as to have thirty or thirty-one lines in a page (this would be done by merely taking out the leaves), to ascertain precisely what would be the expense of a cheap paper, not better or heavier than that of Herr Tauchnitz’s edition (of which I inclose a page) in the form necessary for the double sheet of thirty-two pages. In Germany this would be done, that is to say, the slight overrunning, the printing of four reams by machine, and the pur- chase of four reams of paper for £3 12s., or even less. If you find that it can be done at the same price in England, by putting thirty-one lines in a page, we might, out of the three volume romance make two volumes of eleven or twelve double sheets, each at the expense of £43 45. per volume in an edition of two thousand—say that the expense of stitching in wrappers made it £50—and we might afford to sell the work in the Colonies and foreign countries at 1s. 6d. the volume, or 3s. the whole work. The profit would be but small, it is true; but it is my belief that at that price, if we did not regain the whole sale which the Americans had in the colonies, and retain the sale on the Continent, we should still ultimately command a sale of five or six thousand at the least, when the profit would be considerable. Will you, then, have the calculation made of the very lowest sum, at which an edition of two thousand copies could be produced, and let me know the result as soon as possible. Will you also ascertain what would be the cost of stereotyping such a page? I have not been able to ascertain what it is here, but in Belgium a large page costs one franc. When the exact expenses are calculated I VOL, II. qn propose to send a circular letter, of which I enclose a copy, to booksellers to Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, Jamaica, Sydney, the Cape, Mauritius, Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta, as well as to write to Mr. Tauchnitz, and, if by the replies we find a sufficient sale ensured, we can print accordingly, stereotyping if justified. You must endeavour to find me the names of the most respectable colonial firms, which I think can be done easily in London. If you like to make the experiment with the “ Castle of Ebrenbreitstein,;” I will resign to you the proceeds of an edition of two thousand. Should a greater sale be obtained we will divide the surplus profits, as I lose in the first instance the sum usually paid me by Mr. Tauchnitz. If you do not like to make the experiment, I will. G. P. R. JameEs. Baden Baden, Aug. 22, 1846. Be ge THE HARDSHIPS OF PUBLISHING. volume his own papers and others which have recently appeared on this subject. So far as we are concerned, little need be said. The bitterness which is shown against the Society finds vent in an attack upon the figures given in the “Cost of Productions.” Our answer to that is complete. A certain publisher, as was stated m<our letter to the Athenzum, received an offer for all his printing on our terms, and declined to take it. We have not stated the name of the publisher, but the fact will not be denied. Mr. Heinemann, fully answered on this point in the Atheneum, resumes his attack in the Bookman. In’ spite, however, of the flourish and parade about the figures, there they are and -there they will remain until the printers themselves show cause for their alteration. This is quite possible. Since the first edition of our book, composition has risen 15 per cent. ; and since the third edition, binding has risen 15 per cent., as readers of the Author have been informed every month for the past six months. Mr. Heinemann complains about the item for adver- tising. This, as Mr. Spriggs carefully explained in the Introduction, is inserted so as to recognise that it is an integral part of cost of production. The sum of £20 was set down because it is an average sum for an average book. If Mr. Heine- mann reads it to mean that he should not, by the agreement, be allowed to spend more than £20 on a novel, he is indeed a simple person. But, of course, it cannot carry that meaning. M- HEINEMANN has collected in a HH 2 Spenco: STS EES OSL I EET  396 Here is a word of explanation especially for those authors who complain that they are not advertised enough. The majority of books have, necessarily, a limited sale. An experienced pub- lisher can make a guess at a maximum as well as a minimum—not perhaps a young publisher, but an experienced publisher. This estimate rules the advertising. The book will not ‘‘ bear” more than a certain amount. For instance, let us take a 6s, book—perhaps a volume of essays of which the sale of a whole edition of 1000 copies is quite as much as may be hoped for. The copies (see ‘Cost of Production,” p. 27) cost for composition, printing, and paper, according to these figures, £47 12s. Add binding (increased by 15 per cent.) since those figures were obtained, £15 16s. 8d.,.in all, say, £64. The sale of 1000, less fifty for presentation copies, brings us at the rate of 3s. 4d. a copy, say, £150. Itis found by experience that to advertise more than a certain sum upon the book is waste. If this sum is £20, the amount of profit is about £65, reckoning profit as it is reckoned in every other business under the sun, as the difference between the amount realised and the amount spent. But there is another way of considering it. Let Mr. Heinemann frankly agree with the author that he is to spend a certain sum; and let the royalties be calculated on that sum. For instance, 1f £50 instead of £20 be spent in adver- tising a book, which the publisher thinks will bear that amount, it means an increased cost of production of about 23d. on each volume of a first edition of 3000. Everything is to be arranged when two honest men lay their heads together. The real question between Mr. Heinemann and his author is this: The expense being actually this or that; the advertising being so much, actually paid out of pocket, not the tariff charge ; how in equity are the returns to be shared? If Mr. Heinemann will help us in arriving at an answer to the question he will be serving both his own cause and ours. At the bottom of all this windy warfare lies the necessity of a common understanding. As for the proposed Union of Publishers, that appears to be as far off as ever. Mr. Murray plainly expresses his opinion that no good pur- pose would be gained by discussion of the rela- tion between author and publisher. This is disheartening. Perhaps we may before long illustrate the exact contrary. Mr. Frederick Macmillan complains of the tone adopted by the Author—but he does not give his grounds of complaint, and, since the tone of the Author has always been highly respectful to honourable houses, his ground of complaint is not apparent— and says that ‘“ they,” whoever “they” may be, THE AUTHOR. would probably call a Publishers’ Union a “Band of Robbers.” On the contrary; it hag been maintained in these columns that such an union would be an excellent thing simply because it would separate and designate the black sheep— honourable men could not unite for any but honourable motives. And secondly,. because, though it is very certain that some publishers are hostile to our society, the society is in no way hostile to publishers. If it were, nothing could more readily show it than the attempt which would certainly be made if that were the case to create our own machinery. The unsigned paper which concludes Mr. Hememann’s volume, taken from the Publisher’s Weekly may be welcomed, and acknowledged as a very fair and reasonable statement of the case from the publisher’s point of view. It is here reproduced in full in order that our readers may see all that can be said on both sides. One thing may be added—one of the writers advances the proposition that “ office expenses ’ form part of cost of production. He gives no reasons. I, for my part, state that the author’s “‘ office expenses’? may equally well be claimed as forming part of cost of production. Mr. Heine- mann states that the former has ‘“ conclusively proved” his case. He has proved nothing. He has only advanced a claim. The point, with many others, may be arguable, but certainly it has not been determined. PUBLISHERS AND AUTHORS. (From the Publisher's Weekly.) Another controversy is afoot in England between pub- lisher and author, started by the recent difference of opinion between Mr. Heinemann and ‘“‘ Ouida,” in which, as usual, everybody seems anxious to take a hand, with the usual result—a large waste of paper and print, and no settlement of the question at issue. In this, as in previous similar controversies, both sides are apt to take extreme positions, forgetting that the truth of the matter generally lies between the two. The author, or rather some authors, take it for granted that the publisher gets hold of the biggest and most advantageous part of the handle of the contract, while some publishers—we have reference now only to the present discussion—assume that the authors ought to accept their statements without question. Clearly both of these positions are equally preposterous. Both parties have rights which must be respected, and both are in a position to have these rights clearly defined and secured. The publisher does not run his establishment as a philan- thropic institution, and therefore will endeavour to secure himself in every way possible from suffering loss. He is at liberty to accept or reject manuscripts from whomever presents them for his consideration. He cannot be coerced or cajoled into accepting a manuscript, and therefore is as much at liberty to act as a free agent as any other mer- chant. In deciding upon publishing a manuscript the pub- lisher considers the quality of the work if by an unknown author, or the value of the reputation of a known author in connection with the new work. It occurs probably as fre-  THE AUTHOR. 307 quently that publishers hesitate to entertain a new manu- script by a well-known author as they feel constrained to refuse the work of a new or less known one. Having accepted it, however, the publisher computes the cost of making the book, including the price of composition, making plates, press-work, paper and binding, and the incidentals connected with distributing the book, including rent, travellers’ expenses, advertising, postage, editor’s copies, interest on capital invested, and such other expenses as legitimately belong to the work under consideration. Besides these he allows for a percentage of profit to himself and the author. He places at the author’s disposal his machinery and experience, and for the use of these demands a compensation. And right here we might add that the publisher more frequently than one would think earns a large slice of his profit by attending to minutiz in pre- paring and working out contracts, in the preparation of the author’s copy, pnd in attending to details that pro- perly belong to the author. An elaboration of the necessity of the author educating himself in all that pertains to the business of negotiating for manuscript, and upon the importance of properly preparing his copy and its relation to the economical production of his book, will be found in Mr. Cody’s communication to the New York Sun of the 8th inst., part of which is reprinted in this issue. The author, on the other hand, is also a free agent, and may accept the publisher’s proposals or seek to obtain better terms elsewhere. No one can force him to entrust his work to this, that, or any other publisher. He has de- yoted months or years of his life to his work, and is justified in obtaining the highest remuneration possible for his labour. If he cannot obtain what he considers his due from a publisher, and has faith enough in his work, and capital enough to make his book, and talent enough to dis- pose of it, there is no law in any land to prevent his taking this course. If he consents of his own free will to the terms proposed by a publisher he has still a right to insist upon the strict fulfilment of them in every particular, and he will, unless he has had the misfortune to deal with a rogue, find no difficulty in obtaining as fair an accounting of the trans- action connected with his work as he would from the architect building his house. He may not obtain in the end a fair remuneration for the labour he has put into his book, but this may then be due to other causes than the dishonesty of his publisher. He may, for instance, have had the misfortune of entrusting his work to the care of an incompetent man, who may yet be honest. So he might entrust his good cloth to the tender mercies of a botch of a tailor. In both cases he would have to pay for an error of judgment. Or, his work, notwithstanding his own and his publisher’s expectations, may not have filled a demand. In that case his publisher, quite as much as himself, would have to pay for his error of judgment. This argument rests upon the supposition that the pub- lisher assumes all risk of publication. Where an author assumes this risk he becomes practically a partner in the business speculation. and so may insist beforehand upon certain privileges in the matter of accounting that would reasonably secure him against fraud on the part of sharpers. However, we do not think we go very wide of the mark in claiming that the publisher is as anxious for the success of a book as the author may be, without regard to the arrangements upon which he produces the book. He is in business to make money fully as much as to distribute literature. Asa good-selling book means a good profit to him, it is his interest to endeavour to make each of his ventures as profitable as lies in his power. In such pro- sperity the author deserves to share, and should any ques- tion arise the publisher must stand ready at all reasonable times to give a full and unequivocal report as to the status of the book that may be in dispute. We believe that such is the practice among publishers of standing and repute in all countries, and that these fear combinations of authors, under whatever name they may associate, as little as the author need have misgivings as to the honesty of the large class of reputable publishing houses all over the world. eS ATTACK AND DEFENCE. HE following letter and reply have been sent to us for publication. They speak for themselves. Which is right—Author or critic ? Mrs. Grunpy aT Home. [To the Editor of the National Observer. | London, March 6, 1893. Sir—In your current issue you are good enough to review my book, Mrs. Grundy at Home. That review contains five distinct mis-statements of fact: 1. The Archdeacon, your reviewer says, gets drunk every night.—The Archdeacon never gets drunk at all. >, All the inhabitants of Drizzlington, according to the same authority, die of consumption.—The book contains no such statement. 3. The Squire, your Reviewer tells the public, gets gout because the postal authorities paint the letter box in his park gates red.—Such a thing is nowhere affirmed in Mrs. Grundy. 4. The Vicar’s wife is, according to your Reviewer, absurdly young for her husband.—The Vicar’s wife is not mentioned at all. 5. Cyril Eade’s wife, says your Reviewer, is a “ ten years Iunatic.”—Cyril Fade’s wife is perfectly sane. Whether this intelligent style of reviewing is thought humorous, or thought smart, or thought brilliantly up-to- date, I do not know; but, in the circumstances, I must ask you to be good enough to give the foregoing brief denial of your Reviewer's statements a prominence equal to that afforded to his mis-statements.—I am, &c., CHARLES T. C. JAMES. | Note.—_1. Drunkenness is, no doubt, relative; as also is insanity (see answer to No. 5). Mr. James unquestionably pictures his character as taking glass after glass of Bur- gundy; thereafter talking gibberish, and gabbling the family prayers. Vide (among many others) pages 67, 97, 137, 138, 140, 171, 215, 216, 217, 249, 250, 252, 253, 254, 255, 277, 278, 300. 2. Vide pages 41, 42. “I’m a being took myself—consumption,” said the melan- choly youth, with resignation. “ All of our family ’asit.” . . . “Most of ’em coughs up their lungs, and ’as it in these parts.” 3. Vide pages 62, 63, 216, 217, &c. “Those horrid Post-office people have been irritating him now. They will insist upon painting the letter box he induced them to put in the lodge wall for his convenience, a bright red.” “ Poor Sir Frederick is suffering from the gout in conse- sierra  398 quence of the irritation they [the postal authorities] are causing him!” 4. Vide page 65: Following after a paragraph about the Vicar, ‘“‘Mrs. Bull was there, too,” Marcia said . . . “looking shamefully young for her age” . . . ‘“* Well, I do call it shameful to look so young when her husband’s seventy-one.”’ It turns out that this unimportant character is not the vicar’s wife, but another’s. This is, however, quite imma- terial to the plot, if any, of the book. 5. Vide page 25: “‘ When his wife confined her drinking to three or four brief intoxications in the course of the day, Cyril Eade bore with her; but when the habit nothing could check, developed (sic) into a mere daily procession of instantaneous ether-intoxication, he pronounced marriage a failure.”’] ee THE BOOK OF THE FUTURE. HIS is the title of a lecture recently de- livered by Mr. Henry Blackburn at the London Institution. It is certain to be published; meanwhile, we have to thank Mr. Blackburn for allowing us to read the lecture as he delivered it. The author presents an entirely new idea to the world ; he laments the monotony of the printed page and the absence of personal distinction in the poets and authors of the day : Clothed in a degrading, characterless costume which takes all appearance of manliness and suppleness from his figure, living in houses and in cities in which nearly everything ornate or beautiful has been stolen, borrowed, or copied from another country or period, he is found engaged in the production of books in which, as far as the mechanical parts are concerned, nearly everything is a sham. These shams are the reproduction by machinery of the old letters, which were the work of* patience, skill, and art; the reproduction by photography of pictures which appear to be engravings and are not; the manufacture by machinery of so-called “hand-made” paper, with rough edges and coarse texture ; the binding in “vellum” which is made of pulp and rags; and the gold illuminations which are no longer gold. How, then, should the author stamp upon his work his own individuality ? Here comes the idea. It is this, that an author should first learn some system of short- hand, for rapid notes, and should then study a style of handwriting worthy of expressing his thoughts; that he should then write his book on a page, chosen for form and size, in this beau- tiful handwriting ; and that the work should be presented to the world as a photographic fac- simile. We shall then have the author himself. We must not proceed to show how this thought is developed. It is a fine thought, worthy of an artist. How far it is practicable is open to dis- THE AUTHOR. cussion. It must not be forgotten that hand- writing of the day is poor and mean, general] because those who write are unable to draw— cannot create for themselves a beautiful hand, and could not, under any circumstances. At the same time, the arts overlap; there is generally some latent ability with pen and pencil in the poet and the novelist. Readers must await the publication of the lecture. It is not quitea case in point, but it may be mentioned that Quilter’s edition (Swan Sonnenschein) of Geo. Meredith’s “Jumping Jane” is all written by the artist who drew the extremely clever pic- tures. This is not the handwriting, however, of the poet. pecs BOOKS AND PRINTING. E have received from the Chiswick Press (Whittingham and Co., Took’s-court, Chancery-lane) a copy of a book called “Some Notes on Books and Printing : a Guide for Authors and Others,” by Charles T. Jacobi, manager of the Chiswick Press, and Examiner in Typography to the City and Guilds of London Institute. Perhaps the Society will before long see its way to publishing its own Handbook for Authors, including, among other things, the more important part of this little book. Mean- time, those who desire to make themselves acquainted with the mechanical part of their work—the various types, the form, the headings, divisions, indexing, &c , are strongly recommended to buy this, and no other. Above all, the reader shouid note what is said on the subject of correc- tions. It is, in fact, a lesson in the art of correct- ing for the press, and a warning to do all the corrections in the MS. The various kinds of type are all shown; the different sizes of books are given; and there is a good deal of interesting talk about binding. In one point, the most important of all, there is complete silence. Not a word is said as to the Cost of Production. This, of course, makes the work incomplete. Now it is certain that a printer’s bill is an elastic thing, and that wages go up and down. But could there not be laid down some kind of average, in order to guide the reader? ‘This applies to everything—printing, paper, corrections, composition, and binding. We may know all that this book tells us and yet be in no way protected or advanced unless we know the cost of production. Therefore the book can only be recommended under protest, and with a warning that it is incomplete. The remarks about publishers are vague, but  THE AUTHOR. 399 they show some recognition of certain points which, a few years ago, would not have. been allowed for a moment. Thus, the writer says, “ It is strongly advised that only well-known pub- lishers be approached.” We should like to see added, ‘The Society of Authors is the only insti- tution which knows the character and standing of all publishers.” And, again, we read, ‘It is of the utmost importance that any agreement entered into should be thoroughly understood.” Quite so. But we should like to see added, “and that the author should know what such agreement gives him, and what he gives to the publisher.” These points will, we doubt not, be added in the next edition. pee OMNIUM : GATHERUM FOR APRIL. Suggestions for Books or Articles.—A_ short life of Dandolo, the ninety-year-old doge ;—an Anglo-Irish Tunnel ;—a Dictionary of Six Lan- guages, after the model of the Universal Dictionary published by Trowitzsch, of Berlin (without a date alas! and anonymously), but having Greek and Latin, as well as English, French, German, and Italian words, and each language printed in a differently coloured type ;— the antipathies of Croker and Macaulay ;—the theological objections (if any) to cremation, with special references to the views of the late Bishop of Lincoln on the subject ;—the folly of profes- sional overwork ;—the wickedness of a marriage between May and December ;—the desirability of making Easter ap immovable feast. Correction of Proofs—-The mode of proof correction is pretty nearly settled ; indeed, there is atable of recognised corrections in Whitaker’s Almanac. But the different kinds of type (which might be symbolised by 1, 2, 3, and so on) have still to be distinguished. Could not a complete table of corrections be settled with the leading printers and printed in the Author ? Addenda.—Is there any use in these? Hardly anybody sees them. Any addition or correc- tion of real importance can be effected by a cancel. Prices and Dates of Books.—It is of importance to the reviewer (who should mention the price in his review) that the price of a book should be stated on the cover, and of the utmost import- ance to everybody that the date should be printed on the title page. It is suggested that the author has a right to insist upon a date on the title page, and that he should always exercise this right. Dates of Editions —It is of importance to future readers that the dates of past editions should be stated, and it is suggested that the best place for stating these dates is on the back of the title page and on the page facing the preface. Author’s Corrections—In most agreements it is stipulated that the author shall pay for corrections (except of printer’s errors) beyond a certain amount, which is quite fair. But in order, if necessary, to check the amount charged for these corrections, it is suggested that either the printers should be requested to keep the proofs till the printing bill is sent in, or that the author should copy the corrections on to the proof duplicates. The mention of one newspaper by another.—Is it not high time that the foolish practice (fol- lowed, I fear, by all newspaper editors except about seventeen) of one newspaper describing another as “our contemporary,” instead of speaking of ‘“ Wednesday’s Standard,’ “last week’s Literary World,’ or as the case may be, should be utterly abandoned? Is it not also ridiculous that any newspaper should ignore a subject of general interest to the public merely on the ground that that subject was first brought into prominence by another newspaper ? J. M. Lety. ee THE S.P.C.K. AGAIN. HE following letter reopens the controversy of 1891: I have never written for the S.P.C.K., nor quarrelled with them, but I have heard much from both sides of the disputed questions from those more nearly concerned. It appears to me that the S.P.C.K. pay the average market price for the work supplied to them. Would the same books be likely to obtain more from other publishers? If they paid young or mediocre authors according to their enormous sales, which are owing to the Society’s reputation, and not to that of the author, they would force the market for the small religious tale, and give it a factitious value quite out of proportion to other kinds of literary work. That would be a very good thing for some of us, but would it be desirable in itself ? It may be said that such high pay would attract superior work, but, with certain almost obvious exceptions, it would hardly attract work much more useful and suitable for the purposes required. There may be other grievances, but it does not appear to me that this one offers a just ground of complaint. MrMBER OF SocrETY OF AUTHORS. The writer advances, first of all, the opinion that the 8.P.C.K. pay the “average market price for the work supplied to them.” Dothey? Then what about that lady who had written for them  400 for years, and went to another religious society, which gave her at once what she had previously received as payment in full from the 8.P.C.K. and a royalty as well? Or, what about that historical work for which they gave £12, with a promise of more if it succeeded, and sold 7000 copies, and then refused to give any more? This opinion, from the prices which I have seen, can- not be accepted. But if it were, is it the way to defend a religious society—a society whose whole aim is to advance religion, which should demand, one would suppose, from others, and should illustrate in itself, the highest possible standard of morals and principles in conduct—by saying that it only does what others do ? Again, the writer does not seem to know that there is any kind of equity in dealing with literary property. It matters nothing, in speak- ing of commercial value and the rights of pro- perty—nothing at all—whether a writer is good or bad; it matters only, from this point of view, whether he is in demand or no. The committee are to blame if they try to run a had writer; the taste of the public is to blame if they buy a bad writer’s works. The standing fact is that a writer, good or bad, for whose work there is a sale, creates a new property with every new MS. which is his until he parts with it. If any publisher buys out that writer, trading on his ignorance or his necessities, for a trifle, he is a sweater. I should, myself, use another word, but that will do. The thing is perfectly simple. I take once more—see ‘The Literary Handmaid of the Church ”’—the Archbishop of Canterbury’s own definition of sweating. He calls it “a rate of wages inadequate to the necessities of the worker, and disproportionate to the work done.” This is a very good definition, and one which enables us to find out what sweating means applied to literary property. A woman who writes popular stories can pro- duce at her best not more than three in two years —say, even two ina year. She is paid £30 apiece, we will say, for them, 7.e, she can make 60a year. This is a most miserable income for a gentlewoman to live upon. But, it may be objected, her books do not fetch enough to give her more. Then nothing more can be said: she is a failure. Should, however, the Society or House for which she writes know very well beforehand that they will sell many thousands, and that they will make a profit out of any one book by her of six times, ten times, what they gave her, then that Society, or that House, is, by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s own definition, a sweater. For, first, their wages are inadequate to the necessities of the worker; and, next, they are THE AUTHOR. disproportionate to the work done! 7.e., to the monetary value of that work. As for the con- tention that the House makes the sale, or creates the demand, that is absurd. Why do not Messrs. Longmans tell their authors that, because they are such a great House with so great, a name, they must beat them down and take all the profits to themselves? They do exactly the reverse. Anyone sees at once the absurdity of such a thing, yet people continue to repeat this absurdity concerning a religious society when they know it to be absurd when said of a House publishing for its partners. Apply the method to another kind of business. Suppose a cabinet-maker were to say to a working man ‘‘ The kind of desk you can make is very much in demand. Partly through the fact of my having shops everywhere I can sell as many as you can make. But because I don’t think it is a very artistic desk, I shall only pay you one-tenth or one-fifth of the money your desks bring in, instead of what is considered a fair price by other shops.” That is exactly the con- tention of our correspondent. The confusion in her mind is that so often noticed in these columns a feeling that inferior work ought not to be popular. But there is not always—alas !—the harmony between literary excellence and popu- larity that there ought to be; the two things are never, and never will be, commeusurable. If, in short, the §.P.C.K. should regard the equity of the case and should fall to considering their president’s definition of sweating, many gentle- women who are now pinched and poverty-stricken would blossom out into anincome. Because they are great writers? Not at all. But because their books would be on the 8.P.C.K. list, and because they would be treated with due regard to their rights and their own property, and because they would be working for a firm where equity was recognised as the true basis of all business dealings. spect THE AUTHORS’ CLUB. HE club has at last removed into its own premises. These contain a suite of eight or ten rooms at No. 3, Whitehall-court. There are reading and writing rooms, dining and luncheon rooms, a billiard room, and everything required for a first-class and most comfortable club. The subscription is very moderate—only four guineas a year. The situation is exactly central; it is impossible to desire a more con- venient situation, and the club is intended to be run as cheaply as is consistent with reasonable  THE | AUTHOR. comfort. Thus it is proposed to have a shilling luncheon, consisting of joint or chop with veget- ables and cheese. A small reference library is forming, and in three quiet writing rooms members may do their work undisturbed. The position, besides being perfectly central, is extremely quiet. There will be a club dinner once a month, and a house dinner oncea week. Ladies will be admitted to tea on Wednesday afternoons. The “‘ Uncut Leaves” will probably be continued every month during the season. This new feature of the club hasso far been entirely and wonderfully successful. At the last meeting unpublished papers were read by Mr. Morley Roberts, Mr. Symon, and Mr. Barry Pain. Mr. Douglas Sladen takes charge of the “Uncut Leaves.” ec THE NEW YORK “NATION.” T is rather late in the day to call attention to a newspaper article of Jan. 2. The excuse is that it is an American article, and that I have only just read it through. The article in question occurred in the New York Nation of that date. It professed to contain an account of, and a criticism on, my Address of Dec. 17. As it had no copy to go by, the remarks must have been made upon the brief report in some London Daily. I now reprint all the paragraphs in succession, leaving out the first, which points out what is, I hope, and am sure is, true, a belief on the part of the New York Nation that my resig- nation of the post of chairman was a gain to the Society. He looks upon literature as a sort of fairyland, in which he, as the good fairy, with a wave of his wand, would make every book published an inexhaustible gold mine. T wonder what this means, and to what it refers. Eyery book an inexhaustible gold mine? Really, this is indeed interesting. Every book! But what foolish utterances of mine can the writer have in his mind There are to-day, he says, 200,000,000 English-speaking people ; in fifty years there will be 400,000,000, all wanting to read, and, moreover, all wanting to read only good literature. What says the Address ? By the passing of the American International Copyright Act a writer of importance now addresses an audience drawn from a hundred million of English-speaking people. : Every day makes it plainer and clearer that we have arrived ata time when the whole of this multitude, which in fifty years time will be two hundred million, will very soon be reading books. What kind of books? All kinds, good and bad, but mostly good; they will prefer good books to bad. Even now the direct road to popularity is by dramatic strength, clear vision, clear dialogue, whether a man write a play, a poem, a history, or a novel. VOL. III. 401 So, you see, I did not say what this writer sets down as regards numbers, nor did I say what he sets down about “ good” literature, except that one is very certain that people will prefer good books to bad, meaning by good what I have laid down—“ dramatic strength,” &c.—as above. The people, he declares, care only for what is good; for an example of the truth of this, look at the unprecedented (in England) success of the Strand Magazine. Now, this is a publication which has sent up its circulation chiefly by publishing portraits at all ages of the notorieties of the day, and articles on the Queen’s dolls or pages from her journal written in her own royal Hindustani—the devices of the cheapest journalism. Whena man seriously points to such a periodical as a proof of the people’s literary instincts, there is absolutely nothing to be said. Now let us see what was said about the Strand. First, it is absolutely false that the vast circula- tion of the Strand was created by portraits of notorieties, and articles on the Queen’s dolls. The circulation of the Strand had gone up to 330,000 before the articles on the Queen’s dolls. Why, then, according to my Address, has the Strand gone up so enormously ? “ By giving dramatic work—stories which hold and interest people—essays which speak clearly—work that somehow seems to have message,” not quite the contemptible thing invented and put into my mouth by this truthful writer. In the meantime, what Mr. Besant hopes may be brought about by the society is (1) its enlargement to ten times its present numbers, as though there were not enough indiffe- rent or worse writers already flooding the world with trash ; (2) an institute or headquarters for authors ; (3) a pension fund from which every one would receive a pension of right, not of charity; and (4) an academy of letters. The writer of the article apparently supposes that the word “author” applies solely to those who write fiction. There have been published in Great Britain and Ireland during the last eight or ten years, an average of about 5000 new books a year—say 50,000 new books in all—of every kind, scientific, educational, theological, poetical, artistic, historical, technical, imaginative, &c. How many authors does this number represent ? Ten thousand? A great many more. The Society would like to include every one, good or bad, who ventures into the field of Letters, just as the Inns of Court include every one who ventures into the field of the Bar: Mr. Besant also had sometbing to say about the Authors’ Conference to be held in Chicago during the Exposition. It is his opinion that by it the future interests of English authors may be largely influenced. I said nothing about the “future interests of English authors.” I said “ the future of our calling’? — the calling of Letters — which is American as well as English : But Americans should realise that Mr. Besant, despite his boundless enthusiasm, can hardly be said to represent tz  402 the most intelligent ideas and opinions of the English lite- rary world ; nor is Mrs. Walford, who seems to be accepted as an authority, a better qualified representative. That is the whole of it. Not a word about the aims of the Society, or the achievements of the Society, or the demands of tbe Society. Here we have, in what is called the leading literary paper of America, an account of this History of the English Society of Authors so garbled as to falsify it from beginning to end; the total suppression of the important part, ¢.c., the facts in the case; and the representation of the Society as a one man business, and of that one man as something worse than a fool. The reference to Mrs. Walford is obscure. As for my representing “ intelligent ideas,” the facts in the address and the History of the Society show how far the “intelligent ideas”’ of the English literary world go with the committee, while my own opinions were submitted, at the end of the Address, as my own, my indi- vidual own, and claiming to be nothing more. The question arises why the Nation, a literary paper, should go out of its way to make this attack upon the Society under the guise of an attack upon myself. es NOTES FROM PARIS. ‘J HAD the pleasure of meeting Maeterlinck I at a déjeuner given to him in Paris last week by the young poets of the Symbolist school, and, in common with all who saw him for the first time, was delighted with the manners and modesty of this wonderful youth. He looked like a nice Oxford lad, neatly dressed in a serge suit, with a bunch of violets at his button-hole. There was not a vestige of side or pose about him. It seemed to surprise him to the point of inconvenience that we all thought him such a great man, and he had little deprecating gestures in answer to our com- pliments that were very pretty to behold. A new play of his is shortly to be produced at the ‘ Theatre d’ Art, and a new volume of poems, entitled “La Quenouille et la Besace” from his pen is shortly to appear. Ihave heard certain of the poems which it contains, and they are not to be described otherwise than as masterpieces, Maeterlinck appears to me to be the man of letters of the last decade of the nineteenth century. An indefatigable worker is M. Camille Flam- marion, the astronomer. He is engaged on a huge astronomical encyclopedia, which won’t be finished for another eight years, but, besides this, he is a constant contributor to the Press, Articles THE AUTHOR. on astronomical subjects from his pen are to be seen in the New York Herald and other American papers almost every month. He is a constant contributor to the New Times of Peters- burg, to which he contributes a_ scientific feulleton. He also writes novels, and has just arranged for the publication of a new tale, entitled “The End of a World,’ in Scribner's. His first success was made at the age of nineteen with his “ Plurality of Inhabited Worlds,” which is now inits thirty-fifth edition The book of his which has sold best is, however, his “ Popular Astronomy,” from which he has already received 100,000 francs, at the rate of 1 franc a copy. Doubtless his publisher, his brother, of the firm of Marpon and Flammarion, has made a good deal more out of the book, but Camille Flammarion does not seem to care for money. His wife, who also writes under the nom de plume of Sylvie Hugo, and who acts as his secretary, says that but for her interference they would never have a penny put by. Yet he gets fair prices for his work. The Herald pays him 100 dollars per letter, the Novoie Vremia 100 roubles, and his books, especially “ Urania,’ which has been an immense success, must bring him in large royal- ties. He is also editor of a review called LI’ Astronomie, which he founded, but which he says does not pay its way. He lives ina fifth- floor apartment in the Rue Cassini, near the Obser- vatory, from which he overlooks all Paris. He is very proud of the fact that he is the only Parisian who has never changed his address, having remained in the Rue Cassini since the war. I think, however, that Jules Simon has even a longerrecord, and has never changed his address from the Place de la Madeleine for over thirty years. Gaston Tissandier, editor of La Nature, is another most interesting man of letters in con- temporary Paris. He has the biggest record for balloon ascensions, many of the most exciting kind, of any man in Europe—a most charming gentleman, whom it is a pleasure to meet. He lives on a fifth-floor in the Rue Chateaudun, and his apartment is stored with curiosities referring to ballooning. Amongst his papers is a proclama- tion made by the Government, at the time of Montgolfier’s first ascensions, to explain to the population that there is no reason for them to act on the offensive, with pitchforks or otherwise, against balloons and balloonists, and giving a rough description of the apparatus. He also possesses a letter written by Franklin to Sir Joseph Banks, describing at great length the first balloon ascension ever made in Paris, which the writer visited from the little house in Passy,  1 } j } THE AUTHOR. where he was then residing. Camille Flammarion, by the way, was also a great ascensionist in former days, and it was.in a balloon which travelled from Paris to Spa that he and his wife spent the ninth day of their honeymoon. Most Londoners have no doubt heard of a poet called the Marquis de Leuville. I believe that his poetry is not held in very high esteem, and that things are said about the poet. It cannot, however, be contested that a recent poem of his, entitled “The Scapegoat,” about poor old de Lesseps has been very successful. Madame de Tesseps showed it to me the other day when I was down at La Chesnaye, and the whole family seemed very pleased with it. Madame de Lesseps told me that she had received copies of it from all parts of Europe. But the chief reason for which the poet should be pleased with his work is tbat it gave very sincere pleasure to a charming family, most cruelly persecuted, and most bitterly suffering. I never suffered such emotion, I think, in the course of a somewhat checkered life, as when I recently saw de Lesseps again at La Chesnaye. He was sitting, a crushed old man, idly turning over the leaves of his ‘“ Souvenirs of Forty Years,” written in happier years, and dedicated to his children. He did not recognise me. In fact, he recognises nobody. His eyelids droop, and there is no light in his eyes save when he raises them to his wife’s face. And the last time before then that I saw him he was the personification of energy, vitality, intelligence, and strength. His eyes literally flared with light, and now the night has come and a death in life. It is very sad. Young Léon Daudet may be considered with young Barres, the two hopes of French literature in the future. Daudet has already published a remarkable book, and has another just ready. He lives in good style with his wife, née Hugo, in the Avenue de Alma, and has some of the best claret in Paris. It will be interesting here- after to compare his career to that of his father, Alphonse Daudet. It will show whether it is better, as some say, for a man of letters to have to fight his way, like the elder Daudet, or like Zola, for instance, or to launch out on the sea with the ballast of a couple of millions of francs. Daudet has told me that he spent three years of utter penury in Paris, with tattered boots, and often no socks, and many days where there was nothing to eat. But what made him suffer 403 most, he says, was that, being a handsome lad and much run after by the fair, he was often forced to keep away from sweet trysts because his linen was in such a dreadful state that Cupid would have been seared. Zola for months lived on dry bread. The days when he could a penn orth of pork to the bread were feast-days with the present millionaire. Those who are interested in modern French literature, and who want to be au courant with what the young poets of France are doing and saying, should read La Plume, a magazine con- tributed to by all the poets of modern France. It is edited by M. Léon Deschamps, and is not a commercial speculation. If it were, I should not speak about it here. I see that Mr. George Moore has been cari- caturing the interviewer in a recent play. Why do people represent the interviewer as a shabby- looking individual with a note-book in his hand ? He is nothing of the sort. He is a person who goes to another person and has a conversation with him, rendering service to the person and the public alike—to the person by giving him an easy way of communicating his ideas to the public, and to the public in informing it what so-and-so thinks about such-and-such a question. He performs the function of a telephone between the wide wide world and Mr. A., B., or C. But he is more than a telephone wire because he does not only transmit the sounds ejaculated by A. B. G., but arranges them so that they shall be pleasant to the ear at the receiver, while strictly representing the ideas of the person consulted. And as no gentleman would care to use such a piece of trade properties as a note-book, he has to depend on his memory when reproducing what has been said. The psychology of interviewing has yet to be written, and would make a capital study. But of more practical utility would be “ The Interviewer’s Complete Handbook” for beginners. Perhaps some day I will write one. A chapter would be devoted to the skirmishing in the antechamber, with practical hints how to get round the foot- men. Some have to be bluffed, some to be wheedled, some are even open to corruption. I have always considered the battle won once I have crossed the doormat. Another chapter would be devoted to the arts by which a man who has made up his “ mind to say nothing” can be got to talk in spite of himself, of which there are many, and to the methods of conveying a leading question so as to extract an answer from an unwilling subject. The interviewer, to be a useful one, has  404 to be as good a cross-examiner as any Q.C. in London, minus his authority and wig, and to get by wheedling and guile what the other gets by bluster and menace. He is a curious modern type, and wants studying, and should not be written about by those who know nothing about him nor his work. In any case he deserves immense sympathy, be he ever so little a nervous man. For such to present himself before an utter stranger is a great trial, and I know certain who will spend an hour dawdling about in the street of the subject trying to work up courage enough to ring at the door-bell. Some take brandy, others take runs, like jumpers. I myself always go at it with my head down like a hen facing a fox. Jules Verne is, I am glad to say, much better again. His son, Michel Jules Verne, has resumed his pen, after a period of commercial activity in the manufacture of patent stoves and improved bicycles, and will contribute a number of scientific articles to the American magazines. He is a smart young man, and should make his way. Madame Taine has writted to protest most strongly against the recent publication in the Figaro of a series of sonnets written by her hus- band, declaring that in his will he expressly en- joimed upon his family to keep from the public any of his writings which were in any way con- nected with his private life. Taine was always very particular on the point of his privacy, and it was doubtless with this feeling that he so rarély allowed himself to be photographed. I say “rarely,” for, although it has been said since his death that he never was photographed, I know of two negatives in existence in Paris. I once went to see him,-accompanied by a leading Parisian artist, who was to take a sketch of him in his workroom, and he nearly fired us downstairs. He would only allow the artist to be present at our conversation on his passing his word not to make any use what- ever of his visit. I heard some young poets, all very well known in Paris, discussing profits the other day. A certain publisher’s name was being mentioned, and it transpired that in the opinion of the brotherhood he was the most liberal man in Paris. It also transpired that he had paid a certain young master as much as 200 frances for a volume of poems which I believe sold fairly well, When a man is thinking of starting a paper either in London or New York you hear him figuring up the cost of paper, composition, and THE AUTHOR. machining. In Paris his first thought is about the cost of his literary staff, the other incidental expenses being looked upon as minor considera- tions. This gives in brief a very fair idea of the relative position of letters in the three countries, Again, the London newspaper proprietor and his American confrére when they have to boast of their enterprises do so about their machines, their speed, their ink, and the amount of white paper consumed in their offices in a week. The French editor boasts about the men who write for him, and the sums he pays them. oo I hear that the so-called décadents have decided to revolt against the appellation, and that each of the school will in future consider it an insult to be styled by this name. As a matter of fact a finer set of young men than Stuart Merrill, Maurice Maeterlinck, Vielé-Griffin, Jean Carrére, Adolphe Retté, the athletic Christian could not wish to see. The word décadent sug- gests a dismal, greenish, pimply youth, with shabby clothes and frowsy hair. All the déca- dents that I have seen are just the reverse. They would be a credit to Hyde Park on a Sun- day afternoon. Paris, March 19. Rosert H. SHerarp. ees BALLADE OF THE PRIMROSE WAY. —— Our life is but an empty show, A passing shadow frail and fleet ; Earth’s joys are dross, and end in woe, For stumbling men they are not meet: Pleasure, the siren’s voice, is sweet, But death is in her kiss and glance ; Then follow not with foolish feet The Primrose path of Dalliance. Thus the sad preacher, grave and slow, In balanced phrase precise and neat; Alack! and is it really so ? Well, from the toil, the dust, the heat Of life’s rough highway, some retreat I fain would find—I’d take my chance, And follow, e’en with foolish feet, The Primrose path of Dalliance. T know the ways where wild thorns grow, I’ve reaped well-nigh more tares than wheat ; I know life’s ruts, some bourne I’d know With violet and rose replete, Where all fair sights and sounds compete The charméd fancy to entrance ; I'd follow with whatever feet The Primrose path of Dalliance. Envot. Change places, Florizel, heigho ! You're sick of “ three-pile,” song, and dance ; Let me play Prince awhile, and go The Primrose path of Dalliance. RoBerRT RICHARDSON.  THE AUTHOR. 405 NOTES AND NEWS. HIS is personal. In Punch for April 1 a4 there is a statement quoted from some- where—it is not said where. This is the statement: “In the pages of the Author Mr. Besant suggests that the Society of Authors should undertake the examination of journalists.” Some verses follow, naturally in ridicule of the proposal. It is needless to say here that the state- ment is absolutely baseless. Perhaps, however, my brother journalists will kindly help me to give publicity to this protest. I have never suggested, or thought of suggesting, any such thing. The only possible foundation for the fabrication appears in the March number, where, at p. 367, after quoting Prof. Matthews’ examination paper on “The History and Art of Fiction,’ I went on, venturing on a Flight into the Impossible, to say, ‘“ What a fine field would be open to the Society if we could institute examinations for critics!” Then followed certain words meant in my little, feeble way to be playful. The time appears to have now arrived when an attempt, at least, may be made towards an understanding with the leading publishing houses as to the creation of some recognised and accepted principles, which should guide and govern the relations of author and publisher. Sir Frederick Pollock, chairman of the committee of management, in his opening remarks at the general meeting of Dec. 17th, clearly fore- shadowed such an attempt. He said ( Times, Dec. 18): ‘‘ That the society of Authors had been described asthe enemy of publishers at large. In point of fact, they were the enemy of nothing but unbusinesslike habits, slovenly dealing, and fraudulent practices. They were on the side of any publisher who would help them to put such things down. As for the suggested union among the publishers, he thought that it would materi- ally improve the chances of a better understanding between them and authors.” He said, further, that he could not understand that there was no way of arriving at a cordial understanding between honourable men of both sides. This is clearly a most desirable thing to attempt, and, if possible, to achieve, But the first thing necessary is to have a clear understanding of the points which will be discussed With this object, and in order to help myself in the papers which I have to take over to Chicago, I have drawn up a paper which I invite all our members to read and to give their own opinions. They need not consider it as imposing any opinions upon them. The facts, however, are those which have been ascertained by the Society, and cannot be dis- puted. But it may be very helpful if every one will consider the problem by the light of the facts, and if possible come to some conclusion. Se On p. 417 will be found the first beginning of what it is hoped may develop into a great thing —the exchange and sale of books carried on by the intermediary, without profit, of the Author. All those who want to buy books; all those who have books to exchange; all those who have books to sell; may send their lists directed to the “Book Exchange Column.” Their address must be sent, of course. The journal will not pay postage expenses, and when the thing has developed it may be necessary to make a small charge for printing the list at so much a line. The list will be sent to a selection of second-hand London and country booksellers. We shall be very pleased if we can in this way assist a body of men so useful to us as the second-hand book- sellers. I beg correspondents, of whom one rejoices to observe an increasing number, to notice the short articles that are published in the Author. Many of the letters sent up would produce a much better effect if they were short articles instead of letters. For the publication of a grievance or a trick, a letter is perhaps better; but, for the advocacy of a measure of reform, or for the advancement of a principle, a short article is much the best form of stating the subject. The death of Professor Minto, a member of our council, was totally unexpected. He was apparently a strong and healthy man, who might have lived to a great age. He caught a cold ; influenza followed; and he died at the age of forty-seven. As an editor, a writer, and a professor of philosophy, he worked well and did well. There were few men more wide-minded than Professor Minto. Lanes I hope everybody will read and ponder over the remarks made in our corresnondence columns by “Onward” (p.410). They area plea for unionof authors. We area society, but are we yet a union ? We must not think of an ordinary trades union, a company banded together for the raising of wages. The union that our correspondent contemplates, and our Society can perhaps achieve, 1s one which will raise the status of literature by removing it from mendicancy and dependence. The material side of literature must no longer depend on the seen  406 whim and “ generosity ”—they still go on talking about “generosity ”»—but onr ecognised principles and methods of agreement. There must be an esta- blished etiquette between editor and contributor, by which the latter can be in some measure pro- tected from the scurvy treatment he too often receives at the hands of scurvy editors and scurvy journals, There are difficulties in the way, but surely those who lead the world, teach the world, preach to the world, amuse the world, should be the first to see that association is the only way to remove the evils under which they now labour. It is reported that attempts are again being made in certain quarters to persuade the credulous author into committing the stupendous folly of binding himself down for all future work to one publisher! It is difficult to find words with which to stigmatize this madness. Whatever mismanagement—whatever quarrels—might arise —the luckless author would always remain the slave of the publisher to whom he had bound and chained himself. Consider, if you can, what would be thought of a man who should go to a firm of solicitors and should promise them the management of all his estates for the future, whatever their management might turn out ! A correspondent very sensibly suggests that, as much of the ill-feeling that sometimes follows a publishing transaction is caused by the author’s complete ignorance upon all points connected with printing, &c., it would be a very good plan if publishers would send out with the first proofs a plain statement on the subject of corrections. Thus, it is ridiculous to state, as is done in many agreements, that all corrections above so many “shillings” will have to be paid for by the author. How is the author to know the connec- tion between shillings and corrections? What he wants is to be told what corrections he can make without cost, and what he will. have to pay for extra corrections. He sometimes wants, besides, a hint as to the best way of making his corrections. My correspondent adds: ‘“ With some proofs that I received last October from Messrs. G. Putnam’s Sons, of New York, there came a printed paper of full instructions for ‘correcting, and also a full explanation of the cost of adding additional material.” This is an example that deserves imitation. Here is a case of conscience. The editor of a certain scientific journal sends to the publisher of a certain work on some parts of our social system a request for a copy of the book for review. THE AUTHOR. Observe that it is not the practice of this paper to review books on such subjects at all. The publishers accede to the request and send the book. The notice which appears is contained in twenty-two lines, of which two are occupied by a quotation in verse. - It is not a review; that is to say, the readers of the journal in question could not gather from the paragraph the contents or the scope of the book, except in very general terms; and the tone of the notice is contemp- tuous and flippant. The author very fairly asks why, if this sort of thing was intended, did the editor send for a copy? It is a case of con- science. The editor was not asked to give a review ; he offered one. He received a copy of the book in return for the tacit understanding that there would follow a serious review ; he does not give a review at all, but an irresponsible and slighting “notice.” Is this justifiable ? The following passages appeared in T'ruth. One or the other is a very remarkable specimen of the Reviewer’s Art. On Thursday, March 14, a certain new book was reviewed in two leading journals, with the following result :— It is not interesting, it is not amusing, it is, in fact, one of the most negligible works we have recently en- countered. The compulsory reading of these volumes will afford as humiliating a discipline as the Penitential Psalms. These are most interest- ing, valuable, and attractive volumes, and their perusal is as delightful as it is in- structive. . From whichever point of view this book be considered, it is deserving of the highest praise. The lamented death of Taine has brought forth many tributes to his genius and his personal character. The best and noblest seems to me that which appeared in the Atheneum of March 18. It is signed “ M. D.”—initials which it is not difficult to connect with the remaining letters of the writer’s name. The following is an extract on Taine’s attitude towards the new religious ideas of the time, for those who have not seen this admirable paper : Never was a freethinker more respectful of religion or more appreciative of the vast and necessary moral force embodied in all religions. In abstaining from affirming he did not deny; and now that the pendulum of time has — swung back to the hope beyond reason, the love of mystery, the renewal of faith, which marked the third decade of our century, none watched the modern movement with a kinder — spirit than M. Taine. I remember how astonished I was to find him so warmly, so unaffectedly interested in the pro- ceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, in the hypnotic studies of a recent school of medicine, and other manifestations little calculated, I had thought, to appeal to a philosopher of pure reason. But his large spirit saw a greatness in these attempts to verify suprasensible things by a scientific method. He felt no rancour, but a curious inte- ; | THE AUTHOR. 407 rest, in the eager spirits who would fain explore the track he had defined as unexplorable. Among the younger gene- ration he had few closer friends than the Vicomte de Vogiié, the Chateaubriand of modern.France. Mystics, reformers, apostles, men of action, they were none of them beyond the sympathies of our sage ; for none so well as he was aware of the necessity of a moral order in the world, and of the need of a continua] renewing and reforming of that moral order. And none more than he was conscious of the impenetrable mystery which lies thick and dark behind all our systems and all our philosophies, which, if it answers to no religion, likewise refutes none either. Only a month ago he spoke with us of the Eleusinian Mysteries, and of that shadowy underworld where men see the roots and not the flowers of things. And he sighed, and said: “In all there is still an Eleusinian Mystery.” Here is a difficulty. A. sends a MS. poem to B. for publication in his journal. B. says he will take the poem, but that he cannot pay for it. A. accepts the proposition. Time passes. A. waits. At last he writes. B. replies by post-card—‘ Your poem was returned to you in August last.” He has never received it. Has it been lost in the post? Did the editor send it back? Answer.—Probably the editor gave orders for its return, and the order has not been carried out. Here is a case of coincidence. In the Author of last month appeared a story of a daughter bringing by her own efforts and genius success to the father who could not command it. It was a literary success. In June of last year there appeared in the Eastern and Western Gazette, a story by Mrs. Edmonds called “The Painter's Daughter,” in which the daughter gives secretly to her father’s picture the touches and the colour which transform it from a failure to a success. The treatment of the two stories is different; there is nothing similar except the motif, and that -is the same in both. The author of the “ Painter’s Daughter” is anxious to say that she does not for one moment insinuate or suspect any plagiarism. It is a coincidence, and, as such, it deserves to be recorded. Miss Florence Nevill, a member of our Society and the founder of the Braille Book Society, wishes me to mention the latter. Perhaps readers do not know what a Braille book is. It is a book in raised type for the blind. Writers give permission for an edition in Braille type, which is then given to institutes and schools for the blind. Miss Nevill sends me a letter from the “grateful blind children of St. Raphael’s, Montenotte, Cork,” in which they say, “ We are sure it will please you better than anything we could say, when we tell you that your books are a source of the greatest pleasure to us. We wish you could see even the little ones of all, how eager they are to read every one of them.” Those who wish to assist the blind in this way may place themselves in communication with Miss Nevill (editor of the Braille Book Society), 3, Victoria- mansions, Grand Avenue, Brighton. The Editor has received a very indignant letter from a member of the association called the “Society of Science, Letters, and Art,” whose existence and valuable work we have made known to an admiring world. He asks if the remarks made in this journal on that Society were based on personal knowledge or on hearsay ? On neither ; but on the reports and official papers of the Society. He asks what right we have to com- plain of people who choose to join a Society in order to write F.S.Sc. after their name? Well, but the little article in these columns did not complain of them. Not at all. No one has a right to complain of persons who are presumably harmless, do not obstruct the traffic, create a nuisance, or frighten the horses. Meantime if our correspondent, who concludes with a demand to have his letter printed in the Author, will kindly send us a pbalance-sheet of the Society, showing what becomes of all the money—are there not 2000 members?—that balance-sheet shall be printed here. Surely that is a reasonable offer. Mrs. W. K Clifford writes to say that, with the exception of Messrs.- Warne, publishers have always treated her with the greatest kindness and consideration. For instance, Messrs. Cassell having bought the copyright of a story that appeared in the Quiver when she was a girl, paid her, in 1881, more than the original sum before they reprinted it with lengthy additions as a book. Of course she was wholly in their hands, and the copyright was theirs, and she was quite an unknown writer at the time of her husband’s death. The other story is this: Messrs. Wells Gardner and Darton bought, for what was a very fair payment to her in those days, the stories published in a little book called “ Children Busy.” They proved an enormous success, and were translated into many languages. The publishers sent her, of their own accord, a most pleasant letter, thanking her for her stories, and asking her to accept a handsome cheque in token of their appreciation of them. We learn from the Green Bag that (among other schools of Western law) a school of English  408 law flourishes in Japan. For the use of the students who can read English text-books “a number of books were cheaply reprinted and sold at a price within the means of the students.” The list includes the works of two living English authors, as to one of whom we are certain, and as to the other, we believe, that he was not con- sulted in any way or even informed of this pro- ceeding. Japan, we believe, is not a party to the Convention of Bern. It would seem that if our Japanese brethren learn some law from England, they have preferred to take their literary morality from America—as it was before the Copyright Act of 1891. There is a magazine which frankly throws open its pages to all those writers who will subscribe for so many copies. The number asked for, in the form presented to us, is unfortunately left blank. The author is informed that the copies can be sent to his bookseller, who will sell them for his benefit. Will he, indeed? How very accommodating! And who will buy them? The firm, whose name appears in the circular con- taining this offer, is one which habitually offers ‘exceptional terms” in naming the amount, paid down, for which they will print an author’s—any author’s—work—any work. One wonders how many copies of the magazine the writer of —_say— a serial has to subscribe for insertion. Would it be 500 copies—1o0o0 copies—10,000 copies? And how satisfactory to be at once the author and the readers ! The following, for instance, is the reply of the editor of that journal to an author forwarding a MS.: Dear Sir,—I have your paper. It would do very well indeed, but I am very crowded indeed. Do you feel disposed to aid us in promoting the circula- tion by subscribing for some copies of the number contain- ing your essay if we makeroom forit? Please read over the enclosed circulars, and inform us whether you can co- operate in the way therein indicated ? In future correspondence please send me stamped and addressed envelope as my time is very much engrossed.” The author failing to be caught by the tempt- ing bait of having to subscribe for copies, the MS. was returned. Mr. Hubert Haes sends a suggestion which may be found practical; but, I think, not yet, for certain reasons. He points out that every publisher has now his readers: or literary advisers, by whose report upon a MS. he is guided in his decision; that an author may be condemned by one“and approved by another. In any case, the fate of a young writer is decided by literary men working for publishers. THE AUTHOR. He further points out that a young writer frequently goes from house to house seeking acceptance ; that the same work is consequently read by many persons; and that this involves much waste of time and money. He would have, therefore, a permanent com- mittee of readers attached to the Society, to whom all new works might be submitted, and whose judgment would be accepted by publishers. Such is the scheme suggested by Mr. Hubert Haes. Publishers would certainly save a great deal of money by such an arrangement. But who is to support this committee? Reading MSS. is a laborious—-a very laborious—kind of work. As it is, our readers are paid—and very poorly paid— by the author’s guinea fee. We cannot, however, ask authors for a larger fee. Will every author be obliged to pay that guinea on Mr. Haes’ plan? Moreover, our readers are asked to give an opinion which shall be instructive, and this is not quite what the publisher wants. And, again, while 60 per cent. of the MSS. submitted can be rejected in a few minutes, there remains a certain percentage on the border line, which a reader is afraid to recommend, as being risky, and yet afraid to condemn as presenting points of interest and merit. Such MSS., and those which the reader is disposed to recommend, should be read by more than one member of that committee. The idea, however, of a central committee of critics and readers to consider MSS. and to report upon their contents, their literary value, and their com- mercial prospects (the last not always depending on the second) seems one worth noting and remembering. It may be taken up in the good time coming, when the honourable houses leave off assuming as meant for themselves remarks, warn- ings, and exposures designed for the baser sort. Let us have patience. That time is coming. But even when that good time comes, we might have, as I suggested last month, a publisher receiving the opinion of the Society’s committee with con- sideration, and then putting on his own reader. One of my correspondents complains of the prize composition system now so much in vogue. He points out that the favourite prize is a guinea, and that the prize composition commonly covers from four to five columns ; thus, he says, depriv- ing regular contributors of so much a page, which is filled at a very low rate. To this I have replied that, (1) an editor, in his own interests, must fill his paper with what will prove most attractive ; that (2) perhaps he thinks that the winners of prize compositions are certain to be fresh and bright; and that (3) the prize toa young writer is very much more than a guinea,  THE AUTHOR. 409 it is the first step, the first proof of capacity, the first publicity of his name; and (4) that even if it does fill up his columns at a low rate, since the prize winner is delighted and the interest of his paper is served, no one has any right of inter- ference. I hope that [ am the last person in the world to underrate or minimise the rights of authors, but this is how the question seems to me. Perhaps readers who cannot agree with this view would like to state their opinions. ————— = There is one paper called Hearth and Home, where there is a literary competition every week. The prizes are offered to outsiders only-—not to those who make money regularly by writing. The editor of this department adds short criticisms on the MSS. sent in to him. These little notes seem both instructive and useful. Perhaps they are too encouraging. The real question seems to me, not whether the prize is great or small, but whether this plan is or is not calculated to encourage mediocrity into the field of letters. It ought to produce just the opposite result. The competi- tion is so enormous even in this, the first begin- nings, as to discourage most. Other discourage- ments sometimes come too late, when the candi- date has already burned his boats and cannot turn back. A correspondent calls attention on the endless review—not criticism—question ; and to the fact that he is himself alternately praised and blamed by the same paper, and this not in one paper only but in many; so that it is quite impossible to know beforehand whether the qualities which pleased in one work will not be found the subject of derision and contempt in the next. All this is part of the system adopted in some journals. It 1s abso- lutely impossible, when the rapid reviewing (?) of books in short paragraphs is a source of income, to read adequately—or at all—the books that one has to review. Nobody can afford it. I have already mentioned the case in which the reviewer (?) was expected to review eight, ten, er a dozen novels, in a single column, for a guinea. That is, to read all these three volume novels, and to write an opinion upon them at the rate of rs.gd. anovel!! And this is not an isolated case. Now I have always thought that a book should deserve a review, 2.e., a certain proportion of the books which come out are either trivial books or bad books, which will perish immediately, and no more deserve notice than the performance of a man who plays a cornet before a public-house. It should be a distinct honour for a book to have a review; there are not more books which deserve review than would fill the literary columns of a journal. Why not go back to this rule? And as for the other books, a current list might be kept of them, explaining the meaning, scope, and intention of the author in every case. This would be an unpaid advertisement of every book, quite enough for most, and better than a “slating” among the reviews, while it would leave the way clear for long and serious reviews, such as make the reputation of an author and advance the demand of a good book. The short notices of current books in the Westminster Gazette are examples of the method which I should like to see followed everywhere. That is, a serious review where the work is serious, and just a brief statement of its contents and aims where it is not thought worthy of a review. eee Se Professor Brander Mathews writes, with regard to his examination in the History and Art of Fiction, that thirty men took the paper and only one failed. I think this speaks volumes for the Professor as well as the students, and I hope his. example will be followed in this country. The University Extension lecturers are already beginning to leave the beaten tracks. At one of their branches the subject has been the History of London, and Ihave the honour of examining that branch in this new subject of study. For my own part 1 have learned so much concerning the history of England from the study of London, that I cannot but hope that it will be taken up extensively. But books alone will not do. One must master the map; one must know where places stood; one must fill the streets with history and associations. I have to acknowledge a very generous response to my appeal on behalf of a distressed author. The lady herself wishes to convey her best thanks to everyone who has kindly helped her. The following is a list of the donors. Their names are suppressed, in accordance with the wishes of most, and the list is closed. eB e, a. 2 sg. a. 1 o 0O| Rev. Canon B. a3) L020 i i.0 iL 0;.0 Jt. 0 I Loo I L3G Go 18 22°20 O° 5-0 r 1 0 . Oo 5 Oo Napoleon) ...... O16. 0) re Bek bet Tieut.-Col, Ce 065 6.0 “Old. dn oW ss Ee as CO SO Wiliams... 2 2.0\R ME .....y 1.6. 6 Mrs. 8. a LO} —_———— ANON vipers 019 6| Total .......-... 22°19 6 The above sums have been transmitted by me to the lady for whom they were designed. THE CORRESPONDENCE. L Promrr PayMeEnt. LETTER signed “H.” calls attention to the fact that a certain Church paper sends out cheques with the proofs; and that certain daily papers do not keep their people waiting. Of course not; but it is rather super- fluous to assure the world that the great papers are ready with their payments.—Ep. AY, JUSTICE FROM AMERICA. Be it placed on record that an American firm of publishers have behaved with justice to an English author. The matter being rare may be worth recounting. About ten years ago I published, in two vols. “The Life and Adventures of Peg Woffington;” later, a cheap edition in one vol. was issued. The book was unprotected in the United States. Towards the end of last year Messrs. Dodd, Mead, and Co. brought out an edition of the book in two handsome vols., illustrated. Seeing it reviewed in the American papers, I put forth my claims for compensation. In answer I received an account of sales with a cheque for royalties, FirzGeratp Moutoy. TL. fe For a Union. The ripe tradition that writers should wait in every cold passage is well supported by the nation. First, by a niggardly Pension List, and, secondly, by what, with some self-exultation, is called a Bounty Fund. Private enterprise at times throws ina marble monument or two. But present honour and present flesh-pots are what most men barter their health and strength for. These things literary men will never get with dull acquiescence —with a thankful acceptance of small mercies. If a union is required in any profession, it is required in literature. No profession is so pro- vocative of gibes, for chaos reigns completely. An editor, however low, can pick and choose from a literary army. He can take what he likes, refuse what he likes, and pay what he likes. To which may be added, he can pay when he likes. No wonder the editorial We is pitched in a bene- ficent key. No union could make an editor take what he didn’t want. But this no union would wish. Ordinary unions neither force on the employer ~ experience with the Atheneum. AUTHOR, unsuitable labour or excess of labour. The merely compel that labour to be carried on undae . fair conditions. Employers of ordinary labour, and editors and publishers come under the same head, with this advantage to the literary labourer. If circumstances permit, he can transmit hig wares direct to the public. He always has at his tail co-operative publishing. To him editors and publishers are middle-men. He can do without them ; they can’t possibly do without him. Surely this is argument enough. Surely there is no need to write down the stale, commonplace truth, that organised labour is, without any exception, better treated than that which is disorganised. If there are any readers of the Author who see any vital objections to a union, I should like to hear what they are. Onwarp. IV. MissTaATEMENTS IN REVIEW. I see a statement in the last issue of the Author by Mr. Frank E. Beddard relative to a misstate- ment made in the Atheneum in areview of a work of his, and the editor’s refusal to insert a correction. This is such a common occurrence in papers and periodicals that itis (one would think) time that it was made obligatory upon editors to give space for the correction of a misstatement of fact. It happens that I had recently the same In a review of my “Life of John Linnell,” I was accused of error in two important particulars. In a letter to the editor I pomted out where his reviewer had fallen into error, and adduced proof, but he declined to insert the correction. I do not wonder ; space would probably not permit of the insertion of the correction of all such misstate- ments. There is only one way to set these matters right—a legal obligation on editors to allow of a correction of proved misstatements. But we need to have the principle of signed reviewers extended ; without it reviewing may he, and often is, worse than piracy. Aurrep T. Srory. 13, Bramerton-street, Chelsea. [But how does our correspondent propose to make it obligatory? By Act of Parliament? Nothing .short of an Act would do. Would it not be a better way of procedure, without troubling our legislators, if editors demanded exact veracity from their reviewers as the very first and necessary feature in their work ?—Ep. |  THE AUTHOR. All N. Tue Concert or AMATEURS. If this subject has not been dropped, may I add my word ? A few days ago an acquaintance—a man well known throughout England as the one authority on his own subject—told me he was going to publish a shilling book (on his own subject of course). Naturally I made the remark to be expected under the circumstances concerning my hopes for a big success. “Oh, that’s all right!” he answered cheerily ; ‘‘ my name on the cover will sell the book.” A statement which I knew to be true. I happened to know also that this was his first production in book form, and so I ventured to express a hope that, “ under those circum- stances, he was getting good terms from the publisher.” “‘ Pretty well,” he returned sweetly ; “T pay eighty pounds, and they give me half profits.” Then I get mad, and he looks mildly surprised, until I explain, and he sees there is a righteous foundation for my anger. The next day I saw him again. He had inter- viewed the publisher in the meantime, and that gentleman had lowered his demands by one half. Further than this I could not move him. “ But think of the trouble,” he remarked plain- tively, when I suggested another publisher. “« And, afterall, I don’t want to make money, you know—I want to see my name on the book.” Then I get mad again, whereupon «What does it matter to you?” cries this aspirant for literary honours; “I don’t write your sort of books.’ He could not grasp the fact that I was fighting for a principle rather than from motives of personal interest. Now, publishers cannot undertake more than a certain amount of work; and—apart from the works of really popular authors —they would almost certainly accept a work at the author’s risk before one at their own. It follows, therefore, that every book published in this way, for the eratification of a rich man’s vanity, crowds out another written, probably, with a far more serious purpose—to clothe the naked and feed the hungry. If the two classes of writers met one another on equal terms, and stood or fell by their merits alone, we should have no right to grumble. Let the best man win, whoever or whatever he may be. _It is this new practice of buying out the publishers which seems to me to form one real ground of complaint. It is a species of underselling, and underselling is a practice no fair-minded man countenances, no matter what his calling or station. Ciara LEMORE. VE. THe Paris Typist. The type-writing trouble in Paris is somewhat on a par with the servant girl trouble in our Australian colonies. The typist “ anxious to get work,” is about as eager to accept that work when it offers as the fine lady servant of the South, who inquires after a “place” im a satin gown and ostrich feathers. She is willing to accommodate her would-be employer, provided he or she be willing to pay according to her notions of what she ought to receive; but ask her to lower her charge, and it “don’t suit.” The following is my experience, and probably the experience of other struggling authors and correspondents desirous of securing the services of a typist without the inconvenience of for- warding MSS. to London: Not long since I made inquiries 10 several directions about typists in Paris. After some trouble, I obtained the address of a lady who was “on the look-out for work.” I wrote, inquiring her terms, and inclosing stamp for reply. The reply came—to the effect that she would put my work through on payment of 2 frs. 50 cent. per thousand words. The charge did not suit me. Further inquiries brought to light a second typist “out of practice ;” whilst a third was “waiting for work.” The terms of typist No. 3 were also 2 frs. 50 cent. per thousand. But in this case, as I had heard the typist was really anxious to obtain employment, I wrote again and told her frankly that I believed the Paris typist could obtain regular employment by reducing her charges to the advertised London ones. Further, I made an offer to pay a little above the London rates, besides mentioning that, in a short time, I should have ready a much longer work. No notice was taken of this offer. T would not undertake to advise any girl to come abroad on the chance of making a living by type-writing. But I believe that there ¢s a good opening for some earnest worker with what a Dutch friend of mine was wont to designate a little “puss” in her. Two sisters anxious to cling together whilst one of them was pursuing her art studies here, might increase their income in this way, and obtain, through the Author, the names of authors and correspondents, who would promise to employ the typist whenever they had work to do, provided she did the work satisfac- torily. Mapame Asa L’ORME. Paris, March 13, 1893.  412 VII. A Register or Booxs WANTED. I have read with interest the letter of E. F. Wolferstan, and your note on the same, in the current number of the Author. In July, 1891, I sent a letter. dealing with the same subject, to most of the London morning papers. It was published in the Daily Chronicle and Morning Advertiser of the 15th and 17th inst. respectively, and I send you herewith a copy of the same. As you will see, my proposal was a central office or exchange to be maintained by subscrip- tions from the second-hand booksellers. They were to write to this exchange for any book that had been inquired for, and which they had not and did not know where to get, and from this central exchange was to be sent out every day, or any other period fixed upon, to every subscribing bookseller a list of the books wanted. Any one of them who had it or could get it would then write to the one wanting it, or he might reply to the exchange, and the latter be informed from there about it. Such an organisation would be very easy to establish and inexpensive to maintain, and, if properly arranged, would cover the entire ground. Tam very reluctant to discourage any scheme which shall tend to simplify matters, but I do not think that the one that you intend to start is the best that can be proposed, nor do I think that it will be of any general benefit. Unless it be universally recognised as the medium for obtaining second-hand books it must fail in its object, and the first thing a person who wants a book would do wculd not be to advertise for it inthe Author. One is justified in assuming this, for not every one knows of the paper, and besides there are older established papers with a larger circulation having a similar column, and yet they fail to cover the ground. The first thing that any person who wants a second-hand book would do would be to inquire for it at a second-hand bookseller’s, and the only means by which this want can be made known over the whole country is some organisation belonging to the second-hand booksellers them- selves, such ag this exchange, so that no matter in which shop in the United Kingdom a book were asked for, it should be equivalent to asking for it in every one of them. Husert Hass. 28, Bassett-road, North Kensington, London, W. THE AUTHOR. VIII. Lost MSS. Apropos of your paragraph under the above heading in last month’s Author, may T state a rather curious experience? More than seven years ago I sent to the editor of a popular maga- zine two short articles. One of these (a) was promptly returned, as an article on the same sub- ject had just appeared in that magazine. Six months later I wrote to ask if I might consider the other article (8) :ccepted ; and was informed in reply that it had been returned to me at the same time as the article a. I quoted extracts from correspondence proving the contrary, but no further notice was taken of my letters. Last autumn I received, to my great astonishment, the proof of article B, which, believing the original MS. to be irretrievably lost, I had re-written in much better form, and was about to submit to another editor. Thus, not only was I kept wait- ing seven years for my fee, but I had actually written two articles for it. Another editor, who more than three months ago promised to give ‘his earliest possible atten- tion” to an article submitted to him, has not yet vouchsafed his decision. Should he now decline it, or delay its publication, I should be compelled to defer the publication of a book on the same subject which I have now almost ready for press. X.Y. @. IX. An Easy Frencu Lesson. The late Félix Pyat agreed to write a 25,000- line sensational story for a Paris paper, the Radical. When the tale, which he called “ The Ragman” (Le Chiffonier), had reached 17,000 lines, he asked to be allowed to make a wind-up of it, and, being permitted so to do, disposed of his despairing hero by sending him off at nightfall to the parapet of one of the Seine bridges, thus sug- gesting to every practical novel-reader the usual “hole in the water,” and adding the fateful “Finis.” Nothing of the sort had happened, however, and some time afterwards Pyat ran the rest of his ragman’s adventures, under the title of “Epilogue of the Chiffonier,” in another popular journal, Le Cri du Peuple. Unfortunately, the author had stated in a pre- face to his first part that it would be the whole life of the hero, and that his biographer was above making two brews out of the same malt. Upon the strength of this, the first journal laid its action against the second and the executors of Pyat, and claimed £1000 damages. The courts have just decided that “the interruption of the  THE AUTHOR. novel in the course of its serial publication in one paper, followed by its transfer to another having an analogous class of readers,’ was a matter for damages, and condemned the heirs of Pyat to pay £120 to the Radical. Whence — quite apart from the “ honour bright” view of the case—romancers may see how very chary indeed they should be of their prefaces—and their fin ises. 21 FROM THE PAPERS. L THs Harpsuirs oF PUBLISHING. a” | EVER has the hapless lot of the publisher been set forth more pathetically than by Mr. Heinemann in the last number of the Atheneun. He is at present suffering trom a most extraordinary combination of hardships andadverse circumstances. First, there is the “ manufacture clause” in the American Copyright Act, of which the best that can be said is that it has not harmed the English publisher so much as was feared. Then there are the printers’ unions, which have caused wages to be “ increased steadily for years past,” and in addition the fact that “‘ the public are more fastidious now with regard to print,” and are protesting against “the horrible stuff that they used to buy under the good-natured genera- lization of ‘ books.’”? On topof all has come the Authors’ Union in the shape of the English Authors’ Society, further to oppress and outrage the publisher. Shocking demands for increased royalties, sometimes reaching as high as 25 per cent., are now frequently made in the Society’s name, and all this, combined with the rapacity of booksellers, who insist upon 50 per cent. reduction on list prices, has brought the publishing business to a point where it must “ grapple with the danger before it is too late.” Mr. Heinemann’s remedy is a publishers’ union, to resist the aggressions of the powerful author. He calls it, to be sure, “a brotherly band,” but beneath this velvet name appears the cold iron of a real union, with hard- and-fast rules, secret passwords, walking dele- gates, and all. Such an organization could doubtless compel the overbearing author to dis- gorge a part of his swollen gains, and aid the distressed publisher to resume the custom of three mealsa day.—The New York Nation, Dee. 15. ————— > 413 EL, Avuruors aT Home. The attention of the Society of Authors may be directed to a statement now made public—a statement to the effect that the editor of a literary monthly is about to publish a handbook, one feature of which will be a list of English authors, with their private addresses. There are to be similar lists, it seems, of publishers and booksellers, but to these there ca1 be no objec- tion Publishers and booksellers appeal directly to the public, and like everybody to know where they can be found. They sell over the counter, and it is well, therefore, to know where the counter is situated. Not so with the unhappy author. If we gauge his feelings accurately, he has no desire whatever to be tracked to his lair. He has no counter to sell over. He sells his produce to publishers and editors only, and they know where to find him. Moreover, they are the only people that he wants to hear from. A vain poet here and there may like to receive incense from his worshippers, if he has any; but the author by profession wishes for no such palling and appalling sweets. He desires to he left alone to do his work. But what will happen if his private address is divulged to all and sundry ? One sees it all at a glance. First of all will come the requests for autographs, and then the demands for pecuniary assistance. Admiring readers will ask for an explanation of this or that passage ; some will ask for a copy «f the book most admired. The youthful student will write for advice about ‘‘a course of reading,’ and the embryo author will solicit patronage and recom- mendation. Probably in extreme cases the miserable author will literally be bearded in his den, and will hear every knock or ring at the door with apprehension. It is a fearful prospect. Tf that Directory ever comes out, the British author will have to emigrate en masse.— Globe. LTT, Tue New Inisa Lirerary Socrery. At the first meeting of the Irish Literary Society, the Rey. A. Stopford Brooke delivered an address, in the course of which he said : “ The main work of the society was to get Irish literature well and statelily afloat, like a noble ship, on the world- wide ocean of the English language, so that it may be known and loved and admired wherever the English language goes. That part of our litera- ture written in the Irish tongue it will be our business to put into English. The ground is prepared for new work. There should be cheap  414 THE editions of translations of the great stories. We have a vague hope that some of the rich Irish landlords may give a new value to their land, a value no Land League can diminish, and lay up treasures in which neither mist nor rust can cor- rupt, by subscribing to the publishing fund of this society. What an opulent literature that of Ireland is! A few societies like the Royal Irish Academy, and a few scholars know its astonishing extent, but the general public only began to understand this when the Catholic University, under the direction of John Henry Newman, placed O’Curry in the Chair of Irish Literature. Then we heard that there was buried in piles of manu- script, both in Irelandand England, and elsewhere, a new world of imaginative work, of myths, tales, legends, faerie romance, lyric and epic poems, Pagan and Christian thought, first uninfluenced by Latin literature, and then inffuenced by it—a two-fold position, which makes this part of it unique in Europe. The new society will not touch that part of this vast mass which is not lite- rature. The Norse tales will soon be drained dry for a time, and, though they have a powerful humanity, they have no love of nature. We have been even forced of late to go to India for our subjects. We have rummaged through all the great cycles of romantic listory. But the Irish stories are, as yet, untouched. Irishmen in Ireland who can talk Irish should collect the folk-tales of Ireland from the lips of the old peasants, who still hold them in their native tongue, and who have received them by oral tradition. The whole of Ireland is alive with beings who are as interesting as the Nymphs and Oreads, as Pan and all his crew. The young have fled from Ireland; the old who remember their language and have kept their folk-stories are dying out rapidly. In twenty years it will be too late to do this. By this means,’ conclnded Mr. Brooke, “by all the work on which I have dwelt, and by the cataloguing and collection of all that has been already done for Irish literature, whether in prose or poerry, into libraries con- nected with branches of this society, we ought to be able to impress on the whole of Treland the sense of a full and noble literary past which all Irishmen should honour, and which they should all work together to expand into a literature of the future. A new national literature, such as we hope hereafter to create, needs, if it can have it, a long-continued traditionary literature as a part of its foundation. Iveland need not fall back on England. She has her own past, her own poetry and prose, and she can create a future literature, full of her own traditions, instinct with her own life, using her own elements, and representing her own nationality, in the English AUTHOR. tongue. It is the only thing she need borrow, [va and she could not borrow a better vehicle.—From the Westminster Gazette. eee “AT THE SIGN OF THE AUTHOR'S HEAD.” A new serial story, entitled “The Die of Destiny,” by Mr. Fitzgerald Molloy, begins its course through Cassell’s Saturday Journal this first week of April. Another story by Mr. Molloy will, about the | same time, run through Messrs. Tillotson’s syndi- |). cate. The original title of this novel, “A Pauper |; eve MAS Peer,” has been abandoned, in deference to the a wishes of several of Messrs. Tillotson’s “clients of | - Conservative tendencies,” and will be now called i “On Wheels of Fire.” Early this month (April) Messrs. Hutchinson ‘ and Co. will publish a novel in 3 vols., by Mr. Fitzgerald Molloy, entitled “ His Wife’s Soul.” Whispers (A Magazine for Surrey Folk) is announced for immediate publication. It will fe deal with Surrey archeology, Surrey history, and movements of importance to the county will be ole discussed under the heading “ County Gossip.” Literature, Art, and the Drama will be reviewed, and “ Notes and Queries ” of especial interest to Surrey folk will be solicited from correspondents throughout the county. Stories will be given as space permits. The new magazine, which will be published monthly, is conducted by Mr. Henry Libby and Mr. William Thomas Horton. The publishing offices are at 67, Station-road, Red- hill. “Countess Pharamond,” “ Rita’s’’ new novel, is published this month by F. V. White and Co. It is a sequel to her popular novel “ Sheba,” and, as stated in the preface, has been written owing to numerous requests from all parts of the world for an ending to the heroine’s fate in the former book. Mr. Carlton Dawe, author of “ Mount Desola- tion,” has two new novels in the press, entitled “The Emu’s Head,” 2 vols., and “The Confes- sions of a Currency Girl,” 3 vols. The former will be issued immediately. Messrs. Ward and Downey are the publishers. Dr. Karl Lentzner, well known in this country by his writings, has been appointed by the University of Oxford a University extension lecturer. His lectures will chiefly treat of modern foreign literature, especially German and Spanish. Dr. Lentzner has recently delivered, at Somerville  4 Sepet we te , ‘ ea 24 THE AUTHOR. 415 Hall, Oxford, before the delegates of the Oxford University Extension, a lecture, on the Evolution of the German Novel. Mrs. Florence Henderson’s book, entitled “Was She Right,’ has been published by Messrs. Masters and Co., price 3s. 6d. The Rev. Frederick Langbridge’s story of Trish life, ‘“Miss Honoria,’’ will be published immediately by Messrs. F. Warne and Co. Mr. Langbridge has nearly completed a tale of adven- ture for Messrs. Methuen. He is also contributing a series of legendary and other poems to Great Thoughts, and a short series of popular ballads to the Church Monthly. Mr. W. H. Besant, Sc.D., F.R.S., has just published (Bell and Son) ‘‘ Solutions of Examples in Elementary Hydrostatics.” These examples are in accordance with the latest edition, the fifteenth, of the author’s treatise on Elementary Hydrostatics. The same author is engaged upon a new edition of his treatise on Dynamics, which will be com- pleted very shortly. Mr Lewis Carroll has finished the second part of “ Sylvie and Bruno.” Mr. Henry Wheatley’s new book on ‘ Literary Blunders,” contains the ‘“ Blunders of Authors.” Yet they say that it is a little book! Sir Morell Mackenzie’s Essays have been collected by his brother and are to be published by Sampson Low and Co. Mr. Richard le Gallienne is writing a book called “The Religion of a Literary Man.” A good many literary men have written on their religious beliefs—Addison, Johnson, Coulting, Coleridge, Carlyle, Froude, Francis Newman, Jefferies. How religion appears toa layman who is endowed with intellectual activity, scholarship, and the poetic insight, is always a most interesting subject. Mrs. Clifford is bringing out a new story, “A Wild Proxy,” through Messrs. Hutchinson. Mr. Clark Russell’s new story has also gone to these publishers. A new and revised edition of “ Ball’s Alpine Guide” is preparing, and is reported to be almost ready. Prof. Masson has been appointed Historio- grapher of Scotland, an office of great antiquity. _ Mr. Wheatley’s new edition of “ Pepys’ Diary” is so far ready that the first volume will be pub- lished immediately. It is to be far more com- plete than any previous edition. o Tolstoi’s “Archbishop and the Three Old Men,” a translation of which, by Rosamund Venning, first appeared in the Daily Chronicle, is now published in separate form ; it is, indeed, well worth the trouble which the translator took over it, and, though short, is full of matter for thought. During the last year Messrs. Chatto and Windus received 663 MSS. and accepted 44. Let candidates for literary honours consider this fact. Out of the 44 how many will succeed ? Perhaps all will attain a measure of success—but enough to encourage the author to goon? The number accepted is nearly 7 per cent. Mr. B. L. Farjeon has a new story called “ Something Occurred” quite ready. Mr. J. Passmore Edwards has sent a gift of 2000 books to the Southwark Borough Poly- technic. How many thousand volumes has this creat giver of books bestowed upon the London libraries and polytechnics ? Mr. George Meredith is going to sit to Mr. G. F. Watts. The Atheneum informs us that the Dean of Westminster has appointed Mr. R. E. Prothero as his collaborateur in writing the “ Life of Dean Stanley. The Rev. H. R. Haweis has written a “ Life of Sir Morell Mackenzie,” which is to be published by Allen and Co. The English Illustrated has been transferred ftom Messrs. Macmillan’s t» Mr. Edward Arnold. We may venture to prophesy a change in the price. At one shilling it might have some chance of rivalling the American illustrated monthlies. At sixpence it cannot even attempt it, and it has in the field’ the sixpenny weeklies — the Tllustrated London News, the Graphic, the Queen, Black and White, the Sketch, all good magazines, as well as good journals. Sir Mountstuart Grant Duff is engaged ona life of Renan. Mr. William Hazlitt, son of William Hazlitt (without the Mr.), is dead. He was a literary man of considerable activity. Rider Haggard’s new novel, “ Montezuma’s Daughter,” will be issued by Messrs. Longmans. It is reported that Dr. Conan Doyle has written a piece for Mr. Henry Irving, which is accepted. Those who watch American publishing houses may note that the firms of Effingkam, Maynard, and Co. and Charles C. Merrell and Co. have amalgamated.  416 Mr. F. J. Snell (Clarendon Press) is about to publish a “ Primer of Italian Literature.” Lady Burdett Coutts is editing a volume, which will be published by Sampson Low and Co., dealing with the philanthropic work of English women. The Duke of Argyle, who has recently issued his “Unseen Foundations of Society,” has another work ready, called ‘Irish Nationalism: An Appeal to History.” His publisher will be Mr. John Murray. Dr. Flugel is producing, through the Clarendon Press, the “Life and Letters of Sir Philip Sidney.” Those who are ambitious of writing a success- ful work may consider the topograhical kind of book. For instance, Mr. John Lloyd Warden Page has in the press the third edition of his ‘“‘ Exmoor,” the third edition of his ‘‘ Dartmoor,” and is producing the first edition of the “ Rivers of Devon from Source to Sea” (Seeley and Co.). Let the young man of ambition go and do like- wise. To be sure he must first qualify, by acquiring an accurate knowledge of every foot of ground with all the historical associations, architecture, monuments, ancient ruins, traditions, dialect, legends, and topography of the district. This is a very large collections of requisites. Therefore, the true topographical writer will ever remain a rare creature. Mr. Warden Page is also the author of ‘‘ Okehampton, the Castle, and the Surrounding Country. By way of an antidote to the shilling Shocker Mr. I. Zangwill has written a shilling Soother, entitled “Merely Mary Ann,” which Messrs. Raphael Tuck and Sons have published as the first volume of a new series of shilling novels entitled “The Breezy Library.” ‘“ Merely Mary Ann” is reported by those who have read it,in advance to be a remarkable story, and likely to cause a sensation, whether a soothing sensation or not remains to be seen. “Work and Play in India and Kashmir” is a book whose title explains its character. It is a collection of chapters on life in India by Mr. J. D. Gordon, who has been for many years a barrister practising there. The book is put together in somewhat amateurish fashion, which ought to have been attended to by publisher or printer. There are queer headings ; for instance, in the middle of chapters. The writing is rough, and of style there is none. Yet it is an interesting book. We have received “Not on Calvary Alone,” called also a “‘ Layman’s Plea for Vindication in the Temptation in the Wilderness.” One hesi- THE AUTHOR. tates in these columns to speak of a theological work at all. Let us only note that it is a thoughtful little book, and written, apparently, by an American. It is published by Eden, Remington, and Co. “Broad Norfolk” is a collection of papers originally published in the Eastern Daily Press (Norfolk News Co., Norwich). There is no part of England which possesses so many provincial- isms as Norfolk, though they are fast disap- pearing. If a stranger listens to two rustics talking their own language he thinks it is a foreign tongue. This little book preserves a great many specimens of Broad Norfolk. It is a pity that there are no songs or literature in this language. Mr. Campbell Rae-Brown has produced a humorous story, which is called “That Awful Baby.” It is published by Eden, Remington, and Co. A new sixpenny magazine, entitled The Strat- fordian, is about to be published by King Edward VI. School, Stratford-on-Avon, the school at which Shakespeare was educated. The head master’s wife, Mrs. R. 8S. De Courcy Laffan (known to the reading public as Mrs. Leith-Adams) will con- tribute a serial story for boys entitled “ St. Kilda’s ; or the Gift of God,” a fact that will lift the magazine out of the common run of school periodicals, and give it a general interest. The editor of the new venture is Mr. A. J. Williams, The School House, Stratford-on-Avon. Messrs. Jarrold and Jarrold have in the press cheap editions of “Louis Draycott,” and of “ Bonnie Kate,’ by Mrs. Leith-Adams, hoth books which were very highly noticed by the press in their first (3 vol.) editions. Those who pine for the freedom of the French novelist may order Mr. Hubert Crackanthorpe’s “ Wreckage,’ where he will find as much freedom as he can desire in some studies of women. The book is published by Heinemann. A new tale by Eleanor Stredder, “ Alutch, a story of the Chinese Hills,” is in the press. drawn from life, and gives a faithful picture of the miseries arising from the opium traffic from © the Chinese point of view. Mr. Ruskin has at last sanctioned the compila- tion of “Selections” from his writings, which Mr. George Allen will issue in two volumes, with two portraits of the author at different ages. The _ first volume—to be ready for publication in May —will deal with the following subjects :—Scenes of Travel, Characteristics of Nature, Pa eo and Sculpture, Ethical and Didactic. second volume will most probably be ready m Itis —  THE AUTHOR. June. Besides the ordinary edition, there will be a limited one on Arnold’s unbleached hand-made paper. Mr. Arthur Severn’s “ Recollections of Ruskin” are proceeding apace, and will contain, amongst other interesting illustrations, several of incidents in Mr. Ruskin’s home life and coaching experiences, besides an important portrait never previously used. With regard to Mr. Augustus Hare’s ‘ Life of Lady Waterford,” Mr. Allen announces that the discovery of MSS. of peculiar interest will further delay the publication of the work, Mr. Hare having decided to incorporate with it the reminiscences of Lady Waterford’s no less gifted sister, Lady Canning, as well as a memoir of their mother, Lady Stewart, whose position at the court of Charles X. and intimate friendship with the Duchesse d’Augouleme gave her unique opportunities for throwing light upon an eventful period of French history. Lady Canning’s con- nection with the English court at the time of the Indian Mutiny is another element which will be contributory of matter interesting to the general public. The book will contain eight engravings from the various portraits of the personages mentioned, besides numerous other illustrations. Mr. Philip H. Bagenal, author of “The American Trish and their Influence on Irish Politics,” has written a book, which will be produced with the shortest possible delay, on the “ Priest in Politics.” It is to be published by Hutchinson and Co. spect THE AUTHOR'S BOOK EXCHANGE. (Names of books wanted, books for sale, and books for exchange, to be sent to the ‘‘ Book Eachange,” Society of Authors, 4, Portugal-street. All correspondence on this subject to be addressed in the same way.) Books Wanted. (The price, post free, and the condition of the book to be named in reply.) Meredith, George : Rhoda Fleming ; Henry Richmond. Arundell’s Historical Reminiscences of the City of London. Rowlandson’s Adventures of Johnny Newcome in the Navy, 1818 ; Military Adventures of Johnny Newcome, 1818. Shadwell’s Dramatic Works, 4 vols., 1720. Alexander’s History of Women. Freeman, E. A.’s Life of William Rufus. Hazlitt’s Liber Amoris, 1823. Spencer, Herbert’s First Principles. The World: any vols., 1753, et seq. Appeal to the Men of Great Britain in behalf of Women, 1798. @apper’s Port and Trade of London, 1862. 417 Bissett, Andrew’s Notes on the Anti-Corn Law Struggle, 1884. Barnes’s New Discovery of Pigmies. Bligh’s Voyage to the South Sea in H.M.S. Bounty, 1792. Beloe’s Sexagenarian, Ist edition, 1817. Miss Berry’s Correspondence, 1783-1852, 1865. Hackluyt’s Voyages. Kit Kat Club, Memoirs of, with the portraits, 1821. Strutt’s Sports and Pastimes, Hone’s edition, 1845. Tavern Anecdotes, 1825. Davis’s Memorials of Knightsbridge, 1859. Murray’s Chronicles of St. Dunstan’s in the East, 1859. Memorials of Fleet-street. By a Barrister. Meiner’s History of the Female Sex, 1808. Reader’s Handbook of Illusions, &c. By Dr. Brewer. Windsor’s Ethica, 1840. Newgate Calendar, 1783-1815, 6 vols. Urquhart’s Tracts. Mitchell’s Christian Mythology. Cunningham’s Story of Nell Gwynne. Dunton’s Young Student’s Library. Howell’s Epistole, 1688. Sharpe’s Coventry Pageants. Stirling’s Old Drury-lane. Grosley’s Tour to London, 2 vols., 1772. Hogarth’s Frolic (any edition). Painter’s Palace of Pleasure. Rabelais: W. F. Smith’s New Translation. —Office of the Author. Beckford’s Vathek. Somerville’s The Chase. Tusher’s Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry. _J. E. Tayuer, Leavesden, Herts. Larwood’s History of Signboards. Andrew’s Old Times Punishments. Any Works of Cobbett. _B. Wo.rFerstan, Arts Club, Hanover-square. History of Paddington. Dr. Syntax: Life of Napoleon. __J. Batcoms, 14, Paddington-green. Captain Conyngham’s Services of the Irish Brigade in the Great American War. j —_Hrnry Brown, 4, Lorn-road, Brixton. { Books Offered. Sinclair: a novel. By Mrs. Pilkington, 4 vols., published 1809. The Family Estate; or Lost and Won. 8 vols., 1815. Ellesmere. By Mrs. Meeke, 4 vols., 1799. Leadenhall-street. Fitzroy. By Maria Hunter, 2, vols., 1792. Minerva Press, { Leadenhall-street. Lord Walford. By L. L., Esq., 2 vols., 1789. Chesterfield Letters. 2 vols., calf, 1777. mall. Oakwood Hall. 3 vols. A novel by Catherine Hutton, i including description of the Lakes. Hugh Trevor. By Thomas Holeroft, 2 vols., 1794. By Mrs. Ross, Minerva Press, Dodsley, Pall-  418 NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. Theology. Farrparrn, A. M., D.D. The Place of Christ in Modern Theology. Hodder and Stoughton. 12s. Farrar, ARCHDEACON. The First Book of Kings. Vol. of the Expositors’ Bible. Hodder and Stoughton. 7s. 6d, Hermon, Rey. G. E. Son, Remember! Plain warnings and counsels in eleven sermons. Skeffington. Hunter-Dunn, Rieut Rev. A.—Holy Thoughts for Quiet Moments. Brief meditations arranged for every day foramonth. Second edition. Sutton and Co., Ludgate- hill. 1s. Lerroy, Wituiam, D.D. Agoniw Christi, sermons on the sufferings of Christ, with others on His nature and work. ‘Preachers of the Age” series. Sampson Low. 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NEW NOVEL BY JAMES PAYN. Now Ready, at all the Libraries, Booksellers’, and Bookstalls, in 2 vols , crown 8vo., cloth extra, price 21s. A STUMBLE ON By HE THRESHOLD. TATE SsS PA YD. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. THE TIMES: “Mr. James Payn’s pleasant story contains a startling novelty. . . . The leading actors are a group of undergraduates of Cambridge University. Mr. Payn’s picture of University society is frankly exceptional. Exceptional, if not unique, is the ‘nice little college’ of St. Neot’s. Cambridge men will have little difficulty in recognising this snug refuge of the ‘ ploughed.’ ee An ingenious plot, clever characters, and, above all, a plentiful seasoning of genial wit. The uxorious master of St. Nept’s is charmingly conceived. If only for his reminiscences of his deceased wives, *A Stumble on the Threshold’ deserves to be treasured. . . . We turn over Mr. Payn’s delightful pages, so full of surprises and whimsical dialogue. . . .” DarLy NEWS: “The dramatic story is told with an excellent wit. It abounds in lively presentation of character and in shrewd sayings concerning life and manners. That study of mankind which is ‘man’ has furnished a liberal educa- tion to this genial humorist. The men and women he pourtrays move before us, as do our friends and acquaintances, distinct individualities, yet each possessed of that reserve of mystery a touch of which in the | | original, and worthy of the ingenuity of the loser of Sir delineation of human nature, is more convincing than pages of analysis. . Neot’s, Cambridge—simple, loyal, gently independent—is a beautiful study. between Bournemouth, Cambridge, and some charming spots near the Thames. Needham, Fellow of St. | The story alternates in its setting | The description of life in the} Alma Mater on the banks of the Cam gives Mr. Payn | opportunities for humorous ketches of professors and students, and he shows himself in the light of an excellent raconteur. This part of the narrative furnishes some delightful reading; we seem to be listening to the best talk, incisive, racy, and to the point. Space will not allow us to quote some of the wise and witty sayings, tinged it may be with cynicism, which are the outcome of Mr. Payn’s philosophy of life, and which are not the least entertaining part of this attractive novel.” DAILY CHRONICLE: ‘Mr. James Payn is here quite at his usual level all through, and that level is quite high enough to please most people. The character drawing is good. The story of the master sounds strangely like truth. : A book to read distinctly.” DAILY GRAPHIC: “ . | | The dramatic unity of time, place, and cir- cumstance has never had a more novel setting. . - a SATURDAY REVIEW: ‘A very interesting story, and one that excels in clever contrast of character and close study of individualism. Sts The characters make the impression of reality on the reader. Extremely pleasant are the sketches of University life.” THe WORLD: “The most sensational story which the author has written since his capital novel, ‘By Proxy.’ 3 Never flags for a moment.” BLACK AND WHITE: “ : Ingenious and original. Mr. Payn knows how to invent and lead up to a mystery.” LEEDS MERCURY: “Three more distinctive characters have, perhaps, never been drawn by Mr. James Payn than in Walter Blythe, Robert Grey, and George Needham, Cambridge undergraduates, who figure prominently in ‘A Stumble on the Threshold.’” Guasgow HERALD: “| |. Mr. Payn’s latest invention in sensational episode; but wild horses will not drag from us a statement of the mystery. It is new and thoroughly Massingberd.” BATLEY REPORTER: Is most attractive reading.” HAMPSHIRE TELEGRAPH AND CHRONICLE: “Mr. James Payn’s latest story, ‘A Stumble on the Threshold,’ which has been the chief attraction in the ‘ Queen’ during the last few months—where, by the way, it was most admirably illustrated—has just been issued in two handsome vols. by Mr. Horace Cox. The story is written in Mr. Payn’s happiest vein: it sparkles with wit, the characters are most unconventional. and the old, old theme is worked out on quite novel lines.” HEREFORD TIMES ‘< With all their sparkle and gaiety, Mr. Payn’s novels would not be complete without the dread Nemesis, mysterious in operation, and casting suspicion for a time on every side but the right one. The novel is thoroughly attractive, and a credit to the practised hand which penned it.” THE OBSERVER: « . . , Is a characteristic story, remarkably quietly told, always pleasing and satisfying, and pro- viding a startling incident at a moment when everything seems serene.” London: HORACE COX, Windsor House, Bream’s Buildings, E.C. “CHEAP JACK ZITA” WEW SERIAL STORY — 2 BARING -GOoOvULD., ENTITLED ‘““CHEAP JACK ZITA.” With Illustrations by a Prominent Artist, commenced in the ‘‘Queen” on Jan. 7.  424 ADVERTISEMENTS. MESDAMES BRETT & BOWSER, MRS. GiInik, TYPISTS g LU! E-WRITING OFFICE, SELBORNE CHAMBERS, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR 35, LUDGATE HILL, EC. (ESTABLISHED 1883.) : ays : “ ee Authors’ MSS. carefully and expeditiously copied, from Authors’ MSS. carefully copied from 1s. per 1000 words. Plays, 1s. per 1000 words. Extra carbon copies half price. Refer- | &c., 1s. 3d. per 1000 words. Extra copies (carbon) supplied at the rate of 4d. and 3d. per 1000 words. Type-writing from dictation ences kindly permitted to Augustine Birrell, Esq., M.P. 2s. 6d. per hour. Reference kindly permitted to Walter Besant, Esq. ’S HAIRLESS PAPER-PAD THE AUTHOR'S HAI ‘| MIss PaTTEN, (Tue LeapEenHALL Press Lrp., H.C.) 7YPIST — 44, Oakley Street Flats, Chelsea S.W. Contains hairless paper, over which the pen Authors’ MSS. carefully transcribed. References kindly permitted slips with perfect freedom. to George Augustus Sala, Esq., Justin Huntly McCarthy, Esq., and many other well-known Authors. Siapence each: 58. per dozen, ruled or plain. Wire. Proot Safe for sine: LITERARY PRODUCTIONS Particulars on Application. OF EVERY DESCRIPTION Ce REVISED and CORRECTED on Mode- rate Terms by the Author of “The Queen’s English “T always stick in my } TICKPHAST- up to Date” (see Press Opinions), price 2s. scraps.and papers with ) PASTE. Ellen Terry.” Address ‘“ Anglophil,” Literary Revision Office, 342, Strand, W.C. Published every Friday morning; price. without Reports, 9d.; with eo. Reports, Is. Price One Shilling ; by Post, Is. 3d. HE LAW TIMES, the Journal of the Law and the | 7 HE QUEEN ALMANACK, and Lady’s Calendar _ Lawyers, which has now just completed its fiftieth year, - 1898. Contains a Chromo-Lithograph Plate of an Album Cover supplies to the Profession a complete Record of the Progress of Legal in Titatian Boule Work, Winter Comforts in Knitting and Crochet, , ; . Reforms, and of all matters affecting the Legal Profession. The creas : : - Reports of the Law Times are now recognised as the most complete ee , Hand-painted, or Inlaid Work, and Bang and efficient series published. Offices: Windsor House, Bream’s-buildings, E.C. The ‘‘ Queen ” Office, Windsor House, Bream’s-buildings, E.C. TWENTY-FOURTH ISSUE. Now ready, super-royal 8vo., price 15s., post free. CROCKFORD'S CLERICAL DIRECTORY POR 18692 Being a Statistical Book of Reference for Facts relating to the Clergy in England, } Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and the Colonies, WITH A FULLER INDEX RELATING TO PARISHES AND BENEFICES THAN ANY EVER YET GIVEN TO THE PUBLIC. LONDON: HORACE COX, WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM’S BUILDINGS, E.C. COx Ss ARTS OF READING, WRITING, AND SPEAKING. ” LETTERS TO A LAW STUDENT. By Tem Late MR. SHRJBANT COZ. RE-ISSUE (SIXTH THOUSAND). PRICE 7s. 6d. LONDON: HORACE COX, ‘‘\ LAW TIMES” OFFICE, WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM'S BUILDINGS, E.C Printed and Published by Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream’s-buildings, London, E.C. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 03 Issue 11 (April 1893) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 03 Issue 11 (April 1893) Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1893-04-01-The-Author-3-11 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/450/1893-05-01-The-Author-3-12.pdf 455bb674c1ac0f0ba0f0696dde875d5b PDF Text Text ���������������������������������������� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1893-05-01 Volume 3 Issue 12 Pages Page range in volume 425–464 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18930501 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin Che Fluthor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vou. III.—No. 12.] Agreements Warnings ves ee How to Use the Society The Authors’ Syndicate Notices... oe cs Literary Property— MAY 1, 1893. [PRICE SIXPENCE. CONTENTS. PAGE. PAGE wee 427 Libraries—New and Old... ak os os ce eee .-. 444 we 427 An Author's Experiences ... ec oe ae aes ae .. 446 --» 428 Correspondence— . 428 1.—New Writers Re ee eae se ou is .. 449 . 429 : Attack and Defence Sey en Se See Me ae 450 3.—A Coincidence ca oe Ge a is nay wee 450 4.—Prompt Payment 1 i | | } 1.—Magazines and Copyright : ee ae 2.—On Stamping Agreements 5.—Value of Criticism to Beginners : see a 3 451 3.—The Right of Translation 6.—How to Help Young Writers... es ie te ae 4.—Half Price and Half Royalty 7.—Dreams a ee ge fe 451 5.—A Fair Agreement ... From the Fapers— 6—Titles. =... ae ee 1.—Literature at the Chicago Exhibition. From the Chicago The Cost of Production aes can ee ox Dial and the New York Critic oe ee Se are sce 452 i Omnium Gatherum for May. By J. M. Lély ... 2.—The Rolled MS. From the New York Critic a i AOS | The Royal Literary Fund Dinner wa 3.—An American Paternoster Row... as cy oe 488 ie ‘The Theft.” By F. B. Doveton... 4.—Dedications ... ote gis ise See ee ae 5. 454 Notes and News. By the Editor... sea oe 5.—Filing Copyright ... ao aS oes aes ae ... 454 + Augustine.” By the Rev. Canon Bell, D.D.... he pea ae 6.—The Current Adjective... ous Ne a ea a abs Feuilleton.—The People of the Pages .By the Countess Galletti... 7.—Alas! Poor Yorick! a <n ae os See se D8 Goodbye to April. By Lewis Brockman fe ae Ga “ At the Sign of the Author's Head” ... cae ea ee = 4b5 Psychological Sentiments ... ane ies ee The Book Exchange... ul ous oie xe a ie on SBT Reminiscences of Taine. By Winifrede Wyse | New Books and New Editions Bs ne ae ae oe -.. 468 PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. a 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1892 can be had on application to the Secretary. tH 9. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members. 3. The Grievances of Authors. (The Leadenhall Press.) 1s. The Report of three Meetings on the general subject of ‘Literature and its defence, held at Willis’s Rooms, March, 1887. 4 Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris CoLLes, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, gs, Strand, W.C.) 3s. 5. The History of the Sociéte des Gens de Lettres. the Society. 1s. 6. The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c., with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. 7. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squire Spriace. In this work, compiled from the pepers in the Society’s offices, the various forms of agreements proposed by Publishers to MI Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 35. : Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell’s Copyright Bill now before Parlia- ment. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix i | containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Levy. Hyre a i and Spottiswoode. Is. 6d. ' By S§. Squire SpriageE, late Secretary to o a ad  426 ADVERTISEMENTS. The Society of Authors (Sncorporated), PRESIDENT. GHEORGHE MEREDITEH. COUNCIL. Str Epwin Arno, K.C.LE., C.S.I. ALFRED AUSTIN. J. M. Barris. A. W. A Broxerv. Rogert Bateman. Sir Henry Berenz, K.C.M.G. WALTER BEsAnrt. AUGUSTINE BIRRELL, M.P. R. D. BLackmoreE. Rev. Pror. Bonney, F.B.S. Lord BRABOURNE. James Bryce, M.P. Haut Carne. P. W. CLaypen. Epwakp CLopp. W. Morris Couugs. Hon. JoHn Courier. W. Martin Conway. F. Marion CRAWFORD. Austin Dogson. A. W. Dusoura. Epmunp Gossz. THomas Harpy. J. M. Leny. OswaLp CRAWFURD, C.M.G. Tue Earu or Desart. J. Eric Ericusen, F.R.S. Pror. MicHaEL Foster, F.R.S. HERBERT GARDNER, M.-P. RicHarp Garnett, LL.D. H. Riper Haaaarp. JERomE K. Jerome. Rupyarp Kiprina. Pror. E. Ray Lanxester, F.R.S. Rey. W. J. Lorri, F.S.A. Pror. J. M. D. Mrrxugsoun. Herman C. MEeRIvane. Rev. C. H. Mippteton-Waxe F.L.S. Lewis Morris. Pror. Max Miuuer. J. C. ParKInsoNn. THE Ear. or PEMBROKE AND Mont- GOMERY. Srz FREDERICK Pottock, Bart., LL.D. WALTER Herrizs Pouuock. A. G. Ross. GEoRGE AuGusTus SALA. W. Bapriste Scoonsgs. G. R. Sums. S. Squrre Spriaar. J. J. STEVENSON. Jas. SULLY. Wiui1am Moy Tuomas. H. D. Trarut, D.C.L. Baron HENRY DE Worms, M.P., E.R.S. Epmunp Yates. Hon. Cownsel—K. M. UnpERpown, Q.C. Solicitors—Messrs Frenp, Roscor, and Co., Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Secretary—C. HeRBERT Turina, B.A. OFFICES. 4, Portugat Street, Lincoun’s Inn Freips, W.C. Now ready, Third Edition, with Additions throughout, in demy 8vo., 700 pages, price 15s. AN ANECDOTAL HISTORY oF THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT, From the Earliest Periods to the Present Time. WITH NOTICES OF EMINENT PARLIAMENTARY MEN, AND EXAMPLES OF THEIR ORATORY CoMPILED FRoM AUTHENTIC SOURCES BY GHORGEH HRNRY JRNNiNnGs CONTENTS. Part I.—Rise and Progress of Parliamentary Institutions. Part II.—Personal Anecdotes: Sir Thomas More to John Morley. Part III.—Miscellaneous. 1. Elections. 2. Privilege; Ex- elnsion of Strangers; Publication of Debates. 3. Parliamentary Usages, &c. 4. Varieties. APpPENDIXx.—(A) Lists of the Parliaments of England and of the United Kingdom. (B) Speakers of the House of Commons. (C) Prime Ministers, Lord Chancellors, and Secretaries of State from 1715 to - 1892. Opinions of the Press of the Present Edition. ‘“‘ The work, which has long been held in high repute as a repertory of good things, is more than ever rich in doth instruction and amuse- ment. ”—Scotsman. ‘It is a treasury of useful fact and amusing anecdote, and in its latest form should have increased popularity.”"—Globe. who may have occasion to assist as Speakers during the electoral vempaign, is incumparable.”—Sala’s Journal, “Tt is a work that possesses both a practical and an historica | value. and is altogether unique in character.”—Kentish Observer. ‘* We can heartily recommend this work to the politician, whatever may be his party leanings.”—Northern Echo. =o ‘‘Here we have the whole company of Parliamentary celebrities, | past and present, reduced to puppets, so to speak, and made to ‘Its advantage to those who are seeking seats in Parliament, or | repeat their best and most approved rhetorical performances for our | leisurely entertainment, which is not less enjoyable from being allied | with edifleation.”—Ziverpool Courier. "2 Orders may now be sent to HORACE COX “Law Times” Office, Windsor House, Bream’s-buildings, E.C. ecm a  The Huthbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vou. IT1.—No. 12.] MAY 1, 1893. [PRricz SIXPENCE. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or parda- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the committee unless they are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, sec. notice that all remittances are acknow- ledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. é Secretary of the Society begs to give ee AGREEMENTS. as the vendor, has the absolute right of drafting the agreement upon whatever terms the transaction is to be carried out. Authors are strongly advised to stipulate for that right, and to exercise it. In every other form of business, the right of drawing the agreement rests with him who sells, leases, or has the ¢ ntrol in the property. Landowners draw the convey- ance upon a sale of their property. Landlords draw the lease when they let a house. 7 is not generally understood that the author, os WARNINGS. ie: of the Author and members of the Society are earnestly desired to make the following warnings as widely known as possible. They are based on the experience of eight years’ work by which the dangers to VOL. III. which literary property is especially exposed have been discovered :— 1. Serra, Rieuts.—In selling Serial Rights stipulate that you are selling the Serial Right for one paper at a certain time, a simultaneous Serial Right only, otherwise you may find your work serialized for years, to the detriment of your volume form. 2. Stamp your AGREEmMENTS.—Readers are most URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements immediately after signature. If this precaution is neglected for two weeks, a fine of £10 must be paid before the agreement can be used asa legal document. In almost every case brought to the secretary the agreement, or the letter which serves for one, is forwarded without the stamp. The author may be assured that the other party to the agreement never neglects this simple pre- caution. The stamp duty varies from 6d. up to Ios. or more, according to the form of agreement. The Society, to save trouble, undertakes to get all the agreements of members stamped for them at no expense to themselves except the cost of the stamp. 3. ASCERTAIN WHAT A PROPOSED AGREEMENT GIVES TO BOTH SIDES BEFORE SIGNING IT.— Remember that an arrangement as to a joint venture in any other kind of business whatever would be instantly refused should either party refuse to show the books or to let it be known what share he reserved for himself. 4. Lirerary Acents.—Be very careful. You cannot be too careful as to the person whom you appoint as your agent. Remember that you place your property almost unreservedly in his hands. Your only safety is in consulting the Socicty, or some friend who has had personal experience of the agent. Do not trust advertisements alone. 5. Cost OF Propucrion.—Never sign any agreement of which the alleged cost of pro- duction forms an integral part, until you have proved the figures. KK 2  428 6. Cuorcr oF PuBLisuERs.—Never enter into any correspondence with publishers, especially with those who advertise for MSS., who are not recommended by experienced friends or by this Society. 7. Futur—E Worx.—Never, on any account whatever, bind yourself down for future work to anyone. 8. Royaury.—Never accept any proposal of royalty until you have ascertained what the agreement, worked out on both a small and a large sale, will give to the author and what to the publisher. g. Personat Risx.—Never accept any pecu- niary risk or responsibility whatever without advice. 10. Resectep MSS.—Never, when a MS. has been refused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises they may put forward, for the production of the work. 11. American Ricurs.— Never sign away American rights. Keep them by special clause. Refuse to sign any agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the publisher, unless for a substantial consideration. If the publisher insists, take away the MS. and offer it to another. 12. Cession or Copyrieur.—Never sign any paper, either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright, without advice. 13. ADVERTISEMENTS.—Keep control over the advertisements, if they affect your returns, by a clause in the agreement. Reserve a veto. If you are yourself ignorant of the subject, make the Society your adviser. 14. Never forget that publishing is a business, like any other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy, charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with business men. Be yourself a business man. Society’s Offices :— 4, Portuean Street, Lincotn’s Inn Freips. OO HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. 1. Every member has a right to advice upon his agreements, his choice of a publisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the THE AUTHOR. Society’s solicitors. If the case is such that Counsel’s opinion is desirable, the Committee will obtain for him Counsel’s opinion. All this with- out any cost to the member. z. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publishers’ agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books repre- sented. This is in order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agreements and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The secretary will always be glad to have . any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The information thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business transactions by the Secretary proves unfavour- able, you should take advice as toa change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the proposed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks, of every publishing firm in the country. Remember that there are certain houses which live entirely by trickery. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the inde- pendence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of the Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. oc THE AUTHORS’ SYNDICATE. SPECIAL report of the Authors’ Syndi- cate has been prepared and issued to those members of the Society for whom the Syndicate has transacted business. Members are informed: 1. That the Authors’ Syndicate takes charge of the business of members of the Society. With, when necessary, the assistance of the legal advisers of the Society, it concludes agreements, collects  THE AUTHOR. 429 royalties, examines and passes accounts, and generally relieves members of the trouble of managing business details. 2. That the expenses of the Authors’ Syndi- cate are defrayed entirely out of the commission charged on rights placed through its intervention. This charge is reduced to the lowest possible amount compatible with efficiency. Meanwhile members will please accept this intimation that they are not entitled to the services of the Syndi- cate gratis, a misapprehension which appears to widely exist. 3. That the Authors’ Syndicate works for none but those members of the Society whose work possesses a market value. 4. That the business of the Syndicate is not to advise members of the Society, but to manage their affairs for them. 5. That the Syndicate can only undertake arrangements of any character on the distinct understanding that those arrangements are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all negotiations relating thereto are referred to it. 6. That clients can only be seen personally by appointment, and that, when possible, at least four days’ notice should be given. The work of the Syndicate is now so heavy, that only a limited number of interviews can be arranged. 7. That every attempt is made to deal with the correspondence promptly, but that owing to the enormous number of letters received, some delay is inevitable. That stamps should, in all cases, be sent to defray postage. 8. That the Authors’ Syndicate does not invite MSS. without previous correspondence, and does not hold itself responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. De NOTICES. HE Editor of the Author begs to remind members of the society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the society if a great many members did not forward to the secretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects con- nected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the society than to make the Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to nid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write ? Communications for the Author should reach the editor not later than the 21st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office with- out previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly understood that the Society does not, under any circum- stances, undertake the publication of MSS. The Authors’ Club is now opened in its new premises, at 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. ‘Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, &c. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? If they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker’s order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the warning numbered (3). It is a most foolish and a most disastrous thing to bind yourself to anyone for a term of years. Let them ask them- selves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest or dishonest ? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign themselves into literary bondage for three or five years ? Those who possess the “Cost of Production” are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble of ‘doing sums,” the addition of three shillings in the pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at £9 4s. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth as can be procured : but a printer’s, or a binder’s, bill is so elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at.  430 Some remarks have been made upon the amvunt charged in the “Cost of Production” for advertising. Ofcourse, we have not included any sums which may be charged for inserting adver- tisements in the publisher’s own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud: it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. — ee LITERARY PROPERTY. I. MaGaZINES AND COPYRIGHT. AM pleased that my letter, signed ‘ P.,” inserted in December, has been thought of sufficient interest and importance to call forth valuable remarks in every subsequent num- ber, and I may now try to sum up the knowledge we have gained thereby. The essence of the provision in the Act is as follows :— When any proprietor shall employ any person to compose articles on the terms that the copyright therein shall belong to such proprietor, and such articles shall be paid for by such proprietor, the copyright shall be the property of such proprietor. Here, as Mr. Harold Hardy (p. 313) points out, in order that the proprietor shall be entitled to the copyright, three conditions must be fulfilled :— (1) Employment.—The writer must have been employed to write the article. (2) Terms.—The article must be written on the terms that the copyright therein shall belong to the proprietor. (3) Payment.—The writer of the article must be paid for it by the proprietor. Now let us put a few cases to see how this will work, A.—Suppose I write an article according to my own fancy, and send it to a magazine. It is inserted and paid for, but nothing is said about copyright by either party. There clearly the conditions 1 and 2 are absent, and the copyright, by the general Act, should be wholly mine. Mr. Armstrong (p. 277) mentions an obiter dictum of the Vice-Chancellor to this effect, that “the payment is evidence of a thing at least tantamount to the employment,” but this cannot THE AUTHOR. reasonably apply here, as the Act is so very explicit in requiring not only payment, but distinct and positive employment under specified terms. B.—But suppose the proprietor or editor of a cyclopedia or review sequests me to write an article for him on a given subject; this is after- wards paid for, but still nothing has been said about copyright. Here we have distinct employment, and there- fore conditions 1 and 3 are fulfilled. But how about condition 2? By the hypothesis it is assumed to be wanting, but it may be argued that my acceptance of the duty involves my con- forming to the usual practice of the periodical, which may be to retain the copyrights. And here, I fancy, the case of Sweet v. Benning, cited by Mr. Hardy and Mr. Charteris, might come in, it being held that an express contract was not necessary, if the “terms” might primd facie be implied. It would seem, therefore, that here the owner- ship of the copyright may depend on the special circumstances of the case. C.—Finally, suppose that in the first instance I write to the editor, and ask him if he would like me to send him an article on a subject named? He answers me in the affirmative, and the article is sent, inserted, and paid for. Does this constitute “ employment?” I should think not; for the position of the author is essentially different. In case B., he is a servant, paid for his work ; here he is a volunteer, and his work may be thrown away by the rejection of what he sends. All these three cases are of frequent occur- rence—in A. and C., the author's ownership seems clear, in B. it may be uncertain. There is, I believe, a common impression that the copyright in magazine articles belongs jointly to the proprietor and the author, and, as“ J.” has said, it is frequently assumed, as a matter of courtesy, that both parties should concur in allowing a reprint. But such an impression can- not over-ride the Act of Parliament, when the latter clearly gives the property to the author. It is also worthy of notice that, even when the copyright rests with the proprietor, he cannot publish the article separately without the author’s consent; and after twenty-eight years the full right of such separate publication “reverts”? to the author. So that, unless the full copyright is specially transterred, an important control by him over the publication is always maintained. Witiiam Pote. Atheneum Club. April 17, 1893.  THE AUTHOR. 431 EL On Srampinec AGREEMENTS. Readers are constantly warned, in _ these columns, not to neglect the stamping of their agreements. An ordinary agreement, under hand, for the publication of a book is liable to the duty of 6d. If the contract is im duplicate, one part to be held by the publisher, the other by the author, both must be stamped with 6d. Ifa 6d. adhesive stamp—the ordinary 6d. postage stamp —is used, it should be affixed to the document before signing, and the signature written across it, and the date, say 1-4-93, should also be written on the stamp, thus: | J 3. Jone's. 1-4-93 You will then have complied with the strict requirements of the law as to stamping and can- cellation of the stamp. Remember that it is useless to stick a 6d. adhesive stamp on to the agreement after it has been signed by the party who first signs it; the law requires that the adhesive stamp shall be cancelled by the person who first executes the agreement. If the contract is contained in a_ series of letters, a stamp on any one of them will suffice ; but it will be most convenient to stamp the letter from the publisher containing the acceptance of terms, and in that case the stamp should be a 6d. impressed stamp, obtainable at Somerset House within fourteen days from the date of the letter. If the agreement inter partes has been signed without a stamp, take your part to Somerset House (No. 25, Inland Revenue), or send it to the Comptroller of Stamps and Stores, with six- pence in stamps, and a request to get it stamped, so that it may be stamped with an impressive 6d. stamp within fourteen days from the date ; the actual date not counting as one of the fourteen days. But Sundays and holidays count, @.e., if the fourteenth day falls on a Sunday, you will be “out of time’? onthe Monday. The maximum penalty for stamping an agree- ment under hand after the fourteen days is £10. But the authorities usually mitigate this consi- derably, unless stamping 1s sought in contempla- tion of legal proceedings, or in the course of pro- ceedings already commenced. If the document is produced unstamped in court you will have to pay £11 os. 6d. (£10 penalty, & fee, 6d. duty) before it can be used in evidence. Anagreement of this kind under seal, which is rare, is liable to a duty of at least 10s. as a “deed” at least, and may be liable to further duty according to its terms. The time for stamping a deed is thirty days from date of first execution. Other remarks apply. —— EL Tur Riegut oF TRANSLATION. Under Article V. of the Berne Convention, it is provided that an author shall have the exclu- sive right of translation until the expiration of ten years from publication of the original work ; but when we turn to the International Copyright Act, 1886, we find it provided (clause 5 (1) ) that he shall have the same right of preventing un- authorised translations which he has of prevent- ing piracy of the original work. The only lmi- tation I can find is that, in the next sub-division of the clause, it is provided that, if after ten years no authorised translation has been produced, the author's right to forbid unauthorised trans- lations shall cease. In other words, the author’s right in respect of translation appears, by the Berne Convention, to be absolute for ten years; whereas by the Inter- national Copyright Act it seems to be extended to the full term of literary copyright on the sole condition that an authorised translation shall be published within ten years. T observe that the Order in Council (Nov. 28, 1887), by which Great Britain was made a party to the Berne Convention, provides (sect. 8), that this order shall be construed as if it formed part of the International Copyright Act, 1886. I should be glad if someone more learned in these matters would explain to me how these different provisions can be reconciled. F. T. TY. Tur “Har Price” CLavse. We have spoken already of a certain “ half price ”’ clause, and what it means. As our obser- vations were not quite understood, the following figures will help to explain. The clause, in sub- stance, though the wording is sometimes different, runs as follows: ‘ But if the publisher thinks fit to sell the book under half the advertised price the above royalty of so much per cent. shall be reduced by one half.” This seems plausible. The author ignorantly thinks that if the publisher halves his price the royalty ought also in justice to be halved, so he signs. Let us illustrate the clause by taking a two- volume novel, nominally 21s. price, subject to a royalty of 15 per cent. It is really sold at about irs. to the libraries (sometimes for less), t.€., S1X- pence over half price. It costs about 4s. a copy for an edition of 500. os  432 If the bovk is sold at its. the case stands thus : s. d. Author gets for each copy sold... 3 «14 Publisher gets’ Less cost Se Author ... 3 414 7 14 oe 77 3 105 But if he sells at 1os., which is just under half price. s. dd. The author gets only per copy... I 625 Publisher... 4, 4, 10 6 Less cost re Author ... ro 68. 5 8% 4 570 So that it is to the publisher’s interest, by 6%d., per volume to sell at ros. rather than rts. That is to say he pockets close upon 7d. a copy more by the second arrangement than by the first. This was pointed out to a certain publisher in a certain case. He explained that he did not know that such would be the result. V. A Farr AGREEMENT. A pleasing agreement has been brought to light in which the author agreed to cede the whole of his rights ina book, whatever they should prove to be, not for half profits, or for two-thirds profits ; not for a royalty of 20 per cent., or 25 per cent. on the advertised price, but for 124 per cent. on the amount realised by the sale of the work. To make it look pretty it was called a “ royalty ”—a royalty of 124 per cent. on the amount realised by the sale of the work. Suppose, to put this neat little job into figures, the whole edition of 1000 copies of a book under such an agreement —taking, as usual, a 6s. book—had gone off, the net proceeds would have been £175. (See “ Cost of Production.”) The author’s share would have been £23. The publisher’s profit would have been £52. Suppose another edition of 3000 copies had gone, the proceeds would have been £575. The author’s share would have been £72. The profits would be £355, and the pub- lisher’s share £283. Now this is no invention of something that might have happened. It is an agreement actually drawn up and signed. VI. TITLEs. Such a newspaper title as The Journal is of so general a class as scarcely to afford pro- mise of a leading case, if dispute arose. How- THE AUTHOR. ever, the company which has since July, 1892, run the large Paris daily sheet called Le Journal has recently had to defend an action brought (for £2000 damages and a penalty of £8 a day) by one Gregori, who on Feb, 4th, 1886, had regis- tered the title, and who, between then and April, 1892, had published at irregular dates five numbers of his paper. Then, when the other Journal was announced, he made a spurt with a few more numbers. The Commercial Court has now decided that Gregori’s publication was neither daily, weekly, monthly, nor in any sense periodical; ani, further, that the mere registration of a title (in this dog-in-the-manger fashion, as one might say) without giving practical and current effect and consequence to the act, does not in equity confer an exclusive right to the title. And so Gregori has “carried coals” for nothing, and may now “bite his thumb.” THE COST OF PRODUCTION. HE statement lately made by Mr. Heinemann, that he could not get work done at the same terms as those quoted in the “Cost of Production ”’ has made it desirable, despite the great care with which those figures were obtained and published, to submit, once more, the figures there given to other printers. The firm to whom they have been referred is one which is certainly above all suspicion of being a sweating house ; at the same time, its work is quite in the first line, as would be acknowledged by anyone, were it possible to give their name. It appears, from an examination made by this firm, that the figures-are perfectly trustworthy, viz., that, although a printer’s estimate is necessarily an elastic document, work offered on our terms would be accepted not only by that firm, but, as the manager frankly stated, by dozens of other firms. Note, however, that th figures represent net prices, not the prices off which heavy discounts are taken. On page 19 of the ‘‘ Cost of Production ”’ there is an estimate for an edition—5oo copies only—of a one-volume novel. “The total,” said the printer, “of £166 10s. is about what we should charge, deducting the amount set down for binding and advertising ; but instead of 5s. 6d. for printing, we should want 6s. 6d.” That is a trifling difference, because few respectable publishers would care to produce a one-volume novel of which only 500 copies would be printed, the number not  THE AUTHOR. 433 being sufficient to pay the initial cost. This estimate, in fact, might as well be struck out, unless we consider the case of a writer paying to produce his own work regardless of pecuniary success. Again, the figures; given for very small editions of three-volume novels could only be accepted, according to this authority, in cases where the publisher gives a good deal of work to a printing firm. But, then, respectable firms do not often bring out a three-volume novel in an edition of 350 copies and no more. Such a book is not worth bringing out. Again, this estimate is practically useful only to those who pay for their own work. They ought not to be encouraged in so foolish a practice, and the estimates might very well disappear. Yet, in the case of a firm sending in a great deal of work, the figures would stand. The sum of the matter is this :— Under modifications of numbers, work can be done by a firm of first-class printers at the prices quoted for printing in the “ Cost of Production.” In other words, private persons and small publishers, who have little work to give out, would probably have to pay somewhat higher rates. But the “Cost of Production” does not pretend to represent either private persons or small publishers. It may be added to the above that a private person, publishing a short time ago a book at his own expense and risk, took it, by the advice of the secretary, to a certain London firm—a very high-class firm—and that their estimate and their bill proved to be actually less than the estimate given in the “ Cost of Production” for the same form of book. The following may also be added. It is a story now four or five years old. A. B., bringing out a little book on commission, was informed by the publisher to whom he offered it that it would cost £120 to print and bind. He then obtained an estimate for himself from a firm of c>untry printers whom he knew, and found that it would cost no more than £60. He informed the pub- lisher of the difference, but was told that if the house did not have the conduct of the printing they could not publish the book. In other words, OMNIUM GATHERUM FOR MAY. Suggestions for Books or Articles.—The dangers to every combination from the rivalry of its leaders ;—The extension of the principle of the Directors’ Liability Act of 1890 to unpaid presi- dents of distinction, and to directors Jaineant ; _Jreland as a holiday resort, with special refe- VOL. III. rence to the attractions of Portrush, Bray, Killarney, and Maam ;— Altruism in railway travelling ;—The functions of an Editor (by one);—The cultivation of the Quince ; — The legitimation of children born before marriage, with special reference to the Scotch and Conti- nental law of the subject, the “nolunt leges Angliz mutare” of the Lords at Merton when the Bishops ‘ instanted ” them, and Mr. McLaren’s Bill now before Parliament ;—The use and abuse of Patent Medicines (with a few words on the dangers and expense of rouge and other cos- metics) ;—Librarianship as a profession. Demurrage.—It is submitted as possible that demurrage might be contracted for in respect of MSS. held over for more than a reasonable time, and not used. Index.—It is submitted as possible that a short table of contents, printed on a paper or cloth label, pasted on the back of a binding, may serve many of the purposes of an index in the case of thick books of reference. Prefaces. — Prefaces should be always two pages long, neither more nor less; more being tiresome, and less being uncomplimentary. There should be a careful division into para- graphs, and the last paragraph of the first page should run over into the second, otherwise the reader may lose your best bits. Dedications.—These, which I touched on in March, are exhaustively dealt with in the Lite- rary World column of the St. James’s Gazette of April 8, at p. 12. As to quality, the two best of recent times—that of Tennyson’s Idylls, and that of Mill on Liberty—were to memories of the dead. As to quantity, I counted seven in a row of twenty-six quite new books the other day, but T think I must then have hit upon a dedicated lot, for in another similar row of about forty, I could only find four ; and, looking to the difficulties of the thing, perhaps the lesser average may be the more desirable one. Interview with the Printer.—If it be possible, have an interview with the head printer in charge of your book as soon as you have read through the first proof. See that each proof and proof duplicate is dated, and ascertain generally to what extent corrections may be made without “ running over.” I believe the expense of marginal notes has caused their disuse across the Atlantic. In many cases, but not all, the cheaper “ inlet ”’ will serve the purpose of the marginal note equally well. Reviewing. — A reviewer should always be anonymous ; a review should never be solicited ; the desirability of universal machine-cutting of it eee en aa  434 THE pages is in no ease so self-evident as in the case of a book sent for review. Advertisements—The disguise of advertise- ments as literary matter, and the interfusion of advertisements with magazine stories, are surely being carried too far. The object of the advertiser is no doubt to force the advertisement upon the notice of the reader, who, however, is more likely to be repelled than not from the pills of X by their ill-judged intrusion into the novelette of Z. Copyright.—The 18th section of the Copyright Act of 1842 is a disgrace to civilisation. J. M. Lety. THE ROYAL LITERARY FUND DINNER. HIS dinner was held on April 25, the chair being taken by Mr. Arthur Balfour, Among the men of letters present were Sir Frederick Pollock, Sir Theodore Martin, Professor Jebb, Canon Ainger, Mr. F. Locker Lampson, Mr, Austin Dobson, Mr. Thomas Hardy, Mr. J. M. Barrie, Mr. W. J. Courthope, Mr. Edward Dicey, Mr. Edmund Yates, Mr. J. C. Parkinson, Mr. Henry Arthur Jones, and Professor Norman Lockyer. The following, as reported in the Times, is that part of Mr. Balfour’s address which was concerned with literature :— “But I fear that on the present occasion I have dealt too long with this special topic. My business is rather to talk to you, not of the political future of the country, but of matters connected with literature—of matters, in other words, which those who belong to this Society may be supposed to take an especial interest in and have especially under their charge. I do not know that I have anything to say which may interest you on this topic. We have all felt that the great names which rendered illustrious the early years of the great Victorian epoch are one by one dropping away, and now perhaps but few are left. I do not know that any of us can see around us the men springing up who are to occupy the thrones thus left vacant. I should not venture to say—and indeed I do not think— that we live in an age barren of literature. But none of us will deny that, at all events at the present moment, we do not seea rising generation of men of letters likely to rival those of old times. (Hear, hear.) I was born, I suppose, too late to join in the full enthusiasm which I have known expressed for the writers whose best works were produced before 1860 or 1870. Pergon- ally I have known many who found in the AUTHOR. writings of —whom shall I say? — Carlyle, Tennyson, Browning, and George Eliot every- thing that they could imagine or desire, either in the way of artistic excellence, or ethical instruc. tion, or literary delight. I have not myself ever been able to surrender myself so absolutely to the charm and the greatness of these great and charming writers. I have sometimes thought that the age of which [ speak may perhaps have been inclined unduly to exalt itself in comparison with that despised century, the eighteenth. (Cheers.) Whoever may be right or wrong in these matters, at all events the fact remains that the authors to whom I have alluded would have rendered any reign illustrious; that they have departed ; and that we do not at present see among us their successors. (Hear, hear.) It is a most interesting situation, because I am not prepared to admit that we live in an age which bears upon it the marks of decadence. (Hear, hear.) Undoubtedly there is more knowledge of literature, more command of literary technique, both in prose and poetry, at the present moment, than has been often the case, or perhaps ever the case before. You will find a true literary instinct pervading the whole enormous and even over- whelming mass of contemporary literature. Therefore it certainly is not from ignorance nor indifference that the present age fails, if, indeed, I am right in thinking that it does fail. Neither has the present age another mark which has been characteristic of previous ages of decadence. There have been periods when the love of literature was very widely spread through the community, when a knowledge of literature and a command of literary forms was prevalent among the educated classes ; but when, at the same time, the admira- tion of past works of genius was so overwhelming that it seemed almost impossible to bring forth new works of genius in competition with them. The old forms, in fact, commanded and mastered whatever imaginative and original genius there may have been at the time of which I am speaking. I do not believe that that is the case now. My own conviction is that at this moment, not only is there no dislike of novelty, not only is there no prejudice in favour of ancient models, but any new thing of any merit whatever is likely to be accepted and welcomed at least at its true value. (Hear, hear.) I recollect an artist friend of mine, who had studied for some time in the cosmopolitan studios of Paris, saying that in his Opinion we were on the very verge of a great artistic revival. He said that he found among the students with whom he associated such a zeal for art and such a knowledge of art, so great a desire to bring forth some new thing which should be worthy of the everlasting admiration of man- THE kind, that in his judgment it was absolutely impossible that so much talent, so much zeal, and so much readiness to accept new ideas, should not ultimately issue in the formation of a great and original school of painting. (Hear, hear.) What he said of painting we may surely say at the present day of literature. (Hear, hear.) It only requires the rise of some great man of genius to mould the forces which exist in plenty around us, to utilise the instruction which we have almost in superabundance, and to make the coming age of literature as glorious or even more glorious than any of those which have preceded it. (Cheers. ) Whether that genius will arise or not I cannot say. ‘The wind bloweth where it listeth, and no man knoweth whence it cometh or whither it goeth.” So it is with genius; and no man can prophesy what is to be the literary future of the world. “My friend Lord Kelvin has often talked to me of the future of science, and he has said words to me about the future of science, which are parallel with the words I have quoted to you about the future of art and with the hope which I have expressed to you with respect to literature. He has told me that, to the men of science of to- day, it appears as if we were trembling upon the brink of some great scientific discovery which should give to us a new view of the great forces of nature among which and in the midst of which we move. If this prophecy be right, and if the other forecasts to which I have alluded be right, then, indeed, it is true that we live in an interesting age; then, indeed, it is true that we may look forward to a time full of fruit for the human race—to an age which cannot be sterilised or rendered barren even by politics. THE THEFT. The Little God upon a day was sleeping Among the roses in a garden fair, The wand’ring winds of June were softly sweeping The tangled mazes of his golden hair ; Beside him lay his quiver and his bow, But he was dreaming in the noontide summer glow. Then, Friendship came from roaming by the river, And, gently creeping to the sleeper’s side, Stole his bright bow, and eke his dainty quiver, And like the wind to Flora’s bower hied ! There, through the leaves that hid her place of rest, He lodged an arrow in her milk-white breast. The maiden woke, her bosom newly riven, But, after all, it was delicious pain, Whilst the old wound the Rosy God had given Full well she knew would never smart again. The birds—the blooms—the cloudless skies above, All knew that Friendship had been turned to Love. Easter. F, B, DovEeron. VOL. IIl. AUTHOR. aes NOTES AND NEWS. T will be seen, by reference to p. 452, that the Congress of Authors fixed for next July, at Chicago, is assuming an impor- tance which may produce very serious results. The head of the Chicago Committee is Mr. F. F. Browne, editor of the Chicago Dial. A com- mittee of co-operation has been formed in New York, whose chairman is Oliver Wendell Holmes, and its members are Edmund C. Stedman, Charles Eliot Norton, Charles Dudley Warner, William Dean Howells, Colonel Higginson, H. H. Furness, Richard Watson Gilder, Thomas Bailey Aldrich, George W. Cable, Maurice Thompson, Thomas Nelson Page, Frank Sherman, and Hjalmar Boryesen. That is to say, most of the leading American writers are lending their active co-operation to the Congress. The topics for discussion are announced gene- rally in the preliminary circular.. To this has since been added a section on American Litera- ture. Under the head of “ Aspects of Literature” are now included new sub-divisions, such as “Standards of Literary Criticism,” ‘ Moral Purpose in Literature,” ‘“ Realism,” &c. I hope to be entrusted with a sheaf of papers and opinions to take out with me. Mr, Sprigge will read a paper on the “ Methods of Publishing ”— no one is more competent or has had greater opportunities of studying the subject. Mr. Hodges, Hon. Sec. of our Copyright Comunittee, will send a paper on the present condition of Copyright. There will be, I believe, a paper on the History of Publishing, another on the History of Copyright in Literary Property, one on the present and the future relations of Author and Publisher. Mr. Gosse will send a paper on the Present Position and Prospects of Poetry. I have ready, and will send out, at once, a short paper stating the points under discussion as regards the relations of Author and Publisher. As regards the points mentioned above, and other points connected with the Pursuit or Calling of Letters which may suggest themselves, I invite our members to consider them. It may be, if the response to this invitation proves as real and as wide as I hope, that our contributions to the Congress may amount to a volume of far reaching and lasting importance. Elsewhere will be found part of Mr. Balfour’s speech at the Royal Literary Fund Dinner—that part which concerns Literature. It was not in nn 2 pecans  436 his happiest vein; nor did it show much know- ledge of, or sympathy with, modern literature It is a commonplace in every age to say that it has no great men in this branch or in that. Yet the speaker would not admit the outward signs of decadence, especially the continual com- parison with the past, and he congratulated his hearers on the fact that our living writers are not overburdened with the past. It is a mark—a sign of the vitality—of English litera- ture, that we have never been burdened with the past; that we leave it behind us, and that we turn to it when we will, but do not live in it; that we still press on. The ideas that were new when Tennyson and Carlyle first gave them utterance are commonplace now—hence Mr. Balfour—who had inherited them, not received them—spoke of these great men failing wholly to satisfy him. As for the Art of the present day, in whatever form expressed, it seems to lack greatness. | When an artist draws a picture charged with the strong passions which formerly appealed to everybody, he is too often hooted— eg., Hardy with Tess, the strength and truth of which made the ordinary reader angry. Our poetry is lovely work, without much meaning ; it is little work; and so with every other kind of work. It must not be strong if it would wish to win the popularity of the cultured class. And there is every sign that it will become more and more beautiful and less and less human. And then? Perhaps there has already risen and is growing up beside it, and is going to overshadow and kill it—the Art that has once more gone back to Earth and once more represents humanity. Professor Jebb, who also spoke, is reported to have said that English literature had always been free from the trammels of an Academy, and that he had but one wish for its future—that it should always remain free from those trammels. I con- fess that my principal reason for desiring an English Academy—not a slavish copy of the French—is (1) a desire for the national recog- nition of literature as a thing worthy of all the honour that the country can give. At present literature has no such recognition. And (2) a desire that men of letters should have a recog- nised centre, and recognised distinctions. This does not mean—as it has been assumed to mean— a desire that all good writers should be made knights bachelor. Not at all; such a distinction should neither be offered to them, nor accepted by them. But an Academy seems to me such an institution as might serve the purpose. I must not argue the question here; but I desire to place my Opinion once more on record. THE AUTHOR. Question. How far was Professor Jebb justi- fied in using the word ‘“trammels?’’ How far has French literature been “trammelled ” by the French Academy? What influence has the Academy had on the great French writers—say, Voltaire, Diderot, Béranger, Alfred de Musset, Victor Hugo? An American correspondent presents me with . a pretty little volume well printed in a pale green wrapper, with a lovely picture of a cavalier temp. Charles II., and a maiden—nay, a goddess— dressed in fourteenth century costume. On turning over the pages I become aware that the work is a translation from the French, a novel by one of those foreigners who always, as we are so often told, beat the English novelists out of the field. The title-page, however, says that it is called “The Chaplain’s Secret,” and that it is my work—* by Walter Besant.” The firm which issues this work is called the “N. C. Smith Pub- lishing Company” of Chicago. I wonder how many more works have been published over my name by this enterprising firm. I wonder how many are published over other names. The foreign field is large. I expect, if I go to Chicago, to find something like the following, all in a series :— “The Sorrows of Werther,” by Rudyard Kipling. “The Count of Monte Christo,” by Rider Haggard. “The Miserables,’ by Louis Stevenson. ‘ Tar- tarin of Tarascon,” by J. M. Barrie. “The Wandering Jew,” by Charlotte Young. “ Miss de Maupin,” by George Macdonald. “ Sa’ammbo,”’ by Thomas Hardy. ‘Telemachus,” by Conan Doyle. There is, in short, going to be, Iam pretty certain, a splendid boom in Chicago for English novelists. The ‘Decay of Fiction”? appeared as usual among the “thoughtful” papers of April. This time it is the work of Mr. Frederic Harrison. There is no necessity to argue with Mr. Harrison. I maintain that, while we have certain distinguished novelists living amongst us, it is absurd to speak of} English fiction as otherwise than in a most vigorous and healthy condition. But it is too true that to all of us there comes a time when we no longer care so much for the newer forms of fiction as we did for those which were practised is our youth. Hence the complaint that the characters of the present day are not so vivid as they were, the fault being in the decay of our own imagination. It is pleasant, however, to find that the condition of modern fiction is a sub- ject of such deep concern to men whom the world is accustomed to consider as intellectual leaders. oes As a general rule, one should inquire before reading any paper by anybody on the Condition  THE. AUTHOR. 437 of Fiction, (1) Is the writer old? (2) Is the writer young ?—in the first case he has probably read too much; in the second he has probably read too little; (3) Has he essayed the Art of Fiction, and, if so, with what success? and lastly, what proofs he has given by previous critical papers or otherwise that he understands any theory of the Art of Fiction ? The sketch portrait of Washington Irving is reproduced from the New York Critic, which found it at a print shop some years ago. Mr. Chirles Dudley Warner has been lectur- ing on Washing- ton Irving at the Brooklyn — Insti- tute. It is strange that a personalty so distinct and attractive has not drawn English lecturers and writers. The popularity of the author of “ Knick- erbocker’s New York” and the “ Sketch - book ” cannot surely be on the wane in this country any more than in America. The following is an advertise- ment from the Times :— TO BEGINNING NOVEL WRITERS and others. A suc- cessful novelist and author can take a few more PUPILS to train. References to a successful lady pupil. Advice on, and revision of, MSS.—Address Aleph, —— The conventional mind which cannot be got out of grooves, and must think as it is accustomed, and has been told to think, makes such an advertise- ment as this the occasion for elephantine wit. Now, I do not advise anybody to answer “ Aleph’s” advertisement. ‘“ Aleph ” may be a most judicious coach, or “ Aleph ” may be a most arrant quack—one does not know, The point to remark is this. It has been at last found out, (1) that a good deal may be taught to the aspirant in the Art of Fiction, just as a good deal may be taught to the aspirant in the Art of Painting ; and (2) that money may be made by teaching these elements. Givena really good teacher, the imme- diate result would be a great lessening of the output, because the pupil would be speedily made to understand whether he “had it” in hin or not, and because he would understand the paying for the cost of publication. As for the com- petence of the teacher, that must be proved by success, and as only about one in a hundred candidates can achieve success, it will be a very difficult thing indeed to prove competence. Some months ago there ap- peared in these columns an esti- mate of the pro- portion occupied by purely literary papers compared with others on all other subjects in the magazines. An examination by means of the Review of Re- views which pub- lishes lists of the contents of all the principal maga- zines, yields re- sults of some interest. In the April number there are enume- rated rather over 400 titles of arti- cles. These are taken from the English and American magazines, not including those devoted to special objects in which literary articles could not find a place. There are 400 articles to be provided every month for these open mouths! A great many of these are, as would be expected, by known wr.ters, many are anonymous, many record a single experience, and are written by “outsiders.” In order to find these 400 papers every month, or 4800 every year, isit too much to estimate the number of writers at 10,000? That is to say, there are 10,000 people at this moment in Great Britain and Ire- nae mE eee ae sais  438 land and the States and the Colonies who are able to reach the standard of writing in the magazines. The standard varies, it is true, but the average is pretty high. To this consideration add that men- tioned in last month’s Author of the number of books published during the last five or six years, and it will not seem too much to estimate the number of living writers in English on all sub- jects as 40,000, not counting journalists. Not that these are all dependent on their pen. The vast majority, fortunately, write on professional, scientific, and theological subjects. To these their pen is either a help or perhaps no help at all. As regards the subjects treated in the month of April, there are 50, i.e., one in every eight, devoted to criticism or literary biography. That is a very fair proportion out of all the subjects which occupy man’s mind. There are, for instance, more lawyers than writers, hut how many papers are devoted to them? None at all. There are musicians, artists, preachers—for all of them an article or two. But for literature, fifty articles. The subjects are enumerated below, and some are treated in more than one paper. Thus, there are three on Tennyson and six or seven on Taine, Brooks, Phillips. Moulton, Louise Chandler. Carlyle. Novel, The Historical. Colonna Vittoria. Novelists, Women. Daudet, Alphonse. Pater, Walter. Doyle, Conan. Paton, Sir Noel. Dilke, Lady. Poets, Architecture among Fiction, the Decadence of. the. » EnglishCharactersin Poets, Five English. French. Plato. Fuller, Margaret. Plays, Some. Fairchild Family, The. Podenoskeff, Hazlitt, Reading of the Working Ibsen. Classes. Kemble, Frances. Sand, George. Lamb, Charles. Sappho. Literary London. Shakespeare. & Some Literary Folk ‘Son of the Marshes,” A. in. Spinoza. ny Forgeries. Taine. Marx, Karl. Tennyson. Meredith, George. Wives of well-known men. Milton’s Cottage. Whittier. The death of John Addington Symonds leaves vacant a place in modern literature that it will be difficult to fill up. Crowded as are all the ranks of scholarship and all the avenues to dis- tinction, one knows not any scholar and writer capable of taking his place and carrying on his work. Various and many-sided as he was, he will be remembered—and studied—chiefly for his Renaissance work, the seven volumes of which form his real monument. Other men of the time have written finer verse; other men, perhaps, have written finer essays ; but no English writer THE AUTHOR. is his rival in the rich and previously little explored field of the Renaissance. Those who were privileged to call themselves his friends can bear testimony to the charm of his manner, the kindliness of his heart, and the vivacity of his conversation, That such a man was one of our Society goes without saying. + =—- +. The book of the month is Mr. Dykes Camp- bell’s new edition of Coleridge (Macmillan and Co.). It is not only important as containing a considerable number of poems hitherto unknown and unpublished, but as being enriched by a so-called Introduction, which is, in reality, the most complete biography of Coleridge which has hitherto been written. Although modestly ap- pearing only as an Introduction, it is a great deal longer than, for instance, many of the books in Maecmillan’s Red Series. It is a work, indeed, which ought to be—which must be—issued sepa- rately. To the accumulation of the materials alone necessary for its production, a vast amount of industry and patience must have been bestowed. eae The book is a happy illustration of our con- tention that it is impossible to measure literature by money. Here is a work which will place its author as the greatest authority on Coleridge for the rest of his life; yet it appears only as an Introduction ; it is only part of a cheap series; Again, it represents years of research and reading ; before it could be commenced books had to be accumulated, journeys taken, inquiries prose- cuted. Yet it is absolutely certain that whatever honorarium will come to the author it has, like Panurge’s harvests, been spent long before it was due. And while all this trouble was being taken, a popular novelist would be making thousands. This is not asneer. For why not ? A good novel is good literature as well as a good biography. But literature and its com- mercial value are not commensurate. Let no man hold up his hands in disgust because a good writer in one branch gets half a crown while a good, or evena bad writer in another branch makes a million. The former has his reward and the latter has, in addition, his vogue. But there is no con- nection between the former and the latter; nor is the latter a rival of the former; nor should his success cause the former the least jealousy. Let us never say that such and such a writer gets more or less than he deserves. In Literature there is no such thing as commercial desert. There is commercial value, which represents popular culture, and the demand of the day, but not necessarily the literary value of any work. It seems to me that we cannot too often  THE AUTHOR. 439 repeat this truth. Day after day, in almost every paper, we see the confusion of thought which mixes literary with commercial value, especially in the sham indignation of the paragraphist (whose pro- ductions probably have neither literary nor com- mercial value) at the commercial success of this or that book—this or that magazine—which has somehow attracted the world, and is being read by everybody. What Mr. Dykes Campbell has done for Coleridge, Mr. John Underhill has done for Gay : with the difference that the latter subject is less important, and the poems collected are far less worth preservation. The Life, however, tells us everything that we want to know about Gay— everything there is to tell about him. The notes are useful, and not too long. It must also be observed that the dress and outward appearance of the Gay book are very far superior to those of the Coleridge. The design and the binding are beautiful, and the paper and type are excellent. The publishers — Lawrence and Bullen — are setting an example in beauty and carefulness of binding and designs which is highly to be com- mended, and should produce its effect in the appearance of new books issued by old publishers. ——— The following has been sent to me, taken from I know not where. I wonder if it is an invention, or whether women in Germany, or in any other country, are so credulous :— The publishers of a German novel recently did a neat thing in the way of advertising. They caused to be inserted in most of the newspapers a notice to the effect that a certain nobleman of wealth and high position, desirous of finding a wife, wanted one who resembled the heroine in the novel named. Thereupon every marriageable woman who saw the notice bought the book in order to see what the heroine was like, and the work had an immense sale. In the Notes and News of last month’s Author was a paragraph from the Law Quarterly Review which was reprinted by inadvertence, without the proper acknowledgment. We hasten to acknow- ledge our obligati n. The paragraph was the last on p. 407. The following lines are found in Mr. William Watson’s “ Vita Nuova,” a poem in the Spectator of April 15. The hosts of friends of the poet are all re‘oicing at bis rest ration to health. Lo, I too With yours would mingle somewhat of glad song. I too have come through wintry terrors,—yea, Through tempest and through cataclysm of soul Have come, and am delivered. Me the Spring, Me also, dimly with new life hath touched, And with regenerate hope. the salt, of life. “How far,’ writes C. C., “is it moral and fair for an author to write for any magazine furthering objects in which he is interested under the price which he can elsewhere com- mand? ” The following very bad lines appeared in a journal of 1773, “occasioned,” we are informed, “ by a Gentleman’s lamenting that Want of Candour which unhappily prevails among men of letters” : Authors, like wives, are jealous and il-natured, ‘All faces but their own are strangely featured : Genius and beauty hurt their peace of mind; And thus both live at variance with mankind. We are requested by Mr. H. Anthony Salmoné (21, Furnival-street, E.C.) to state that the story called “The Painter’s Daughter,” referred to in the last number of the Author, did not appear in the Eastern and Western Gazette, but in the Eastern and Western Review, of which he is the editor. Water Besant. ec AUGUSTINE. (From “ Poems Old and New,” by Charles D. Bell, DD., Rector of Cheltenham.) Augustine, Scholar, Father, holy Saint, Walked by the sounding ocean on the shore, Turning in thought grave problems o’er and o’er, To which he gave his soul without restraint, Until it grew with musing sick and faint, And as his baffled heart fell sad and sore, A child he saw that rose-lipped sea-shell bore, And filled it from the sea with motion quaint. Then, taking it when full into his hand, He carried it in happy childish bliss, And emptied it in hole scooped in the sand. “J mean,” he said, “to pour the deep in this,” “Thus,” thought the Saint, “ God, infinite and grand, My finite mind would hold and understand.” —— ee FEUILLETON. sou Tur PEOPLE OF THE PAGEs. HE old bookseller’s shop was in the most crowded part of the most crowded and the noisiest street in the whole of the City. It consisted of an outer and an inner shop. In the outer shop sat the assistant, always making cata- logues. It was also his duty to watch the cus- tomers, for those who buy secondhand books are known to practise tricks; when no one is looking a book may be slipped into a greatcoat pocket ; or a “ wanted” volume may be purloined by substi-  440 tuting another like it in appearance; or a picture may be torn out. Oh! the craft and subtlety of those who haunt the second hand booksellers’ shops are beyond all telling! Every assistant could make an honest man’s hair stand on end only by relating the half of what he knows. Respectable elderly gentlemen even—whisper— Divines—even N-bl-m-n—will come into a shop, and with the most inn: cent look »n the world ‘ and presently you find your shop ruined, The bookseller himself sat in the smaller shop behind; the window looked out on a cheerful churchyard planted with limes; books covered the walls and the table. The bookseller sat all day long, working among his books; he called it working, but it was mostly reading. He read everything. No one knew more than this omnivorous old reader about the in-ides of books, On the shelves in his own room stood the authors which he loved ; he could not bear them to be in the other shop—that did very well for the small fry, but the great writers— the leaders—he must have them under his own eye. He hardly ever went outside his shop, except, sometimes, to call upon some other brother of the craft to see how his business was conducted. He wore an old frock coat, shiny and seamy, which had now assumed the figure of the old man, following the curves of him as he sat in his armchair. A clock ticked on the mantelshelf, standing among a heap of books. There was a bust of Shakespeare on a pile of books, and over the clock was a portrait of Carlyle. Outside, the waggons rumbled, the carts and the cabs clattered past, the people talked; there was always the roll and the roar of the City. But none of it came into the shop; the sunshine—for it had a southern aspect—lay on it whenever there was any sun, and the motes danced in the sunshine; but there was never any noise. Neither the bookseller nor his assistant spoke much to each other; and when any customers came they spoke in a whisper. Why? Idonot know. But if you were to go into that shop you would instinctively close the door very softly behind you, and take off your hat, and, catching a glimpse of the grey-headed old man in the room behind, you would whisper your wants to the assistant. If it was quiet here in the daytime, it was still more quiet in the evening after the shop was closed. Then the old man sat alone, secure of interruption. After supper he came back to his chair, having a pipe and a glass of something wrong with wat r, and here he sat, a book before 7 till midnight. when he got up and went to ed. Now he had done this every night, Sunday in- cluded, for thirty years. He desired nothing THE AUTHOR. better than to spend his evenings in this fashion. Nobody ever invited him to spend an evening in any other way; for a bookish man is rarely a clubable man He had done this, I say, every night for thirty years at least. Supper at nine, after the shop was shut; a pipe and the cup of wickedness among his books till twelve ; and then to bed. Anda very good way, too, of spending the evening ! One evening, however, contrary to his usual custom of feeling sleepy at midnight and going to bed at that hour, the old man found himself quite wakeful and even restless. He laid down his book, wondering what had happened to him— men at seventy-five do not like anything unusual because Well — everybody knows why. So he sat up and waited. Presently he grew so restless that he was fain to get up and pace the little room. But he only became more wakeful every moment. The intense silence of the hour, instead of soothing him, made him more restless still, until his restlessness became anxiety, and anxiety became a kind of terror. Words of dead writers called to him from his own brain, but aloud. Snatches of verse were quoted aloud by his own brain. ‘“ My days among the dead are past. . . . . My thoughts are with the dead. With them I live in long past years. ; My hopes are with the dead, anon my place with them will be;” and so on. The library steps were standing against the shelves. Mechanically he mounted them and took down a book at random. Then he sat down on the top step and began mechanically to read. It was the “Seven Champions of Christendom.” I do not know how long he continued to read —say an hour or two hours. It mattered nothing, because he read on and on without think- iny or noting or remembering the words. After a while he lifted his head. What had happened ? The room, with all its shelves, books, pamphlets, papers, everything, had vanished. He himself was sitting under the shade of a tree in a vast garden, with lawns, riding grounds, flowers, sundialy, streams, fountains, swans, doves, and peacocks. On the grass were walking about crowds of people: He knew everyone; they nodded and smiled when he looked up. Oh! it was wonderful. There were knights—George, Denys, James, Amadis, Paladin, Lancelot, Galahad, and all of them in splendid armour; and there were kings and heroes, Arthur, Karl, Frederick, also in gilt armour, with crowns of gold. There were fair ladies—queens and princesses—in robes of silk and white samite, mystic, wonderful ; and besides all these there were plenty of people not so beautifully dressed, but much happier to look at. Why, there was Mr. Pickwick laughing and ' f 7 ¥e  THE AUTHOR. 441 talking to Colonel Newcome; and Tess of the Durbervilles was conversing on an equal footing with Clarissa Harlowe, and they were both gay and merry, though so unfortunate ; and Sam Weller was taking a pot of half-and-half with the Soldiers Three. The old gentleman rubbed his eyes; his brain reeled; he thought he must be dreaming. Yet there were all the people, and there was the garden—and—and— “Where am I?” he asked aloud, ‘‘ And what are you all doing here? ” One of them—a lady—stepped forward. Who was it? Ah! he recognised the speaker. It was none other than Diana Vernon. “ir,” she said, courteously, ‘‘ know that life is dull on those shelves of yours. We want society. If we areread, that satisfies all our wants. The most desirable form of society is to be read often. We cannot, in fact, be read too much. We confess that we are greedy of admiration. We only live for praise. You must confess, how- ever, that you give us very little of that kind of society. We therefore sometimes adjourn to this garden, this ancient medieval garden, the Jardin de Déduit, after you have gone to bed, in order to dissipate the ennuis of loneliness and neglect.” The looker-on was a kindly man, but he had his little limitations. He was, after all, only a second-hand bookseller; he understood none of the natural longings, either of gentlefolk or the others for intercourse and conversation. Henever wanted any society, why should they? Besides and here a horrid and an unworthy suspicion crossed his mind—they were his property—his own. They belonged to his shelves. What busi- ness had they to run away? Why, they might never return; they might be kidnapped; he might lose them all. He jumped up. ‘Come back, all of you,” he cried roughly, “ Come back, I say, every man— come back to your own books. And at once. How dare you leave my shelves r” Instantly the garden vanished; the room reappeared with all the shelves, and the books in their bindings upon the shelves. And the figures he had seen in the garden were now climbing, scampering, hurrying, rushing back, head over heels, trampling on each other, to their own places — kings and knights and_ lords and ladies, in confusion and undignified scramble. Who would have though that Rowena—the stately Rowena—could climb the bookshelves in such unseemly haste ? “Stop! he cried again, wringing his hands, “Stop! for Heaven’s sake stop! You are all getting into the wrong books! Stop! Stop! 1 say.” vou. III. But it was too late. They had all scurried back again somewhere or other, all safely hid within some binding, right or wrong. Then the silence of mid-night fell upon him again. Nothing left, not a single solitary figure; all gone back again, and all to the wrong books. And once more the words arose in his brain ‘‘My days among the dead are past—my thoughts are with the deac a When the clock struck seven he found himself in his armchair. Apparently he had been asleep all night in his back shop, and that morning he sat upright without reading, but gazed about him with troubled brain and anxious eyes. In the afternoon one of his oldest customers called. “I have thought over,” he said, “ what we were talking about the other day—that first edition of the Pickwick Papers, you know. It is a stiffish price, but I have made up my mind to give it.” The bookseller shook his head. ‘I am afraid,” he whispered, “that I can’t sell it. Yesterday it was a flawless copy. Now, I fear, you'd find it all gone wrong.” «How can it be wrong? ”’ “The characters are mixed up. In all these shelves they are hopelessly mixed. Sir, I am a ruined bookseller. My reputation is ruined. Last night I saw King Arthur, St. George, and St. Denys, and Peregrine Pickle, and Barry Lyndon, and Mr. Barlow, and Mrs. Keith with her child, and the Daughter of Heth, and Elsie Venner, and Roxana, and Rebecca, all rushing into the Pickwick Papers together. What became of the proper set of people I don’t know. But I fear that Mr. Pickwick has got into Sir Charles Grandison, and Alfred Jingle, 1 know, has run into the Heir of Redclyffe. I am afraid to look into any of the books. Oh! it’s a terrible disaster.” “[ don’t understand one word. But you look disturbed.” The bookseller sat down and groaned. He sold no more books. He said he could not, as a Christian man, sell books with the characters mixed up in such confusion. No one could tell how they would act. Things quite terrible might happen. There they were together, with no one to control them. Oh! it would be a fraud on his customers. Therefore he sat up every night, waiting for them to come down again. He thought that if he could meet them all together again in the garden he might repre- sent, gently, the confusion caused by their panic, and for their own good persuade them to return each to his own book: Strange to say, he has never seen that garden since. 1 think he must have frightened the people of his books. That harsh voice—that MM  442 threatening command—was more than they could bear. We must remember that all their lives had been spent in an atmosphere of pride and kind- liness and affection and praise. This arbitrary language was too much for them, But nobody ever explained to the bookseller that he had brought everything on himself, Marcaret GAnuertt, aes GOODBYE TO APRIL. Goodbye, sweet Mistress, and then shed a tear, Thy tear, good sooth, unto a smile is nigh ; For it distilleth from a laughing eye. I shall not weep, my maid, tho’ time be near To leave thee; yea, for tho’ thy love be dear, Light laughter trips behind thy softest sigh. I doff my bonnet ; “ Moppet, go!” I cry; “For, lo! my new love standeth laughing here.” Goodbye, fair April; can I mourn thy fall Now May is mine? in parting, say, what pain Since thy best blooms must deck her festival ? Nay, weep thy last, sweetheart; for of the twain The fairer she ; perchance, when she and all The rest are gone, I’ll sue to thee again. Lewis Brockman. eee PSYCHOLOGICAL SENTIMENTS, 1. There need be no more mystery in evil than in gravity. 2. The ideal man has sufficient self-reliance, self-respect, self-restraint. 3. When the body is bad, the mind is mad. 4. The manliest and the womanliest never lose their temper. 5. Heat of temper is too easily mistaken for warmth of heart. 6. Obstinacy and pliability are both phases of similar weakness. 7. The highest animals can suffer most, and will endure best. 8. Anger differs from fear, in phase rather than principle. g. Memory is a clear consciousness of the presence of the past. 10. The senile mind loves to live in the past. 11. The virile soul lives and loves in the present. 12. The hopeful live in the future, the helpful live in the present. 13. The insanity of jealousy may be cured by the imbecility of indifference. 14. The sane feel and see truth, the strong will it, the virile work it out. THE AUTHOR. 15. Genius and madness have one principle in common—uncommonness, 16. The main difference between liberty and licence is selfishness. 17. Reliability is far rarer than responsibility, 18, The sane soul is strong, sure, sympathetic, 19. Genius seems often odd, but is never mad. 20 Man persistently demarcates, while nature perpetually differentiates. 21. The mind of man daily dies and lives again. 22. In dreams lies insanity ; in dreamlessness, imbecility, 23. The unconscious humorist is a mystical personage. 24. Next to wisdom, humour is essential to just judgment. 25. A bad man makes a bad judge, for virtue is the soul of wisdom. 26. Self conceit readily does duty for self- respect. : 27. Jealousy is a phase of vanity, where the animal defeats the angel. 28. Nobility lies in silent suffering ; rises in soundly working, 29. Ignobility and immaturity feel least and endure worst. 30. Divorced from opportunity, capacity is childless. 31. That phase of head called “heart” makes the best part of all art. 32. Science saves shells; sympathy saves souls, PHINLAY GLENELG. — ae REMINISCENCES OF TAINE. HE biographical notices of M. Taine, which ‘Ty allude to his resentment against M. Edmond Scherer, the celebrated writer, and at one time his dear friend, on account of some severe criticisms on “Les Origines de la France Contemporaine,” reminds me of an inci- dent I witnessed illustrative of this assertion. In 1878 it was my good fortune to pass some months in Paris, on a visit to my old friend Madame Mohl, once so famous for her salon. Taine’s “ Revolution ”—the 2nd volume of “Les Origines ”—had just appeared, the 1st volume on “PAncien Régime” having previously been severely handled in the Temps—M. Scherer’s paper—though greatly praised in others. Reading them on the spot made both works doubly inte- resting, and, to give me a rare treat, Madame Mohl offered to make me acquainted with their renowned author. She was then about eighty- t  a a THE AUTHOR. 443 eight, but singularly fresh, and keen to all her lifelong interests, showing her salon talent in a thousand subtle ways. Moreover, the numberless literary and scientific men who had been devoted to her and M. Mohl for half a century and upwards, gladly responded to her invitations. Hence, whenever she chose, they came, to large or small dinners, all through that summer, and her fortunate visitors thus saw noted celebrities in intimacy, and, usually, at their best. But, beside her patriarchal age, grief for her husband, who died soon after the Franco-Prussian war, occa- sionally dimmed her memory as to recent events. On the day in question, M. and Madame Taine promised to come and dine, “en tout petit comité.” A young Englishman was also invited ; and then, mindful of the old friendship, Madame Mohl like- wise asked M. Scherer. To none, however, did she mention the other guests, though, from the excited party feelings of France, she had almost invariably made a rule of so doing. The Taines arrived first, on foot, coming from the Rue Cas- sette hard by, where he has now died, and I well remember the overshoes, cloaks, and mufflers deposited, Carlyle-like, in the small hall. M. Taine was a tall, bulky man, dogmatic, and evidently aware of his own importance. Next came the young Englishman, who ruffled Madame Mohl by wearing his morning coat, probably sup- posing he would meet no one but us two ladies. Tt was one of her most “ fixed ideas” that, ‘“ even if a man had to live on herrings, he should possess a tail-coat, and never appear in the presence of ladies otherwise dressed of an evening.” It had been the rule at Madame Récamier’s, her oldest friend, and she often expatiated on the advantages to young men of keeping to these habits, and thus frequenting the society of ladies—a word she understood in the strict, old-fashioned sense. She had not recovered her annoyance when M. Scherer appeared—the exact opposite of M. Taine, slight, of medium height, quiet, and unassertive. I thought it strange these “old friends” did not seem to recognise each other, but Madame Mohl’s face at once fixed my gaze. Like a flash she had recol- lected the recent enmity, realised the situation, and somehow communicated it to me. What could be done? Positively nothing. It was irremediable. Our “petit diner” can easily be imagined. The number was too small for anything but general conversation, therefore here were the two antagonists face to face, we ladies alone acting as a sort of buffers, for the young Englishman spoke little, and that badly. Indeed, poor Madame Mohl did not count either, for her presence of mind completely forsook her, and she could scarcely utter a word. It certainly was a dreadful predica- ment—to have thus planted two enemies opposite each other at what was intended to have been such a hospitable board, and to have them so con- fronted for many hours. Most certainly in olden days she was the last person who could have com- mitted such a mistake, or, had it occurred, she would quickly have risen to the occasion. M. Scherer seemed at once to understand this, and to be willing to help her. But, after all, he was the offender—the caustic author of the reviews. M. Taine sulked, talked “away from” M. Scherer, and, finally, neither looked at the other. However, Frenchmen cannot be silent long, and by degrees, without becoming disputatious, a certain amount of interesting talk went on, though languidly, nevertheless, from the awkward- ness of the position, which we all felt acutely. Nothing of it remains on my mind, save a never- ceasing refrain on “les nouvelles couches sociales,” that M. Taine then had more or less “on the brain,” and frequently brought forward, as if throwing down a gauntlet to his adversary, though the latter prudently did not take it up, pretending not to see it. Never cau I forget our relief when M. Scherer beat his retreat early, pleading the necessity of catching a train to Versailles, where he then resided, leaving us to enjoy the historian’s con- versation, which instantly rose to the brillant level of his reputation. But the “incident” had not ended, for when the overshoes, cloaks, and. mufflers were resumed, M. Taine’s hat could no- where be found. Another was there, it is true, but not his. At last, rushing back to the sitting- room, he angrily and most contemptuously ex- claimed, “ Ce monsieur has taken it, and left his own worn out old one in its stead! It could not have been in mistake. No! no!” And nothing would pacify him. No! not even when poor M. Scherer returned the “ stolen goods”’ next morn- ing, explaining how, in the hurry for his train and the dark, he had run off with the wrong hat. In one sense it proved a happy mistake, as it brought a comic element to the drama, and made us moralise on the susceptibilities of great and learned minds. They are now all gone to their long home, but the memory of the “rencontre” still lingers behind them. WINIFREDE M. WYSE. ee  444 LIBRARIES—NEW AND OLD. HE Encyclopedia Britannica gives a list of TT all the public libraries in Great Britain and Ireland up to the year when the article ‘“TLibraries”: appearea. Mr. Thomas Greenwood’s book on Public Libraries (Cassell : 1891) gives a list of all the libraries which have been opened under the Acts provided. Some have been added since that book appeared. These lists, considered with reference to the demand for good literature, will be found rather surprising. The Encyclopedia gives a total of 402 libraries in the three kingdoms. Of these some are college libraries, e.g., most of the colleges at Oxford and Cambridge have their own libraries, which may be neglected ; there are libraries—they are not generally growing collec- tions—at all the medical, legal, and theological institutions. Some are cathedral libraries which seem to have stopped growing for 200 years at least. Some are technical libraries, as that of the telegraph engineers, Since the Encyclopedia article appeared there are shown in Mr. Greenwood’s book to be 1 52 new libraries under the Act up to 1891. It is not unreasonable to suppose that there are now 50 more started, and the number is increasing every year. There are therefore 604 libraries, including the technical, special, and dead libraries, in this country. But there is another consideration. Many of these libraries have affiliated to them branches. Thus Leeds is entered in the list as having one library ; but there are 33 branches. At Notting- ham there are 8; at Birmingham 6. Taking all the libraries together there are altogether 118 branches, so that the total number of libraries at the present moment is 722, or deduct- ing the dead libraries and the technical libraries —say, 150—there remain 572 public libraries of books which are called general literature, new and old. There are, again, the school libraries, many of them large and growing collections ; Polytechnic libraries, also large and growing ; village libraries, generally small and too often controlled by the clergy; and there are the small collections found on board steamers, Still more remarkable are the returns from Australia and New Zealand. In the colony of Victoria alone there is one public library for every 4800 of population as against one in every 277,000 in the United Kingdom. Thus there are— In Victoria 314 public libraries, athenzeums, and mechanics’ institutes; in South Australia, THE AUTHOR. 135; in New South Wales, 150; in New Zealand, 303; in Tasmania, 33; in South Africa, 64. In India there appear to be about six public libraries. In Canada there are six large public libraries, one with five branches, and a great number of small collections. That is, there are 1o11 public libraries in our colonies, without counting the small collections. But, if we include, as we must, the libraries of the United States of America, we must add 1686 to our list. These libraries, deductions made as estimated above, are all growing, and all increasing their col- lections by yearly subsidies or rates. They are also yearly increasing in number, and in the number of their branches, and in activity. If, as seems probable, we shall before long equal Victoria in our proportion of libraries to population, or even if we get no nearer than to have one library for every 10,000 people, there will be 3700 libraries in Great Britain and Ireland alone. To repeat, at the present moment there are in this country 722 libraries; in the colonies, IOII; or 1733 libraries in the British Empire. Taking in all the English-speaking countries, we have 3419 libraries, and the number is yearly and rapidly increasing. I said, speaking five or six years ago, that in fifty years’ time a popular edition in the English language would have such an audience as no writer in the world has ever before been able to command. A good deal of derision was poured upon this statement, which I have since repeated at every possible opportunity. The chief reasons of this derision are (1) the total ignorance in which many people live as to the extent—the vast extent—of the English-speaking race; (2) their inability to understand that London—the club end of London—is not the Empire, nor does it cover the whole area of the English-speaking race ; and (3) the mystery which has been kept up by interested persons as to the extent and nature of literary property. That extension of popularity which I predieted would come in fifty years has actually come upon us. If there exists at this moment a single man whose works are wanted by all the English-speaking people, there are more than 3400 libraries, all of whom will take his books, and many of them will take his books by the dozen. But it will be said, these are all novels. Not so. The following one day’s list is given by Mr. Greenwood—* Public Libraries,” p. 307 :— Taking the books somewhat in the order in which they are classified in the library, we find that in the department of philosophy, Spencer’s “ First Principles ” had been asked for three times on that particular day, while the same  THE AUTHOR. 445 author’s “Ecclesiastical Institutions” had been consulted twice, and Aristotle’s “Moral Philosophy,” Spinoza’s Works, Martineau’s “Types of Ethical Theory,” and Lenormant’s “ Chaldean Magic ” were given out to students once. In religion, the only book consulted was Sayce’s “ Fresh Lights from the Ancient Monuments,” but this perhaps should be classed with Keighley’s “ Mythology of Ancient Greece’’ as antiquities. In politics and sociology, the books consulted were very varied. Sir C. Dilke’s ‘Present Position of European Politics” and the second volume of the same author’s “Problems of Greater Britain” were applied for, as well as Blount’s “‘ Ancient Tenures of Land,” Birkbeck’s “ Distribu- tion of Land in England,’ Smith’s “ Wealth of Nations,” and “ Five Years’ Penal Servitude, by one who endured it.” Books treating on languages, and educational works, were also sought after, as the following list will show—Craik’s “Manual of the English Language,” Hewitt’s “ Our Mother Tongue,’ Smith’s “French Principia,” Cassell’s ‘“ New Popular Educator ”’ (vol. 3), Colenso’s “ Arithmetic,” Tod- hunter’s “ Elements of Euclid” (twice), Pitman’s ‘‘ Manual of Phonography,”’ and Kingston’s “ Phonography in the Office.” The scientific works perused included Ganot’s “ Physics,” Quain’s “ Dictionary of Medicine,” Flower’s ‘‘ Nerves of the Human Body,’ Hospitalier’s “ Electricity,’ Urbanitzky’s “ Blectricity,”’ and “ Domestic Electricity for Amateurs.” The books dealing with useful arts consulted, were “ Notes on Building Construction ” (3 vols.), Tredgold’s “ Carpentry,” Barter’s “ Engineers’ Sketch Book,’ lLeno’s “ Boot and Shoemaking,” Cassell’s “Household Guide,” ‘‘ Amateur Work ” (2 vols.), and a volume of Cassell’s “ Work.” Only three art books were asked for on the day, these being Ruskin’s “ Stones of Venice,” Perrot and Chipiez’s “ Art in Ancient Egypt,” and Bishop’s “ Architecture of Greece and Italy.” The list of books consulted in the department of history and literature is somewhat longer, and contains Burke's Essays, “ Carlyle’s “ Critical Essays,” Adams’ “ Dictionary of English Literature,” Goethe and Schiller’s “ Correspon- dence” (2 vols.), Mrs. Browning’s Poems, Thomson’s (B.Y.) Poems (selections), Carlyle’s “ French Revolution ”’ (vol. 3), Lecky’s “ England” (vols. 7 and 8), Allen’s “ Battles of the British Navy,” Russell’s ‘“ Franco-German War.” In biography, Carlyle’s “‘ Oliver Cromwell’s Letters and Speeches,” Froude’s “Carlyle in London,” and Molloy’s “Peg Woffington”’ were needed. In travels, Caine’s ‘ Trip Round the World” and Baker’s Rifle and Hound in Ceylon” were the only two books asked for. In topography, Rye’s “History of Norfolk,” Philip’s “ Cyclist’s Map of Essex,” Cape’s “ Churches of London,’ Dickens’s “Dictionary of Paris,’ the Rev. R. H. Davies’ “ Chelsea Old Church,” and G. C. Davies, “ Norfolk Broads ” were sought after. In addition to the above fifty-eight works, the following were also consulted :—‘‘ Encyclopedia Britannica ” (vol. 24), “Portnightly Review” (2 vols.), Nineteenth Century ” (2 vols.), ‘“ The Argosy” (2 vols.), Thackeray's “ Paris Sketch Book,” Barham’s “ Ingoldsby Legends,” Jackson’s “ History of the “Pictorial Press,” Reade’s ‘“ Literary Success,” Horwitz’s “Chess Studies,” and Blakston’s “ Tlustrated Book of the Canary.” I have elsewhere stated as my opinion that people—the mass of the people—those whom we regard as having no taste and no cultiva- tion, will always prefer good literature to bad. This opinion has also been derided, because it is not the conventional position. I have formed this opinion, however, not by taking other people’s opinions, but from observation, as close as possible, of the books asked for and read at a public library. The people will not read trash. If they ask for fiction it is good fiction—Marryatt, Scott, Dickens can hardly be called trash. They prefer fiction that has a good strong story, and for the sake of a good strong story they will not inquire too curiously into style. Still the fact remains that their favourites are for the most part the favourites of the more cultured class. But consider in the above list the books that are not fiction. Is there one bad book—one rubbishy book—one book that can be called “‘ trash” in the whole list? And if such a list is an average and a representative one, what are we to conclude, except that the demand of the people—the common people—for literature shows an eminently satisfactory standard ? Another point presents itself in this connection : that of the “risk” of which we hear so much. It is quite certain that every good book on every subject must find its way, sooner or later, to these libraries. The list which we have quoted shows this. Itisa list taken on a day chosen at hap- hazard in Chelsea Library. Every good book on every conceivable subject, except, perhaps, the higher mathematics and certain technical books, must find its way to these libraries. Every novel good enough to go into a cheap edition ; every poet who has made his voice heard and felt; every historian of any note; every biographer who has a life of interest to relate; every scientific man who can treat his science adequately ; writers on the medicines, art, physics, political and social economy, archeology, languages, education, every- thing. One branch is conspicuous for its absence from the list. It is the branch of criticism. The people do not care for critics. I think that the field open to the critics will always be small, because it is essentially occupied by men of the higher education only. Their work will also be ephemeral, because the subjects treated are necessarily themselves for the most part ephemeral. Therefore, while one does not expect critics to decrease in numbers, they will not very largely increase in popularity. Meantime, the main point is, that every good book can now command a circulation which ought, practically, to prohibit the danger of loss. Given the good book, there should be no risk. Given the readers able to distinguish a good book, there is a certain market open. And it would seem from the above, that the good reader is not so hard to find as the good — 2  446 AN AUTHOR'S EXPERIENCES. E have received from one of our members, copies of all the correspondence that has passed between himself and his pub- lishers throughout some half-a-dozen or more publishing transactions. The papers have been sent by him to the Society in no complaining spirit, but in response to our standing invitation to our members to supply us with information derived from their own experiences. The more such information that we receive the more practically useful we are able to be. If we learn new things from any cases sent for our-considera- tion, our gain, as a Society—one of whose chief aims has always been “to learn the facts ”—is clear; but, if all the points of importance should be perfectly familiar to us—and we are proud to be able to say that this is becoming every day a more usual occurrence—it still strengthens our hand to have a multiplicity of evidence to the correctness of our statements and inferences. May we again impress on our readers that they will greatly oblige our executive officers, and greatly help to render the Society more useful to others and themselves, if they will take us as fully as possible into their confidence concerning their publishing transactions ? We propose to briefly narrate this author's experiences, as they are revealed in his communi- cation and his publishers’ letters, and to briefly comment upon them for the instruction of any Moe may happen to be in a similar position to im. (1) In the first place the publishers sent him an ink-sketch, and asked him to do them a small book, with the drawing as a text. They had some small experience of his work, and were not quite in the dark when they offered him £2 2s. for the MS. and £5 5s. if it was published. He accepted the offer and wrote the book, and the result from the pecuniary point of view should have been satis- factory to him to this extent, that he received at one time and another £14 14s., or exactly double the sum to which he was legally entitled. The aggregate of £14 14s. was made up in this way :— ommission, £2 2s,; cheques on account, respectively, for £3 3s., £3 38., £5 58., and £1 1s, There was no formal agreement, further than what was implied in the letters making and accepting the offer of £7 7s., and the terms of this implied contract were, as we see, and much to the author’s benefit, not kept. This was unbusinesslike, but perusal of the letters accom- panying the varions cheques on account reveals the curious fact that the publishers, who had THE AUTHOR. offered him commission, believed themselves to be issuing the book on the half-profit system, “Should there be any more little profit,” their manager writes to him, “TI shall, as before, gladly send you half.” And in another letter he says, “On ‘ *Isend you £2, and on ‘ ” there is up to date a final profit of £y, and of this, as before, I am glad to send you half.” * On the transaction we have nothing to say that is not complimentary to the publishers, who clearly performed a work of supererogation in trans- mitting the last £7 7s. to their client ; while, if the original commission was a small one, it was properly made, before that work was undertaken, and the author need not have accepted it. But the matter shows the attitude of both author and ‘ publisher towards a piece of literary property to be very comic, although the sums concerned are so small that the comicality of their casual behaviour hardly appears with proper distinctness. (2) The next transaction was a small book, written at the same publishers’ request, containing about 30,000 words. For this the author re. ceived £5 5s. some few months after publication, because the publishers did “ not like him to go any longer without any remuneration ” (their own way of putting it), and rather less than a year later an intimation was received by the author. that the sales had closed. It does not exactly appear that the author knew what sum he was going to receive, and the publishers’ words almost imply that they had no very clear idea what they had intended to give. It turned out to be, as we have said, £5 5s. This can never be good pay— can, indeed, never be anything but very bad pay— for a MS. of 30,000 words, and it seems to us that the author might have thought twice about undertaking the work, if he had known exactly how little he was going to get out of it. That he knew he was going to be paid a sum for the task is certain, but the sum does not appear from the letters ever to have been mentioned. And he might have reasonably expected more, relying first ‘upon the precedent of having previously received £14 148. for a book of the same size, and, second, upon such hopeful words as these which we extract from the publishers’ letters. “I think ” will move well, in fact that series is established in favour at the present; ” and again, in the same week, “ Up to a certain point they * These references in the publishers’ letters to some publication on the half-profit system may have reference not to this book but to one we speak of later [vide infra paragraph (3)]. In that case, being unable to explain the generosity of the publishers by the theory that they had forgotten that their own terms were “ commission,” and believed themselves to have published on the half-profit system, we frankly own that the matter is too hard for us,  THE AUTHOR. 447 (the books of the series, that is,) will pay their way simply because they come in this series.” Here again this treatment of a piece of literary property by its owner is very comical, and would appear to all men as very comical if applied to any more tangible form of goods. The author simply transferred his book to the publishers to issue it on what terms they chose, and pay for it in the same irresponsible manner. Incidentally we learn, also, that the publishers’ risk in the matter is slender, as they can count upon a certain minimum sale. That this is usually the case is so obvious that we should not mention it, were it not that denial of the fact constitutes the chief argument in favour of the theory that the publishers’ business is nothing if not wildly speculative. (3) The author’s next venture, also, was under- taken without any definite agreement. His own words are, “I made no arrangements with the publishers, because they published on their own account.” The publishers’ explicit expressions with regard to their idea of the arrange- ment are as follows: ‘As the sale of ‘- : seems practically to have ceased for the present, I have thought it better to make up the account for the copies that may fairly be taken as sold up to date, and I am glad to find that there is a balance on the right side, the exact amount of profit being £9 2s. 6d. As this book was not undertaken for us in any way as a commission, we had better send you one-half this amount. So we accordingly inclose a cheque for £4 11s. 3d.” No compulsion in this matter, be it observed. They had “better send it” for con- science sake, or in equity—but there is no contract and the words would imply no legal obligation to send anything. Two further cheques arrived in the course of a twelve-month, for £2 5s. and £3 1s. 3d. respectively, the latter cheque being described as half the “up to date profit,’ and being arrived at by deducting the sum of £1 18s. from £4 19s. 3d., the admitted half share (to which little subtraction sum we shall have reason to refer later). This transaction is one that calls for most uncomplimentary observation, so that it is neces- sary to point out again that the author has communicated with us with no animus whatever, and that we do not for a moment believe, or in the least insinuate, that he has not received fair treatment. Our strictures are simply dictated by our knowledge that such loose methods of dealing with literary property as this case exhibits, have been and are the cause of all the serious troubles between author and publisher. First, why was the book published without some mutual arrangement as to the system under which it was to be published ? There can be no satisfactory answer to this question; but to reduce the position to its patent absurdity, we will fall back on the illustration with which readers of The Author must be familiar. If the author possessed a house, would he allow some- one else to occupy it, without inquiring if that person was going to buy it, or take it on a lease, or rent it only fora short term. More; would he not, having made certain of the system under which someone else was going to enjoy his pro- perty, ascertain exactly the price that he was to receive as owner of the property, be it for purchase of the freehold, for purchase of the lease, or as an annual consideration? Would he not be con- sidered culpably careless if he neglected such obvious procedure? Second, let us suppose that the author had gone through the form of saying “ Before I transfer my property, I should like to know what consideration I am going to obtain,” and that the publishers had suggested, in answer to his queries, that the book should be issued on the half-profit system, instead of assuming, as they did in this case, that whatever sum good enough for them was good enough for the author ; supposing all this, there would still remain the fact that every objection that can be urged against the highly objectionable half-profit system in general, can be urged against the particular method in which this book was published. The agreement consists of the publishers’ words “we had better send you one half,” not “we owe one half, and so we send it.” How can the author know that he has received his share, in consideration for which he has never contracted to hand over his book? What did the book cost to produce? How many copies were printed? How many were bound ? How many were sold? How many remain on sale or return? How much did the ad- vertisements cost? Until the author knows —knows by the demonstration of vouchers, not by the assertion of an interested party—all these things, he cannot know that he has received his share, for which, as we must again repeat, he has never offered to hand over his book. It is, we know, often very difficult for an author to under- stand these business details, and it is because there are some few legitimate and many illegitimate objections, from the publisher’s point of view, to making them clear to him, that the half-profit system stands revealed as a bad one, well meriting the disuse into which it has fallen. Hither it leaves in the hands of one partner the power to cheat the other without reserve and without fear of detection, or it compels the other to double the part of author and publisher, that he may know that he has not been cheated. What tittle SS  448 of proof has the author had, in the transaction that we are considering, that the net profits were double, exactly double, and no more than double, the sum that he has received ? None, of course ; and there is the fault of the system. But when the system is thrust upon the author, without his being invited to say whether he likes it or no, his self-constituted partners should be very careful to furnish every proof of their probity. (4) Then came a little plunge into verse. It was a very little plunge, and was taken upon “ the profit and loss system,’ defined as follows by the publishers, in a letter :—‘‘ Have you enough faith in it (your work) to go equal shares, whether profit or loss? If so, we will with pleasure do the same,” say they. And they inform him that the total risk of loss will be limited to £5—£2 ros. his, and £2 10s. theirs. Incidentally we learn that the resulting loss was £3 16s.—£1 18s. each, because, in sending a cheque for the last and final half of the profit of the book alluded to in paragraph (3), £1 18s. is deducted from it, for loss on the production of the verse. Here, again, though the affair isa very small matter, we are bound to make severe observations upon it. The publisher who writes for the firm says: “So far as my experience goes, I think it extremely pro- bable that there will be a loss upon the verses, but I think they ought to appear in print, irre- spective of pecuniary considerations.” That is very handsome indeed. The publisher seems to have known that he was going to lose his money, yet he advises that the issue shall take place. It is not usual for business men, for publishers any more than for others, to voluntarily enter upon a transaction, believing that it will entail loss; so that the necessity under which the publisher lies of proving that he has lost his money is urgent, not only because his partner ought to be as well informed as himself of the right to deduct that £1 18s., but because the publisher’s position requires explanation before it can be understood upon ordinary commercial principles. That explanation should take the following form :— (a) He must show exactly how much he expended upon production and advertisement. (6) He must show exactly how many copies he has sold, arrived at by deducting the number of copies in stock from the number originally printed. (c) . If any copies are out on sale or return, or have been given away for review purposes, he must mention the exact number, if he wishes to be exempted from paying upon them. (d)-It would strengthen his position if he could show that he expected to make a large profit on his outlay, if he made anything at all; for there would be a good commercial reason for his behaviour. He would then become evident as having gone into THE AUTHOR. the matter as a little “ flutter,” risking his 50s. and expecting to lose it, but seeing his way to make fifty pounds—say—if he pulled off a twenty-to-one chance. This point should be made clear by consideration of the cost of production in relation to the number of copies printed and their sellin price; but, so far from being made clear, the publisher’s account shrouds the affair in mystery. There are 250 copies only mentioned as having been composed, worked, pressed, stitched, and advertised, at a cost of £3 13s. 6d.; the selling price is put down as 14d., and the loss, sales being very scanty, at £3 10s. gd. So that we have this position under the publisher’s state- ment: If the whole edition printed (less seventeen copies stated in the account to have been sent to author and reviews) had sold, it would only haye realised £1 os. g3d. That is to say—the best possible result for author and publisher, supposing the cost of production to have been really £3 138. 6d., would be a joint loss of £2 12s. 81d.— the cost of production less the result of a complete sale. Can these figures be right? If so, we find a business man investing £1 16s. gd. (and ex- pressing his belief that he will lose it), on the chance of only losing £1 6s. 44d., and with no possible chance of gaining anything whatever! The author might do this, for he might consider the sight of his verses in print a fair equivalent for his outlay, but what is the publisher doing in such a galley? It is incumbent upon the publisher to show that £3 13s. 6d was spent upon producing the verses, and not some much less sum. For consider the intolerable position in which his firm is placed, if it should be suggested that the production only cost them £1, while they have received £1 18s. as their share of the joint loss. Also, how can £1 18s. be due to them? Their own figures give £3 10s. gd. as the loss, and the half of this is £1 15s. 43d. We must repeat that the account is very mysterious. The rest of the author’s transactions with these publishers call for no further comment. They were all commission work, aud the pay, if small, seems to have been fairly offered beforehand ‘on the “ take it or leave it” principle, and the author elected to take it. The next and last of his experiences has also points worthy of consideration. (5}. A new publisher accepted the author’s MS., offering him at once a royalty of 2d. in the shilling «n all copies sold,* which, under the circumstances, was by no means a bad offer. It * That is to say of a royalty of a little over 16 per cent. For the real meaning of these terms vide— The Methods of Publishing,” 2nd edit., p 60, and The Author, vol. IL., p. 162.  THE AUTHOR. 449 was qualified immediately afterwards, however, to enable the publisher, at less risk to himself, to “try an experiment with the book and illustrate it with silhouettes. ‘ What I propose,” he says, ‘is that I should about pay myself for the production ot these, before I pay you your commission. If you agree therefore that I should have a sale of 3000 before paying anything to you I shall be quite satisfied.” Two things will strike everyone at once: First, that as it was the pub- lisher’s “ experiment,” and was made presumably from the rational point of view of increasing the chances of sale, the publisher should have taken the risk of its failure, and not the author: Second, that no proof is given of the j ustice of selling 3000 copies commission free. Why 3000? Why not 30,000F Why not 3007 3000 copies of a book selling at the nominal price of one shilling would bring in £100. Does the publisher mean that it will cost him £100 to reproduce the silhouettes? Or that they will cost him the £25 of which he proposes to maulct the author by suppressing the royalty on 3000 copies? Or does be mean that £100 will publish the book; be- cause that is perhaps the truth of the matter. He says “ about pay myself for the production of these (meaning the silhouettes),” but in reality the proposal is to recoup himself entirely for the production of the whole book before paying the author anytbing. This principle of deferred royalties not only spoils the merit of a royalty offer, but imports into the royalty system all the evils of the half-profit system, to which we have alluded above. How can an author judge of the fairness of a proposal to withhold the commission until a certain number of copies be sold, unless he knows the expense to which the publisher is going to be put—unless, that is, he can double the part of author and publisher? The author, in this particular case, made no money at all out of the book, which did not sell. He can comfort himself, if he is a selfish man, by the thought that the comparative failure of the book concerns not him chiefly, but the publisher. He never could have made much money out of the book, A sale of 3000 copies about marks the limit of the success to which such a book attains, and on the first 3000 copies he was, by arrange- ment, to get nothing. If his book had achieved w success equivalent to some 30 per cent. higher than what he could fairly anticipate, and 4000 copies had been sold, he would theu only have got out of it £8 6s.8d. In this connection we should much like to know how many copies were printed. Tt seems to us possible that no more than 3000 were ever prepared, that is, that from the first it was intended that the author should get nothing at all The merits of the half-profit system have received frequent attention in these pages, and the advisability of having an agreement before publishing and of understanding its terms have been sufficiently insisted upon. We have ex- plained in the ‘Author and in the Society’s hand- books the true meaning of a royalty of 2d. in the shilling; and arithmetic, coupled with the know- ledge that 3000 copies is a very respectable circu- lation for a still unknown author, will enable any- one to see how very uusatisfactory to such man the result of deferring the payment of his royalties till 3000 copies have been sold, is likely to be. We need therefore make but one more comment upon this author’s experiences. It will be noticed that in each case the sums involved are very small. It is probable that this may make our serious tone towards the irregularities that have occurred appear misplaced, and possible that it may have been the cause of the disrespectful behaviour of both author and publishers towards the author’s property. But, to judge of the sanctity of property by its size would not be con- sidered wise in other walks of life. Does a man consider his collar-stud less his own than his watch? Is it permitted to us to remove our neighbours’ landmark a foot or two and remain venial offenders? Must we annex an acre before we fall under the ban of the Commination Service P pe CORRESPONDENCE. = E New AUTHORS. N reply to your remarks on my letter con- | cerning “the publication of new books by new and unknown authors,” I meant it to be inferred from the 8th paragraph of my letter, that the method would be supported by subscrip- tions from the publishers, instead of each paying his own reader. The publisher would in this case have no reader of his own, so that what you suggest as possible, at the end of your note, could not happen. T meant also that, under this plan, the author should pay no fee for having a work read, for 5 had in mind only the getting an admittedly meri- torious work published—a quick means of a good work finding a publisher, instead of wandering round and round after one. a Should an author want an instructive opinion, such as he now obtains from the Society, let him still have to pay a guinea for it. Seat Sa ssa eames  450 THE The criticism of an author’s MS. is a depart- ment of work entirely distinct from that which I suggested that the Society should initiate, but so intimately connected with it that I look upon the reading branch of the Society—because it had its origin in the Society of Authors—as simply a first step, which must inevitably lead to the accom- plishment of the other scheme. Husert Hass, 28, Bassett-road, North Kensington, London, W. I, ATTACK AND DEFENCE. In the dispute under the above heading in the April number of the Author, the critic certainly seems to make out the better case ; but I defy the reviewer of the Academy to justify in the same fashion most of his remarks on my last book. This gentleman says: “A young lady spends the night on a snowy mountain top in company with an injured gentleman. The heroism she displays prompts him to make an immediate proposal of marriage, but no sooner has the ceremony taken place than the bridegroom dies.” In the book the gentleman here spoken of does not propose to the young lady at any time, being a most respectable member of the community, provided already with a wife and grown up family of his own. When the lady does marry, her husband survives the ceremony by two years and a half. The reviewer says: “These two gentlemen have borne a by no means faultless character ; for while the younger has knowingly married somebody else’s wife. 2 In the book the gentleman alluded to knows nothing of his wife’s previous marriage until after the birth of their child. The reviewer says : ‘“ Besides (sic) these two the villain of the piece shines comparatively brightly. His only fault was having deceived a girl in India ”+—there is no mention in the book of a girl in India—“ who, when she found him out, poisoned herself, though he offered her marriage.” This is the cruellest lie of all; because it is built up on a substratum of truth. “The villain’s” offer of marriage is made, but to the girl’s father ; and she poisons herself before her father’s return from the interview with her seducer, while she is yet in ignorance of his offer to marry her. Under these circumstances what ground has the reviewer for the implied sarcasm in the sentence —‘poisoned herself though he offered her marriage ”’ ? AUTHOR. In very truth we minor novelists commit, and have to answer for, quite enough blunders of our own without being also made responsible for the feeble aberrations of such a one as this—a person who is too indifferent or too incompetent, or—as you, Mr. Editor, point out—too ill-paid, to dis- charge the duties of his calling with fairness either to his employer or to us. Unfortunately, from whatever cause his inaccuracies proceed, the result to me is the same—a review by so many specified items worse than the book deserves. While reviewers are under discussion, I have something to add on the subject of contradictory reviews. Do not all, or nearly all, authors go through this experience, with almost every book they put before the public ? Here are three specimens of flat contradiction taken from first-class papers : “The tone of the book is “ The author has a healthy scarcely a healthy one.” belief in human nature, which contrasts pleasantly with the pessimistic views more general with present day novelists.” “There is a deep pathos here and there, and a truly touching human interest at every turn.” “The story is as devoid of expression as a plank of timber.”’ “Has no feature to dis- tinguish it from the ordinary fourth-rate novel, unless, indeed, its extraordinary confusion may count for one.” After this, one is almost driven to believe that these gentlemen are continually engaged among themselves in a sly game of intellectual skittles, in which the ninepins are represented by the rank and file of the literary fraternity—set up in fair order by the fellows at one end. to be bowled over by the players at the other. A delightful pastime for everybody concerned—barring the ninepins. C. L. “ The plot is intricate yet never obscure The work of a competent writer.” III. A COINCIDENCE. My attention has just been called to the fol- lowing paragraph in the April number of the Author :—“ Here is a case of coincidence. Inthe Author of last monthappeareda story of a daughter bringing by her own efforts and genius success to the father who could not command it. It was a literary success. In June of last year there appeared in the Lastern and Western Gazette a story by Mrs. Edmonds called ‘The Painter’s Daughter,’ in which the daughter gives secretly to her father’s picture the touches and the colour which transform it from a failure to a success  THE AUTHOR. 451 The treatment of the two stories is different; there is nothing similar except the motif, and that ig the same in both. The author of ‘The Painter’s Daughter’ is anxious to say that she does not for one moment insinuate or suspect any plagiarism. It is a coincidence, and, as such, it deserves to be recorded.” While agreeing with your remarks as to the “eoincidence,” I am constrained to ask you to be kind enough to correct an error. The story referred to, “ A Painser’s Daughter,” by Mrs. Edmonds, appeared in the June number of the Eastern and Western Review, which, doubtless by some inadvertence, you have referred to as the Eastern and Western Gazette. I think it right to call attention to this, and to ask you to do me the favour of inserting this letter in the next issue of the Author. I have the honour to be, Your faithful servant, H. AntHony SALOME (Editor Eastern and Western Review.) LN Prompt PaYMENT. Whilst on this subject, would it not be well to discuss publisher’s methods of payment ? I have had considerable experience in_ this matter, having published with eleven different firms—and with almost all, there has been a difficulty as to the date of payment—the most favourable terms (with one exception), being one half the amount paid on receipt of the MS, and the other half on publication—which I know, to my cost, may be postponed indefinitely. The one exception is ‘‘ The Leadenhall Press,” whose cheque for the whole amount agreed on, is, I have always found (and I believe it is their rule), ready on the MS. being finished and handed over. A ScriBBLER. ————— = V. Tar VALUE or Criticism TO BEGINNERS. Some time ago I wrote an essay called “ Doctors: by a Pessimist,’’ and sent it, with others, to the Secretary of the Society, for criti- cisim. Tle reply came in due course, and to my horror I found that what I considered to be a smart piece of writing was scathingly condemned. My critic, however, did not stop short at con- demnation, but took some trouble to indicate lines for alteration and amendment. I laid the advice to heart, pondered over the reproof, and re-wrote the paper ab initio. In its original form it had been “returned with thanks” several times; but now, at the first attempt, second series, I rejoice to say, it has found favour— with—mirabile dictu—the editor of a medical journal ! I believe some people question the advantage of belonging to the Society of Authors; but here is a proof positive that, in my case at least, the value, in a pecuniary sense, is very great indeed. I could easily adduce other instances in which I have derived benefit from my membership, but this one will suffice. Hk. G. VI. Youna WRITERS. The Author wants to know how it can help young writers. There is a way. Is it practic- able? Not long ago an Idler said that whenever he wanted to feel warm he looked at his old MSS. He found there certain heat-giving properties. Many young writers would lke to know what these properties are. More than that, where the successful writer stumbled. Could not this be done in a series of paragraphs appearing each month in the Author? There are numerous pit-falls; would it be too much to ask well-known members of the society to lay some of them bare? ‘Those that they are personally acquainted with. A paragraph a month would not be a great call on a writer’s time. It would be—if practicable—an unselfish act, and these paragraphs would become to the young writer an invaluable literary chart. There is no map of the country at present. The pars could be headed ‘‘ Where I was Wrong.” A MEMBER. VII. DrEAMS. Coleridge and others are said to have com- posed poems in their sleep. This, very likely, is true, but let not everyone who may dream he is a poet expect to find confirmation thereof when he awakes. I myself do not remember ever having dreamt in verse, but it has frequently occurred to me to imagine in my sleep that I was giving expression to sentiments and ideas that, if collated, should astonish the world by reason of their depth and lucidity. . Last night I suddenly awoke with a distinct recollection of a sentence that seemed to me so majestic and full of mean- ing that I reached forth my hand in the dark, found a pencil, and then and there wrote it down. Here it is:— “ Tt was found that the bottom was dry. Talk was talk.” Tenclose the original for your edification ; and regret to add that I have not the remotest idea of ssc  452 what the context of this dreamland sentence was. As it stands, sermons might be preached on it, or essays written; but intrinsically I fear it can only be classed as—nonsense. H. RB. G. — — FROM THE PAPERS. i : LItERATURE AT THE CoLuMBIAN ExposiITion. I ITERATURE will be represented at the Columbian Exposition in two distinct ways. First there will be the exhibit of books and libraries in the Liberal Arts Depart- ment of the Exposition proper at Jackson Park— an exhibit to be made up chiefly of consignments from the various publishers, whose applications for space evince a very general interest in the matter, and give promise of an attractive and worthy display. Of far greater importance to the interests of literature, however, will be the series of conferences, or congresses, to be held in July in the Memorial Art Building near the heart of the city, as a part of the programme planned by the World’s Congress Auxiliary, an outline of whose grand and comprehensive work was given in the Dial for Dec. 16 last. It is the present intention to have these literary con- gresses begin on July 10, one week in advance of the educational congresses, as many visitors may wish to attend meetings in both of these depart- ments. By using the several audience-rooms that will be provided in the Art Building, the meetings of different sections may be held simultaneously, and thus the work of the con- gresses be greatly expedited. The general department of literature, as we have already explained, has been made to include, besides literature proper as represented by authors and their interests, sections devoted to philology and history, and to libraries. In each of the three last-named sections plans are to be formed and programmes provided, as far as possible, in cooperation with existing national organisations—such as the Modern Language and Oriental Societies, the Historical Society, and the Librarians’ Association—some or all of which have already decided to hold their annual meetings for this year in Chicago, as a part of the proceedings of the auxiliary congresses. In the plans for a congress of authors, the same policy will, as far as practicable, be pursued, and the work carried on by the local c mmittees in conjunction with, or at least in consultation THE AUTHOR. with, the representative societies of men of letters, such as the American Copyright League, the Authors’ Club of New York, and the London Society of Authors. The drift of discussion will thus naturally tend, at least in the beginning, towards those subjects most nearly related to the interests of authors in their profession: the rights of literary property, copyright laws, national and international, the relations between authors and publishers, &c. An international conference on the laws of literary property is among the probabilities of the Authors’ Congress, and may be an occasion of very great interest and tenefit. A number of prominent authors, at home and abroad, have cordially approved the general purposes of the congress, and, in response to the request of the local committee, have offered valuable suggestions as to the practical measures to be adopted. Mr. Walter Besant, late chairman of the London Society of Authors, has written that he will attend the congress as the delegate of his society, and will submit a paper by himself on some of the questions raised, from an English point of view. The Hon. James Bryce, M.P., has given some timely counsel and furnished some excellent additions to the list of topics to be discussed. Royalty, in the person of King Oscar of Sweden-Norway, acknowledges recognition as a man of letters by expressing through his secietary his “warmest wishes for the Congress of Authors and for the results of its labours, as everything that will forward the dignity and welfare of the literary calling deeply interests His Majesty.” In this country much valuable assistance has been rendered by Mr. E. C. Stedman, the president of the American Copy- right League, and by Mr. R. U. Johnson, its secretary ; also by Mr. R. W. Gilder and others. While the plans thus far formed for the Congress of Authors relate principally to subjects of professional rather than of general literary interest, the latter should not and need not be lost sight of. Such topics as the relation of dramatic and musical copyright to literary copy- right, the teaching of literature in the schools and colleges, current modes and standards of literary criticism, literature and the newspapers, perhaps even the moral purpose in literature, might be discussed with profit not only to the writers of books but to the readers of them, and with the result of greatly broadening the interest and influence of the literary congresses.—The Chicago Dial. II. The plans for the Literary Congress, which will begin on July 10, have not yet assumed definite shape, but the prospect for an interesting week is encouraging. The subjects suggested  THE AUTHOR. 459 for discussion are divided into four classes— aspects of literature, problems of the literary calling, the rights of literary property, and American literature. Under the first head are included such subdivisions as “Standards of Literary Criticism,” “ Literature and the News- papers,” “ Realism” and “ The Moral Purpose in Literature”; the second deals mainly with methods of publishing, and the third with different aspects of-copynght. There are also schemes afloat for authors’ readings in connec- tion with this Congress. The members of the Chicago committee of organisation are Francis F. Browne, editor of the Dial, who is chairman ; George E. Woodberry, Franklin H. Head, Joseph Kirkland, and David Swing. A committee of co-operation, with headquarters in New York, was also appointed, and of this Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes is chairman, and George EK. Woodberry secretary. It members are Edmund C. Stedman, Charles Eliot Norton, Charles Dudley Warner, William Dean Howells, Col. 1’. W. Higginson, Dr. H. H. Furness, Richard Watson Gilder, Thomas Bailey Aldrich, George W. Gable, Maurice Thompson, Thomas Nelson Page, Frank Dempster Sherman, and Prof. Hjalmar H. Boyesen. With such men enlisted in its service, the literary congress should cer- tainly evolve something original and vital in the way of discussions.—New York Critic. ———— EL Tur Rotiep MS. “Tye read,” said an editor toa writer in the New York Times, ‘ hundreds of rolled manu- scripts, and I never yet have found one that I cared to print. I have decided that the stupidity which rolls a manuscript cannot produce anything worth reading.” A rolled MS. is a desperate thing, but there is another that is almost worse— the one that comes to you with the last page on top and the first page at the bottom. A MS. was once sent to me arranged in this careless manner. There were five or six hundred pages of it. Do you know what I did with it? I sent it back to the author with a note in which I advised him before he sent that MS. further on its travels to show sufficient interest in it to arrange the pages properly. I hope for his sake that he acted upon my advice. If he did not, I doubt that his tale ever got a hearing. Life is too short for the important things to be done as they should be, and it never could be long enough for one not only to do his own work properly, but to rectify the careless work of others. A rolled MS. shows a thoughtless writer, but a MS. arranged back- wards shows a carelessness that is insulting to the person to whom it is sent, and argues ill for the intelligence of the writer. An attractive-looking manuscript goes a long way towards winning the favour of the “reader.” Even if refused, it is refused with genuine regret; but a “ reader’’ is only too glad to find the carelessly-prepared MS. as worthless as it looks. I have always admired the patience that induced Mr. George Haven Putnam to read the MS. of “The Leaven- worth Case,” for it was carelessly written in lead- pencil on common paper, and by an author then unknown. But he had his reward.—New York Critic. SS TLE. An AMERICAN PATERNOSTER Row. Fifth Avenue below Twenty -third-street in New York is rapidly becoming the American Paternoster-row. Beginning at the lower end we find Macmillan and Co., laying the founda- tion stone of a fine building on the avenue just below Thirteenth-street; C. L. Webster and Co., W. B. Harison, Brandus and Co., and the New York offices of Ginn and Co., and Leach, Shewell, and Sanborn are in the same neighbourhood. Further up, at No. 112, near Sixteenth-street, we find the New York offices and warerooms of Fleming H. Revell and Company, who have just removed to that point ; at No. 114, the handsome new store of James Pott and Co.; at No. 150, on the corner of Twentieth-street, the handsome building of the Methodist Book Concern with Hunt and Eaton’s handsome book store, and the Tnternational Bible Company, and at No. 182, near Twenty-third- street, the publishing-house of Anson D. F. Randolph and Co., with its attractive and well- stocked retail department. On the side streets of the avenue, running across to Union-square, we find on Tenth-street William Wood and Co., A. CG. Armstrong and Son, John Wiley and Son, the University Pub- lishing Company, Lovell, Coryell, and_ Co., the New York office of L. Prang and Co., Maynard, Merrill, and Co., and Fords, Howard, and Hulbert. On Twelfth-street, Ward, Lock, Bowden, and Co. On Fourteenth-street Thomas Y. Crowell and Co., A. Lovell and Co., J. A. Boll: and Co., J. W. Shermerhorn and Co., D. C. Heath and Co., and Isaac Pitman and Son. On Sixteenth- street, Longmans, Green, and Co. the United States Book Company, and the New York office of the John Church Company. On Seventeenth- street, the Century Company, Thomas Nelson and Sons, Tait, Sons, and Co., Brentano’s (who will be at the corner of Sixteenth-street and Union-square, West, in a couple of weeks), ee 454 Breitkopf and Hartel, Novello, Ewer, and Co., the New York office of Houghton, Mifflin, and Co., the Catholic Publication Society, and Rich- mond and Croscup. On _ Eighteenth-street, McLoughlin Brothers. On Nineteenth-street, Dodd, Mead, and Co. On Twenty-first-street, Fowler and Wells Company, M. L. Holbrook, and George M. Allen and Co. On Twenty-second- street, the Reformed Church Board, and on Twenty-third-street, west of the avenue, Geo. P. Putnam’s Sons, Henry Holt and Co., E. P. Dutton and Co., Fred. A. Stokes Co., G. W. Dillingham, Wm. J. Kelly, Town Topics Publishing Company, and H. 8. Werner. Several other houses are now looking for quarters in this circle, and additions to the above list may be expected about the first of May next. Besides those mentioned are the publishing offices of The Judge, Frank Leslie's, &c., and Mrs. Leslie’s own publications, The Forum. North American Review, Town Topics, Truth, and The Cosmopolitan. On Union-square, West, or one block from Fifth Avenue, are the publishing- offices and retail stores of Wm. A. Pond and Co., G. Schirmer, R. A. Saalfield, and Edward Schuberth and Co., publishers and importers of music. Art is represented by Charles Klackner, George M. Allen Company, Jellineck and Jacob- son, Geo. F. Kelly and Co., and Radtke, Lauckner, and Co.— Publishers’ Weekly. IV. DepIcatTions. A writer in the Author lately exhorted modern authors to revert to the ancient custom of dedications. Mr. Watson did not need the exhortation. His present, like his former volumes, have dedications. “To Arthur Christopher Benson I commend this prince-errant of my half-fledged fancy, with full confidence in the hospitality of heart which will refuse kindly shelter to no wayfarer, how perplexed and mis- guided soever, in the bewildering world.” That is of “The Prince’s Quest.” “To Grant Allen, an only too generous appreciator of my verse, I dedicate this poem, knowing that he will recog- nise beneath its somewhat hazardous levity a spirit not wholly flippant such as can alone justify its inscription to a serious lover of the Muse.” That is of “The loping Angels.” And the ‘Excursions in Criticism ” (from which a certain “ excursion”’ on “ Fiction Plethoric and Anzwmic”’ was wisely excluded) is dedicated, “ with apologies for so poor an offering,” to “ George Meredith, that this little volume may be graced with the vame of one of the truest of poets and most mag- THE AUTHOR. nanimous of men.” This is not the first tribute of the kind Mr. Meredith has received. ; Many dedications have been in grateful recogni- tion of care in nursing to literary maturity, dedi- cations to encouraging editors, and so forth; Mr. William Watson’s dedication, for example, of “Lacryme Musarum” to the editors of the Spectator; Mr. Barrie’s dedication of “Auld Licht Idylls” to Mr. Greenwood; and there is surely somewhere a similar tribute of Mr. Louis Stevenson to Mr. Leslie Stephen, who opened to him the pages of the Cornhill. Mr, Meredith himself, itis curious and interesting to remember, dedicated “Shagpat,” of all books in the world, to an editor of the Morning Post! He had been one of Sir William Hardman’s contributors. Mr. Meredith’s own first dedication, the dedication of the “ Poems” of 1851, now a book collector’s prize, was, it is interesting to recollect, to his father-in-law, Thomas Love Peacock, “in profound admiration and. affectionate respect.” ‘Modern Love” was “ affectionately inscribed to Captain Maxse, R.N.”; the new reprint—the second edition in thirty years !—is still dedicated “to Admiral Maxse in constant friendship.” The “Poems and Lyrics” of 1883 were dedicated to Cotter Morison, and “ Diana of the Crossways ” to Sir Frederick Pollock. Is there not a suggestive contrast between the “dedicatees” of Tennyson and Browning? The Queen, the Prince Consort, Robert Browning himself, and Lord Selborne—of such was the Laureate’s company; while Robert Browning’s chosen were Talfourd, Macready, Kenyon and Forster, Barry Cornwall, Landor, and M. Milsand. Talfourd had “ Pickwick” dedicated to him, and Barry Cornwall “ Vanity Fair” ; while “ Atalanta in Calydon” was an offering well worthy of Landor’s memory. Let us not forget Tennyson’s dedications to his wife, his grandson, Alfred Tennyson, and Henry Lushington (Old Fitz has not, we think, a formal dedication), and, above all, the more than dedication to Henry Hallam. Still less let us forget Browning’s “One Word More,” and the later invocation to his “ Lyric Love, half angel and half bird.” But no poet of them all, not even Browning, ever rivalled the fervour of John Mill’s dedication of his “ Liberty” to his wife. The palm for adoration rests with the economist and logician.— St. James's Gazette, April 8, 1893. V. Firing CopyricguHt. It is understood that the librarian of the Congressional Library has found it impossible to  THE AUTHOR. 455 keep up with the applications for copyright filed at his office since the new copyright law went into effect. Additional clerks are sorely needed to assist Mr. Spofford in his labours.—New York Critic. VE. Tue Current ADJECTIVE. THERE are certain words that are good enough words in themselves, but which used in unusual connections become conspicuous and __ finally odious. Some time ago the favourite slang word of literature was “certain.” Every heroine had a “certain nameless charm,” &c., and every hero a “certain air of distinction” about him, until you longed for one whose qualities were more uncertain in their nature or degree. “Certain ” seems to have had its day ; and now the favourite slang word of literature is “ distinctly.” Heroines are now “distinctly regal” in their bearing, and there is about the heroes a manner that is “ distinctly fine,” or whatever the adjective may be. In a book that I read not many days ago, the word “ distinctly” used in this way appeared three times on one page, until I was distinctly bored, and laid it down in disgust. ‘‘ Precious” used to be one of the tortured vocables, and there was a class of art-critics that went so far as to describe the paintings of their favourites as “distinctly precious”; but I think they have been laughed into a more material vocabulary by this time. I do not object to an original use of words, but I do hate affectation. in their use. There are two authors I could mention whose stories give the impression of long hours spent in hunting up obsolete words in the dic- tionary, who, so it seems to me, would rather have their readers say, ‘Where do you suppose he found sucha word?” rather than ‘“‘ How well he tells a story!” They seek to attract attention as jugglers of words, rather than legitimate users of them. Give mea writer whose aim is to tell a story well, rather than one whose aim is to startle his readers into attention by outré phrases. New York Critic. So Vit Auas! Poor Yoricx ! Yorick made Duke of York !—The Professor of English in a Western college sends me the fol- lowing note, which T cannot forbear printing for the amusement of the Critic’s readers : “ Perhaps youare familiar with the advertising enterprise shown by the proprietors of "8 soap ; well, during the past few days an imported French or Italian artist, a ‘ Professor’ Leoni, has been occupying a large display window down town, carving or modelling out of bars of a soap, a scene from‘ Hamlet.’ There is the grave- yard with its enclosing wall, the trees, the birds, fallen headstones, the funeral monuments—all of the same soapy material; while the grave-diggers lounge around watching Hamlet and Horatio who stand by the open grave. Hamlet holds the skull, and is evidently apostrophising it. It is done with remarkable skill and some degree of artistic taste; but the funny thing about it is that the scene is labelled ‘ Hamlet discovering the skull of the Duke of York /and on the miniature tablet at the head of the grave the artist has carved so that he who runs may read— —____— DUKE “ Now was it not dismal humiliation enough to put the melancholy Dane into soap, without con- verting that mad rogue Yorick into His Grace the Duke of York? ‘To what base uses may we turn, Horatio ! “Tn faith, if this sort of thing be allowed to run ov, what theories of corrupted text and what plausible emendation of unfamiliar names may we not expect in the days to come? Might not one come eventually to interpret poor Yorick asa solar myth, or something of that sort, at last ?” —New York Critic. ——-—e “AT THE SIGN OF THE AUTHOR'S HEAD.” R. GEORGE MEREDITH is busy upon a serial story for the Pall Mall Maga- zine, and has also undertaken to write a serial for Scribner's. Mr. Joseph Hatton’s new novel, “ Under the Great Seal,” will be published on May 1 by Messrs. Hutchinson, and in New York by the Cassell Publishing Company. Mr. Eden Phillpotts has almost completed his new story, which will bear the title “Some Every- day Folks.” Mr. Phillpotts has written the next volume of the “ Breezy Library.” It will bear the title “Summer Clouds,” and will be published by Messrs. Raphael Tuck and Co. Mr. Philip H. Bagenal has written a mono- graph on the politico-ecclesiastical aspects of the Trish question which bears the title “ The Priest ser rt a ES SY a A EE  450 in Politics.” Messrs. Hutchinson are the pub- lishers. Mrs. Simmons (V. Schallenberger), the author of “Green Tea,” has written a new story entitled “Men and Men,” which will be published at once by Messrs. J. R. Osgood, Mcllvaine, and Co. Mrs. Abraham Dixon has prepared a new and revised edition of ‘Chronicles of Columbus,” a propos of the Columbus Centenary Celebrations, Messrs. G. P. Putnam’s Sons are the pub- lishers, and they will publish the volume simul- taneously in London and New York. It has been arranged through the Author’s Syndicate that Mrs. Campbell Praed’s new story, “Christina Chard,” should run serially through the Queen. Mr. Frederic Breton has wri!ten a story entitled “The Crime of Maunsell Grange,” which will be published immediately by Messrs. J. R. Osgood, Mellvaine, and Co. “Rita” has completed a new three-volume novel entitled ‘The Ending of My Day,” which will, through the Authors’ Syndicate, be published in a number of newspapers in the early summer. Mr. W. Morris Colles has written an article for the May number of the New Review entitled “The Future of English Letters.”’ “ Utterly Mistaken,” a novel by Annie Thomas ; “Witness to the Deed,’ by George Manville Fenn; ‘Prince Hermann, Regent,’ by Jules Lemaitre, translated from the French by Miss B. M. Sherman, and Mark Rutherford’s Deliver- rance,”’ uniform with the ‘ Autobiography of Mark Rutherford,” are published by the Cassell Company, New York. The Finns are joining the civilised world—of fiction. A Finnish novel named “ Squire Helman,” has been translated by Mr. R. N. Bain, and will be published by Fisher Unwin. Mr. W. M. Conway’s work on his expedition to the Himalayas, is making progress; it will be illustrated from drawings made on the spot, and by maps from surveys and observations conducted by Mr. Conway himself. John Strange Winter has a new story in the press called “ That Mrs. Smith.” (F. W. White and Co.) Annie Thomas (Mrs. Pender Cudlip) is bring- ing out a new novel called ‘ Utterly Unknown.” (F. V. White and Co.) A new edition of John Addington Symonds’ “Introduction to the Study of Dante,” is in preparation (Messrs. A. and C. Black). It was THE AUTHOR. nearly ready at the moment of the lamented author’s death. Mr. Robert Louis Stevenson’s new work “Island Nights’ Entertainments,” will be pub- lished by Cassell and Co. Mr. Rudyard Kipling contributes a“ National Poem, to celebrate the opening of the Imperial Institute,” to the English Illustrated. Mr. Charles Brookfield makes his first appear- ance immediately as an author with a volume of four stories. (Ward and Downey.) Dr. Verrall is bringing out in the Classical Library of Macmillan and Co., an edition of the Choephore of Aischylus, with a commentary, translation, and notes. Mr. Dykes Campbell’s new edition of Coleridge’s works, with his introduction and life is now ready (Macmillan and Co.) Prof. Minto has left behind him an unpublished “Manual of Logic.” The proofs, however, were all corrected, and the work will be published by Mr. Murray. Mr. Cosmo Monkhouse has added a “ Life of Leigh Hunt” to Mr. Walter Scott's “Great Writers.” The first Book Sale in England, it took place in the year 1676. And those who want to learn what it was like, may read a most interest- ing account of it in Longman’s Magazine for April. It is understood, says the New York Critic, that the Librarian of the Congressional Library has found it impossible to keep up with the applications for copyright filed at his office since the new copyright law went into effect. Addi- tional clerks are sorely needed to assist Mr. Spofford in his labours. | Lady Burton has completed arrangements for the issue of a complete and uniform edition of all Sir Richard Burton’s works, beginning with “The Pilgrimage to Mecca and Medinah.” “Dan’l’s Delight,”’ by Archie Armstrong, has met with a very good reception at the “ German Reeds.” Mr. Luther J. B. Lincoln’s entertainment, which goes by the name of “Uncut Leaves,” is said to be enjoying great popularity in America. Among the authors who read from their own works at the last one, the other day, were Prof. A. S Hardy, William Henry Bishop and Col. Richard Malcolm Johnston. Miss Laura Sedg- wick Collins delivered a new monologue by Charles Barnard, and Augustus Thomas gave a talk on the drama.  THE AUTHOR. 457 Mrs. Edith E. Cuthell, author of “Only a Guardroom Dog,” is editing Mrs. R. H. Tyache’s book of travel and sport in the Central Hima- layas, ‘How I Shot my Bears; or Two Years’ Tent Life in Kullu and Lahoul.” .The book is to be published very shortly by Messrs. Sampson and Marston, illustrated by photos taken on the spot. Messrs. Bentley are bringing out Mrs. Edith E. Quthell’s new book “Indian Memories,” of various phases of life in different parts of India. Lieut.-Col. Cuthell has compiled a useful and much-needed “ Sailing Guide to the Solent and Poole Harbour; with Practical Hints on Living and Working on a Small Yacht,” to be published by Upeott Gill directly. “By a Himalayan Lake,” a one-volume novel by the author of the collection of Indian stories called “In Tent and Bungalow,” is just published by Messrs. Ward and Downey. The London Letter of the New York Critic will be written for the present by Mr. Arthur Waugh, the author of the “ Biography of Tenny- son.” He takes the place of Mrs. L. A. Walford, who in her turn succeeded Mr. W. E. Henley. The Critic is a paper which might in many of its features be imitated by our own literary journals. The Monthly Packet (A. D. Innes and Co.) for July will contain a serisl story by Dorothea Gerard, called “Lot 13,” and also papers by Miss Brande on “Thinkers of the Middle Ages.” Christabel Coleridge has ready a new novel called “ Waynflete.” 2 vols. A. D. Innes and Co. are the publishers. The same writer has ready “ Strolling Players.” 1 vol. (Macmillan and Co.) A series of unpublished letters by S. T. Cole- ridge, edited by his grandson, Ernest Hartly Cole- ridge, are running through the Illustrated London News. A volume of letters will probably follow them in the autumn. Mr. John Bloundelle-Burton, author of “lEhe Desert Ship,” ‘The Silent Shore,” “ His Own Enemy,” &c., will shortly contribute a serial stury of adventure to Young England. “The Desert Ship” will be produced in volume form (with the original illustrations and four extra ones, by Mr. Hume Nesbit) in the autumn, by Messrs. Hutchinson and Co. Mr. Bertram Mitford’s new novel, “ The Gun- runners: A Tale of Zululand,” will be published immediately by Messrs. Chatto and Windus, Mrs. Oliphant will shortly produce a “ Bio- graphy of Thomas Chalmers” (Methuen and Co.). Mr. H. D. Rawnsley will publish, before long, a volume of poems called “ Valete.” They are principally In Memoriam verses on Tennyson and others. The publishers are Messrs. James Maclehose and Sons, Glasgow. Early in May Mr. Fitzgerald Molloy will produce a new novel, “ His Wife’s Soul.” (Hutchinson and Co.) Pes THE AUTHOR'S BOOK EXCHANGE. (Names of books wanted, books for sale, and books for exchange, to be sent to the “Book Exchange,” Society of Authors, 4, Portugal-street. All correspondence on this subject to be addressed in the same way.) ————— Books Wanted. The attention of secondhand booksellers is particularly invited to the following list. Books in the list remain till they are found or until the applicant desires their removal. The price, post free, and the condition of the book to be named in reply. Rowlandson’s Adventures of Johnny Newcome in the Navy, 1818; Military Adventures of Johnny Newcome, 1818. Shadwell’s Dramatic Works, 4 vols., 1720. Alexander’s History of Women. Hazlitt’s Liber Amoris, 1823. The World: any vols., 1753, et seq. Appeal to the Men of Great Britain in behalf of Women, 1798. Capper’s Port and Trade of London, 1862. Bissett, Andrew’s Notes on the Anti-Corn Law Struggle, 1884. Barnes’s New Discovery of Pigmies. Beloe’s Sexagenarian, 1st edition, 1817. Hackluyt’s Voyages. Kit Kat Club, Memoirs of, with the portraits, 1821. Tavern Anecdotes, 1825. Murray’s Chronicles of St. Dunstan’s in the East, 1859. Memorials of Fleet-street. By a Barrister. Meiner’s History of the Female Sex, 1808. Reader’s Handbook of Illusions, &c. By Dr. Brewer. Windsor’s Ethica, 1840. Urquhart’s Tracts. Mitchell’s Christian Mythology. Cunningham’s Story of Nell Gwynne. Dunton’s Young Student’s Library. Howell’s Epistol, 1688. Sharpe’s Coventry Pageants. Stirling’s Old Drury-lane. Grosley’s Tour to London, 2 vols., 1772. Hogarth’s Frolic (any edition). Rabelais: W. F. Smith’s New Translation. —Office of the Author. Beckford’s Vathek. Somerville’s The Chase. Tusher’s Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry. —_J. E. Tayuer, Leavesden, Herts. sea EES ee  458 Larwood’s History of Signboards. Andrew’s Old Times Punishments. Any Works of Cobbett. —E. Wotrerstan, Arts Club, Hanover-square. History of Paddington. Dr. Syntax: Life of Napoleon. —J. Batcomp, 14, Paddington-green. Captain Conyngham’s Services of the Irish Brigade in the Great American War. —HeEnry Brown, 4, Lorn-road, Brixton. Grant Allen: Physiological Asthetics. —F. H. P. Costs, Fowkes - buildings, Great Tower-street, E.C. Books Offered. Glazebrook’s Physical Optics. Smith’s Sacred Animals. Sinclair: a novel. By Mrs. Pilkington, 4 vols., published 1809. The Family Estate; or Lost and Won. By Mrs. Ross, 3 vols., 1815. Ellesmere. By Mrs. Meeke, 4 vols., 1799. Minerva Press, Leadenhall-street. Fitzroy. By Maria Hunter, 2 vols., 1792. Leadenhall-street. Lord Walford. By L. L., Esq., 2 vols., 1789. Chesterfield Letters. 2 vols., calf, 1777. mall. Oakwood Hall. 3 vols. A novel by Catherine Hutton, including description of the Lakes. Hugh Trevor. By Thomas Holcroft, 2 vols., 1794. —Office of the Author. sop’s Fables, 1760. Ilustrated by Z. Lister. Aisop’s Fables, 1810. Illustrated by Nesbit. Cary’s Atlas of English County Maps, 1787. Glass’s Contemplations, 1799, 4 vols., calf. Faber on Prophecy, 1806, 2 vols. Les Pseaumes de David, 1727, Amsterdam, with music. Goethe’s Schiller, 1820. Goethe’s Schiller, 1824. Schiller’s Fridolin. Minerva Press, Dodsley, Pall- =-8. ¢. B. Shakespeare Quarto Facsimiles, photo-lithographed. Edited by Dr. F. J. Furnivall, 43 vols. ei Cowley’s Works, 1688. Anacreon and Sappho, translated by Addison, with the Greek opposite, 1755. —G. B. G. Se. NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. Theology, ADENEY,WALTERF. Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. Hodder and Stoughton. 7s. 6d. Benson, Rev. R. M. The Final Passover: a series of meditations upon the Passion. Vol. III. The Divine Exodus. Part I. Longmans. 5s. CARNEGIE, W. H. Through Conversation to the Creed; a brief account of the reasonable character of religious conviction. Longmans. 3s. Cox, Rev. J. Cuarugs. The Gardens of Scripture. Six meditations, together with a sermon on Christianity and Archeology. Sampson Low. THE AUTHOR. Duke, Davip. Synchronism of the Passion Days, with charts. Published by him at Great Easton, Leicester- shire. Paper covers, 1s. 6d. Farmer, JouN. Hymns and Chorales for Schools and - Colleges. Edited by. Words only. Clarendon Press, Oxford. Henry Frowde. 2s. GILBERT, Josran. Nature, the Supernataral and the Religion of Israel. Hodder and Stoughton. 9s. Hearp, Rey. J. B. Alexandrian and Carthaginian Theology Contrasted. The Hulsean Lectures, 1892-93. T. and T. Clark, Edinburgh. 6s. Momeriz, Rev. A. W. The Religion of the Future, and other essays. W. Blackwood and Sons. Ryuz, Rr. Rey. J. C. Thoughts about Sunday, its insti- tution, privileges, and due observance. W. Hunt and Co., Paternoster-row. Paper covers, 3d. SoLty, Henry S. The Gospel according to Mark: a Study in the Earliest Records of the Life of Jesus. The Sunday School Association, Essex Hall, Essex-street, W.C. 3s. 6d. THOROLD, ANTHONY W., D.D. The Gospel of Work. “Preachers of the Day” Series. Sampson Low. Wittiam Law’s Derence or CuuRcH PRINCIPLES. Three letters to the Bishop of Bangor, 1717-1719. Edited by J.O. Nash, M.A., and Charles Gore, M.A. Griffith, Farren. 2s. 6d. net. Woopeatr, W. B. A Modern Layman’s Faith (Nova religio laict) concerning the Creed and Breed of the “Thoroughbred Man.” Chapman and Hall. 14s. History and Biography. An EXAMINATION oF THE Home RULE Brut oF 1893, with an appendix containing the full text of the measure itself. 3d. Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, and Co. Wm. M‘Gee. The Liberal Union of Ireland. ARGYLL, DuxKE or, K.G. Irish Nationalism: an Appeal to History. John Murray. Brieut, Rey. Mynors. The Diary of Samuel Pepys M.A., F.R.S. Transcribed from the Shorthand Manu- script in the Pepysian Library, Magdalene College, Cambridge. With Lord Braybrooke’s Notes. Edited, with additions, by Henry B. Wheatley, F.S.A. Vol. I. Price to subscribers £8 8s. net per set. London: George Bell and Son ; Cambridge : Deighton, Bell, and Co. Brink, BERNHARD Ten. History of English Literature (Wyclif, Chaucer, Earliest Drama, Renaissance). Translated from the German by Wm. Clarke Robinson, Ph.D. Revised by the Author. Vol. I. George Bell and Sons. 3s. 6d. Butter, ARTHUR Joun. The Memoirs of Baron de Marbot, late Lieutenant-General in the French Army. Translated from the French. With portrait. Fourth edition. Slightly abridged. Longman. 7s. 6d. CurisTiz, Rev. James. Northumberland: its History, its Features, and its People. Presbyterian Publication Committee, Paternoster-square. CLAYDEN, P. W. England Under the Coalition. Supple- mentary chapter and index. Fisher Unwin. Paper covers, 1s. 6d. Couiimr, W. FREDERICK. Tales and Sayings of William Robert Hicks, of Bodmin, with portrait and memoir. Third edition, enlarged. London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.; Plymouth: William Brendon and Son. Forp, Cnuarencr. The Life and Letters of Mme. de Krudener. A.and C. Black. 15s. Gasquet, F. A. Henry VIII. and the English Monasteries. New edition, with Ilustration. Part XII. ls. net. John Hodges, Agar-street, Charing-cross.  THE AUTHOR. 459 HARRISON, FREDERIC. Annals of an Old Manor-house— Sutton Place, Guildford. Illustrated. Macmillan. £2 2s. net. Jackson, T. G. Wadham College, Oxford : its Foundation, Architecture, and History, with an account of the family of Wadham and their seats in Somerset and Devon. (Limited to 150 copies.) Clarendon Press, Oxford. £2.2s. Krycston, ALFRED. Fragments of Two Centuries. Glimpses of country life when George III. was King. Illustrated. Warren Brothers, Royston. 2s. Lex, Sipney. Dictionary of National Biography. Edited by. Vol. 34—Llwyd-Macartney. Smith, Elder, and Co. Lirp oF THE LATE GENERAL F. R. CHESNEY, THe. By his wife and daughter. Edited by Stanley Lane- Poole. Second edition. Eden, Remington, and Co. 12s. M‘Kwieut, Rev. W. H. E. Lydiard Manor, its history— “Our Worshop and our Work.” Mitchell and Hughes, Wardour-street, W. 7s. 6d. MitTrz, GENERAL Don Barrotomé. 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Eyre and Spottiswoode.  ADVERTISEMENTS. NEW NOVEL BY JAMES PAYN. Now Ready, at all the Libraries, Booksellers’, and Bookstalls, in 2 vols., crown 8vo, cloth extra, price 21s. A STUMBLE ON THE THRESHOLD. ise [oF et as PFPAY DH. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS THE TIMES: ‘“Mr. James Payn’s pleasant story contains a startling novelty. undergraduates of Cambridge University. Mr. Payn’s picture of University society is frankly exceptional. Exceptional, if not unique, is the ‘nice little college’ of St. Neot’s. Cambridge men will have little difficulty in recognising this snug refuge of the ‘ ploughed.’ An ingenious plot, clever characters, and, above all, a/| plentiful seasoning of genial wit. The uxorious master of St. Neot’s is charmingly conceived. If only for his reminiscences of his deceased wives, ‘A Stumble on the Threshold’ deserves to be treasured. . We turn over Mr. Payn’s delightful pages, so full of surprises and whimsical dialogue. = DaILy NEWS: “The dramatic story is told with an excellent wit. It abounds in lively presentation of character and in shrewd sayings concerning life and manners. That study of mankind which is ‘man’ has furnished a liberal educa- tion to this genial humorist. The men and women he pourtrays move before us, as do our friends and acquaintances, distinct individualities, yet each possessed of that reserve of mystery a touch of which in the delineation of human nature, is more convincing than pages of analysis. Needham, Fellow of St. Neot’s, Cambridge—simple, loyal, gently independent—is a beautiful study. The story alternates in its setting between Bournemouth, Cambridge, and some charming spots near the Thames. The description of life in the Alma Mater on the banks of the Cam gives Mr. Payn opportunities for humorous sketches of professors and students, and he shows himself in the light of an excellent raconteur. This part of the narrative furnishes some delightful reading; we seem to be listening to the best talk, incisive, racy, and to the point. Space will not allow us to quote some of the wise and witty sayings, tinged it may be with cynicism, which are the outcome of Mr. Payn’s philosophy of life, and which are not the least entertaining art of this attractive novel.” DAILY CHRONICLE: ‘Mr. James Payn is here quite at his usual level all through, and that level is quite high enough to please most people. The character drawing is good. The story of the master sounds strangely like truth. : A book to read distinctly.” DAILy GRAPHIC: + | . | The dramatic unity of time, place, and cir- cumstance has never had a more novel setting. oe | SATURDAY REVIEW: ‘\A very interesting story, and one that excels in clever he leading actors are a group of| contrast of character and close study of individualism. : The characters make the impression of reality on the reader. . Extremely pleasant are the sketches of University life.” THE WORLD: ‘‘The most sensational story which the author has written since his capital novel, ‘By Proxy.’ Never flags for a moment.” BLACK AND WHITE. BE ceive Ingenious and Original. Mr. Payn knows how to invent and lead up to a mystery.” LEEDS MERCURY: ‘““Three more distinctive characters have, perhaps, never been drawn by Mr. James Payn than in Walter Blythe, Robert Grey, and George Needham, Cambridge undergraduates, who figure prominently in ‘A Stumble on the Threshold.’” GuLAsagow HERALD: ae Mr. Payn’s latest invention in sensational episode; but wild horses will not drag from us a statement of the mystery. It is new and thoroughly original, and worthy of the ingenuity of the loser of Sir Massingberd.” BATLEY REPORTER: Is most attractive reading.” ay HAMPSHIRE TELEGRAPH AND CHRONICLE: ‘““Mr. James Payn’s latest story, ‘A Stumble on the Threshold,’ which has been the chief attraction in the ‘Queen’ during the last few months—where, by the way, it was most admirably illustrated—has just been issued in two handsome vols. by Mr. Horace Cox. The story is written in Mr. Payn’s happiest vein: it sparkles with wit, the characters are most unconventional, and the old, old theme is worked out on quite novel lines.” HEREFORD TIMES ‘‘ With all their sparkle and gaiety, Mr. Payn’s novels would not be complete without the dread Nemesis, mysterious in operation, and casting suspicion for a time on every side but the right one. The novel is thoroughly attractive, and a credit to the practised hand which penned it.” THE OBSERVER: «| . . Is a characteristic story, remarkably quietly told, always pleasing and satisfying, and pro- viding a startling incident at a moment when everything seems serene.” London: HORACE COX, Windsor House, Bream’s E.C. Buildings, *CHEAP JACK ZITA” NEW SERIAL STORY my S&S BARING-GoOuULD. ENTITLED “CHEAP JACK ZITA,” With Illustrations by a Prominent Artist, commenced in the ‘‘ Queen” on Jan. 7.  of MSS. copied with care. ADVERTISEMENTS. MESDAMES BRETT & BOWSER, TYPISTS, SELBORNE CHAMBERS, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR. Authors’ MSS. carefully and expeditiously copied, from Is. per 1000 words. Extra carbon copies half price. Refer- ences kindly permitted to Augustine Birrell, Esq., M.P. LITERARY PRODUCTIONS OF EVERY DESCRIPTION (eet REVISED and CORRECTED on Mode- / rate Terms by the Author of “The Queen’s English up to Date” (see Press Opinions), price 2s. Address “ Anglophil,” Literary Revision Office, Strand, W.C. 342, Miss R. V. GILL, TYPE-WRITING OFFICES, 6, Adam-street, Strand, W.C. ee: Authors’ and dramatists’ Work a Speciality. All kinds Extra attention given to difficult hand-writing and to papers or lectures on scientific subjects. Type-writing from dictation. Shorthand Notes taken and transcribed. FURTHER PARTICULARS ON APPLICATION. MRS. Gib, TYP#-WRITING OFFICE, 35. LUDGATE HILL, E.C. (ESTABLISHED 1883.) ect : Authors’ MSS. carefully copied from 1s. per 1000 words, Plays, &c., Is. 8d. per 1000 words. Extra copies (carbon) supplied at the rate of 4d. and 3d. per 1000 words. Type-writing from dictation 2s. 6d. per hour. Reference kindly permitted to Walter Besant, Esq. Miss PATTEN, TYPIST 44, Oakley Street Flats, Chelsea S.W. Authors’ MSS. carefully transcribed. References kindly permitted to George Augustus Sala, Esq., Justin Huntly McCarthy, Esq., and many other well-known Authors. Fire - Proof Safe for MSS. Partic.lars on Application. Price One Shilling ; by Post, 1s. 3d. Te E QUEEN ALMANACK, and Lady’s Calendar, 1893, Contains a Chromo-Lithograph Plate of an Album Cover in Imitation Boule Work, Winter Comforts in Knitting and Crochet, Designs for Pyrographic, Hand-painted, or Inlaid Work, and Bent Iron Work. &e. The ** Queen ” Office, Windsor House, Bream’s-buildings, E.C. Published every Friday morning; price, without Reports, 9d.; with Reports, 1s. HE LAW TIMES, the Journal of the Law and the Lawyers, which has now just completed its fiftieth year, supplies to the Profession a complete Record of the Progress of Legal Reforms, and of all matters affecting the Legal Profession. The Reports of the Law Times are now recognised as the most complete and efficient series published. Offices: Windsor House, Bream’s-buildings, E.C. TWENTY-FIFTH ISSUE. Now ready, super-royal 8vo., price 15s., post free. CROCKFORD'S CLERICAL DIRECTORY HOF. 1893 Being a Statistical Book of Reference for Facts relating to. the Clergy in England, Wales, Scotland Ireland and the Colonies, WITH A FULLER INDEX RELATING TO PARISHES AND BENEFICES THAN ANY EVER YET GIVEN TO THE PUBLIC. LONDON: HORACE COX, WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM’S BUILDINGS, E.0C. COX’S ARTS OF READING, WRITING, AND SPEAKING. LETTERS TO A LAW STUDENT. BY THE LATHE Me. SHRIDAN ET Cox. RE-ISSUE (SIXTH THOUSAND). PRICE 7s. 6d. LONDON: HORACE COX, “LAW TIMES” OFFICE, WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM’S BUILDINGS, E.C. Printed and Published by Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream’s-buildings, London, E.C. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 03 Issue 12 (May 1893) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 03 Issue 12 (May 1893) Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1893-05-01-The-Author-3-12 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/451/1893-06-01-The-Author-4-1.pdf 5304fc75ac9fe130292b00b810523288 PDF Text Text ������������������������������������ Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1893-06-01 Volume 4 Issue 1 Pages Page range in volume 3–36 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18930601 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin be BHutbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vou. IV.—No. 1.] JUNE 1, 1893. [Prick SIXPENCE. CONTENTS. PAGE, | PAGE Warnings and Notices... tee ee ae ae aab ie | Omnium Gatherum for June. By J. M. Lely ... wee vee i Literary Property— | The 8.P.C.K. again ogee ees anne eee eh ee iB 1.—Some Considerations on Publishing. By Sir Frederick A Note on Prefaces. By Sir F. Pollock... ae is ee a § Pee a ee What the Public Read. By Thomas Greenwood ... 0 wv 17 2.—The Right of Translation. By H. G. Boo <n ... 9 | Horace’s Odes, L, 5. By A. S.Aglen ... oe sea Be coon as 3.—Author and Publisher. Extractsfrom a paper sent round | Feuilleton. ‘‘ The Fire Post Office” ... ee ee se nas among Members by the Delegates to the Chicago | ‘Notes and News.” Bythe Editor... ae ees Gan maa oe Beene a ee | ‘““ Why a Congress ?” ee Se vs eee se See ee 4.—Cost of Musical Production. By the Secretary ..- ... li | Correspondence— 5.—Two Cases, 1. The Guinea Prize. 2. Copyright for Nothing 11 | 1.—The Donation of Books. By Rev. Prof. W. W. Skeat, The Responsibilities of Editors— \ Litt.D._ ... oe ae ces os ses eis pi Ae Oe 1.—Report of the case Macdonald v. National Review ... 184 2.—An Experience. By. Rev. J. J. Haleombe ... Ase es Oe 2.—Some Remarks on the Case. By A... + vst 14 | 3.—French Law... “ny a ees on 26 3.—Letter from Sir F. Pollock on the Case ae te .. 15 | “At the Sign of the Author’s Head”... ees vas cee an 88 PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1, The Annual Report. That for January 1892 can be had on application to the Secretary. 9. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members. 3. The Grievances of Authors. (The Leadenhall Press.) 1s. The Report of three Meetings on the general subject of Literature and its defence, held at Willis’s Rooms, March, 1887. 4. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morrrs Conss, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, g5, Strand, W.C.) 38. 5, 6. The History of the Société des Gens de Lettres. By S. Squrre Spriaeex, late Secretary to the Society. Is. The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c., with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. 7. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squire Spriace, In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society’s offices, the various forms of agreements proposed by Publishers to ‘Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3s. 8. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell’s Copyright Bill now before Parlia- iment, With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill. By J. M. Lety. Hyre and Spottiswoode. 1s. 6d. : 9. The Society of Authors. A Record of its Action from its Foundation. By Waurmr Busant” (Chairman of Committee, 1888—1892). Is. 4 THE AUTHOR. 12. Cessron or Coprriaut.—Never sign any paper, either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright, without advice. 13. ADVERTISEMENTS.—Keep control over the advertise- ments, if they affect your returns, by a clause in the agree- ment. Reserve a veto. If you are yourself ignorant of the subject, make the Society your adviser. 14. Never forget that publishing is a business, like any other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy, charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with business men. Be yourself a business man. Society’s Offices :— 4, PoRTUGAL STREET, LINCOLN’s INN FIELDS. ee HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. 1. Every member has a right to advice upon his agree- ments, his choice of a publisher, orany dispute arising inthe conduct of his business or the administration of his pro- perty. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society’s solicitors. If the case is such that Counsel’s opinion is desirable, the Committee will obtain for him Counsel’s opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publisher’s agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books represented. This isin order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro- posed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish- ing firm in the country. Remember that there are certain houses which live entirely by trickery. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of the Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. THE AUTHORS’ SYNDICATE. SPECIAL report of the Authors’ Syndicate has been prepared and issued to those members of the Society for whom the Syndicate has transacted business. Members are informed : 1. That the Authors’ Syndicate takes charge of the busi- ness of members of the Society. With, when necessary, the assistance of the legal advisers of the Society, it concludes agreements, collects royalties, examines and passes accounts, and generally relieves members of the trouble of managing business details. - 2. That the expenses of the Authors’ Syndicate are defrayed entirely out of the commission charged on rights placed through its intervention. This charge is reduced to the lowest possible amount compatible with efficiency. Meanwhile members will please accept this intimation that they are not entitled to the services of the Syndicate gratis, a misapprehension which appears to widely exist. 3. That the Authors’ Syndicate works for none but those members of the Society whose work possesses a market value. 4. That the business of the Syndicate is not to advise members of the Society, but to manage their affairs for them. 5. That the Syndicate can only undertake arrangements of any character on the distinct understanding that those arrangements are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all negotiations relating thereto are referred to it. 6. That clients can only be seen personally by appoint- ment, and that, when possible, at least four days’ notice should be given. The work of the Syndicate is now so heavy, that only a limited number of interviews can be arranged. 7. That every attempt is made to deal with the corre- spondence promptly, but that owing to the enormous number of letters received, some delay is inevitable. That stamps should, in all cases, be sent to defray postage. 8. That the Authors’ Syndicate does not invite MSS. without previous correspondence, and does not hold itself responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. ec NOTICES. HE Editor of the Author begs to remind members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. ; The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the Society than to make the Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write ? : Communications for the Author should reach the Editor | not later than the 21st of each month. ; coe :  . THE AUTHOR. 5 All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly under- stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances, undertake the publication of MSS. The Authors’ Club is now opened in its new premises, at 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admissien, &c. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year ? If they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker’s order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the warning numbered (7). It is a most foolish and a most disastrous thing to bind yourself to anyone for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest or dishonest ? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign themselves into literary bondage for three or five years ? Those who possess the ‘Cost of Production” are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble of “doing sums,” the addition of three shillings in the pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at £9 4s. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth as can be procured; but a printer’s, or a pinder’s, bill is so elastic a thing that nothinz more exact can be arrived at. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the “ Cost of Production” for advertising. Of course, we have not included any sums which may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher’s own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it, ee LITERARY PROPERTY. —— I. Some ConsIDERATIONS ON PUBLISHING. By Sir Frederick Pollock. (Reprinted by permission of the author and the editor from the Pall Mall Gazette, May 1 and 4.) I ANY points about the relations between authors and publishers appear to be still unsettled. By an unsettled point I mean a point on which materially different opinions are held in good faith by persons with reasonable and fairly equal opportunities of knowledge. It is not an unsettled point whether ignorant persons ought to be induced, by fallacious expectations of profit, to pay at an exorbitant rate for the production of work which no competent reader or reasonable man of business would ever have supposed to be profit- able. Such transactions are not genuine publish- ing at all. The so-called publishers who live by them have no more in common with any respect- able publishing firm than an Old Bailey tout with the President of the Incorporated Law Society, or a Chinese pirate with the captain of a P. and O. liner. Some months ago I said, as chairman of the Committee of the Society of Authors, and to a numerous meeting of that society, that I saw no reason why the genuine unsettled questions should not, if it were so desired, be effectually solved by conference between representative authors and publishers. In so saying I expressed my individual opinion, but I have every reason to believe that I had the general assent of my colleagues on the committee and of the members of the society present. At all events there was no suggestion of dissent. I retain the opinion so expressed, but I think a good deal of free indi- vidual exchange of ideas ought to precede any definite endeavour to put these questions in the way of solution, and I offer my contribution for what it may be worth. Being a lawyer first and a man of letters (if, indeed, I can properly claim that description) afterwards, I naturally apply the test of legal right so far as possible. It must by no means be inferred from this that I should wish in every or any case to see this test applied under the form of actual litigation. Perhaps it may be well to state that I speak for myself only, and that my experience of literary arrangements, partly in my own affairs and partly in other people’s, dates from some time before I had any- thing to do with the Society of Authors, and indeed before the society was founded. What is the author’s due share of profits? is a question sometimes asked. To begin with that question is to begin, it seems to me, at the wrong end. There can be no such thing asa due or fair share of profits in the abstract. Some bargains are obviously good, and some are obviously bad. The interest and difficulty lie in the middle region, and there no hard and fast line can be drawn, One can only say that if A and B, writers in approximately the same rank of reputation, write books of the same class and price for the same public, and if the two books sell equally well, and A makes say £100 by his book, while B makes £150 by his, then either B is in luck, or A has something to learn from B in the commercial 6 THE AUTHOR. . part of an author’s business. But, again, it will not do to say that, commercially speaking, the author is a seller and the publisher a buyer, and each may make the best bargain he can. That may be the case in some forms of publishing, but it is not so in all. In truth a lawyer may be puzzled to classify the relation between author and publisher. According to the nature of the book and the terms agreed on, there may be a prevailing resemblance to sale, or to partnership, or to agency. One can seldom say that the rela- tion is precisely one of these three, but the interest of the parties in profits, as such, may be very different, as one or the other predominates. And where the relation savours of agency, it is not always the author who is more like a_prin- cipal. In the case of books written to order, which are many, it is plainly not so. However, the points of possible dispute occur mostly in determining what really are profits. I think for my own part that the type of agreement between author and publisher which involves taking an account of profits is one of the least desirable. Still, some sort of estimate of expected profit can hardly be dispensed with as a means of fixing the data, whatever the definite form of agreement may be. There is no reason for making any mystery of the cost of producing books, and, whatever may have been the etiquette of the trade a generation ago, Tam not aware that the best publishers do so now. Many authors, it is true, take no interest in business details, and would rather not know them. That is a luxury to which they are entitled for themselves if they can afford it, but people who depend on authorship for their living cannot be expected or advised to follow the example. I will even say that those authors who can afford the luxury should remember that their indolence may be prejudicial to others who cannot. Some elementary facts lie on the surface. We know that very few buyers pay the full “marked price” for a new book. The retailer, with the now usual discount of threepence in the shilling, gets only 75 per cent. of the nominal price, and when we have further allowed for trade discounts, and the special discounts on American and foreign sales, if any, we may say roughly that the total fund coming to the publishers’ hands in respect ‘of a new book is somewhere about 60 per cent. of the “ marked selling” price, more in some cases or less in others, multiplied by the number of copies sold, The discount system probably tends to create an exaggerated notion of the actual returns on sales, and may in that way be mis- leading to young authors. On general grounds of straightforwardness and simplicity, too, the system-of net prices, now. partly introdueed by some houses, appears to deserve encouragement. But I have no doubt there are difficulties about it which it is hard for anyone outside the business to appreciate. New books are retailed in Paris at a discount, though a comparatively small one. On the other hand, I believe the American book trade has substantially solved the problem, though it has to deal with an immense area of distri- bution. This 60 per cent. (or whatever it may precisely be) of the nominal price is not profits. It is gross returns. Also we have to remember that returns do not all come in at the same rate. Some books will sell quickly, if they sell at all, while the sale of others may be expected to spread over years. Novels and travels on the one hand, dictionaries and books of permanent reference on the other, may be taken as typical examples of the fast and the slowly moving books. Deferred returns, of course, cannot be treated in the same way as immediate ones. Against the returns must be set the cost of production, which again is partly immediate, partly more or less deferred, and partly what may be called standing. By standing cost of production I mean the general establishment expenses which cannot be attributed to one book more than another. There are houses which are editing as well as publishing houses, so that to a large extent one may say they are their own authors. In one such case, perhaps a singular one, the regular staff includes a first-rate scholar and two well-known publicists. Here the establishment expenses must be a very sensible proportion of the whole. In the case of a house that undertakes little or nothing of its own motion, and exercises no discretion beyond that of the reader to whom MSS. are submitted, the establishment expenses may be reduced to the level-of common office expenses and warehouse room. I do not know of any leading house to which this description would be strictly applic- able. It is evidently a most difficult matter to make an exactly just apportionment of this element of standing cost among the individual books produced by a firm; and I believe this is one main origin of divers charges and deductions which used to be made against authors, and sometimes still are, under the name of “ customs of the trade.” The late Mr. James Spedding led the way, many years ago, in objecting to these alleged customs. ‘ Now we must distinguish in point of law between the different forms of publishing. Where the agreement is for a share of profits as such, it seems to me that the relation of the parties is what lawyers call a contract of abundant faith. The author is entitled to full and true accounts, and to, be charged only with  THE actual expenditure, or the book’s proper share of it. And the difficulty of ascertaining that share is no reason for renouncing the attempt to ascertain it, and making it up in indirect ways. The publisher has a right to say, ‘“ We propose to charge such and such a percentage on the ascertained expenses cut of pocket for printing and so forth, as being the book’s fair share of standing cost of production.” The author may say in turn, “ Well, but you settle accounts only once a year, or half-yearly (or as the case may be). That is equival nt to a certain discount in your favour on the sum coming to me. Will not that go a good way towards covering the book’s share of standing cost?” Since these articles were first printed, a publisher has rejoined that the publisher, by his arrangements with the trade, has to give almost or quite as long credit as he takes. All this is matter for fair and business-like discussion. But the pub- lisher has no right to take a trade discount on the printer’s or stationer’s bill, and debit the account with the full nominal amount of that bill. No partner or agent would be justified in using such methods with his fellow-partner or principal, nor could he mend the matter by alleging a “custom of the trade.” Secret discounts and commissions no doubt exist in many forms of business, notwithstanding the repeated censure of the courts, but they are not therefore lawful. If the publisher chooses to say openly to the author, “I propose to take these customary trade discounts for myself in lieu of the book’s share of standing cost,” that is the proposal of a legitimate, though, in my opinion, a clumsy solution. The parties can agree, if they think fit, to this, as to any other terms clearly understood. Where the agreement is not for a share of profits by name, but for payment of a royalty or a lump sum to the author, there can be no legal question of accounting for profits, but the same questions and difficulties may enter indirectly into the settlement of terms. I propose to pursue this in another article, and to say a word on another somewhat troublesome question, that otf charges for advertising. II. Contracts between author and publisher may assume, as I pointed out, very different legal forms. In that firm which requires actual calculation and division of profits the relation is so like that of partnership as to demand, accor- ding to the best opinion I can form, the utmost good faith; not merely positive truth of state- ment, but the full disclosure of all material facts. Therefore secret profits, under whatever shape, AUTHOR. 7 and screened by whatever excuse, are not admis- sible, It is not often, I should think, that it falls to the author’s part to incur expenses on the common account. But if in any particular case it does, the publisher will be equally entitled to a full return and verification of these, 'The parties may limit the definition of profits, however, in any way they think fit, provided they have a clear understanding. In ordinary retail trade, for example, the difference between the wholesale and the retail price of the goods is commonly ‘alled the retailer’s profit. So it is in the book- selling (as distinct from the publishing) trade itself. It may be convenient for the author and publisher to take the divisible profits as the returns of the book less the specific cost of production, leaving the standing or “ establish- ment” expenses out of account, and thus exclu- ding the troublesome question of apportionment. This has, in fact, been a common practice. But these expenses have to be covered in the pub- lisher’s business as in any other. Unless and until a balance to the good is shown after deduct- ing the total of all expenses both general and specific from the total of returns, there can be no real profit on the Lusiness as a whole. If there- fore nothing is said about the book’s share of standing cost, the author’s nominal share of profits must be to some extent, however small, Jess than if this item was expressly brought into account, or else the publisher must give himselfa margin of interest on the sums coming to the author by deferring the payment for a certain time. The usual arrangements for making up and settling accounts yearly or half-yearly have preciseiy this effect, and it may be found that they work approximate justice between the parties. Whether the approximation may in ordinary cases be accepted by both parties as sufficient is one of the points, it seems to me, which can be worked out only by frank discussion. Any system of fixed payments has the merit of avoiding direct questions of account, whether the agreement be for a sum down in respect of an edition of so many copies, or for a royalty, or for royalty combined with one or more fixed pay- ments on account. Every form of agreement has its conveniences and defects, according to the nature of the case. Out and out sale of copy- right is seldom if ever advisable in a work of pure literature. But as regards legal and scientific works, where the author’s co-operation is practically indispensable for any future edition, sale of copyright, combined with adequate pro- vision for the author’s work on future editions, is both usual and reasonable In all these cases the author has nothing to do with calculation of profits after the agreement-is made. He is: to 8 THE get what he bargained for, and the publisher is equally bound to pay it, whether the profits turn out more or less than was expected. The only account to be rendered is of the number of copies printed and sold, with the distinction of home and foreign sales where required. It is possible, no doubt, to manipulate a royalty agreement so as to make it unfair to the author. It is even possible that the actual number of copies sold or printed should be falsified. But this takes us beyond the region of disputable usage; if such things happen, they are downright fraud. They are no more legitimate publishing than obtaining goods by false pretences from a wholesale house without any intention of paying for them is legitimate retail trade. Good publishing houses are. about as likely to do such things as the Clarendon Press to print its Bibles on stolen paper. Many authors, however, continue, through sheer inexperience and in the face of repeated warnings, to fall into the hands of low-class pub- lishers, who are much akin in their own way to the low-class speculative solicitor. Such cases constitute a large part of the work of the Society of Authors. No one who has not seen that work in detail—and probably an honourable publisher least of all—will easily realise the kind or amount of the petty police of authorship, if I may so term it, which daily calls for attention. Sometimes books are published without any- thing being distinctly said or understood as to the terms. It is difficult to say what the legal presumption ought to be in such cases. The general usage of publishers is to treat the book as published on half profits, in which I see nothing to complain of. If the author could have made better terms, it was his own fault that he did not make them while he might. I turn to the specific question of payment for advertisements. Under a profit-sharing agree- ment, for half profits, or two-thirds, or as the case may be, this, like other outgoings, is a matter of quasi-partnership account. Only the actual cost, whatever it is, ought to be debited. There- fore, if P. publishes A.’s book on the terms of dividing profits, and the book is advertised in P.’s own magazine, only the cost of paper and. print should be charged in respect of that advertise- ment, and, possibly, some fractional addition for any increased cost of distributing the magazine which may be due to the bulk of advertisements. The same principle seems to apply to what are called exchange advertisements. If Q. advertises P.’s books in return for P. advertising Q.’s, there is no real outgoing except for the paper and print. Ido not see on what ground any further charge against the book can be justified. : In the case of an agreement for royalties or AUTHOR. fixed sums this question does not arise. Expendi- ture on advertisements, like all other expenditure, is under such an agreement solely the publisher’s affair. There may perhaps be an implied term that the publisher shall cause the book to be advertised to a reasonable and usual extent. But it is so obviously the publisher’s interest to do this, and he is so obviously, in most cases, the best judge of the ways and means, that there should not be much room for dispute on this head. Publishing on commission is a different matter. Here the publisher is really the author’s agent and nothing else. He owes the author a true and undisguised account «f whatever passes through his hands, but it rests wholly with. the author to determine the amount and manner of expenditure. He may give the publisher specific instructions, or a general or limited discretion, or he may do his own printing and advertising if he thinks fit, though it can seldom be convenient to advertise independently of the publisher. As the publisher is not bound to undertake any expense at all, he is of course entitled to be paid for advertisements in his own publications. The author will probably have little difficulty in s-curing the benefit of trade terms; I do not see that he can claim them as of right. If the author publishing on commission is a wise man he will probably do little without consulting the pub- lisher; but in this form of publishing it is. the author who pays the piper_and calls the tune, and the practical working of the arrangement, as a matter. of personal relations, must be left. to the good sense of the parties. The fact that publishing on commission is not very common shows, first, that few authors are willing to take any risk, and secondly, that not many are willing to take much trouble. A true partnership between author and pub- lisher, in which the author takes a share of risk as well as of profits, is in point of law as possible as any other arrangement, and there is no reason why it should not be perfectly equitable; but I have never heard of such an agreement being made in fact, until I saw a case reported (of course without names) in the May number of the Author. The proceedings appear to have been quite unbusinesslike on both sides, so the example fails to be instructive. If anything like this does occur in regular practice, the example would have to be sought in the case of one member of a publishing house writing a book and publishing it with his own firm. Some publishers are also men of letters and authors, a fact sometimes for- gotten. 1 do not know what arrangements they are in. the habit of making for their own works. If any of them felt at liberty to give us the benefit of their double experience, it might  THE AUTHOR. 9 help to.clear up misunderstandings. I will con- clude with two elementary cautions to young writers. An author who still has his reputation to make cannot expect to be dealt with on the same footing as one whose reputation is made; and, whether one’s reputation is made or not, the publisher is almost always the navigating officer of the ship, and approaching him in the spirit of a sea-lawyer is not the way to secure a prosperous voyage. II. Tue Rieut or TRANSLATION. In the last number of the Author a correspon- dent, “F. T.,” calls attention to an apparent discrepancy between the stipulations of the Berne Copyright Convention, and the provisions of the International Copyright Act, 1886, in regard to the right of translation. The explanation is as follows: Art. V. of the Berne Copyright Convention grants the exclusive right of translation for ten years certain. This period, however, as is shown in the records of the conferences at Berne, was to be considered as a minimum of protection to the author in this respect, without granting which, at the least, no country could join the union. Any country which is a party to the union preserves, nevertheless, the faculty of giving more extended protection to the author, either internationally or by way of the domestic law. This is shown by Art. XV. of the International Convention, which provides: It is understood that the Governments of the countries of the union reserve to themselves respectively the right to enter into separate and particular arrangements between each other, provided always that such arrangements confer upon authors, or their lawful representatives, more extended rights than those granted by the union, or embody other stipulations not contrary to the present convention. It is true that Great Britain has not concluded any such separate and particular arrangements as are alluded to in this article, but it was con- sidered, in framing the Act of 1886, that in regard to international copyright, translation is often more important than copyright in the original work; and consequently that the translating right—as the chief international means of repro- duction—ought (with the reserve of ten years, during which an authorised translation must appear) to be protected in England as fully as the copyright in the original work. This appears to be the effect of the Act and order in council as they stand, though it is possible that the matter might have been expressed somewhat more clearly in the order in council. H. G. B. VOL. IV. III. AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER. The following extracts are taken from a paper sent round among the members of the Society by the delegates to the Chicago Conference : Risk.—What is meant by the word “risk?” When there is risk at all in the production of a book, it must be remembered that there are two risks, not one. There is (1) the risk of the author, and (2) the risk of the publisher. What is the author’s risk ?* He contributes the work itself, on which he has expended years—months—a lifetime, perhaps, of labour. He risks his repu- tation—his success—his career. In addition to this he risks the expenditure of time, labour, maintenance, preparation —in fact, everything that has made him capable of producing the work. He hopes, in the first place, for a reward in recognition of faithful work, of genius, of discovery, of successful research, and this must always be regarded as the first and most important reward; his secondary reward is such a proportion of the proceeds as is equitable. When there is risk at all, the publisher takes the risk of the money spent on producing the work. Let us see what this means. The conditions of publishing have very greatly changed during the last fifty years. Literary property has enormously increased, and is increasing more and more. Formerly, almost every book was a lottery; half-a-dozen publishers joined in taking the risk. Now there are writers by the score in every branch—educational, scientific, artistic, historical, imaginative — whose books are certain to succeed, 7.e., the authors are known beforehand to enjoy such a clientéle that there is no risk whatever in producing books by them. There are also subjects which at certain times and emergencies command a sale. Therefore it is the natural endeavour of every publisher to secure some of these writers, and to discover some of these subjects. It is also his endeavour to incur as few risks as he can; that is to say, not to publish, if he can help it, books which are speculative. Some few publishers there are who can afford to take up speculative books. The great majority cannot; they are enabled to seem as if they could by the eagerness of authors who, to get their works published, are easily induced to pay the whole, or a large part—or, in some cases, double the cost of production. This * Of course, we are not speaking here of papers for encyclopedias, dictionaries, or journals, or for books under- taken at a certain price agreed upon. B 10 THE. AUTHOR. diminution of risk, this extensive practice of making authors- pay for their own produc- tion, are hard facts which are constantly being denied or softened down, in some way or other. . Generally the denial rests on the false- hood, “advanced over and over again, that the Society maintains that no publishers ever take risks. oe = But, if there are risks, what are they? It must be remembered that the “risk” does not mean advancing any money, or paying the printer immediately. The publisher has credit. He pays by bills, or he pays some months after the work is done. Let us consider how this may work out. A book is published at a cost (without moulding or stereotyping) say, of £100 (see “ Gost of Production,” p. 81). The book is—say —a collection of essays: it sells at 6s. which is about 3s. 6d. to the publisher. We will suppose that there was “risk;” that is to say, it was not certain that the book would sell enough to repay the cost. We will suppose that it does not prove a success, that only about 400 copies go off. These produce the sum of £70. There remains a loss of £30. This has to be paid at a certain time after production, and after the first returns have come in. Nowa pub- lisher of experience may make an approximate estimate of the copies he can dispose of on the first appearance even of a risky book. If, for instance, the book is a good book, even on a subject not calculated to be widely popular, he may depend upon the free libraries, of which there are now nearly two thousand in this country and the colonies, taking a certain number. He can also depend-upon a certain ‘subscription of the trade at the outset. His “risk,” therefore, is not by any means the actual cost of production, but the difference between a tolerably certain sale and the cost of production. This explanation enables us to understand how it is that apparently large risks—to which some pub- lishers point in support of their curious desire to get their business regarded as a gambling or purely speculative one—may be, and often are, really risks of a very small difference. It is not here pretended that the estimated minimum circulation is aheays nearly reached, and that the publisher’s deficit is never greater than £30. But this example of what a considerable failure may really mean is given, because the supposed magnitude of the publisher’s losses has been widely used to justify ‘his appropriation of the lion’s share in profits, where profits have ensued. Nor is it stated that credit removes all risk, but only that it modifies risk. Nor is it maintained that all persons calling themselves publishers can obtain credit, but only (which everyone knows) that substantial men of business can do so. And again, still further to remove misapprehension, or distortion, we are speaking of books written by individual writers; not of dictionaries, books of references, &c. Secret Prorirs.—On this subject the Society has spoken strongly from the very beginning. There must never be allowed, in- any kind of business where the parties are associated as partners, joint venturers, or as principal-and agent, any secret profits. The very Secrecy either implies the intention of, or opens the door to, fraud. The too common practice of secretly overcharging the cost of production has been defended as a “custom of the trade.” That is not the case. (1) A “custom of the trade” is a thing recognised by both sides and known and allowed. These secret charges have never been recognised; to the young author they are unknown; to the experienced they have ever been a constant cause, of exasperation and suspicion.* There has never been a time when the author, almost inarticulate and powerless, has not protested with rage, even though without power, against secret profits. (2) A “custom of the trade” is uniform. This practice is not uniform. One house may make a practice— never openly advertised or defended—of charging a percentage on the cost of production; another may do nothing of the kind; a third may charge what it pleases, e.g., a certain house was found, some time ago, to have charged £90 for advertis- ing, when they had only spent £10. In fact, if the principle of secret charges is allowed at all, it means that the author gives the publisher the absolute right to falsify the figures to his own advantage, as much as he pleases, and surrenders the power to protest, even though the publisher should swamp the whole proceeds by a correspond- ing increase in the cost of production. This, indeed, has often been done. To allow secret profits at all is to open the door for many kinds of fraud. And it is certain that no court of law would acknowledge that to be a trade custom which allows a publisher to falsify as much as he pleases every account that he renders. In fact, the prac- tice of making secret profits is, most certainly, from whatever point of view we regard it, a fraud upon the author. “ Orrice Exprnses.’’—Some publishers insert a clause claiming a percentage on the returns or on the cost of production for “ office expenses.” An open claim is one thing ; ‘secret profits are another. The former may at least be argued ; the latter cannot for a moment be defended. “tot * See Charles Knight's * Shadows of the Old Booksellers,” p. 228.  THE course a publisher is quite within his right should he say “I shall not argue the point. Those are my terms; take them or leave them.” It then becomes a simple question whether it is the author’s interest to accept or to refuse. If we argued the matter, I should, myself, submit the following reasons, among others, why “office expenses” should not be made a charge: A pub- lisher cannot with his own hands do all the work; he therefore engages servants—more servants as his business increases. But are we to pay for his servants? It is not for his establishment that we pay, but for his services. In that case we ought to pay a greater amount to a publisher who keeps a large establishment of clerks. Indeed, it has been advanced gravely as regards a certain large house, that they cannot pay so great a royalty as other houses on account of their vast establish- ment. This is the reductio ad absurdum of the claim for office expenses. But we do not pay w solicitor in proportion to the number of his clerks, ora physician in p:oportion to his carriages and horses. Besides, if the maintenance of clerks and servants and the payment of rent are to be con- sidered, the author has an equal right to put in a claim for his own expenses and servants and rent. He may with as much force as the publisher argue that he has to live first and to take his profit next. 14, Wuart 1s Prorit ?—In every other kind of business that can be named, profit is taken to mean the difference between the sale of an article and the cost of production or purchase, i.e., between what it “fetched” and what it cost. A first charge on the trader’s profit in every other kind of business is the expense of the establish- ‘ment. Why should the publisher alone, of all men in business, demand that his profit should be reckoned to begin after his establishment, over which the author has no control, has been paid for? IV. Cost or Musica PropvctTIon. After considerable difficulty the secretary has made some advance with regard to the cost of musical production—a question which is con- stantly being brought before him by the members. He has obtained the cost of pro- duction of any ordinary song, and he is in communication with a gentleman who will give printers’ estimates for any work submitted to the secretary, The following is the cost of production for 500 copies of a song consisting of 5 pages, exclusive of the cover :— VOL. IV. AUTHOR. i © sd. *Plate for tue COVER 6.8... a Oo 12. 6 +Five Plates at 4s. 6d. per plate......... 1.2 6 Printing 5d. per 100 copies, per plate ; 28. id, Per 500 GOPles .-.....2.....-.. O10 5 Printing 500 titles, 1s. per 100..... SO) 5 0 Paper, 2 sheets of 4 pages; 1000 sheets for 500 COPIeS ose...secesevee ees O16 8 357 4 V. Two Casss. i A GUINEA PRIZE. “ Publish it as a one guinea prize story.” “JT think that will make the troublesome beggar sick.” Some people’s wit is cruel and vindictive, and these are the people to whom a sharp reminder that a biter can sometimes get bitten does no harm. It happened that a paper recently adver- tised for stories, and trapped a good one, for which the author wanted £2 2s. per 1000 words, and for which the newspaper only wished to pay tos. There was some correspondence about this difference of price, and while it was pending, the editor came to the conclusion that he could use the story and pay for it in the manner he proposed above. Perhaps he said, “ Whether I have to pay him or not what he asks, I can promote him to the dignity of a prize winner, with one guinea against his name for the amusement of his literary friends,” and thought, “I have no doubt I can safely leave any risk to the bluster of my solicitor.” However, at the instance of the Society, a claim was made for the balance of the price. A metro- politan small debts court took a different view from the defendant, and the solicitor availed not. The court expressed itself as taking a very strong view about the proceedings of the newspaper in the circumstances, The case was adjourned for the production of a letter, the contents of which were sworn to be inconsistent with the plaintiff's evidence, and inconsistent with the publication of the story at a guinea at all. Was the letter imagined, and evolved from the hope that the plaintiff and his * This is a very cheap plate, being printed only in black and white. A coloured plate may cost £5 or £6. + These plates are equivalent to the cost of composition, and there is one plate to every page. BQ 12 THE AUTHOR. solicitor, or one of them, might be absent on the adjournment ? The action was adjourned, the defendant paying the costs of the day. With some difficulty an exact note of the matter so far was taken, and on the adjournment the matter was picked up at the exact spot it was dropped at, with a reminder as to the meaning of this note, and that the court took 2 strong view if the letter were not produced, and both the ruthless prize-winner and his solicitor were there. That the opening exclamation may reasonably have actually been made, may be inferred. The defeated defendant editor was vitupérative and abusive, and called the proceedings black- mailing. The plaintiff bore this meekly, and the solicitor said “one witness.” II. GzTtina CopyriaHT For NorHINa. [Copy.] Dear Mapam,—lI have been looking into the returns of the Series, and I find that of the amount paid you for royalty in your book called “A. B.,” there is still £10 8s. 4d. not worked off by sales. Even the stock remaining on hand will not balance the amount over-paid. As we are desirous of closing our books, and realising the stock, we propose to write off the amount standing against it, and shall be pleased if you will kindly sign, and return in course, the enclosed form of agreement.—Thanking you in prospect, we are, dear Madam, yours truly, C. D. anp Co. “Mem. of agreement made this 27th day of March, 1893, E. F., of ——, hereinafter called the Author, of the one part, and C. D. and Co., hereinafter called the publishers, of the other part. It is hereby agreed that, in consideration of the sum already paid to the author for “Making or Marring,”’ she relinquishes all further claim upon the publishers for royalties in respect to her book, and the copyright is also transferred to the publishers. “Sioned the 27th day of March, &e.” What does this mean? A royalty was agreed upon, and, apparently, duly paid. It is now found that there is a loss of £10 odd on the book. But the wordsare not plain. Dothe.words mean aloss on the book, or do they mean that the author has been paid for more books than were sold? In either case it is certainly proposed that the writer should actually give the copyright to the pub- lishers. -Why ?- For no consideration whatever. Is it worthless? Then why do they want her to assign it formally ? If it is not worthless, why should she give up her property for nothing ? Probably what it means is an intention of re- issuing the book in another form, perhaps selling it to another publisher — in any case making money out of it. Let authors, especially ladies, refuse absolutely to sign any paper at all until they have sent it to the Society for examination. > oc THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF EDITORS. I HE question of the responsibilities of editors, which has been simmering in the organ of the Authors’ Society for many a month, came up, through an interesting case, before Judge Lumley Smith at Westminster County Court yesterday afternoon. Towards the end of October, 1892, Mr. W. A. Macdonald, “ publicist,” sent to the editors of the National Review the MS. of an article called “The Humanitarian Spirit Examined.” The editors caused it to be put into type, and a proof to be sent to the writer. Two months afterwards Mr. Macdonald wrote to the editors, protesting against their dilatoriness in publishing the article. He went on to say that a demand had arisen for a brief survey of his social science, and that he could “see no object in further procras- tination.” On receipt of this letter the editors ordered two revise proofs of the article to be sent to the author, and intimated that the types would be distributed. ‘We dealt with your article,” they wrote, “as we deal with articles generally. We put it into type, meaning to publish it at the earliest opportunity. As this arrangement does not suit you, we are returning the article in a revised proof.” Mr. Macdonald then put himself under the guidance of the Society of Authors. The secre- tary, Mr. G. Herbert Thring, wrote to the editors requesting that, either they would name an early date for publishing the paper, or send a cheque for payment at the usual rate. The acting editor of the Review answered that, his chief being a member of the council of the Society of Authors, and he himself being indebted to the secretary for valuable advice in certain literary affairs of the late Bishop of St. Andrews, he felt obliged to make a proposal, and would make it gladly. He would put the article into type again on two con- ditions: the publication of it to be at the editor’s convenience, and the cost of the first setting to be deducted from the honorarium. The secretary  THE AUTHOR. 13 did not accept this proposal. He did not even submit it to Mr. Macdonald. He had not, he said, made his demand without having consulted the solicitors of the Society ; and he had to repeat it. he editors did not take any notice of that letter. Two or three weeks afterwards Mr. John Joshua Sprigg, solicitor, to whom Mr. Thring had referred Mr. Macdonald, made to the editors a proposal pretty much like that which they themselves had ineffectually made to Mr. Thring. The acting editor replied that it could not be acceded to. The rejection of it at the instance of Mr. Thring, he said, had deprived the editors of an opportunity to publish the article when it would have happened to be topical. The Duke of Argyll’s “Unseen Foundations of Society” had been published that month (February), and that important work had given much publ inte- rest to the subject of Mr. Macdonald’s paper. Thus the time when the paper would have been topical and valuable had passed. The editors could not now publish it on any consideration, and they would not pay for it. Hence the action which has just been heard. The plaintiff claimed £11 11s. in name of remune- ration, and £11 11s. in name of damages for refusal to publish. The action was defended on the ground that there bad been no contract. The witnesses for the plaintiff were himself, Mr. Clayden, of the editorial staff of the Daily News, and Mr. Corrie Grant, barrister and journalist, all of whom said that they under- stood the sending of a proof to be an acceptance. The plaintiff himself, in cross-examination, was forced to admit that he knew nothing from experience of the principles upon which great monthly reviews in England were conducted. He understood, among other things, that the Saturday Review paid its contributors at the rate of ten shillings a column. Mr. Grant, cross- examined by Mr. W. T. Raymond, counsel for the defendants, admitted that he knew nothing of the usages in connection with monthly maga- zines and reviews. He had offered articles to such periodicals himself, but had never had any accepted. Mr. Clayden, in cross-examination, said he knew of no essential difference between articles written for a daily newspaper and articles written for a monthly review. The learned judge interposed the remark that the newspaper articles were ephemeral. Mr. Raymond observed that that was an important consideration, An article for a daily newspaper would probably lose its value with the lapse of a day or two; a certain kind of monthly review article was totally different. The witnesses for the defence were the acting editor of the National Review, the assistant editor of the National Observer (Mr. Dunn), Mr. Herbert Stephen, and Mr. Chapman (of Messrs. Chapman and Hall, publishers of the Fortnightly Review). The acting editor of the National Review admitted having sent the MS. to the printers, and having ordered a proof for the writer ; but he denied that there had been any contract. He had considered the plaintiff’s letter of protest against the editor’s delay in publishing an intimation that the editors should return it if they could not publish it immediately. Mr. Walters, counsel for the plaintiff, asked witness whether he had not accepted the paper —yes or no. Witness: There are some questions which cannot be answered absolutely either by a Yes or by a No. That is one of them. The paper was accepted conditionally. Conditionally—that was the point. It would have been published if the understanding governing those matters had been shared by the writer. Articles offered to editors of reviews were in two categories. First, there were articles on urgent topics of the day. These, if accepted, were published without delay. Then, there were articles, the subjects of which were of a quite different kind—articles which were as timely, as a rule, in one month, or even in one year, as in another. If an editor put one of those general papers into type, he did so, unless there was an explicit arrangement as to the time of publishing it, on the understanding that it was to be used when he pleased. The plaintiff’s article was of that category. The note accompanying it merely intimated that there it was. The writer made no stipulation as to when it was to be published. He did not even express a wish. Therefore, when the writer sought to import into the matter a condition which had not been stated, it became clear that there was no arrangement, no contract, at all; and he had immediately returned the article. Mr. Walters: You returned it in kingly indig- nation ? Witness: Yes, if it pleases the learned counsel to phrase it so. The sending of the proof had been an incident which seemed to confuse the issue. The proof had really nothing to do with the case. It would not have been sent if the unacceptable condition had been stated at the roper time, which was when the MS. was being submitted. No contract had been broken; for there had been none to break. In spite of the proof-sheets, the case really stood as it would have stood if, the condition as to time having been stated by the writer on submitting the article, the MS. had been returned there and then, He had settled the question whenever he - THE AUTHOR. knew the writer’s conditions. If the writer had at first even expressed a wish as to the time of publication, witness would have returned tho article immediately. The assistant editor of the National Observer corroborated the previous witness as to the two categories of articles. He had known general articles held over, in proof, for many months. He himself, if the writer of such an article—an article which had been volunteered—complained of delay, would have given him the option of withdrawing it. Mr. Herbert Stephen, who spoke as a con- tributor to weekly and monthly reviews, said that articles which had been ordered by editors were subjects of a contract. They had to be paid for whatever happened. On the other hand, articles which were sent without invitation—howsoever long they might be kept and whether proofs were issued or not—were not accepted unless and until they were published. He would not dream of claiming payment for such an article, if it were not published, howsoever long it might have been retained. Mr. Chapman said that, as a matter of course, editors intended to publish articles which they put into type. They would not incur the cost of type-setting if they had not that intention. In a general way, therefore, sending a proof was to be regarded as an acceptance. ‘There were excep- tional cases, however. If the writer of a paper, about which there had been no arrangement as to time of publication, claimed publication soon, the editor would be justified in returning the paper. He had made no contract, and had incurred no responsibility. Mr. Raymund and Mr. addressed the judge, His Honour gave judgment. The plaintiff had had something to sell—an article. He had sent it to the editors of the National Review, who might possibly buy it. The editors had caused the article to be put into type, and a proof to be sent for revision to the writer. He had seen no letter from the plaintiff in which the plaintiff had expressly asked the article to be returned. Mr. Hodgson, he thought, had gone a little beyond his rights in determining this matter so abruptly. It would have been better if, like Mr. Dunn, Mr. Hodgson had considered that the writer should have the option of having his article returned. The article, admittedly, was a thing of value. The property in this article had been for a time in the possession of the editors of the National Review, and out of the possession of the writer. In his opinion, then, the issue of the proof had constituted acceptance. Judgment for the. plaintiff—£11 11s. to cover the whole Walters, having article—with costs. There could be no damages, for the plaintiff had suffered none; and, indeed, the claim on account of them had been with- drawn.—Pall Mall Gazette, May 17th, 1893. Il. The case turned partly on the question whether the sending of a proof toa contributor by the editor of a monthly magazine constitutes acceptance of anarticle. There were certain letters on which counsel might also have relied, but the judge gave it as his opinion that the setting up of the article, and sending it to the contributor for proof correction constituted acceptance. On this case one would remark (1) That if the assistant editor had communicated his view of what the proof meant on sending it the case would not have arisen; that it would have been considerate and courteous to have done so; that it is deplorable that he did not do so; the more so because the contributor in his examination showed himself quite ignorant of the conduct of periodicals. It _ was next, surely, a great mistake to confuse the case of daily newspapers and weekly journals, which must very largely consist of comments on things of the moment, with the case of monthly magazines, which stand on a very different footing. It is quite obvious that many things must be set up for the former which may never be used unless at the moment. With some papers the contribu- tor is not paid for such articles. He takes his chance. Not so with the monthly magazines. The cost of setting up articles on the mere chance of using them is so great as to make the actual setting up mean acceptance. The writer has had as much experience as most men in writing for monthly magazines. He has been rejected. He has had to wait, but the editor has always courteously informed him of the reason of the delay. Never once has he received a proof which was not taken by him and meant by the editor as an accepted proof. Nor has he ever heard of a single instance in all his experience of a contributor receiving a proof and hearing afterwards that it was not meant for acceptance. In the report of the case one does not find that the witnesses for the defendant were asked certain questions of vital importance. There were three —observe that not a single editor appeared— (1) the assistant editor of a weekly paper; (2) Mr. Herbert Stephen, among other things, a con- tributor to weekly and monthly reviews; (3) a publisher. The questions which should have ee put were three : What experience have you had in ‘the editing of monthly magazines ?. :  THE AUTHOR. 15 2. Has any article of your own to a monthly magazine been treated as Mr. Macdonald’s was ? 3. Can you tell the court of any single instance, in your experience, in which a contributor to a monthly magazine was so treated ? The publisher, for instance, said it was “ most unusual.” Could he remember such a case? Or has an editor ever told him of such a case? Tn these columnsthere have been many letters of complaint concerning the treatment of contributors. The complaints have been generally directed against editors or proprietors of the smaller maga- zinesand journals. It too often happens that the desire of the, editor is to get his contributions for nothing; but in many cases the ground of complaint is the discourtesy of these small editors, who seem to think that a contributor has no more right for consideration than a crossing-sweeper. Read the following, which was published, not in the Author, but in the Atheneum of March 25: “ In the one case, my stories, after being retained for over two years, were returned to me, on my making inquiry about them, with merely the excuse that no room could be found for them. Of course I had assumed that the tales were accepted, and would be published as soon as con- venient. No expression of regret for the useless delay and the disappointment caused was made to me, and no notice was taken cf my surprised remonstrance. I may add that the magazine is a long-established one and its editor is a well-knownman. The second editor of whom I complain is, Iam sorry to say,a lady. She has accepted contributions of mine for her magazine, twelve years ago, which she has never inserted or returned. One contribution, after being accepted, was, indeed, after a long interval, returned—too late for acceptance in any other magazine, as it referred to a now past event. Another contribution, the longest of all, was lost, for when I asked for it back, I was told it could not be found. The worst case of all is that of another editor, who, after having retained a story for more than a year, published it in his magazine, and took no notice whatever of many repeated applications I made for pay- ment, enclosing stamped envelopes, and for the return of two more tales. At last, in despair, I had to call in legal assistance. Not until a summons had been served was the payment for the three stories made.” This is an encouraging experience, is it not? In three separate journals not the least considera- tion, not the most common courtesy, shown towards the contributor. Considering, therefore, (1) that if proof does not mean acceptance it would cost the editor nothing more than a printed slp to say 80; (2) that we may reasonably expect of our high-class magazines such treatment of their writers as may not give an excuse to the baser sort, it is a great pity that the National Review was concerned with it. It is also a great pity that the Saturday Review, confusing issues, which the judge care- fully separated, has. thought proper. to publish a savage-onslaught on the,Society of Authors for their action in the matter. ‘The Society never did a worse day’s work; ” contributors “will find the gates shut and barred.” Editors will no longer read their offerings. Why ? Because, if this ruling is accepted, editors will henceforth—.e., the one or two editors of weeklies who want to send out proofs of unaccepted articles, and the possibly one or two editors of monthlies who want to do the same thing—will henceforward find it desirable to exercise towards the contributor the common courtesy of explaining to him what the proof means. That is all. Perhaps the members of the Society will reassure themselves. A. Ii. To the Editor of the Pall Mall Gazette. Sir,—The part of the Society of Authors in this ease bas, £ think, . been misconceived or exaggerated in some comments which have appeared. ‘The Committee of the Society does not assume to lay down general propositions of law, nor to defend the interests of any one class of the Society’s members (who include editors as well as contributors) against any other. In fact at least one member of the council and past member of the committee is both the editor of a leading journal and an occasional contributor to leading magazines. Mr. Macdonald's case was taken up by the committee in the regular course and on its individual merits. They were advised that in all the circumstances his claim was well founded, and that advice has so far been justified. I need hardly add that County Court judg- ments, however learned and able the judge may be, have never been supposed to form binding precedents in point of law like the judgments of a superior court.—I am, yours, &c., May 23. F, Pouuock. bbe) OMNIUM GATHERUM FOR JUNE. od Subjects for Books or Articles.—The Referen- dum; The Adoption of Children ; Regulation of Advertisements ; The Chicago Conference ; ‘The Heavenly Twins”’; Tennyson's ‘ Timbuctoo”’ ; Altruism in Smoking. Head Lines.-—These are very valuable as guides to a reader, and should be-jointly cared for by printers and author. The mere repetition of the title as the left-hand head line is to be deprecated as waste, for the title is best known from the cover. Double head lines may sometimes be of i THE AUTHOR. use, and in biographies dates. In diaries,- the month as well as the year should be given. Quality before Quantity —It is much easier for an author to write a long book than a short one, and just as cheap fora publisher to advertise a dear book as a cheapone. Beyond doubt, how- ever, from the reader’s point. of view brevity in an author is as valuable as it is rare. specially is this to be noted in the case of biographies, which should very seldom exceed one volume. Acknowledgments of other Authors.—It is sub- mitted that these are better rendered in separate foot-notes beneath the matter acknowledged than in the lump in a preface or elsewhere. Editor and Contributor.—It is suggested that a contributor’s remuneration might be divisible into three (not necessarily equal) independent parts, corresponding to (1) composition; (2) correction of proof; and (3) publication. The relationship of editor and contributor seems to require more definite regulation than it has yet obtained, with the view of satisfying, as far as may be, the desire of the contributor for publica- tion as well as payment, and the desire of the editor for a proper mixture of topical and general articles. The complete satisfaction of both these desires is impossible. Machine-cut Pages—It is suggested that every author should insist on machine-cut pages for his book, offering to bear the expense (which I have been informed is only 10s. per 1000 copies ofan ordinary book) himself, in event of his publisher declining to bear it. The ros. will be returned a hundredfold in better reviewing and more readers. Inducements to Literature-—These are four, being (1) Love of fame, both present and posthu- mous; (2) payment; (3) love of composition, including in “composition” the arrangement of head lines and the choice of type and binding ; and (4) love of influence. The second is the most tangible, and has (hitherto) been the least regulated, but little good literature is consciously produced without some admixture of at least the first three. The Authors’ Club.—The dinners at this club are particularly good. J. M. Lery. nee THE §.P.C.K. AGAIN. . AY I ask you in fairness to admit this letter into your paper, in answer to the article with the above heading, dated April 1. In that article you state that, “A woman who writes popular stories, can produce at her best not more than three in two years—say, even two in a year. She is paid £30 apiece, we will say, for them—zee., she can make £60 a year.” Now the tales for which the Society gives only £30 are very short —z200 pages, more or less—and necessarily very simple. If a womanis so constituted that, while making literature her profession, and ‘giving as much time to it as those do who look to earn their bread by any profession, she can only write two such tales in a year, she had better give up the attempt, and take to something more suited to her capacity. The more ordinary rate of work is this:—The Society, some time in the latter part of November, offers me £80 for a story, whereof not one line is then written, and which they expect to have, and do have, delivered complete by the middle of the following March. This, I may observe, is not specially rapid work, as I live at home and write in the midst of many engagements and distractions, from which women who write for their bread may, if they choose, be free. The Society may, therefore, truly say that they pay me (and others who write for them) at the rate of £240 a year—a very fair remuneration for work that need not strain the energies of any woman “at her best.” I may add that I thoroughly agree with the writer of the letter, which, as you say, reopens the contro- versy of 91. The immense sales of the Society’s books are not chiefly due to the name of the author, or to the name of the Society purely in its capacity as publisher, but to the careful super- vision which is given at the cost of much time and labour, and owing to which hard-worked clergy and others can buy the books by hundreds for school prizes and parish libraries, secure, without reading them, that there will, at any rate, be nothing in them to render them unworthy of that kind of official sanction.” HELEN SHIPTON. Old Brampton Vicarage, Chesterfield. [1. I still think that a “ short story” of about 200 pp., which means 60,000 words, would take so much out of a writer that two in the year is as much as he, or she, should or could attempt. : "2. I still think that £30 paid for work which is well known to the purchaser to be worth three times, or ten times, that sum in the market is a  THE AUTHOR. sweating price, and that to pay sweating prices for work is iniquitous, even for the miserable sweaters of needlewomen — themselves _half- starved. What it is for a religious society, my readers may fill in for themselves. Perhaps it is righteous and just, and an action carried out in the true spirit of the Divine Master’s teaching. 3. The S.P.C.K. pays this lady, she tells us, £80 for a work on which she spends three months and a half. She calls this at the rate of £240 a year. I think that it is nothing of the kind, because I am very certain from long experience that a person who would try three solid works of fiction of good average length in one year would in the second year be writing rubbish, and in the third year drivel. 4. The large sales of the Society are due, says this writer, to the supervision which enables clergymen to buy books in confidence that they will contain nothing contrary to good doctrine. Partly, no doubt. Yet this does not constitute a claim on the property. Take a house; suppose a sanitary engineer at great trouble examines that house and finds it perfectly habitable. Does his report to that effect give him a claim to half the property? Always the same confusion ; always the blindness which cannot see that literary employment, literary pay, literary property are bound by the same laws which regulate other property. You may steal it ; you may underpay and sweat your employés ; you may overreach the producer and take more than your own share. You may even do this with the Blessing of Bishops. Yet the Eighth Commandment remains. ee PREF ACES. MUST respectfully but stoutly protest against my learned friend Mr. Lely’s attempt to lay down a Procrustean rule as to the length of prefaces. One page may be altogether too much, or two pages much too little. The preface to Savigny’s ‘System des Leutigen rémischen Rechts,” one of the best pieces of scientific writing in any language, covers fifty pages, and there is not a word too much of it. Tf Mr. Lely means only that anything shorter _ than two pages should be called a Notice or Advertisement, and anything longer should be called an Introduction, I have no objection to make, except that hard and fast rules of this-kind are apt to give more trouble than they save. ba F. Potioc.. VOL, EV: mo WHAT THE PUBLIC READ. HAVE read with considerable’ imterest the : article in the last issue of the Author on “ Libraries—New and Old.” There is no part of that article which has pleased me so much as the statement that “the mass of people—those whom we regard as having no taste and no cultivation, will always prefer good literature to bad.” My own experience as a librarian, some twenty years ago, of a public library in a large manufacturing town bears out this fact, and I feel sure that a very large proportion of the present librarians of these institutions will be prepared to support the statement. It is one universal experience of those in charge of public libraries that borrowers begin their use of the library by reading the lighter books of fiction, and drift gradually to the better and more satisfying books in the same section of literature, and from this proceed to works of history, travel, science, and the more advanced. books of mental and political philosophy. Numerous instances have come under my own observation, where the reading of “‘ Adam Bede” or “ Westward Ho!” has been anew revelation to a borrower, and which borrower has not been con- tent until he or she has goneright through the works of George Eliot or Charles Kingsley. I could, again, instance cases of youths to whom the read- ing Church’s “ Stories from Homer” has come as a veritable new birth; and those youths, now grown into men with families, have, to my knowledge, gone through most of Car- lyle, Ruskin, John Stuart Mill, and, where they have had access to libraries, Herbert Spencer and Freeman and other historians. If I am not taking up too much of your space, I should like to give a list of the books read during this last winter by two working men who have the run of my own little library. One is a bricklayer and the other a carpenter. Both start work early in the morning, and their time for reading is in the evening and on Sundays. The carpenter is a Devonshire man, and his range of reading is per- fectly amazing. He began last winter by reading Matthew Arnold’s “Culture and Anarchy,’ and followed by reading some of Arnold’s poetry. There followed Grant Allen’s “Colours of Flowers;” Trevelyan’s “Life of Macaulay ;” Stuart Mill’s Three Essays on “ Religion,” “Liberty,” and “Representative Government ; ” Ruskin’s “ Unto this Last” and “ Queen of the Air,” and at the present moment he is reading J. R. Green’s “Conquest of England.” For lighter reading he took “ Peveril of the Peak”’ and “ Romola” to read aloud, as he said, to the wife. c 18 _ THE ‘AUTHOR. My friend the bricklayer tackled at the begin- ning of the winter Carlyle’s “ French Revolution,” and dipped occasionally as he went along in Thiers’, Mignet’s, and Burke’s books on the same subject. John Morley’s “Diderot ” and Frederic Harrison’s ‘Progress and Poverty” have been taken by him, and, although he may not have read the books through from cover to cover, he has done more than glance at them. For fiction he has had “Pendennis” and “ Alec Forbes of Howglen.” The first book taken out of our Stoke Newington Public Library was ‘‘ The Origin of Species,” and that by an elderly working man who is far from being well off in this world’s goods. These are not solitary instances by any means. There is not a librarian throughout the country who could not quote similar cases. The juvenile libraries established in connection with these institutions show that there is a very large proportion of books of light science, travel, and history read by the young borrowers from these libraries. The three-volume novel is dying fast, and I look upon this as good proof that the public taste for literature is upwards, and not down- wards. These three-vol. editions are now rarely bought by public libraries. If we could obtain from the publishers reliable figures of the actual number of copies sold of certain works, I believe that we should have abundance of evidence that the public taste for books is far better than is generally imagined. Tbe record of a day’s issues from any represen- tative public library, or a list of the books read by any average reader of one of these libraries during a given period, would give additional proof in the same direction. It is the supply which creates the demand. The issuing of standard books at low prices,-and the establishing of libraries open to all without let or hindrance, soon produces a large con- stituency of purchasers or borrowers, as the case may be. The sale of reprints, such as Cassell’s National Library series, Walter Scott’s reprints, the Minerva series, the Ancient Classics for English readers, and other sets, could be in- stanced. These have, in many cases, sold by thousands. From a long experience and a close observation, I have no difficulty in coming to the conclusion that the public taste for reading has vastly improved during the last twenty years, and is still improving. I have too much faith in the results of the Elementary Education Act of 1870 to allow me to think otherwise upon the question. THOMAS GREENWOOD. ee HORACE’S ODES, I, 5. ** Quis multa gracilis?” What slender youth, with liquid scents bedewed, Is courting you, on roses thickly strewed, Pyrrha, in pleasant grot ? For whom twist you that golden hair in knot Simple yet charming? Ah! how oft he’ll weep For Heaven’s changed looks, and troth you would not keep, And wonder, slow to learn, How rough in murky winds Love’s sea can turn! Now, lapped in golden joys, he fondly sees You always free, and always glad, to please ; Poor fool ! he little knows The fickle breeze that now so softly blows. Fatal your smile to whom your smile is new! On yonder wall my votive tablet view, And, in the Sea-god’s shrine, Read, how I’ve hung my garments dripping brine. A. S. AGLEN. FEUILLETON. Tue Frre Post-OFFIce. “ My search is for the living gold.”—Lowell. OME years ago I was the honoured recipient S of a letter. It was rather a long one, being written upon both sides of three leaves of foolscap, and filling them well. No sooner was this epistle written—so I learnt afterwards—than the author thereof resolved to burn it; but the fire had gone out by two or three o’clock in the morning, the time when it was finished, so he put it in his pocket, resolving to post it in the fire on the following day. Now, by some curious chance, it came to my hands before the flames had had the opportunity of devouring it. A promise was extorted from me that I would burn it as soon as ever I had done withit. I fully intend to keep my promise, if I am alive to do so, when that time arrives—meanwhile the manuscript remains in my possession. This little incident set me thinking that if all the essays, articles, stories, poems, &c., could come to light again which have been written and posted in the fire by despairing lovers, authors, poets, preachers, and politicians, what extraordinary revelations would be manifested. A kind of “Land of Lost Toys” would rise out of chaos, and the thoughts of many hearts would be revealed. Yet this fire post-office must have done much for the purification of literature, and the good of mankind in general. Some people find mfinite relief in writing down their angry thoughts addressed to the person who has annoyed them,  THE and if these documents are forthwith committed to the flames by the writer of them, no further mischief can ensue. But, after all, this is only a refuge for the weak; it would be better not to in- scribe one’s angry thoughts at all; besides, it wastes the paper! There is, however, a higher and better use for our fire post-office, other than that of a mere safety valve. Let us think of the verses it has consumed ; yet out of the many, many millions not one true, poetic thought has perished. For poetry is as gold, which the fire has power to purify but not destroy. The weak expression of poetic thought is surely better burnt. “Leave the fire ashes, what survives is gold.” It may happen that when the hungry flame has had time to burn itself out, having made a meal of the laboured manuscript of some young artist, and he rakes amongst the ashes, peering into them with eyes still smarting with the smoke, and fumes of disappointment, in which the flames rose up, that he will discover there some- thing that rings true, that gleams in the refuse, something, in fact, that is a lump of purest gold. But it is no longer in the form of poetry that it comes to him, perhaps it is prose; but prose of the high, poetic order, destined to appeal with living force to the great. throbbing, aching heart of mankind. - Thus was Carlyle’s “French Revolution” posted in the fire and took no hurt. Sometimes the thing left by the flames has no part in the world of letters; it turns out to be music, or the art of painting, a power of inven- tion, or best and rarest of all, the gift of loving and making home lovely. Once upon a time there lived a dear boy who wanted to write poetry. Or, at all events, he wanted some adequate means of expressing the strange yearning that fell upon him from time to time, especially in the loveliness of spring-time, when he noted the flickering of the sunlight through young green beech leaves, and longed insanely to be a part of it all, and to distribute this loveliness amongst those who knew it not. He began writing verses, but they were lifeless, and altogether without power to express his thoughts or satisfy the craving, for Still the shadow of our incompteness Spoils our perfect dreams, Just a little lower than our meaning Are our highest themes. With silent tears and salt, wherewith to season his sacrifice, he humbly committed his verses to the flames, and bravely resumed his work at some dull office desk. The boy grew up to bea AUTHOR. 2 man, but he did not write any more poetry, at least not in verse. The sacrifice, however, had been accepted, and the hungry flam-s, when they were appeased, left him his gold. It was with a lavish hand that he dealt it out to a hungry mob. Hungry for happiness, hungry for some of the beauty of life, hungry for highe. and better thoughts. Thus he gave willingly out of the abundance of his own poverty, and surely, in the words of another poet, he might sa : Tam a happier and a richer man Since I have sown this new joy in the earth, "Tis no small thing for us to reap stray mirth In every sunny wayside where we can. eS NOTES AND NEWS. HE delegates to the Chicago Conference | leave England on the 1oth of June. Papers entrusted to them can be posted up to Thursday, the 8th. After that they must be addressed to the “Delegates of the English Society of Authors, care of the Chairman, Literary Congress, World’s Fair, Chicago.” Once more it is requested that members will do their best to increase the importance of the mission, and of the Congress itself, by sending notes and opinions, however short. A memorial is to be erected in Freshwater to the late Poet Laureate. The place was his residence, his favourite residence, for many years. I believe «since the year 1850. There are two proposals before the projectors—a committee formed in Freshwater itself. One is to substitute for the existing wooden beacon on the highest part of the Freshwater Down a stone tower. The other is the erection of a granite monolith in the form of an Iona cross at the corner of Farringdon- lane, along which the poet often walked. The committee ask for £500. About half that sum has already been collected. Among our members there are many, doubtless, who would like to take a part in this memorial to our late President Contributions may be sent to Lieut.-Colone. Will, R.A., Golden Hill Fort, Freshwater. I would suggest, however, that a subscription of quite a small amount—say half-a-crown or five shillings—sent to Mr. Thring might be forwarded by him in a lump, as from our members. Mr. Thring undertakes the trouble of receiving and acknowledging such subscriptions. It is an opportunity for the Society to work together and unanimously. 20 THE AUTHOR. There has been a great deal of talk during the month over Mr. Colles’s paper in the New Review. The subject of literary property possesses a re- markable fascination for those who have no share in it; they are always talking about it. As they know nothing whatever of the subject, they are, of course, the louder and the more positive in their denunciations and contradictions of those who do. It is really quite wonderful to consider the non- sense talked about writers and incomes. Some of it is designed deliberately to deceive and to mis- lead, but most of it is written in pure ignorance, and because everybody who writes a book, or for a newspaper, or for a magazine, believes that this fact at once and by its own inherent virtue ¢on- fers upon him the knowledge of all the statistics, the extent, the prospects, and everything else of literary property. For the most part he begins with declaring—or assuming—that there is no such thing. He has in his mind four rooted prejudices. Thus: 1. Literary property is only valuable by chance. 2. Those who grow rich in literary property are successful gamblers. 3. All who write books are needy mendicants. 4. It is beneath the dignity of genius to con- sider the commercial aspect of literature. Do you doubt the last piece of foolishness ? Then read the following: “ Genius is too shy to be tempted by these many material advantages.” This is a quotation from the Daily Graphic— generally a very sensible paper, which is sometimes allowed to become silly on this subject. Why, the whole of literary history proclaims aloud the fact that genius is only too delighted with as many material advantages as can be offered. The same writer, referring to Mr. Colles’s paper, asks whether the “ protection of literature can create literature?” Yes; in this way. Genius writes best when genius sits in a comfortable library, with well-filled shelves, in a decent house, and without apprehensions as to the dinner of to- morrow. Secure to genius these advantages, and you will enable genius to work. Small, indeed, have been the contributions of genius starving and ragged and dependent. Of course, at the bottom of this question lies the old, old confusion of thought as to the commercial and the literary value of work. The two things cannot be measured by each other. But the confusion will remain. There is, however, the other point which Mr. Colles touched upon—the fact that Necessity—not that of starvation and rags, but ordinary Necessity, the Necessity which stands behind all of us—has caused the production of the best work. One would always most earnestly advise aspirants not to attempt an actual liveli- hood by literature. Let them have something else to lean upon at first. But, once embarked, it is best to feel that work must be done. There was an article in the British Weekly for May 4 on the alleged Decay of Literature, which is a charge, as Mr. Payn points out in the //lustrated, generally advanced by those who do not read it. It touches, also, on Mr. Colles’s paper, calling the writer “an authors’ agent.” This is not polite, but the writer, I suppose, does not know that Mr. Colles—a barrister as well as a writer—has given—literally given—nearly three vears of work to the building up of the Author’s Syndicate—not a publishing house, but a machinery by which authors may get managed for themselves at small expense the practical conduct of their own affairs—such management as the Society cannot give. Now, this three years’ work has made Mr. Colles practi- cally the greatest living master of the subject— far greater than any single publisher or any editor can be. He knows the practice of every house and every magazine; he also knows, as a Father Confessor, the private affairs of authors by the dozen. But the fact is not generally understood. However, the article contains a passage which shows the conventional way of looking at things, and adds another maxim to the stock of four prejudices above enumerated. It is this, and it makes the fifth : 5. Good work can never become popular. This is the passage: The projectors of new magazines would be insane if they went to the best writers and asked them to deal seriously with important subjects. They must choose what will attract readers, and that, as a rule, is not literature. There are modest pecuniary rewards for good work still; a remnant is left. But great circulations and huge payments mean in nearly every instance the robbery, impoverishment, and degradation of literature. The italics are ours. My knowledge is not so great as that of Mr. Colles, but I suppose it will . not be reckoned as presumptive if I “claim,” as the Americans say, some knowledge after eight years’ work in the Society. If I were a projector of a new magazine, I would imitate the Con- temporary and the New ; I would go to the very best men that we have got and I should ask them to “deal seriously with important sub- jects.” As regards the books and subjects that attract readers, I refer to Mr. Thomas Greenwood’s paper on this subject (p. 17), in which you ewill see what the public does read, and therefore-what it wants. As for great circulations and huge pay-  — @ THE AUTHOR. ments meaning mere “robbery, impoverishment, and degradation of literature ”—one simply stares and wonders. How about Walter Scott, Dickens, Byron, Pope, Thackeray, George Eliot ? Did their immense circulation, their huge pay- ments, impoverish and degrade their work ? But of what is the writer thinking? Something else must be in his mind. Does he mean that when a great and popular writer such as Scott or Dickens produces a work like “ Ivanhoe”’ or “David Copperfield,’ which has an immense circulation, and brings in huge sums of money, the publisher is to keep all the proceeds ? Here, again, comes in the customary confusion of ideas. It must not be allowed that there can be any such thing as literary property. Good work gets modest pecuniary reward. Big rewards mean bad work. Why? Because the people won’t have anything but bad work. Again, let us refer to Mr. Thomas Greenwood’s paper; and again, let us remember that Mr. Colles writes what is, not what he thinks may be, and that separates him by a vast gult, which cannot be crossed, from the other people who write perpetually about literary property. And let us remember that when we speak of literary property we are not speaking of novels, we are speaking of all kinds of literary property, educational—a branch far wider than that of fiction—historical, scientific, dramatic, artistic, everything. It is to be hoped that Mr. Colles will issue his paper separately with addi- tions and facts to strengthen his case. No answer has been proffered to my questions on the French Academy in the Author of last month. I have, however, made certain inquiries. I find, first of all, that, so far as I can learn, not a single volume, essay, paper, or article has been published in the English language upon the influence of the Academy, excepting a certain paper by Matthew Arnold. That it has been the subject of innumerable epigrams in France we all know. That it has never been seriously attacked in France we also know. So in this country the Royal Academy of Arts has been stung and teased by epigrams, but has never been seriously attacked by artists either singly or collectively. Tt is an institution which must remain. All that has been attempted is to attack its methods of election, exhibition, and instruction. How, then, has the prejudice against the French Academy, which undoubtedly exists among, many of our greatest scholars and most honoured men of Jetters, arisen? ‘This is the question that I want answered.. With what trammels did the ‘Academy. bound-and vex the genius of Beranger 21 or Victor Hugo? How was Voltaire bound and fettered by the Academy? These are questions which may very fitly occupy the columns of the Author ; and I hope that we may arrive, by means of this question, at some solid groundwork of fact. Meantime, I submit, or repeat, my own view, apart from the question of influence, effect, or trammels, into which I am not prepared, off hand, to enter. I contend that it is most important that a nation should be instructed, and constantly reminded, of the things most worthy of honour; that national distinctions—unless we admit, as Englishmen do, ‘hereditary distinctions—ought not to exist or to be granted for any other cause than achievement in the lines which are worthy of honour; that mere money getting is not one of those achievements, though the advance of the nation by enterprise, forethought, and quick sight in commercial matters un- doubtedly is one of those achievements—witness the splendid history of Thomas Gresham ; that art, literature, and science are, as clearly as the professions of arms, diplomacy, administration, law, and justice, objects worthy of the highest honour ; that in national and official Functions, on all occasions of State, to pass over the followers of art, literature, and science, as if they did not exist, is unworthy of a civilised nation; that to withhold from them the national distinctions argues either that these distinctions are worth- less and below the consideration of cultured men— but, in that case why are they accepted by those men, of the highest culture and intellect, who sit upon the judicial bench?—or that artists and authors are beneath the consideration of the State. These are my propositions. Ihave talked them over with a good many men of reason. I cannot pretend to have carried every one with me; but I have certainly carried most of those with whom I have talked. As for reasons against these pro- positions, I have heard none. It seems nonsense to say that artists and poets ought to be contented with their own work. This was said some time ago by Lord Selborne, a lawyer whom the world justly holds in the greatest respect. But, that being so, why was he not contented with being plain Mister Palmer? It is always alleged that there would be intolerable jealousies. Perhaps, jealousies: there is a good deal of humanity about men of imagination ; they suffer from what Emerson called the over-soul ; but not intolerable jealousies ; not worse than are found among barristers and among city men. To counter- balance these jealousies the French Academy seems to confer upon its members exactly the kind  22 of distinction which best suits men of letters ; they are not confounded with the ordinary Orders, and yet they receive national honour and national rank. As a correspondent writes to me, “the Academy confers upon men of letters a status which is both honourable and envied. In this way at least it has proved most serviceable to litera- ture.” One has only to compare the position of the men of letters in this country for the last 200 years with that of-the men of letters in France for the same period, in order to under- stand what the Academy has done in this respect. That the French Academy is too limited in numbers ; that its method of election is humiliat- ing to those who wish to enter its ranks; that 1t has too often passed over good men, may be admitted. Having re-stated my humble view, once more I ask, What are those trammels by which the Academy is-alleged to have hampered literature ? In another column we reproduce, by permission of the author and of the editor, the two papers written for the Pall Mall Gazette by Sir Frederick Pollock on Publishing. They appeared on May 1 and May 4. The importance of these papers is that the problems they discuss are seriously treated by a lawyer for the first time since we began to consider our position in the offices of the Society and in the pages of our journal. Our chairman of committee does not expect that everybody will agree with him abso- lutely and in all points. But I think that most of us are with him in essentials. It must be observed that his challenge for a discussion has not been taken up. TI do not think, indeed, that it will be. One letter, signed “A Publisher,’ was written with the view of diverting the attent- tion from the real points at issue. Otherwise there is an apparent desire to avoid discussion. Sir Frederick Pollock, among other points, lays stress upon the following (the inverted commas do not always mean Sir Frederick’s own words) :— 1. “There is no such thing as an abstract fair share in profits.” That is perfectly true. But the same maxim applies to all kinds of business. All we can ask for is such an adjustment of profits as may be recognised by honourable men on all sides as reasonable. 2. “There should be no mystery as to the Cost of Production.” 3. The “establishment” charges. On this subject I refer to certain remarks of mine ~ printed on p. to. When, I ask, the “establishment charges.” have been made, what claim ‘has the publisher for anything else P?: What has: he: dotie?: : Let’ us -hear-.what ‘he ‘himself THE AUTHOR. thinks. The book is sent to press, advertised, bound, delivered, and accounted for by the establishment. It is quite a thing of routine. What else has the publisher done ? 4. ‘ Accounts, full and true, must be rendered. There must be no falsifying of accounts—no secret profits.” And all the world cried “ Hear!” 5. “ The sale of copyright is not advisable in a work of pure literature.” I do not agree with this. I think that if a fair price is paid it may be best for the author to sell. He has, at least, nofurther trouble. Now, a popular known author knows pretty well, or can ascertain through his agent, the extent of his popularity. Thus, if under a fair royalty his. book would produce £a a year fora term of years, or, what is more likely, a kind of descending series of arithmetical progression — say the following: a+(a—b)+(a—26)+4+... for m years, when it will vanish or nearly vanish, it may be worth the author’s while to accept a sum representing the equivalent of that series in full. 6. “ For advertisements only the actual cost— the money paid—must be charged.” “This does not include books published on com- mission, in which case the publisher is clearly entitled to charge for advertising in his own magazine.” Yes, but after the author has con- sented to make that an organ for advertising his book, and only to a certain defined extent. Very good. These papers embody in other words—and fresher words—the principles which we have advocated for eight years. No secret profits; no mystery of accounts; open dealing. These are the essentials. SEERA Caen” A lady journalist, it is reported, has been informing an interviewer that she makes by her profession, and by working no more than an hour and a half every day, the very respectable income of a thousand pounds a year. This was only a week ago. A thousand pounds a year! Hark! Do you hear? It is the frow frou of a hundred thousand skirts, the rush of two hundred thousand feet, the cry of a hundred thousand tongues. Like lightnings are the flashings of their eyes— forked lightnings before which editors will sink and fall. For they, too, are crowding into the profession. A thousand a year! The accountants at fifteen shillings a week, the cashiers at twelve, the typewriters at a pound, the translators, foreign correspondence clerks, shorthand clerks, gover- nesses and teachers, writers of penny novelettes, nurses, lady guides—all are throwing up their meagre appointments, and -are rushing into the calling which gives a thousand pounds:a year, three pounds -a day,: for. an‘ hour: and a-half's  THE AUTHOR. 23 work—two pounds an hour! Who ever dreamed of getting two pounds an hour? Why this lazy person, so indifferent to her own interest, if she worked for twelve hours a day, which her sisters have to do for a pound a week— threepence ha’penny an hour, only threepence ha’penny ! —might make four and twenty pounds a day if she chose—say, seven thousand two hundred pounds a year! What a chance! We shall hear no more of women’s cheap labour. All that is over. A thousand pounds a year! Two pounds an hour! Seven thousand two hundred pounds a year! All the roads that lead to London are variegated with all the hues that feminine costume can assume; there is & movement; there is a swift and turbulent current; they pour by thousands out of the trains; they rush in the glorious might and majesty of these incalculable thousands along the streets; the offices of all the journals are blocked. Two pounds an hour! Oh! What a chance! What a chance! WALTER BESANT. WHY A CONGRESS? HE following cutting is from a paper by Mr. Andrew Lang in the ///ustrated London News: An Authors’ Congress is a dire thing to think over. What have we to go congressing about? We write, and sell our writings as well as we can, or as well as we can take trouble about selling them, or we employ an agent; and there, surely, should be an end of the matter. Are we to tell publishers’ stories as some people tell ghost stories, with extreme solemnity, at a public conference ? Story for story, one would prefer a conference of a ghostly character. Perhaps there may be such a congress—every- thing is possible. There are, it is quite certain, two classes of literary men: the one which understands the existence of literary property ; and the other which cannot believe or understand that literature is, or can be, concerned with a mate- rial side —that there exists such a thing as literary property. Any attempt to explain or to show to this class that literary property is a very real thing and a very large thing irritates them. First they profess that it does not exist; next, they pretend that no man of genius ever paid the least attention to literary property—it is, of course, in vain that you point to the names of Scott, Byron, Dickens, Thackeray, Bulwer Lytton, George Eliot, Charles Reade, Wilkie Collins, and a hundred others, whose genius is as undoubted as were their ability and their-resolution. to-pro- tect their own interests. In spite of those names and examples, they hold up their hands and point to the sordidness of looking after literary property. ‘“ We sell our wares and there’s an end,” says Mr. Andrew Lang. But suppose we do not sell our wares; suppose we retain our property and either do not sell it at all but keep it, as some men keep house property, or sell it only after carefully ascertaining that we get a proper equivalent for it Of course it is useless arguing with this class. One reason of their blindness is, as has been frequently pointed out, the confusion of ideas which mixes up commercial value with literary value. If every good book was bound to become a popular book, then not to be popular would be a sure and certain sign of literary failure. If this were the case, then would Mr. Walter Pater, for example, be a dead failure beside the popular novelist of the day. But, of course, it is not the case. Then what is the good of a Literary Congress ? There are more things about literature than the selling of wares for what they will fetch. Litera- ture is not all standing hat in hand with bending knees and bowing back, entreating the generosity of the man with the bag. Too much there is of this, and always has been. It is the hope of those who work in this Society to abolish what is left. How, then, is literature itselfi—not the selling value of literature—assisted by the promotion of the independence of those who write? It is an absurd question, but one has to put it once in three months. It is, to begin with, certain that the man who is tied and bound by miserable conditions of life-——who is cheated, starved, dependent, humiliated—can never pro- duce his best work. The finest work that the world has ever seen has been produced under circumstances of physical and material wellbeing, with a reasonable amount of self-respect. All the writers mentioned above—to whom must be added such names as Southey, Wordsworth, Lamb, Keats, Tennyson, Browning—have written under conditions of comparative independence. Grub-street has turned out a little respectable work, but most of its work has been distinctly ephemeral and mediocre. A literary congress, therefore, must deal in the first instance with literary property. Such themes as copyright, domestic and international, the exist- ing conditions of law, either at home or abroad ; the relations: of authors and publishers; the various methods of publishing; ‘ syndicate” publishing. These are topics which immediately present themselves ; they are fresh because they. have never been openly discussed ;: that ‘is; while ‘a great deal has ‘been’ written.:upon them, they 22 THE AUTHOR. of distinction which best suits men of letters ; they are not confounded with the ordinary Orders, and yet they receive national honour and national rank. As a correspondent writes to me, “the Academy confers upon men of letters a status which is both honourable and envied. In this way at least it has proved most serviceable to litera- ture.” One has only to compare the position of the men of letters in this country for the last 200 years with that of-the men of letters in France for the same period, in order to. under- stand what the Academy has done in this respect. That the French Academy is too limited in numbers; that its method of election is humiliat- ing to those who wish to enter its ranks; that 1t has too often passed over good men, may be admitted. Having re-stated my humble view, once more I ask, What are those trammels by which the Academy is alleged to have hampered literature ? In another column we reproduce, by permission of the author and of the editor, the two papers written for the Pall Mall Gazette by Sir Frederick Pollock on Publishing. They appeared on May 1 and May 4. The importance of these papers is that the problems they discuss are seriously treated by a lawyer for the first time since we began to consider our position in the offices of the Society and in the pages of our journal. Our chairman of committee does not expect that everybody will agree with him abso- lutely and in all points. But I think that most of us are with him in essentials. It must be observed that his challenge for a discussion has not been taken up. TI do not think, indeed, that it will be. One letter, signed ‘A Publisher,” was written with the view of diverting the attent- tion from the real points at issue. Otherwise there is an apparent desire to avoid discussion. Sir Frederick Pollock, among other points, lays stress upon the following (the inverted commas do not always mean Sir Frederick’s own words) :— 1. “There is no such thing as an abstract fair share in profits.” That is perfectly true. But the same maxim applies to all kinds of business. All we can ask for is such an adjustment of profits as may be recognised by honourable men on all sides as reasonable. 2. “There should be no mystery as to the Cost of Production.” 3. The “establishment” charges. On this subject I refer to certain remarks of mine ~ printed on p. io. When, I ask, the “éstablishment charges.” have been made, what éldim has the publisher for anything else ??* What has" he: dotie?: : Let’ us ‘hear what ‘he ‘himself thinks. The book is sent to press, advertised, bound, delivered, and accounted for by the establishment. It is quite a thing of routine. What else has the publisher done ? 4. ‘ Accounts, full and true, must be rendered. There must be no falsifying of accounts—no secret profits.” And all the world cried “ Hear!” 5. “The sale of copyright is not advisable in a work of pure literature.” ; T do not agree with this. I think that if a fair price is paid it may be best for the author to sell. He has, at least, no further trouble. Now,a popular known author knows pretty well, or can ascertain through his agent, the extent of his popularity. Thus, if under a fair royalty his. book would produce £a a year for a term of years, or, what is more likely, a kind of descending series of arithmetical progression — say the following: a+(a—b)+(a—26)+4+... for n years, when it will vanish or nearly vanish, it may be worth the author’s while to accept a sum representing the equivalent of that series in full. 6. “For advertisements only the actual cost— the money paid—must be charged.” “This does not include books published on com- mission, in which case the publisher is clearly entitled to charge for advertising in his own magazine.” Yes, but after the author has con- sented to make that an organ for advertising his book, and only to a certain defined extent. Very good. These papers embody in other words—and fresher words—the principles which we have advocated for eight years. No secret profits; no mystery of accounts; open dealing. These are the essentials. — A lady journalist, it is reported, has been informing an interviewer that she makes by her profession, and by working no more than an hour and a half every day, the very respectable income of a thousand pounds a year. This was only a week ago. A thousand pounds a year! Hark! Do you hear? It is the frow frow of a hundred thousand skirts, the rush of two hundred thousand feet, the cry of a hundred thousand tongues. Like lightnings are the flashings of their eyes— forked lightnings before which editors will sink and fall. For they, too, are crowding into the profession. A thousand a year! The accountants at fifteen shillings a week, the cashiers at twelve, the typewriters at a pound, the translators, foreign correspondence clerks, shorthand clerks, gover- nesses and teachers, writers of penny novelettes, nurses, lady guides—all are throwing up their meagre appointments, and -are rushing into the calling which gives a thousand pounds:a year, three pounds:a day, for. an: hour: and a -half's  THE AUTHOR. work—two pounds an hour! Who ever dreamed of getting two pounds an hour? Why this lazy person, so indifferent to her own interest, if she worked for twelve hours a day, which her sisters have to do for a pound a week— threepence ha’penny an hour, only threepence ha’penuy! —might make four and twenty pounds a day if she chose—say, seven thousand two hundred pounds a year! What a chance! We shall hear no more of women’s cheap labour. All that is over. A thousand pounds a year! Two pounds an hour! Seven thousand two hundred pounds a year! All the roads that lead to London are variegated with all the hues that feminine costume can assume; there is a movement; there is a swift and turbulent current; they pour by thousands out of the trains; they rush in the glorious might and majesty of these incalculable thousands along the streets; the offices of all the journals are blocked. Two pounds an hour! Oh! What a chance! What a chance! WaLterR Besant. eS WHY A CONGRESS? HE following cutting is from a paper by Mr. Andrew Lang in the //lustrated London News: An Authors’ Congress is a dire thing to think over. What have we to go congressing about? We write, and sell our writings as well as we can, or as well as we can take trouble about selling them, or we employ an agent; and there, surely, should be an end of the matter. Are we to tell publishers’ stories as some people tell ghost stories, with extreme solemnity, at a public conference ? Story for story, one would prefer a conference of a ghostly character. Perhaps there may be such a congress—every- thing is possible. There are, it is quite certain, two classes of literary men: the one which understands the existence of literary property ; and the other which cannot believe or understand that literature is, or can be, concerned with a mate- rial side — that there exists such a thing as literary property. Any attempt to explain or to show to this class that literary property is a very real thing and a very large thing irritates them. First they profess that it does not exist; next, they pretend that no man of genius ever paid the least attention to literary property—it is, of course, in vain that you point to the names of Scott, Byron, Dickens, Thackeray, Bulwer Lytton, George Eliot, Charles Reade, Wilkie Collins, and a hundred others, whose -genius is as undoubted as were their ability and their resolution. to-pro- 23 tect their own interests. In spite of those names and examples, they hold up their hands and point to the sordidness of looking after literary property. ‘We sell our wares and there’s an end,” says Mr. Andrew Lang. But suppose we do not sell our wares; suppose we retain our property and either do not sell it at all but keep it, as some men keep house property, or sell it only after carefully ascertaining that we get a- proper equivalent for it ? Of course it is useless arguing with this class. One reason of their blindness is, as has been frequently pointed out, the confusion of ideas which mixes up commercial value with literary value. If every good book was bound to become a popular book, then not to be popular would be a sure and certain sign of literary failure. If this were the case, then would Mr. Walter Pater, for example, be a dead failure beside the popular novelist of the day. But, of course, it is not the case. Then what is the good of a Literary Congress ? There are more things about literature than the selling of wares for what they will fetch. Litera- ture is not all standing hat in hand with bending knees and bowing back, entreating the generosity of the man with the bag. Too much there is of this, and always has been. It is the hope of those who work in this Society to abolish what is left. How, then, is literature itselfi—not the selling value of literature—assisted by the promotion of the independence of those who write? It is an absurd question, but one has to put it once in three months. It is, to begin with, certain that the man who is tied and bound by miserable conditions of life-——who is cheated, starved, dependent, humiliated—can never pro- duce his best work. The finest work that the world has ever seen has been produced under circumstances of physical and material wellbeing, with a reasonable amount of self-respect. All the writers mentioned above—to whom must be added such names as Southey, Wordsworth, Lamb, Keats, Tennyson, Browning—have written under conditions of comparative independence. Grub-street has tured out a little respectable work, but most of its work has been distinctly ephemeral and mediocre. A literary congress, therefore, must deal in the first instance with literary property. Such themes as copyright, domestic and international, the exist- ing conditions of law, either at home or abroad ; the relations: of authors and publishers; the various methods of publishing; : “ syndicate” publishing. These are topics which immediately present themselves ; they are fresh because they have never been openly discussed ;: that ‘is, while ‘a great. deal has ‘been’ written--upon:them, they 24 THE AUTHOR. have not in modern times often occupied the attention of men who are trained and accustomed to consider the facts and the evidence, and they are absolutely vital to all who desire to abolish the servility and dependence of Grub-street. There are, again, other questions of the greatest importance, e.g., the place of literature in educa- tion; the position and the duties of a critic; the standards of criticism; literature in the news- papers; realism in fiction; poetry, fiction, the drama of thefuture. There are also the hundred questions which have been treated in these columns during the last few years. Finally, it will be the duty of such a conference to impress upon the whole world that literature, like the law or medicine, is concerned with a vast and a rapidly growing property. There is no doubt that some of the contempt which has been freely poured upon the calling of letters, and is still poured upon it, is due to the prejudice which regards literary menas a set of needy mendicants, beggarly, helpless, whose only business, as Mr. Andrew Lang puts it, is to “sell their wares, and there’s an end.” eg CORRESPONDENCE. I. Donations oF Booxs By AUTHORS. I should like to know what is the general feeling as to the advisability of authors giving away copies of their books to casual applicants. The following letter is, surely, of supreme interest. I suppress, of course, all that is personal. DEAR Str,—I am forming, for behoof of all who shall succeed me here, a most unique library, chiefly of works presented by their authors. Will you, sir, kindly give one of your to [the] said library, and, to make it the more valuable, write your name therein as donor? Already 122 authors (some of great renown) have sent me books; and I should indeed feel most grateful if I might now add to them one of yours. I am, dear sir, yours most faithfully, X. Y. Z. For my own part, I think the conduct of the “122 authors, some of great renown,” is most disloyal and mischievous. The application was quite of a private nature, and the applicant had no case at all. I should like to have the names of the 122, and to represent to them that I am myself desirous of increasing my own library, and that I am a much more deserving object of charity. Probably I should then, in every case, receive a refusal. But why, in the name of common fairness, should such a result be possible? Why refuse me, an author and a brother, whilst at the same time they unhesitatingly grant the request to a total stranger ? Watter W. Sxnat. I am now in a position to add a sequel to the above correspondence. I replied to “X. Y. Z.,” using the familiar argument that a butcher is not expected to give away a leg of mutton, nor a tailor a pair of trousers. This elicited the following reply : Dear Srr,—I am delighted with your letter indeed—it ischarming! No doubt there issomething in what you say, but not much! On the other hand, I can scarcely under- stand why an author gives his brain-creations away for nought if he is hard up for cash; but, if he isn’t, I cannot for the life of me see why he should hesitate to do a kind- ness to a long succession of poor (probably poor, unless they have private means) parsons! Of course, if a heap of fellows started the formation of libraries at the expense, and by the kindness and generosity, of authors good, bad and indifferent—as you say (I did not say this)—there would be mighty little chance of said authors earning their bread and cheese—to say nothing of legs of mutton and the regulation pants—but a heap of fellows (not my expression !) is not likely to do so; and more, if they did, they wouldn’t succeed! I’m the first in the field, and I’ve had some most amusing letters in consequence, nearly always, though, accompanied by the book I ask for! The number of authors (who have given me books) is now 126, and to-morrow it is bound to be 130. If you willsend me a jolly book, I'll send you their names. Is ita bargain? My bishop comes here on Trinity Sunday, and I want to show hima big library containing big books by big men; and of big men you are one. Thanking you for your laughter-producing letter, I am, dear Sir, yours most faithfully, KoVoms Why my letter produced laughter I cannot say. It only shows that my correspondent still finds it impossible to treat as serious, any form of remon- strance. I confess that his success only seems to me to emphasise the degrading estimation in which authors are held. It is considered fair to cajole them or bully them, but absurd to treat them with common justice. Will anyone support me in refusing these insulting demands? As to “xX. Y. Z.” being “the first in the field,” it is false. It is a very old mancuvre. Watter W. SKEAT. II. ANONYMOUS OR SIGNED REVIEWS. An Experience. That a certain proportion of reviews must be unfavourable, and some more or less severely so, is, of course, a mere truism. But does not this fact in itself afford the strongest argu- ment against anonymous reviewing, and show it to be a barbarism without parallel in our social. life? Stabbing a man in the dark, whether the stab is deserved or not, is essen tially repugnant to all the best instincts of the ordinary Englishman. Thus, if for this reason only, it may fairly be assumed that both re- viewers and editors would be glad to see such a custom fall into disuse. That the more general 1: | ; 12 * Pt  THE AUTHOR. 25 substitution of signed for unsigned reviews would necessarily tend to place the work of the reviewer upon an altogether higher literary level, seems to me unquestionable. At the same time, it seems equally certain that it would do more than anything else to lessen the, at least occa- sional grievance under which reviewers are said to suffer, viz., that having regard to the current rates of payment, they cannot afford time to “ putin” what would satisfy themselves as really responsible work. Thus it seems to me that the interests of authors, of editors, and of reviewers, no less than those of the reading public, would all be served by a change in the present system of anonymity. The Author presses its readers to illustrate any point under debate by the facts of their own experience. My experience in the case of a book published some three years ago (** Historic Relation of the Gospels”) is as follows :—With one exception, the unsigned reviews have been marked by the following characteristics: (a) They have been very short. (6) They have all been more or less decidedly unfavourable, whilst two may be said to have been supremely con- temptuous. (c) They have given a verdict either wholly unsupported by evidence, or supported only by flippant sarcasm or irrelevant common- place. The signed reviews have been less numerous (five as compared with some fifteen). On the other hand, any one of four of them would about equal in length the whole of the unsigned ones put together. In this case, also, with one excep- tion (Professor Sanday—see article quoted in advertisement), the characteristics have been of a diametrically opposite type. Thus: (a) They have been exceptionally lengthy. (6) They have been highly eulogistic. (c) They have supported their verdict by the amplest evidence. Doubtless this experience will make my advo- cacy of signed reviews appear prejudiced. Still, treating the Author's invitation as a command, I give it for what it is worth. In connection with this subject might not some such idea as the following be worked out’ Readily available arbitration would be at once a safeguard and a safety valve. Why should not a right of appeal lie against a review to the Authors’ Society, and why should not the Society decide whether it was or was not a case in which both reviewed and reviewer - should consent to leave the matter to a referee ? The reviewer refusing such a challenge would, on judgment going by default, be for all prac- tical purposes sufficiently condemned. The'édsts of. such arbitration might be in the nature of a fine following the judgment in the case, and going, let us say, to the funds of the Authors’ Society. By way of illustration: I should claim arbitra- tion'as between myself and Professor Sanday. {In the appeal to the Society I should set forth : 1. That the four documents about which we dis- agree are as much and as manifestly one as the body of a violin and the strings affixed to it. 2. That from a critical and scientific point of view, to separate these documents wholly destroys what the ancients termed “ the evangelical instru- ment.” 3. That the separation of the documents excludes all classification of the internal evidences of the subject, and in fact where it does, not wholly obliterate such evidences renders them absolutely unintelligible. 4. That as by so sepa- rating the documents Professor Sanday has ipso facto debarred himself from all study of the most elementary facts of our subject, his views upon it must necessarily stand in much the same relation to scientific criticism as the noise made by a cat running over the keyboard of a piano stands to music. Professor Sanday, on the other hand, would formulate his own contention with reference to any of the multitudinous and conflicting Synoptic or three-document theories between which he oscillates. Between opinions so widely divergent, and both professing to rest exclusively upon evidence the referee could hardly fail to give a fairly satis- factory and conclusive verdict. ‘As matters stand at present, I have addressed a perfectly courteous remonstrance both to Pro- fessor Sanday and to the editor of the Expositor. But from neither have I succeeded in extracting a single word on the subject, much less any pro- mise to give reasons for their summary condemna- tion of a work which, whether right or wrong in its conclusions, cost some fourteen years of almost uninterrupted labour. Tf these things are done in the green tree, what will be done in the dry? If this is the example set and for more than two years deliberately persevered in by an Oxford divinity professor and the editor of one of the first critical journals in the kingdom, can we wonder if such an example is sometimes bettered by less responsible writers and editors ? There are a good many reasons, or, I should say, many good reasons, for belonging to the Authors’ Society. But let me assure any who doubt it that it is well worth the small subscrip- tion, if only to secure on occasion a legitimate outlet for a downright hearty growl. J. J. HALCOMBE. III. Frenco Law. Would any member kindly give me the name of a French book giving the outlines of French law ina popular form? Such a book does exist, but name and author cannot be recalled. ey “AT THE SIGN OF THE AUTHOR'S HEAD.” upon a novel for the “Gentlewomen’s Library,” which is to appear under the poetic title of “Claud and Maude.”” This volume will be followed by a book upon “ Dress” by Mrs. Douglas, who has showed by her articles in various periodicals that frocks and fashions are capable of literary treatment. Her forthcoming book deals with the subject of feminine costume from the poetic as well as the historic aspect, and contains an interesting chapter entitled “ Dress and the Affections.” Mr. Richard Marsh, whose novel, “ The Devil’s Diamond,” attracted some attention a little while ago, has written a new novel dealing with mystery. and magic, called- “The Mahatma’s Pupil.” os Mr. Arthur Innes has collected the pleasant little series of papers on the modern poets, which he has recently contributed to the Monthly Packet into book form under the title of ‘ Seers and Singers.” The essays are a comparative study of characteristic poems by the Brownings, Tennyson, Matthew Arnold, and Wordsworth. Miss Dorothea Gerard has written a new novel called “ Lot 18,” the first instalment of which will appear in the July number of the Monthly Packet. “Memorable Paris Houses” is the title of a new book by Mr. Wilmot Harrison, the author of a similar volume dealing with famous London houses. Some interesting illustrations of historic houses and portraits of the celebrities who inhabited them will accompany the letterpress. Mrs. Molesworth, the popular writer of children’s books, has an instructive and thought- ful paper in the current number of Atalanta on the writing of story books for children. She does not believe that success in other branches of literary work necessarily qualifies a writer to become a happy story teller for children. She regards the power as a distinct gift and one to be very reverently regarded. Mrs. Molesworth dis- approves of much modern literature intended for \ l ISS JEAN MIDDLEMASS is engaged THE. AUTHOR. children, which is concerned with analyses of children’s characters, and their relations with their parents. She thinks books for little children should contain nothing that is not beautiful and designed to make them happier. A thin little volume of verse, containing some sweet singing, is Maud Egerton King’s “ My Book of Songs and Sonnets.” Mrs. King, who is the daughter of Mr. Hine, the well-known artist, published some time ago a little book called “ Poems of a Child,” which attracted favourable attention. She is at her best when she is least under the influence of some of the great modern poets and gives play to her own powers of delicate poetic expression. ‘Young Tree in Spring” is a graceful and tender little piece. Miss Annie Mathieson, the author of “ The Religion of Humanity”? and other poems, is engaged upon a volume of lyrics, which will shortl be published by Sampson Low, under the title of “Tove’s Music.” One of the most pathetic of the poems deals with the contrast between the wreath-laden coffin of a prince and the newly- made grave of a pauper on which a single snow- drop had been dropped. A little volume of sermons called “ Faith ” has been written by Mr. Beeching, one of the authors of “Love in Idleness” and ‘“ Love’s Looking Glass.’ The sermons, which are written with grace and simplicity, show much of the catholicity and humanity which seem to distinguish the younger clergymen—especially the Balliol men— who came under the influence of Arnold Toynbee. Mr. Beeching is the rector of Yattendon, the village where Robert Bridges lives and works. Mr. J. Ll. W. Page, author of the books called “ Dartmoor’’ and ‘‘ Exmoor,’ has in the press a work called “Rivers of Devon.” It will be published by Messrs. Seeley and Co., with illus- trations by Mr. Alexander Ansted. There will bea large paper edition of 250 copies only at 12s. 6d., and an ordinary edition at 7s. 6d. Mr. L. T. Hobhouse has written a volume for the Reformers’ Book Shelf series, which will shortly be published by Mr. Fisher Unwin. It deals with “The Labour Movement,” and has a preface from the pen of Mr. Haldane, M.P. Mr. Joseph Mills has written a biography of the late John Bright, which will be published in the Friends’ Shilling Biographical Series. Mr. Mills was a personal friend of the great states- man, and the book will be a more intimate record than any that has yet appeared. Miss Prentiss, the American writer, has written a little volume of poems Thoughts.” called “ Fleeting  THE. AUTHOR. -Mr. Andrew Chalmers in his “Red Cross Romance” has made a praiseworthy effort to write a historical poem. One cannot help, how- ever, feeling some surprise that such common- place and hackneyed lines as Great Lord of life! what length of days - Hast though assigned to me ; How far along life’s pleasant ways Shall I be led by Thee ? with the remaining verses at the same level, “should have fonnd their way far and wide,” and “bodied forth a clearer life ideal to many unknown people.” There is an absence of effort and a scholarly grace and tenderness about Mr. Robert Bingley’s unpretentious little paper-covered book of verse called “Border Lands,’ which make it pleasing reading. “Under the Cross”? which gives a picture of the great city soon after dawn, con- tains some touching and moving lines with ever and again a true note of poetry. The last lines addressed to a child flower-seller asleep on the steps of St. Paul’s are Wake, then, ere the roses die; and the angel who bade thee sleep, In ies cea of acareless city, little wandering footsteps keep. Under the title of “St. Paul’s Cathedral Library,” Dr. Sparrow: Simpson, librarian of St. Paul’s, has published a catalogue of the contents of -certain sections of the collection. The library contains altogether 21,176 volumes; a complete catalogue of it would therefore be a work of considerable magnitude. Instead of attempting such a task, Dr. Simpson has very wisely elected to confine himself to a few depart- ments—and those the most generally interesting —of his charge. He has accordingly set forth here a description of the Bibles, liturgical books, books about St. Paul’s, books about London, maps and views of London and St. Paul’s, and various miscellanea, concluding with a list of the preachers at St. Paul’s in connection with the three great religious societies. The “Philosophy of the Beautiful” is not exactly a novel theme, but Prof. Knight, who has just written a volume for the University Extension series, manages to say something fresh about it. Poetry, Painting, and Dancing are all discussed in a way that is at once popular and scholarly. “A Fellowship of Song” is the title of a volume of poems by three poets—Messrs. Hayes, Norman Gale, and he Gallienne. It is~ to be issued from the “ Rugby Press,” and will be presented to subscribers in a novel and elegant Each contributor will have a separate form. to write. 27 title-page to himself printed in a special colour, with a pretty silk book-marker to match. Mr. Hayes sings “From Midland Meadows,” Mr. Gale «A Verdant Country,” whilst Mr. Le Gallienne’s share is prettily described as “ Night- ingales.”’ M. Paul Ginesty has, says a Daily News correspondent, got Ibsen to write a preface for his work on the literature of the nineteenth century. The Norwegian author’s text is “‘ Hope,” and he tells of the difficulties which he had to face in youth, to encourage others to struggle as he did. Authorship at the beginning brought him neither honour nor profit. One of his early experiences. was having to carry an unsold edition of one of his works to a grocer’s to dispose of it as waste-paper. He had to give lessons, to do clerk’s work, and otherwise earn money enough to get a university degree. The revolutionary wave of 1848-49 first moved him to come forward as a poet. He wrote an inflated ode to King Uscar I. calling on him to place himself at_the head of the weak and ill-used classes. This missed the effect Ibsen aimed at, the king he thus addressed having no wish to play the part of a second Charles XII. One of the circumstances which first drew attention to Tbsen at Grunstadt, where he was a. student, was his having in his thesis for his degree stood up for Catalina against Sallust and Cicero. The examiners not liking this departure froma tradi- tional opinion, and showing their -displeasure, Ibsen sat up the following night to set forth his views in a drama, which it took him fifteen hours It was this work — published with money subscribed by fellow-students — that he sold as old paper. He kept one copy, which he has still. It is crude and uncouth, but he finds in it himself inexperienced and undeveloped, Capt. Trotter’s biography of Lord Auckland. for. the “Rulers of India” series will be issued by the Clarendon Press in the course of: next month. The book deals not only with Lord Auckland’s Indian Administration, it also gives a sketch of his immediate predecessor, Sir C. Metcalfe, and it carries on the story of the first Afghan war through the first year of Lord Ellenborough down to the triumphant return of Pollock and Nott from Kabul to Firozpur in the autumn of 1842. Mrs. Sarah Grand the writer of the “ Heavenly Twins,” will open a discussion at the Pioneer Club, on the 8th inst., on “Is the novel with a purpose legitimate or not?” That well-known antiquary Sir George Duckett is editing the “ Visitations and Chapters-General  28 of the Order of Cluni, in respect of Alsace, Lorraine, Transjurane Burgundy, and other Parts of the Province of Germany, from 1269- 1529.” In his researches Sir George has come upon an amusing story referring to the prior, whom the Cluniacs seem always to have thought indispensable to a nunnery—perhaps to keep the ladies in order. The prior in question took it into his head to get up a kind of concert, and for this purpose gathered together a lot of sing- ing “seculares” and strolling players. These gentry made such a din in the convent that they disturbed the neighbourhood, and the people, accustomed to consider the place a model of piety and repose, were scandalised, and commenced to break all the windows. The prior sallied forth and nearly killed two of them, of whom one remained still in bed at that time “ semivivus.”’ Mrs. Henry Norman, better known as Miss Menie Muriel Dowie, has edited and written an introduction to a new volume of the Adventure Series. The book contains the lives of Hannah Snell, Mary Ann Talbot, and other celebrated female adventurers, and is capital reading. Mrs. Norman points out in her bright little preface that “there was ever a man at the root of this female ardour,” which she rejoices at as linking these ladies of the sabre with the “dazzling, gaudy poetry of an earlier age.” The curious controversy which is raging hotly in one of the American papers as to whether “authors ought to write with an eye to fame” seems to have arisen, in part at any rate, from a confusion as to the real and distinctive meanings of fame and popularity. No one has more adequately or more admirably put the case than Hazlitt, who seems to be out of fashion with young American litterateurs, for not a single con- troversialist has quoted the words in which he says, “ For fame is not popularity, the shout of the multitude, the idle buzz of fashion, the venal puff, the soothing flattery of favour or of friend- ship ; but it is the spirit of a man surviving him- self in the minds and thoughts of other men, un- dying and imperishable. The love of fame differs from mere vanity in this, that the one is immediate and personal, the other ideal and abstracted. Do you suppose that Titian, when he painted a landscape, was pluming him- self on being thought the finest colourist in the world, or making himself so by looking at nature?” It is curious that in this discussion, in which almost every modern writer comes under review for condemnation or praise, there is not a single mention of the writer who, under the name of Mark Rutherford, has written three of the most impressive books of recent years. Perhaps, as they have not been much the subject of newspaper THE AUTHOR. puffs, they have not found their way to America ; but whether or no one is justified in believing they will live, it is at least certain that posterity will pay a tribute to the exquisite prose in which they are written. Mrs. Waugh has translated from the German a story called “ The Two Countesses,”” which will shortly appear in the Pseudonym Library. Mr. Robert Horton’s Yale Lectures, which attracted huge audiences in America, have been published under the title of “ Verbum Dei.” Mr. Horton is the well-known Congregational minister of Lyndhurst-road Chapel, Hampstead. Miss Sophia Beale is engaged upon a book dealing with the “Churches of Paris.” The letterpress will be accompanied by numerous illustrations made upon the spot by the writer, who, as is well known, is also an able artist. Mr. Gilbert Parker is responsiblefor the Lippin- cott complete novel this year. The title of the story is the attractive one of ‘‘ The Translation of a Savage.” The same writer is engaged upon a serial for the English Illustrated Magazine, and has just finished a story for the Cosmopolitan, under the title of “ The Pilot of Belle Amour.” Mrs. Rundle Charles, the author of the historic “Schonberg Cotta Family,” is writing a book called “Tria Juncta in Uno.” It will givea realistic picture of early Christian missions in Treland, Scotland, and England. A delightful edition of some of the classics is being published by Messrs. Griffith and Farran. The binding is scarlet cloth, with white and gold back, and each volume is profusely illustrated with exquisite sketches of figures and scenery. “The Lady of the Lake,” illustrated by Mr. Gleeson, an American artist, has several sketches of Highland scenery and historic places, notably “ Holyrood” and “Gray Stirling,” which were made on the spot. The other volumes already published include “allah Rookh,” “ Faust,” and the “ Last Days of Pompeii.” Mrs. Richmond Ritchie, an old friend of Tennyson, has written an introduction, in the delicate graceful style that she has made her own, to a volume called “Lord Tennyson and his Friends,” which: will be shortly published as an edition de luve by Mr. Fisher Unwin. Special portraits, including those of Carlyle, Sir Henry Taylor, and Russell Lowell, have been taken by Mrs. Cameron, whose portrait of Tennyson, by the way, was always declared by the poet to be the most like him. The Authors’ Club held its monthly. guest- night on Monday, when the interesting feature of  THE AUTHOR. 29 <<Uneut Leaves” was revived. Mr. T. Zangwill recited a clever skit on- the limited editions of latter-day poets, which will appear in The Pall Mall Magazine. Mr. Jerome K. Jerome read the third act of a drama dealing with social ques- tions in a very outspoken way, which he has adapted from the German (“ Die Ehre”), under the provisional title, “ Birth and Breeding,’ and which, under tl at or some other title, will before long appear on the London stage. A complete story by Mr. Walter Besant, entitled ‘To the Third and Fourth Generation,” was read by Canon Bell, of Cheltenham, in the absence of the author. Lastly, Mr. Norman Gale recited a poem, ‘“ Pigeons at Cannon-street.” Amceng the audience were Mr. Thomas Hardy, Mr. Bruce Joy, Mr. Henry Irving, jun., and other well-known representatives of. literature, art, and the drama. ; A Baedeker’s “ United States”’ is about to be published by Ser-bner and Co. — Lehman’s “ Prize Novels” have been repub- lished in America (U.S. Book Company). Mr. Mackenzie Bell is about to publish a volume of verse entitled “Spring, Immortality, and other Poems.” It will include “ The Lame Boy,” which first appeared in this paper. It is dedicated to the author’s friend, Mr. Edmund Clarence Stedman. Captain Harding's new story, “ The Capture of the Estrella,” will be published before long by Messrs. Cassell and Co. Mrs. Edith E. Cuthell will follow up her children’s story of last Christmas, “ Only a Guard-room Dog,” with another “ doggie” story, next autumn, about that uncommon and intelli- gent little creature, the Chinese pug, to be called “Two Little Children and Ching.’ The pub- lishers are Messrs. Methuen. A new novel by Mr. Andrew Dean, author of « A Splendid Cousin” and ‘“ Isaac Eller’s Money,” will be published shortly. It is called “ Mrs. Finch-Brassey.” The publishers are Bentl-y and Son. Mrs. Stevenson, author of “ Juliet,’ ‘ Mrs. Sevem,” &c., will produce immediately a new novel (Messrs. Bentley and Son). The title is “Mrs. Elphinstone of Drum.” It opens in a well-known hunting town in the Midlands. The first woman who has been made a member of the New Zealand Institute of Journalists is Mrs. James Suisted, of Westport, New Zealand. The same lady has been elected a corresponding member of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, Melbourne branch, in recognition of her papers on Antarctic Exploration. Mr. Francis Henry Clyffe has ready for the press a translation of Leopardi’s Poems. It will be published by Messrs. Eden, Remington, and Co. A cheap edition of Mrs. Spender’s novel called “Mrs. Hazleton’s Confession” has been issued by Messrs. Sonnenschein and Co. at. 2s. A cheap edition of the same writer’s novel, “ A Waking,” has been issued by Messrs. Hutchinson, at 2s. 6d. William Westall is writing a romance of adven- ture for Lloyd’s Weekly. He has also agreed to write a novel for Messrs. Tillotson and. Son. Ward and Downey will publish in the autumn a three-volume novel by the same author, as well as a one-volume story, adapted from the Russian by Messrs. Stepniak and Westall in collaboration. POS NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. Theology. Benson, Rev. R. M. The Final Passover, Meditations upon the Passion, vol. 3, the Divine Exodus. Part II. Longmans. 58. BLAIKIE, W. G., D.D. The Book of Joshua. Vol. of the Expositor’s Bible. Hodder and Stoughton. 7s. 6d. CamBRIDGE TEACHER'S BrBLE, THE, and the CAMBRIDGE CoMPANION TO THE BIBLE. Bound together, or the latter separate. C.J. Clay and Sons. Hammonp, JosprH. English Nonconformity and Christ’s Christianity. Wells, Gardner, and Darton. Hetps TO THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE, enlarged and illustrated edition. Oxford at the University Press. London, Henry Frowde, 4s. 6d. Horton, R. F. Sermons delivered in Lyndhurst-road Church, Hampstead. James Clark, Fleet-street. 38. 6d. Lercu, M. ©. E. Our Dayspring, a short course of Lessons for Bible classes. S.P.C.K. Is. Max Miuuer, F. Theosophy or Psychological Religion. The Gifford Lectures delivered before the University of Glasgow in 1892. 10s. 6d, Mayo Gunn, E. H. School Hymns with Tunes, Edited by. The harmonies revised by H. Elliot Button. James Clarke, Fleet-street. Is. ‘ Norris, Ven. T. P. A Key to the Epistles of St. Paul, a course of addresses. S.P.C.K. 28. OxENDEN, AsHTON, D.D. Plain Sermons : With a memoir and portrait of the author. Longmans. 58- Oxrorp Brsuz ror TEACHERS, THE, enlarged and illustra- ted edition, with sixty-four full-page facsimiles of ancient manuscripts, Egyptian and Assyrian, Baby- lonian and Phoenician monuments. &c. Oxford, the University Press. London, Henry Frowde.  30 Prerson, A.T.,D.D. The Heights of the Gospel, a series of sermons delivered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, 1892-93. Passmore and Alabaster. 2s. 6d. Srrete, THomas. The “ Higher Criticism” and the Inspiration of the Bible. A paper for the general reader Sutton and Co., Ludgate-hill. Paper covers, 6d. Woop, CHARLES JAMES. Survivals in Christianity, Studies in the Theology of Divine Immanence, special lectures delivered before the Episcopal Theological School at Cambridge, Mass., in 1892. Macmillan. 6s. History and Biography. Apams, Henry. History of the United States of America. Vols. 7, 8, and 9 (the Second Administration of James Madison). G.P.Putnam. 9s. each. Bonar, James, LL.D. Philosophy and Political Economy in some of their Historical Relations. BusHELL, Rev. W. Done. Early Charters. Translated into English. With explanatory notes. Harrow Octo- centenary Tracts. I. Macmillan and Bowes, Cam- bridge. Paper covers, Is. Carng, Rev. Casar. The Martial Annals of the City of York. Published with the approval of the major- general commanding the N.E. military district. With illustrations. (C. J. Clark, Lincoln’s-inn-fields. Cannan, Epwin. A History of the Theories of Production and Distribution from 1776 to 1848. Percival. 16s. Cuatmers, Ropert. A History of Currency in the British Colonies. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 10s. DuckworTH, Russet, B.A. Memoir of the Rev. James Lonsdale, late Fellow and Tutor of Balliol College, Oxford. With an introduction by the Hon. G C. Brodrick, Warden of Merton, and a portrait. Long- mans. 6s. Durt, Romesh CHuNDER, C.I.E. Ancient India, 2000 B.c.—800 A.D., with maps. Longmans. 2s. 6d. Gasquet, F. Arpan, D.D. Henry VIII. and the English Monasteries. Vol.I. Fifth edition. Gasquet F. Arpan, D.D. Henry VIII. and the English Monasteries. New edition, with illustrations. Part XIII. John Hodges, Agar-street, Charing - cross. Paper covers, Is. net. Hearn, Ricwarp. The English Peasant, Studies: Historical, Local, and Biographic. Fisher Unwin. 38. Od. Hopper, Epwin. The History of South Australia, from its foundation to the year of its jubilee, with a chrono- logical summary of all the principal events of interest up to date. With two maps. 2 vols. Sampson Low. Houper, ©. F. Louis Agassiz, his Life and Work. “Leaders in Science” Series. G. P. Putnam’s Sons. 55. Law, ERNEST. Cardinal Wolsey at Hampton Court; being an abridgment of a few chapters of the author’s “History of Hampton Court Palace.” - Illustrated. C. Smith and Son. Paper covers, Is. Lawrence, Rev. Joun T. A Dictionary of Musical < Biography. Simpkin, Marshall. 3s. Marr, Ronert A. Musical History, as shown in the International Exhibition of Music and the Drama, Vienna, 1892. William Reeves. THE AUTHOR. Martin, A. Patcuerr. Life and Letters of the Right Hon. Robert Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke, with a memoir of Sir John Coape Sherbrooke. In 2 vols., with portraits. Longmans. 368. Morris, W. O’Connor, Napoleon, Warrior and Ruler, and the Military Supremacy of Revolutionary France. “Heroes of the Nations” Series. G. P. Putnam’s Sons. 58. Nyx, G.H.F. A Popular Story of the Church in Wales. New edition. Thirtieth thousand. Griffith, Farran. Paper covers. 6d. Parker, T. Jerrery. William Kitchen Parker, F.R.S., sometime Hunterian Professor of Anatomy and Physio- logy in the Royal College of Surgeons of England: a biographical sketch. Macmillan. 4s. net. Patron, James. British History and Papal Claims from the Norman Conquest to the present day. 2 vols. Hodder and Stoughton. Prepprz, ALEXANDER, Recollections of Dr. John Brown, author of “ Rab and His Friends,” &c., with a Selection from his Correspondence. Percival. 6s. PeLuam, H. F. Outlines of Roman History, with maps. Percival and Co.. 6s. PENDEREL, Ricuarp. Wilfred Waide, Barrister and Novelist. Sampson Low. Pisrce, Epwarp L. Memoir and _ Letters of Charles Sumner. Vol. 1, 1845-60; Vol. 2, 1860 to death. Sampson Low. Pripgavx, 8. T. An Historical Sketch of Bookbinding. With a chapter on early stamped bindings. By E. Gordon Duff. Lawrence and Bullen. 6s. Rowsotuam, J. F. The History of Music. A new edition. Bentley. Swinton, Hon. Mrs. J. R. A Sketch of the Life of Georgiana, Lady de Ros, with some reminiscences of her family and friends, including the Duke of Welling- ton. With portraits and illustrations. John Murray. 7s. 6d. Symonps, Joun AppINGTON. Walt Whitman: a Study. With portrait and four illustrations. J. C. Nimmo. Verrcu, Joun, LL.D. History and Poetry of the Scottish Border, their main feature and relations. New and enlarged edition. 2 vols. Blackwood. WALLACE, WILFRID, DD. Life of St. Edmund of Canter- bury, from original sources. Priest of the Order of St. Benedict of the Beuron Congregation. Kegan Paul. 15s. Warp, Very Rev. Bernarp. History of St. Edmund's College, Old Hall. With numerous illustrations. Kegan Paul. 10s 6d. WorpswortH, CHARLES, DD. Annals of my Life, 1847- 1856. Edited by W. Earl Hodgson. Longman’s. Ios. 6d. General Literature. Barpexer, K. Italy: Handbook for travellers. Second part, Central Italy and Rome. 11th revised edition. Dulau and Co., Soho-square. Barun, Mrs. Apa S. Health and. Beauty in Dress, from infancy to old age. Illustrated. Office of Baby: the "_ Mother's Magazine, High Holborn. New and popular edition, 1. Se : i  ey RAE ILA CoPpNER, JAMES. THE AUTHOR. 3! | Bentuny, E. L. The Settler's Guide to New Zealand. Compiled for the New Zealand Shipping Company Limited. Waterlow and Sons, London-wall. 6d. BickERSTETH, M. Japan as we saw it. With a preface by the Bishop of Exeter. Illustrated. Sampson Low. Bryrpen H. ANDERSON. Gun and Camera in Southern Africa—a year of wanderings in Bechuanaland, the Kalahari Desert, and the Lake River country, Ngami- land, with notes on colonisation, natives, natural history, and sport. With illustrations and maps. Stanford. 158. CARLYLE, THomas. Essays on the Greatest German Poets and Writers, with an introduction by Ernest Rhys, the Scott Library. Walter Scott. 1s. 6d. Crouston, W. A. Book of Wise Sayings. Selected largely from Eastern sources. Hutchinson. 2s. Crowes, W. Larrp. The Great Peril, and how it was Averted. Reprinted from Black and White, and pub- lished at the office of that paper. Memorandum Mnemonica: A help to the remembrance of numbers, historical events, and subjects generally. Williams and Norgate. Country GENTLEMAN'S CaTALoauE of Appliances for the house, field, farm, stable, garden, kennel, &c., the, with a directory specially compiled for the use of country gentlemen. Eden, Fisher, Lombard-street, E.C. Paper covers, 1s. 6d.; cloth, 2s. 6d. CROCKFORD’s CLERICAL DIRECTORY FOR 1893. Cox, Bream’s-buildings, H.C. Kings of Cricket: reminiscences and With introduction Arrowsmith. Horace 15s. Dart, RIcHARD. anecdotes, with hints on the game. by Andrew Lang, and many portraits. Davies, JosEpH. Railway Rates, Charges, and Regula- lations of the United Kingdom: a summary of the Railway Rates and Charges (Order Confirmation) Acts, 1891 and 1892, and the Acts passed from 1854 to 1888 for the general regulation of railways. McCorquodale and Co. 4s. Drxon, CHARLES. The Nests and Eggs of British Birds, when and where to find them, being a handbook to the oology of the British Islands. Chapman and Hall. EPILEPTIC AND CRIPPLED, THE. Child and Adult: A Report on the Present Condition of these Classes of Afflicted Persons, with suggestions for their better education and employment. ‘Charity Organisation” Series. Swan Sonnenschein. Gitmovur, James. More about the Mongols. Selected and arranged from the diaries and papers of James Gilmour, by Richard Lovett, M.A. 5s. Gor: a weekly record of “ye royal and auncient game. Vol. V. September, 1892—March, 1893. Published at the office, 80, Chancery-lane, W.C. HosprraLn SatuRDAY Funp, THe. 19th annual report, 1892. Published at the offices, 59, Farringdon-road, E.C. Paper covers. : Selections from the Writings of Kegan Housman, LAURENCE. William Blake, with an introductory essay. Paul. Vellum, 7s. 6d. I.E. B.C. The Angler’s Diary and Tourist Fisherman’s : Gazetteer of the Rivers and Lakes of the World. - Horace Cox, the Field Office, H.C: 1s+.6d. : INTERNATIONAL FoLtK-LorE ConGRESS, 1891, THE. Papers and transactions edited by Joseph Jacobs and Alfred Nutt, chairman and hon. secretary of the Literary Committee. Published for the Organising Committee by David Nutt. JoHnson’s Gardener’s Dictionary. C. H. Wright and D. Dewar. Paper covers. Is. A new edition. By Part III. George Bell. KeEnnarp, H. Martyn. Philistines and Israelites; a New Light on the World’s History. Chapman and Hall. Kinascotr, Mr. Howarp. The English Baby in India, and How to Rearit. J.and A. Churchill, New Bur- lington-street. Liguts on Homze Ruiz. Letters from Mr. Froude, Mr. Lecky, Professor Tyndall, and others. Published at the National Observer Office, Fleet-street. Paper covers, 1d. Marion CRAWFORD, F. The Novel: What it is. millan. 3s. Mac- Minpay, Sts WaLTEeR. A. Memorial for a Son from his Father. Cambridge, copied from MS. at Apethorpe Hall. Griffith, Farran. 6d. Moore, GEORGE. Modern Painting. Walter Scott. Navan ANNUAL, 1893, THE. Edited by T. A. Brassey, B.A., F.R.G.S. Simpkin, Marshall. 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Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 04 Issue 01 (June 1893) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 04 Issue 01 (June 1893) Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1893-06-01-The-Author-4-1 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/452/1893-07-01-The-Author-4-2.pdf 438e4dfb2001073015af2b5cb8facc92 PDF Text Text ������������������������������������ Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1893-07-01 Volume 4 Issue 2 Pages Page range in volume 37–72 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18930701 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin The HMutbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vou. IV.—No. 2.] JULY 1, 1893. [Prick SIXPENCE. GONTENTS. PAGE PAGE Warnings and Notices a 1 - oe ae one ... 39 | Omnium Gatherum for July. By J. M. Lely ... i ies as 8 The Annual Dinner ... oe Ae oe as ee ie ... 41 | Notes from Paris. By R. H. Sherard ... as oe eee cor OF Literary Property— To Arrigo Boito. By Mowbray Marras... ae aes i sen 00 1.-Notes by the Way. By Sir Frederick Pollock ... +. #4 Notes and News co ey Ate 2.—Anglo-Austrian Copyright Convention See ae we 44 Correspondence— aS 3.—Copyright in Brazil ae . 45 1,—The Stock-in-Trade of Critics ... see see tue tte 58 . The Profession of Letters. By the Editor ... on Bs ax 58 ee eee Reoven a8 a eS = Be _ ‘ . : . aes, . C ee one eee aoe eee Memorial of Shelley at University College... ees < ee 46 4.—Reviewing. By the Kev. Canon Bell ... He ee 2 Bo What the Papers Say— 5.—An Explanation. By the Rev. J. J.Haleombe ... os 60 1.—Loeal History sie ws ave eon one ave ws 48 6.—‘* In Plain Figures ” ae a ts oe oC 60 2.—The Human Element of Criticism oe ew ane “se 38 7,—** All the Edges Gilt, Please” ... as a pee 80 3.—The Dante Exhibition ae sae see on oe ve 49 8.—The Right of Translation cee pee sae aus ie OO. 4.—A Question of Propriety... .. + + «+ + 49 | At the Sign of the Author's Head ee OE The Preternatural Story. By Henry Cresswell Oe ee ... 49 | New Books and New Editions ... as te o aS see 02 PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1892 can be had on application to the Secretary. 9. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members. 3. The Grievances of Authors. (The Leadenhall Press.) 1s. The Report of three Meetings on the general subject of Literature and its defence, held at Willis’s Rooms, March, 1887. 4. Literature and the Pension List. By W.Mornrs Corrzs, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, g5, Strand, W.C.) 35. 5, The History of the Sociéte des Gens de Lettres. By S. Squrre Sprices, late Secretary to the Society. Is. 6 . The Cost of Production. In this work specimens are given of the most important forms of type, size of page, &c., with estimates showing what it costs to produce the more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. 7, The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squire Spriecr. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society’s offices, the various forms of agreements proposed by Publishers to ‘Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 35. 8. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell’s Copyright Bill now before Parlia- ment. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill, By J.M.Luny. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1s. 6d. 9. The Society of Authors. A Record of its Action from its Foundation. By Watrrer Brsant (Chairman of Committee, 1888—1892). 15.  38 ADVERTISEMENTS. The Society of Authors (Sncorporatfed). PRESIDENT. GHEORGH MEREDITH. COUNCIL. Str Epwin Arnot, K.C.LE., C.S.I. ALFRED AUSTIN. J. M. Barrie. A. W. A BECKETT. Ropert BATEMAN. Sir Henry Berene, K.C.M.G. WALTER BESANT. AUGUSTINE BrRRELL, M.P. R. D. BLacKMORE. Rey. Pror. Bonney, F.R.S. Riaur Hon. James Bryce, M.P. Haut Carne. EGERTON CASTLE. P. W. CLaYDEN. EpWwaARpD CLODD. W. Morris Conus. Hon. JoHN COLLIER. W. Martin Conway. F. Marion CRAWFORD. Austin Dosson. A. W. Dupovura. EpMUND GOSsSE. Tuomas Harpy. J. M. Ley. OswALD CRAWFURD, C.M.G. Tue EArt or DEsartT. J. Eric Ericusen, F.B.S. Pror. MicHakEt Foster, F.R.S. Rigut Hon. HerBeRT GARDNER, M.P. RicHaRD GARNETT, LL.D. H. Riper HAGGARD. JrERnomsE K. JEROME. RupyaRpD KIPuLina. Pror. E. Ray LANKESTER, F.R.S. Rev. W. J. Lorri, F.S.A. Pror. J. M. D. MEIKLEJOHN. HermMAN C. MERIVALE. F.R.S. Rev. C. H. MippLeTon- WAKE. Lewis Morris. Pror. Max MULLER. J.C. PARKINSON. Tue EARL OF PEMBROKE AND MoNnT- GOMERY. Srr FREDERICK POLLOCK, BART., LL.D. WALTER HERRIES POLLOCK. A. G. Ross. George AuGustTus SALA. W. Baptiste Scoonss. G. R. Sims. S. SqurrE SPRIGGE. J. J. STEVENSON. Jas. SULLY. Witiiam Moy THomMAs. H. D. Trarut, D.C.L. Baron Henry DE Worms, M_.P., EpMUND YATES. Hon. Cownsel—E. M. UNDERDOWN, Q.C. Solicitors—Messrs Fretp, Roscoz, and Co., Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Secretary—G. Herpert Turina, B.A, OFFICES. 4, PortuaaL Street, Lincoun’s Inn Freips, W.C. Now ready, Third Edition, with Additions throughout, in demy 8vo., 700 pages, price 15s. AN ANECDOTAL HISTORY OF THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT, From the Earliest Periods to the Present Time. WITH NOTICES OF EMINENT PARLIAMENTARY MEN, AND EXAMPLES OF THEIR ORATORY. CoMPILED FROM AUTHENTIC SOURCES BY GHORGEH HANRY JIN Nite, CONTENTS. Part I.—Riseand Progress of Parliamentary Institutions. Part II.—Personal Anecdotes: Sir Thomas More to John Morley. Parr III.—Miscellaneous. 1. Elections. 2. Privilege; Ex- clusion of Strangers; Publication of Debates. 3. Parliamentary Usages, &c. 4. Varieties. ApPENDIx.—(A) Lists of the Parliaments of England and of the United Kingdom. (B) Speakers of the House of Commons. (C) Prime Ministers, Lord Chancellors, and Secretaries of State from 1715 to 1892. Opinions of the Press ‘The work, which has long been held in high repute as a repertory of good things, is more than ever rich in doth instruction and amuse- ment. ”—Scotsman. ‘‘Tt is a treasury of useful fact and amusing anecdot in it latest form should have increased pommlatity.—- Glebe, eae ‘Its advantage to those who are seeking seats in Parliament, or who may have occasion to assist as speakers d the electoral campaign, is incumparable."—Sala’s Jounal ‘ eer of the Present Edition. ‘Tt is a work that possesses both a practical and an historical value, and is altogether unique in character.”—Xentish Observer. ‘We can heartily recommend this work to the politician, whatever may be his party leanings.”—WNorthern Echo. ng ‘*Here we have the whole company of Parliamentary celebrities, past and present, reduced to puppets, so to speak, and made to repeat their best and most approved rhetorical performances for our leisurely entertainment, which is not less enjoyable from being allied with edification.” —Liverpool Courier. Sa Orders may now be sent to HORACE COX “Law Times Office,” Windsor House, Bream’s-buildings, E.C.  The Mutbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vot. IV.—No. 2.] JULY 1, 1803- [Prick SIXPENCE. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responsible. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the committee unless they are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, sec. ae" Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. ect AGREEMENTS. rt ig not generally understood that the author, as the vendor, has the absolute right of drafting the agree- ment upon whatever terms the transaction is to be carried out. Authors are strongly advised to exercise that right. Inevery other form of business, the right of drawing the agreement rests with him who sells, leases, or has the control of the property. Pee WARNINGS. BADERS of the Author and members of the Society are earnestly desired to make the following warnings as widely known as possible. They are based on the experience. of nine years’ work by which the dangers to which literary property is especially exposed have been discovered :— 1. Ser1au Ricurs.—In selling Serial Rights stipulate that you are selling the Serial Right for one paper at a certain time, a simultaneous Serial Right only, otherwise you may find your work serialized for years, to the detriment of your volume form. : VOL. IV. 2. Stamp yvouR AGREEMENTS. — Readers are most URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements immediately after signature. If this precaution is neglected for two weeks, a fine of £10 must be paid before the agree- ment can be used as a legal document. In almost every case brought to the secretary the agreement, or the letter which serves for one, is forwarded without the stamp. The author may be assured that the other party to the agree- ment never neglects this simple precaution. The Society, to save trouble, undertakes to get all the agreements of members stamped for them at no expense to themselves except the cost of the stamp. 3. ASCERTAIN WHAT A PROPOSED AGREEMENT GIVES TO BOTH SIDES BEFORE SIGNING 1r.—Remember that an arrangement as to a joint venture in any other kind of busi- ness whatever would be instantly refused should either party refuse to show the books or to let it be known what share he reserved for himself. 4. LITERARY Aqunrs.—Be very careful. You cannot be too careful as to the person whom you appoint as your agent. Remember that you place your property almost un- reservedly in his hands. Your only safety is in consulting the Society, or some friend who has had personal experience of the agent. Do not trust advertisements alone. 5. Cost OF Propuction.-—Never sign any agreement of which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part, until you have proved the figures. 6. CHoIcE or PuBLisHEeRS.—Never enter into any cor- respondence with publishers, especially with those who ad- vertise for MSS., who are not recommended by experienced friends or by this Society. 7. FUTURE Worx.—Never, on any account whatever, pind yourself down for future work to anyone. 8. Royauty.—Never accept any proposal of royalty until you have ascertained what the agreement, worked out on both a small and a large sale, will give to the author and what to the publisher. . Personat Risk.—Never accept any pecuniary risk or responsibility whatever without advice. 10. Resectep MSS.—Never, when a MS. has been re- fused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises they may put forward, for the production of the work. 11. AMERICAN RicHts.—Never sign away American rights. Keep them by special clause. Refuse to sign any agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the publisher, unless for a substantial consideration. If the publisher insists, take away the MS. and offer it to another. D2 40 THE AUTHOR. 12. Cession or CopyriaHt.—Never sign any paper, either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright, without advice. 13. ADVERTISEMENTS.—Keep control over the advertise- ments, if they affect your returns, by a clause in the agree- ment. Reserve a veto. If you are yourself ignorant of the subject, make the Society your adviser. 14. Never forget that publishing is a business, like any other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy, charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with business men. Be yourself a business man. Society's Offices :— 4, Portugat Street, Lincoun’s Inn Frevps. Poe HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. 1. Every member has a right to advice upon his agree- ments, his choice of a publisher, orany dispute arising inthe conduct of his business or the administration of his pro- perty. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society’s solicitors. If the case is such that Counsel’s opinion is desirable, the Committee will obtain for him Counsel’s opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publisher’s agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books represented. This isin order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5- Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro- posed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish- ing firm in the country. Remember that there are certain houses which live entirely by trickery. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. __ 8. Send to the Editor of the Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. THE AUTHORS’ SYNDICATE, © EMBERS are informed : 1. That the Authors’ Syndicate takes charge of the business of members of the Society. With, when necessary, the assistance of the legal advisers of the Society, it concludes agreements, collects royalties, examines and passes accounts, and generally relieves members of the trouble of managing business details. 2. That the expenses of the Authors’ Syndicate are defrayed entirely out of the commission charged on rights placed through its intervention. This charge is reduced to the lowest possible amount compatible with efficiency. Meanwhile members will please accept this intimation that they are not entitled to the services of the Syndicate gratis, a misapprehension which appears to widely exist. 3. That the Authors’ Syndicate works for none but those members of the Society whose work possesses a market value. 4. That the business of the Syndicate is not to advise members of the Society, but to manage their affairs for them. 5. That the Syndicate can only undertake arrangements of any character on the distinct understanding that those arrangements are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all negotiations relating thereto are referred to it. 6. That clients can only be seen personally by appoint- ment, and that, when possible, at least four days’ notice should be given. The work of the Syndicate is now so heavy, that only a limited number of interviews can be arranged. 7. That every attempt is made to deal with the corre- spondence promptly, but that owing to the enormous number of letters received, some delay is inevitable. That stamps should, in all cases, be sent to defray postage. 8. That the Authors’ Syndicate does not invite MSS. without previous correspondence, and does not hold itself responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice. 9. The Editor will be glad to receive the titles of pub- lished novels available for second right serial use. It is announced that, by way of a new departure, the Syndicate has undertaken arrangements for lectures by some of the leading members of the Society. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. NOTICES. HE Editor of the Author begs to remind members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year. The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the Society than to make the Author complete, attractive,  THE AUTHOR. 41 and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write? Communications for the Author should reach the Editor not later than the 21st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly under- stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances, undertake the publication of MSS. The Authors’ Club is now opened in its new premises, at 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, &c. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year ? If they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker’s order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the warning numbered (7). It is a most foolish and a most disastrous thing to bind yourself to anyone for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign themselves into literary bondage for three or five years P Those who possess the “Cost of Production” are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble of “doing sums,” the addition of three shillings in the pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at £9 4s. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth as canbe procured; but a printer’s, or a binder’s, bill is so elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the “ Cost of Production” for advertising. Ofcourse, we have not included any sums which may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher’s own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits call it. eee THE ANNUAL DINNER. HE Annual Dinner of the Society of Authors was held in the Venetian Room of the Holborn Restaurant on Friday, June 2. Sir Robert Ball, LL.D., F.R.S., Lown- dean Professor of Astronomy and Geometry at the University of Cambridge, took the chair, and was supported by many gentlemen distin- guished in the various branches of literature— in science, in the law, in theology, and im fiction. The following is a full list of the ladies and gentlemen present :—Mrs. Aria, E. A. Armstrong, W. Allingham, A. W. a Beckett, Mrs. A. W. X Beckett, Mr. Justice Gorell Barnes, Sir R. Ball, Lady Ball, The Rev. Prof. T. C. Bonney, Oscar Browning, Walter Besant, Mrs. W. Besant, The Rev. J. Bownes, Mrs. Brightwen, H. J. Bushby, Dr. J. Lauder Brunton, Dudley W. Buxton, Miss M. Belloc, Mackenzie Bell, The Rev. Canon Bell, Mrs. Oscar Beringer, P. Bagenal, Miss M. Blind, The Comtesse de Bremont, A. J. Butler, H. P. Becher, Jas. Baker, J. Bumpus, H. Blackburn, J. D. Campbell, A. Chatto, Miss E. Curtis, Miss Cox and guest, Miss L. Croft, Lady Colin Campbell, Mrs. Cox, Miss CG. Coleridge, Miss Cordeaux and guest, Prof. L. Campbell, W. Cook-Taylor, J. B. Crozier, Horace Cox, Madame J. Couvreur, Miss B. Chambers, W. M. Colles, M. Conway, The Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge, H. P. Cholmeley, P. W. Clayden, Sir W. T. Charley, Lieut.-Col. J. R. Campbell, Gen. Sir George Chesney, J. Coleman, Frank Danby, Austin Dobson, W. C. Dawe, Mrs. Ed- monds, W. Ellis, Mrs. G. Ford, The Rev. R. Free, The Ven. Archdeacon Farrar, A. P. Graves, J. A. Goodchild, Edmund Gosse, Mrs. Gosse, Mrs. Aylmer Gowing, R. Garnett, H. Glaisher, F. Gribble, Major-Gen. Hire, I. Hen- derson, J. W. Hill, Miss B. Harold Harrison and guest, ©. Holland, Miss V. Hunt, Mrs. Hunt, Jerome K. Jerome, Mrs. Jerome, Rev. Prebendary Harry Jones, C. T. C. James, Mr. Justice Kennedy, Lord Kelviny Miss G. Kerr, Mrs. Lynn Linton, Mrs. C. Long, Sidney Lee, WwW. E. H. Lecky, Mrs. Lefroy and guest, J. M. Lely, Sir A. Lyall, Rev. H. Lansdell, George Macmillan, John Murray, A. W. Momerie, Florence Marryat, S. B. McKinney, Henry Morris, Miss H. McKerlie, Fitzgerald Molloy, Mrs. Marks and guest, J. E. Muddock, C. Monk- house, A. Maudsley, A. Nutt, Mrs. Orpen and guest, W. Pole, Sir. F. Pollock, Lady Pollock, Tieut.-Col. S. E. Pratt, J. L. W. Page, Miss E. Pollock, Eden Philpotts, Mrs. A. Phillips, D. H. Parry, A. Paterson, Mrs. Campbell-Praed, H. Campbell-Praed, G. B. Putnam, Gilbert Parker, 42 THE Mrs. Reeves and guest, F. W. Robinson, C. F. Rideal, R. Ross, H. J. Sweet, Sir D. Straight, Dr. R. Sisley. Mrs. V. L. Simmons, Rev. Pro- fessor Skeat, S. S. Sprigge, J. E. Sandys, Mrs. Suisted, Col. Sutherland, A. F, Sieveking, Mark Sale and guest, P. L. Simmonds, J. A. Sterry, Mrs. Spender, J. J. Stevenson, Miss F. C. Steven- son, Douglas Sladen, Miss Stephens, H. M. Stephens, Sir H. Thompson, A. . W. Tuer, H. G. F. Taylor, Miss Traver, A. Tilley, G. H. Thring, Mrs. Thring, Brandon Thomas, Sir R. Temple, W. C. Unwin, Rev. C. Voysey, J. A, Warwick, A. D. Waller, Colonel Winsloe, Theo- dore Watts, Miss B. Whitby, A. Waugh, A. Warren, W. Westall, Marriott Watson, Aa on, Watt. In proposing the health of the Queen, the CHAIRMAN mentioned with regret that she had not joined the Society, which she was certainly entitled to do, not from her position as Queen, but from her position as an authoress of many works. The statement was received with en- thusiasm. The CHarrman then proposed the toast of the evening, “ The Incorporated Society of Authors.” He apologised for not being a member of the Society, but said he would lose no time in joining it, as he was confident of the good work it was doing. He touched shortly and with feeling upon the death of the first President, Lord Tennyson, who, from the outset, had given the scheme his name and his hearty support, and proceeded to dwell upon the present and ever increasing importance of the work before it. The Society, he understood, numbered nearly one thousand, but as there were certainly many more writers in England, he trusted that the rest would come in speedily, as “every man is a debtor to his profession,” and that all writers of the English tongue, in whatever part of the world, would, at no distant date, be counted in its ranks. In coupling the name of the present chairman of the committee with the toast, he referred to his distinguished position as a lawyer and a man of letters, and to his renown as a fencer. Sir Freprerick Potiock*, acknowledging the toast, paid a tribute to the late Lord Tennyson, who was the first president of the Society. They had to regret the absence of Mr. George Meredith, Lord Tennyson’s successor in that post. The Society was not yet in the position of certain Parisian journals, that of having to keep a fighting editor. There was no reason why the * The report of Sir Frederick Pollock’s speech is taken the Times, June 5, and has not been corrected by m. ‘ ' AUTHOR. Society should go about fighting anybody. Its business was simply to defend the interests of its members—interests that might not always coincide with those of other persons, but not on that account to be lost sight of. Least of all was it engaged in a crusade against honourable pub- lishers, of whom half-a-dozen were then present. It was only with a few publishers that the Society came in conflict. When they found it right to take up the interests of particular members of the Society, it might become neces- sary to make some persons feel that their interests had not been promoted. (Cheers and laughter.) Of the publishers present two represented firms who might be little known to the general public, but upon whose productions depended very much of their knowledge of the law of England during recent times. The American Copyright Act of 1891 was not satisfactory in its substance, but they were approaching a better condition of things in this way than had hitherto been possible. The Society was doing a good thing and a safe thing in endeavouring to provide a settiement of all questions that arose between authors and publishers. He proposed the toast of “Literature,” coupling with it the name of Mr. Lecky, who combined a fine style with a large grasp of the phenomena of history, who had forsaken the philosophy of history for the study of history itself, and who had main- tained English literature on the level reached by the great writers of the eighteenth century. (Cheers. ) Mr. Lecxy, in reply, said: I feel much honoured by being asked to speak to-night as the representative of authorship before the Society of Authors. Like most representatives in this democratic age my constituency is a very large one, for whatever other opinion may be formed of our contemporary literature no one at least can dispute its enormous, its redundant activity. There have been years in which more works of fiction have appeared in England than there are days in the year. Biography has been so cultivated that there are few eminent men whose lives have not been written not once but many times, and the fashion has widely spread of writing the lives of those who are still living —a form of vivisection as yet untouched by the law. Nearly all the paths of history have been traversed with the sate assiduity, and in addi- tion to the vast mass of criticism that is poured out by the daily and weekly Press, by monthly and quarterly reviews, there has arisen in our time a great literature of books, which are wholly devoted to commenting on and discussing other books which are often neither very obscure nor very ancient. No oneI think can observe modern  THE AUTHOR. 43 English literature without feeling with some melancholy how much of it is like the turn of the kaleidoscope, merely throwing old familiar facts into new patterns. On the whole we should not, I think, complain of this. Intense activity is at least the sign of intense vitality. It shows that the great work of popularising knowledge and “ teaching our masters ’’ was never so actively pursued. It shows that the taste for reading is spreading through all classes, displacing other tastes which were often more demoralising and less enduring. And, to speak from the special point of view of the Society of Authors, it also shows that while few men rise to wealth by literature, while many take to literature as a profession who would have done much better not to have made it their main or their exclusive dependence, the number is constantly increasing of those who are turning by their pens a narrow competence into an easy competence, and securing for themselves most of the comforts and some of the luxuries of life. There are no doubt shadows in the picture. Books are in general more short-lived than they were, many of them more short-lived than the flies of summer. The tribunal to which an author must appeal, if it is larger and more independent than of old, is probably less instructed and intelligent, certainly less refined and fastidious, and in a greatly overcrowded literature ways of attaining notoriety become popular which are not those of pure art. On the whole the general characteristic of contemporary literature is a high average and an immense pro- duction, but since the death of Tennyson in England and of Renan and Taine in France there are not many great eminences. We may truly say, I think, that our profession is regarded more seriously than it once was, and in this respect the work of the Society of Authors bas been very useful. Few things have done more harm to literature than the notion that genius is naturally allied to Bohe- mianism, and naturally divorced from common sense. Men of letters have been too commonly regarded as a kind of grown-up children, living in an atmosphere of vanity and paradox and un- reasoning emotion, quite incapable either of wisely regulating their own lives or giving any opinion of real value on the practical affairs of the world. Those who are acquainted with literary bio- graphy must, I am afraid, admit that charges of this kind have not always been without some foundation ; but they were always exaggerated, and they are now, I think, becoming less and less true. Men are beginning to see more clearly that judgment and Fintan, a due sense of measure and proportion, a clear insight into the conditions of human life are as important in literature as in any other field. They are per- ceiving, too, that literature is very far from being a mere ornamental appendage to national life On the whole its importance is probably rather increasing than diminishing. In an age when political power is rapidly passing to new and untried classes, when old beliefs and customs and traditions are on all sides crumbling away, it is difficult to overrate the value of a healthy literature in moulding the opinions and characters of the English race. Mr. Epmunp Gossx, proposing the health of the Chairman, said : It is with a rare satisfaction that I rise to propose to you a toast which will be universally welcome, that of our distinguished Chairman. We have had this evening a charming example of his famous eloquence, and we have had proof that a man of genius may spend his life among the s‘ars, and yet be competent to preside with grace at a dinner table. I ask you all to join with me in thanking Sir Robert Ball for the pleasure of his company amongst us to-night. The career of the Chairman is known to all of us in outline, and to many of us in detail. I am not in the secrets of the executive sub- committee to whom we owe the admirable arrangements of this banquet ; but 1 know them to be men of resource, and I cannot believe that their choice of a chairman on this particular occasion was a matter of accident. J am sure that they said to themselves: At a banquet held in the Derby week, on the very evening of the Oaks, we must invite a chairman who has expressed some public opinion about horseflesh. Well, Sir Robert Ball came for the first time prominently before the public as the author of a work called “The Theory of Screws.” (Laughter.) How many young gentlemen who are this evening returning from Epsom with empty pockets and languishing countenances would be in a very different position if they had mastered that important volume! (Laughter.) Then, by one of those enormous curves of action which are familiar in men of ability, we find Sir Robert Ball leaping at once to a totally different sphere. He contributed no more to zoology, he became an astronomer, he became that incarnation of imaginative pre- cision—an Irish astronomer. At that time the surface of Ireland was positively darkened with thick masses of politicians, swaying this way and that, destroying the vegetation, and deafening the ear with their shouts. Mr. Ball, as he then was, lost no time in such discussions. He pushed his telescope up through the crush of Unionists and Home Rulers, and was lost in contemplation 44 of the satellites of Venus. (Laughter.) How eminent he has since become, how multitudinous are his contributions to science, you do not need that I should remind you. Perhaps, as a Society of Authors, we may find one more reason why we are very glad to see Sir Robert Ball amongst us. He is one who has not divorced the matter from the form ; he approaches science with absolute exactitude, but with no scorn for those outward graces which are the very life and breath of literature. At a moment when another and most learned society is proposing, or at least an influential section of it is desiring, to drive the elegances of speech and the arts of literature out of all scientific recog- nition, to treat form as the accursed thing, we may be glad to do special honour to a man of genius whose matter is impeccable and yet his form dignified and melodious. I have the honour, gentlemen and ladies, to propose the health of our Chairman, the Lowndesean Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge, Sir Robert Ball. After the dinner the guests retired to another room, where tea and coffee were provided, and where a soirée was held. This was a new departure, and worked very satisfactorily, as it gave a great many friends who at the dinner were separated by lengths of white cloth and flowers an opportunity for conversation. a ————————— LITERARY PROPERTY. I.—Nortes BY THE Way. I, DO not think Mr. Besant and I really differ about the sale of copyrights in pure literature (p. 22 of Author for June). The case of a popular known author who can calcu- late his returns beforehand with approximate certainty was hardly present to my mind. Such authors are not those who need the Society’s advice. I quite agree that for Mr. Besant or Mr Hardy it is merely a question of convenience whether they choose to take the returns as they come, or dis- count them for an ascertainable present value. 2. Mr. Besant asks (p. 21) why the judges accept knighthood. The answer is that they have no practical choice. It has been expected of them (except those who have a higher rank, e.g., sons of peers) ever since the reign of George ITI., in whose time one judge, John Heath, stood out. As a judge’s official precedence is far higher than a knight’s, the rule is difficult to understand. I may add, however, that the increasing practice of distributing titles of honour without any regard to definite public services THE AUTHOR. (which Iam personally disposed to regret) does in my opinion strengthen Mr. Besant’s case as against the State. 3. In my note on p. 17 the common German word “heutigen” is misprinted ‘“ Leutigen,’ a vor nihili. I suppose it was the fault of a hastily written MS. 4. I earnestly hope that no attempt will be made at the Chicago meeting to revive the pro- ject of perpetual copyright. In my opinion it would be pure waste of time. The abstract jurisprudence of this question was thoroughly discussed in the great case of Jefferys v. Boosey in the House of Lords, in 1854, and there can be nothing new to say about it. 5. I do not think it is generally known that the Swiss Federal Code of Obligations, in force since 1883, contains a chapter on the contract of pub- lishing. This is the only code, so far as I know, that specially deals with the subject. It is easily procurable, and the French, German, and Italian texts are equally authentic. The Author might well print an English version of it some day. F, Pouiock. TI.—Aneto-AustRiaAN CopyrigHT CoNVENTION. Vienna, May 2. A copyright convention has been concluded between Great Britain and Austria-Hungary. It will secure the rights of authors, artists, and composers over their literary or artistic works. The want of such a convention has been keenly felt for many years. English literary and artistic productions have been at the mercy of any publisher or theatrical manager who chose to appropriate them. The manner in which English literary men, artists, and musicians have thus been derived of all profit of their labours as produced in this country has been a long-standing grievance. Several years ago, the question of a copyright convention was raised, but it was only after it was taken vigorously in hand by the present British Ambassador that any progress was made, The Anglo-Austrian Convention substantially provides for the protection of the above-men- tioned rights, and stipulates that there shall be the same legal remedy against all infringements of such rights as if the works themselves had been published in the country where the infringe- ment occurred. Furthermore, as the right of translation forms part of copyright, it is to be oe in the same way.—Our Own Correspon- ent,  THE T1I.—Coryricut IN Braziu. The Journal des Débats of June 6 has a long article on Copyright in Brazil, where, by the old Code, the Brazilian translator of a foreign book became ipso facto the sole pro- prietor, within Brazil, of the translation. The new Code, howeter, promulgated Oct. 11, 1890 (arts. 345 to 350), forbids translation without the authorisation of the author or owner of the copy- right of the original. So far so good; but, on the other hand, the new Brazilian Constitution (paragraph 26 of art. 72) overrules the Code and makes a bondfide residence in Brazil an express condition-precedent to the assertion of any claim to copyright in the country : an obstacle which is of course practically insurmountable. The French Chargé d’Affaires at Rio has been endeavouring for more than two years to nego- tiate a copyright convention of reciprocity, but hitherto without success. po THE PROFESSION OF LETTERS. HE following extract is taken from a paper by Mr. Robert Buchanan in the May number of the Jdler. I entirely agree with Mr. Grant Allen in his recent avowal that literature is the poorest and least satisfactory of all professions ; I will go even further, and affirm that it is one of the least ennobling. With a fairly extensive know- ledge of the writers of my own period, I can honestly say that I have scarcely met one individual who has not dete- riorated morally by the pursuit of literary fame. For com- plete literary success among contemporaries, it is imperative that a man should either have no real opinions, or be able to conceal such as he possesses, that he should have one eye on the market and the other on the public journals, that he should humbug himself into the delusion that book-writing is the highest work in the universe, and that he should regulate his likes and dislikes by one law, that of expe- diency. If his nature is in arms against anything that is rotten in society or in literature itself, he must be silent. Above all, he must lay this solemn truth to heart, that when the world speaks well of him, the world will demand the price of praise, and that price will probably be his living soul. He may tinker, he may trim, he may succeed, he may be buried in Westminster Abbey, he may hear before he dies all the people saying, ‘“‘ How good and great he is! how perfect is his art! how gloriously he embodies the tenden- cies of his time!” but he will know all the same that the price has been paid, and that his living soul has gone to furnish that whitewashed sepulchre, a blameless reputation. For one other thing, also, the Neophyte in Literature had better be prepared. He will never be able to subsist by creative writing unless it so happens that the form of ex- pression he chooses is popular in form (fiction, for example), and even in that ease, the work he does, if he is to live by it, must be in harmony with the social and artistic status quo. Revolt of any kind is always disagreeable. Three- fourths of the success of Lord Tennyson (to take an VOL. IV. AUTHOR. 45 example) was due to the fact that this fine poet regarded life and all its phenomena from the standpoint of the English public school, that he ethically and artistically embodied the sentiment of our excellent middle-class education. His great American contemporary, Whitman, in some respects the most commanding spirit of this gene- ration, gained only a few disciples, and was entirely misunderstood and neglected by-contemporary criticism. Another prosperous writer, to whom I have already alluded, George Eliot, enjoyed enormous popularity in her lifetime, while the most strenuous and passionate novelist of her period, Charles Reade, was entirely distanced by her in the immediate race for fame. In Literature, as in all things, manners and costume are most important; the hall-mark of contemporary success is perfect Kespectability. It is not respectable to be too candid on any subject, religious, moral, or political. It is very respectable to say, or imply, that this country is the best of all possible countries, that War is a noble institution, that the Protestant Religion is grandly liberal, and that social evils are only diversified forms of social good. Above all, to be respectable, one must have “beautiful ideas.” “Beautiful ideas” are the very best stock-in-trade a young writer can begin with. They are indispensable to every complete literary outfit. Without them, the short cut to Parnassus will never be discovered, even though one starts from Rugby. Mr. Buchanan has followed the profession of letters for many years—say thirty. He has written poems, plays, and novels. He has received a pension on the Civil List, granted to him alone of mortals, when he was still quite young, with his career before him. He is, therefore, enabled to live without entire dependence on the commercial success of his books, provided he was content to live simply. If, therefore, he wished at any time to lift a prophetic voice against the evils of his time, he could do so without being starved should the world refuse to listen. Carlyle raised the voice of a prophet, for instance. The world did listen. Nay, the world accorded to Carlyle that praise which, Mr. Buchanan says, is only given to those who pay for it at the price of the living soul. Again, if the hall-mark of contemporary literature is respectability, it is unfortunate that Mr. Buchanan quotes George Eliot as a popular writer, for her whole life was a protest against respectability. Now, it is quite conceivable that there are writers who think of nothing but what will sell—your penny novelette is, I am told, con- structed carefully on that principle; but it is ridiculous to assert that a man or woman who has a message to give—a warning to utter—is not listened to. There is the condition that he must know how to speak. There was once a school of prophets ; but only a dozen or so managed to get a hearing. The unknown and unsuccessful Ezekiels probably sat in their cottages and reviled the age. Mr. Grant Allen is reported to have said—I quote at secondhand—I apologise beforehand for not verifying my reference —I_ hope that he never said such a thing—but he is E 46 reported to have said: “ Don’t take up literature if you have money enough to buy a broom, and sufficient energy to annex a street crossing.” If Mr. Grant Allen really said that, I will myself with pleasure lend him the money to buy that broom, For indeed, a man who thinks in that way about his calling ought to abandon it. My own advice to a young man would be, “‘ Do not attempt to live by literature. Harn a livelihood some other way. Fight Mr. Grant Allen, if necessary, for his pitch and his broom. At all cost—at any cost—be independent of your lite- rary work. There is hardly any kind of work which does not allow a man time for as much literary work and study as is good for him. Look at the men who have been journalists, civil servants, medical men, lawyers—anything. Be independent. Then Mr. Buchanan’s remarks will have nothing to do with you, and you need pay no price at all for the praise of the world, which you will get—if you do get it—at the price of hard work, and study the arts of expression and persuasion in the school of prophets. There is one thing in my own experience—if I may speak of myself in connection with this subject—on which I look back with great satis- faction. It is that I was able to resist the very great temptation to live by writing till such time —about eight years ago—when I thought myself justified in so doing. I then, and not till then, resigned a post which had for twenty years taken the cream of the day, and given me a certain independence. Here, however, is another quotation — also secondhand — yet I copy it without apology, because, from internal evidence, I am sure that it is genuine. The writer is Mr. Hall Caine: Of all the literary cants that I despise and hate, the one I hate and despise the most is that which would have the world believe that greatly gifted men, who have become distinguished in literature, and are earning thousands a year by it, and have no public existence and no apology apart from it, hold it in pity asa profession, and in contempt as anart. For my own part I have found the profession of letters a serious pursuit, of which in no company and in no country have I had need tobe ashamed. It has demanded all my powers, fired all my enthusiasm, developed my sympathies, enlarged my friendships, touched, amused, soothed, and comforted me. Is, then, the pursuit of literature one which degrades or “ least ennobles” its follower? This is a question which cannot be answered on abstract grounds. He who spends his life in meditating things pure and lofty would, one thinks, himself become pure and lofty in mind. But Mr. Buchanan will not allow that the literary man does so occupy his mind; he pictures men who work for money, praise, and contemporary fame. Perhaps so. The experience of men THE AUTHOR. differs; there are levels—planes, grades. Let us, however, pass from generalities to examples. Shelley, Wordsworth, Southey, Emerson, Brown- ing, Tennyson, Longfellow, Lowell, Carlyle, are examples taken at random where the pursuit of literature has conspicuously and without doubt ennobled the man. Let us, however, take other examples. Can we not very truly say that what- ever nobility belongs to the name and remem- brance of Thackeray, Dickens, George Eliot, Charles Reade, Wilkie Collins, Leigh Hunt, Thoreau, Jefferies—names taken at random— has been won by the noble things that they have written, and not by the ignoble things—if they have written any? Or, to go lower down, is there no nobility attaching to the names of men whose lives were not in themselves noble—such, for instance, as Savage, Oliver Goldsmith, Thomson (“The City of Dreadful Night”) and others which will at once suggest themselves? It is possible to create a great estate in literature, without genius, without nobility, solely by dexterity and by “watching the market.” But this is not fame, or praise, or anything but money. Contemporary praise or fame may be excessive; in looking at the living man we magnify his stature; but contemporary praise is never, I believe, bestowed upon such men as Mr. Buchanan, in most unfortunate experience, has detected in that curious barter of a real and living soul for imaginary praise or fame. W. B. ——————— MEMORIAL OF SHELLEY AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE. N the afternoon of Wednesday, June 13 Jane, Lady Shelley, accomplished the crowning purpose of her life: she is to be congratulated upon a notable triumph. The ceremonial which drew the heads of many of the colleges—or, to use the words of one of the local papers, “all that was best in the University” —and certain prominent Jlittérateurs from all parts of the world, was decidedly an impressive one. As to the memoria], most persons saw the cast of it when it was exhibited at the Royal Academy last year. It is not now my province to praise or blame this work; but it seemed to me that some modification had been made in it, in the direction of simplification ; an impression obviously due to the altered and happier environment. It repre- sents the poet as conceivably he may have lain when washed up by the sea. The figure is appropriately nude; it is chiselled out of a beautiful piece of Connemara marble, and lies on  THE AUTHOR. 47 a slab supported by winged lions, between which is seated an emblematical effigy of the Muse of Poetry. These supports are of bronze. The work is by Mr. Onslow Ford. The chamber, or temple, in which the memorial is placed was designed by Mr. Champneys. It is arched in by a dome-shaped roof on which a_ star-spangled firmament is painted, beneath which certain lines from the “ Adonais” are emblazoned. One approaches the chamber through a grille, which grating is continued round one half of that side of the building which faces the corridor. The guests being assembled, Lady Shelley, who entered the building on the arm of the Master of Balliol, handed a gold key to the Master of University, and proceeded to read her address. She said that for more than forty years she had been a student of Shelley, and, so far as she was able, had striven to give the world a just impres- sion of his character. She spoke feelingly of her association with his wife and son, of the poet’s residence at Oxford, of the beauty and brightness of his life, and of the high sense of duty which both he and Mary entertained. ‘Men of great genius,” said Lady Shelley, “could not always be reduced to rule; they erred sometimes, but they were not therefore to be deprived of the love and admiration of their countrymen.” At this point Lady Shelley was visibly affected, but she strug- gled with her emotion and bravely conquered it. We may be sure she was not the only one present whose feelings were wrought upon acutely ; indeed, Dr. Bright’s reply can only be explained on the assumption that he was carried away by the sensations and sentiments which prevailed. It came as a surprise to everyone ; the most ardent Shelleyan scarcely could have said more. Dr. Bright’s words carried the sense of conviction with them, if we except the pardonable boast that Oxford ‘is the very centre and heart of the growth of Young England.” This is manifestly absurd. But it is impossible to take exception to any other part of the address. It is certain, as the Master said, it is difficult to conceive any truer emblem of the present century than the great poet whose effigy the University has received. Percy Bysshe Shelley was, as Dr. Bright affirmed, “ prophetic in all directions of what had come into the world. The very greatness of the man had rendered him open to the treatment the University of Oxford and the world generally had accorded him,” “Tt was because,” he asserted, “there was in him such a well-spring of hatred of all that was false and all that was oppressive, and because he had so strong a feeling of all that was gloomy and sad in the history of the world and man- kind, that he could not but become a rebel, and VOL, IV, being a rebel, he was treated as a rebel.” But, he begged us to observe, “ that the rebel of eighty years ago was the hero of the present century. In other words, the great aspirations which he nurtured, the fervent love of the human race which he cherished, the intense admiration of all objects that met his eyes in the natural world, the uncom- promising hatred of all that was evil and all that was sad, what were they all but the very things they had been learning for these last eighty years ? When at this time,”’ said the Master, ‘they had constant repetitions of very sad and pessimist views as to what this world was going to become, it was most cheerful to encounter a prophet who prophesied good things, and not bad; and although it probably was true that the great giant lay still chained upon the hill-tops, and although Jupiter, the emblem of what was false and conventional, still in some degree reigned, it must be confessed that the prophecies the poet uttered had been hastening toward their conclusion ; and that in some way or other, though it might not be as Shelley fancied it, the human race was coming, as they all hoped, to something like a condition of happiness in uni- versal and divine equality and love.” So spake the head of the college from which Shelley was ignominiously expelled. The audience wondered; but it applauded. It is an open secret that Lady Shelley’s proposal to give the memorial to Oxford was not received there initially with any great show of enthusiasm; and, although I do not for a moment dispute the sincerity of the official declaration which I have reported, I have no kind of doubt that if a thinker were to appear as far in advance of the normal thought of to-day as Shelley was in advance of the current beliefs of his day, he would fare very much as Shelley fared. Still, Oxford has acquitted itself better than Horsham, which town, I am told, might have acquired this memorial had it shown the slightest interest in the great man who was born a few yards outside its precincts. The reasons of the failure to move Horsham appre- ciably I have explained in this journal, in the St. James’s Gazette, and elsewhere ; but it must be remembered Oxford was not called upon to make any sacrifices, and that Horsham was. The whole expense of the Oxford undertaking fell upon Lady Shelley. For the rest, the gathering at University College was not nearly so representative or important as that which assembled at Horsham on Aug. 4 last. It included, however, the Bishop of Southwark, the Master of University, the Master of Balliol, Sir William Markby, the Warden of All Soul’s, the President of Magdalen, the Warden of Merton, the Rector of —_ E 48 Mr. Edmund Gosse, Mr. Arthur Sidgwick, Mr. Onslow Ford, Canon St. John, Dr. Garnett, Dr. Raleigh, Mr. Hamilton Aidé, and Mr. William Hsdaile (grandson of the poet). Jas. Stanuey Lirrre. WHAT THE PAPERS SAY. I. Locau History. AT, in my opinion, ought to be regarded \ \) as the cardinal principle in writing a local history, is that the town or district chosen should be treated as an entity which is capable of being described from the dim times when chronicle first began right through the period of its growth until the day in which we live. The too common fault of the antiquarian is that he merely loved the antique, and that when he has passed the dissolution of the monasteries or at latest the Great Rebellion, he loses interest, dismisses subsequent events as of no moment, and appears to consider that a town’s history ended when newspapers were about to begin. Into the service I would press the researches of genealogy, of heraldry, and of bibliography, finding for each student, however humble or however learned, a place in which to help. Insisting upon absolute accuracy, and welcoming every additional fact, the local historian should seek to make his work not a mere collection of isolated incidents and unex- plained names, and should endeavour so to collate his information as to give us not a heap of un- smelced ore but a finished mass of polished metal. The subject is almost an eshaustless one: Macaulay has shown and Professor Gardiner has indicated how much local research can aid the natural historian; and one means of stimulating the study which has been too long neglected is by adding it to the curriculum of our schools. What boy would not be the more keenly interested in the Conqueror if he were taught what Domes- day Book had to say of his own town? The story of the Great Charter would be brought the nearer to him if he knew that on the field of Runnymede, while the wax which sealed Magna Charta was still warm, John signed an_ order affecting the place in which he lives. The great personalities of the Black Prince, of Thomas and Oliver Cromwell, and of the first Charles would become real to him if he had the knowledge how closely they had in various ways been connected with the borough in which he was born. Every old street name should be caused to tell its story ; THE AUTHOR. the very dates of the fairs should serve to recall those dim monastic times when our little towns were filled with chapels, and the fairs were held on the days of the saints to whom those edifices were dedicated. By making local history real, we could make national history more than book learning ; and it is because I believe that much can be done to systematise the conception and to elevate the writing of that local history, that these suggestions are laid before the readers of a magazine which has helped so greatly all who study the chronicles of the West.—From the “ Writing of Local History,” by A. F. Robbins. II. Tur Human EvEMent OF CRITICISM. One takes up the review of a new book now- adays, and especially in America, with the almost absolute certainty that it will be wholly lacking in the human element—that it will be analy- tical, impersonal, reserved, and without the touch of emotion. The critic, so to speak, unbinds and unstitches his book, separates the leaves, weighs them individually and _ collec- tively, and arrives at an exact and conventionally correct, but more or less inadequate, estimate of the work before him. The great mass of book reviewing at the present time is a highly-refined machine-criticism. It is cold, exact, and, one may say, as far as it goes, fair. But it does not go far enough to reach the standard of the best criticism. The best criticism is not- altogether conven- tional and not altogether analytical. It finds room for personality, and makes some departures from the established customs of probing and dissecting. It does not leave a book or an author, as the saying is, “struck all of a heap.” If it becomes necessary to make fragmentary disposition of a writer, the better critic will at least restore him to his. complete and organic uncomeliness, and, like the accomplished juggler, with a kindly sweep of the hand over shattered wheels and springs, will say :—‘ Here, sir, is your watch, just as you gaveitme. It has not even lost a second.” When a critic admits synthesis, constructive- ness, and personality into his work, that work begins to display the true human element. It is evident that this element cannot be fully defined by the word kindliness. That is one of the humanities of the best criticism, but it is not the only one. There must be also breadth, tolerance, sympathy, freedom, and sincerity. The critic is a man dealing with a man. He is not, or should not be, a man dealing merely with a book. So far as a book stands for anything more than a  THE AUTHOR. stick or a stone, it does so by virtue of the per- sonalty with which it is suffused. If publishers would issue elaborate volumes of what printers call “ pi,” there would be a book for the critic to deal with simply as a thing. There would be no man behind it, no subtle personality pervading its whole texture. But wherever there is cohe- rence there is thought, and wherever there is thought there is personality. So I say that a critic, who is a man, dealing with a writer, who is also a man, certainly ought not to neglect the human element in criticism. He should synthe- sise as well as analyse; he should bind as well as sever; he should be able to stand in another’s place as well as in his own; he should be a helper as well as a censor; he should yield as well as crowd; he should be tender as well as keen, candid as well as brilliant. Howsoever inky his doublet, a warm heart should beat beneath it; and he should havea hand that no writer’s cramp could deprive of its power to give or return a human grasp. This is humanity in criticism; this is love in judgment. How many literary critics think of the man whom they are vivisecting? They are less humane than experimentalists in biology, for they give their victims no anesthetics. ‘“ Here is a book—what’s init?” The weights and the screws determine that, and Lord help the author if there be much of him in his book! I plead for the human element in criticism :— more elbow room, if the critics will, to turn them- selves about in; then they will not be so narrow and unceremonious. What of personality can you transfuse into a single paragraph? ‘True ; do not criticise by paragraphs. Call them rather, what they will verily be, “ notices.” I plead for amore generous recognition of what authors put into books, as well as what they leave out. Writers always—the least admirable of them— put a vast deal of personality into their work. What critic pays adequate attention to this? Many a book throbs like a human heart ; but the critic counts only the dropped beats in the systole and diastole of its rhetoric. I plead for more of the genial smile in criticism, less of the chilling sneer. ‘There is sunshine in a smile, even when it wins you from a fault. But the sneer is like lightning in the night. Everything in its glare is hideous and hopeless. James BuckHam. New York Critic. 49 III. Dante EXHIBITION. We are glad to be able to announce that the Dante Exhibition was successful beyond all anticipations. About a thousand persons visited it, and the entrance fees will cover expenses and leave a small balance, which will be devoted to the social branches of the work of University Hall. The general public and the general Press failed, it is feared, to catch the idea of the collection, and found it scrappy and dull. But Dante students, who visited the hall in consider- able numbers, saw that the illustration of the central conceptions of Dante’s scheme of things in their contrast alike with classical and modern ideas, and the universal scope of his studies within the framework of that scheme, gave the exhibition an organic character not obvious to the casual visitor.— Westminster Gazette. IV. A QUESTION OF PROPRIETY. My attention has been called to a communica- tion in The Nation of April 20, holding up the following sentence from my recent article “A Trio of Notable Women,” as an awful example of impropriety: “‘ Under her hospitable mahogany were frequently stretched the eminent legs of Mrs. Barbauld, Sir James Mackintosh, Dr. Southey,” &c. It may be worth while to say, for the benefit of the worried objector, that the play- ful expression objected to is an old one, well seasoned, and justified by good usage. Thackeray was partial to it, and rang many changes on it. You may find an instance in chapter IX. of ‘The Great Hoggarty Diamond.” —H.G. J. in the Chicago Dial. THE PRETERNATURAL STORY. MONGST the various forms of fiction the tale with a preternatural element has always maintained a prominent place. The few Greek and Roman romances and frag- ments of romances that have survived, all present an abundance of preternatural incidents. Motifs of preternatural kinds form the basis of some of the most striking Italian novelle, the Spanish “ books of chivalry” that turned the head of the Knight of La Mancha contained little else, and, at the present date, in England, tales of a preter- natural character have become so much the vogue 50 THE AUTHOR. that not long since a London publisher, who issues about as many novels as any one, declared that people had got tired of romance, and cared for nothing but fairy-tales. Under such circumstances the preternatural story can hardly fail to present points of interest both to the student of fiction, and to those whose pens are engaged in meeting the ceaseless public demand for tales containing something “ up to date.” In point of fact the close observer will find in this particular kind of romance a great deal that may arrest attention, and suggest reflec- tion. A little investigation reveals, what few suspect, that, though preternatural stories seem at first sight much of the same kind, they are really divided in several distinct and widely different species ; whilst by no means the least singular phenomenon connected with compositions of this sort is that the extreme contrasts of taste and distaste for them on the part of different readers (which every one will have observed) is based, incredible as that may appear, upon an appetite for truth. On approaching the subject of preternatural fiction the student is, at the very outset, con- fronted by the rather unanswerable question, “What is the preternatural?” On account of the difficulty of finding an absolutely satisfactory reply to this question, and in order that a number of stories, which certainly should be included in any consideration of this kind of tale, may not be set aside by a mere definition, any story may for the present purpose be held to be of the preternatural sort which contains incidents appa- rently not to be explained by the familiar laws of nature. To have some sort of definition of the preter- natural is, however, still necessary; for it will presently appear that upon this definition must depend a very great distinction between various tales of the kind under consideration. Of course, to define the preternatural * is very nearly the same thing as to define the miraculous, and this leads at once into the province of the theologians. Nor is that singular. It is into this province that more than one preternatural novel of the present day purposely penetrates. A word about the theologians, lest any readers of these lines should suspect them of the error of a theological bias, which would in the pages of the Author be egregiously out of place. Theology and belles lettres, have, it is true, been as often *Some writers use preternatural and supernatural as almost equivalent terms. Others, drawing an important distinction, confine the latter to cases of intervention of the Deity. See Fleming, “ Vocabulary of Philosophy.” The term preternatural alone is used throughout this paper purposely, - hostile camps as the contrary. But it must never be forgotten that the theologians, every one of them to a man, belong to the wide republic of letters. As authors they laboured at their desks, threw their hearts and lives into their books, desired through them to speak to the world, and were deeply concerned in their success and in- fluence, like everyone else who writes. Creeds apart, their dicta are all the dicta of literary men. Proceeding, then, to borrow a definition of the miraculous (and this definition will be necessary presently) from one of them, it will be admitted by all that the guidance of Coleridge may be safely followed. Coleridge’s success with the preternatural was itself a marvel. Archbishop Trench mentions that he had heard Coleridge exalt the greatness and depth of the remarks of Aquinas on the subject of miracles. Trench, Coleridge, Thomas of Aquino, are all great lite- rary names, and the definition Aquinas offers runs thus :— “Tlla proprie miracula dicenda sunt que divi- nitus fiunt preeter ordinem communiter observa- tum in rebus.” + Any tale, then, that relates preternatural incidents of a distinctly miraculous nature, in point of fact introduces some special intervention of the Deity, and so becomes a religious tale. “ A Beleaguered City” is a tale of this sort, and a fine one. Anyone who will think of it, and of Prosper Mérimée’s “La Venus d Tile,” also a very fine story, will now perceive at once to what vastly different categories the different species of preternatural tales belong. Having quoted a great Catholic divine, it is only right to state equally clearly the opposite view of miracles. Hume says, in his “ Essay on Miracles: ” “A miracle is a violation of the laws of nature; and as a firm and unalterable expe- rience has established these laws, the proof against a miracle, from the very nature of the fact, is as complete as any argument from experience can possibly be imagined.”’ ; And this viewis very important. Because if either author or reader of a preternatural story hold it, he is compelled to take his choice between two alternatives. Either what is related must be merely one of those rare phenomena of nature which are still imperfectly understood, or not observed by the vulgar, or it must be false. Here it is worth while to remark that the character of “preternatural’’ would certainly, and it seems justly, be denied by many to incidents that were merely of a rare or imperfectly comprehended kind. Further, it will presently appear that the + 8. Thomas Aquinas, “ Contra Gentiles II.,” 102.  4 : 4 THE AUTHOR. 51 honest lie, pure and simple, is by no means excluded from the domain of preternatural fiction. To many, however, the views both of Aquinas and of Hume will seem much more stiff and defi- nite than either author or reader need desire. A tertium quid is postulated, neither “ miraculous ” on the one hand, nor in accordance with “ natural laws imperfectly understood” on the other. It is, however, fair to remark that it is not at all clear what this “‘ border land,” as it is sometimes called, is supposed to be ; and to add that, to the logically minded, it is not a very attractive region. Plentiful vagueness of view and meaning can, of course, be easily wrapped up in the familar “There are more things in Heaven and earth, &c.;” but the thoughtful explorer of the domi- nions of preternatural romance, will certainly find this easy evasion of an explanation of what is really meant, a good deal out of taste in the case of stories which bear on the face of them some evidences of having been written with a very dis- tinct purpose of insisting upon something or another. Indistinctness may furnish amuse- ment; it can even awaken awe. But it cannot instruct.* All that belongs to “the border- land” should be able to be divided between the really miraculous, and the strange but natural phenomenon. The whole range of preternatural romance is thus divisible into the really miraculous, the rare or imperfectly understood natural phenomenon, and — lies. The last province is a large one with no particularly definite boundaries; but a more important one than at first appears. Pro- bably the author in nine cases out of ten, and the reader in ninety-nine out of a hundred, bestows little thought upon determining to which province the tale belongs. But that is not always the case. The author’s intention is in some instances evident enough. Everyone will observe that, strictly speaking, thename of preternatural fiction might with much reason be confined to tales of the really miraculous. Tf the attention be next turned from the provinces of preternatural romance to the stories themselves, all can be immediately drawn into three classes. a. The story in which the narrator relates the preternatural incident as absolutely true. b. The story in which the narrator relates the *It is worth while to observe that the mediwval theolo- gians, who firmly believed in magic and devilries of every description, considered them as merely ingenious results of the employment of natural agencies not understood by man. “Piunt -virtute causarum naturalium,” says Aquinas. Summa, 2, 2, 178, 1. preternatural incident as absolutely false; of this sort there are two kinds. c. The story in which the narrator uses preter- natural incidents as mere figures of speech. Three very great names might be appropriately attached to these three kinds of tale. Homer relates the preternatural as true. Lucian excels in the art of compounding a farrago of lies. Rabelais wraps truth in a cloak of preternatural fable. The literary student who would see the pre- ternatural (the miraculous preternatural) related as truth in its highest form, had better go straight to the pages of Homer. The superlative charac- teristic of the Homeric preternatural incidents is that the poct himself believes in them. He believes in them so absolutely, and relates them with so absolute a certainty of their commanding the hearer’s belief also, that they almost lose their preternatural character, and glide back into the natural and ordinary, by being as integral a part of the poet’s cosmogony as are the rising of the sun, and the opening of the flowers. Homer narrates without ashade of difference the simplest human incident, such as Nausicaa’s game of ball with her maidens; a magical one, such as the healing of Ulysses’ wound by the singing of a spell; and one of divine intervention, such as when Sleep and Death, at the command of Apollo, in answer to a prayer, bear Sarpedon’s dead body to Lycia and bury it there. All represent to the poet’s mind things equally in the course of nature, and the preter ordinem com- muniter observatum has no place in his imagina- tion, This is what gives Homer’s preternatural incidents their inimitable reality. If any one wishes to see how inimitably real they are, he has only to compare them with similar episodes in Virgil. Virgil is more than careful about the introduction of each preternatural incident. He never violates the rule, Nec deus intersit nisi dignus vindice nodus: and he treats all his miracles with great artistic skill. But they are hopelessly hollow. Homer dares everything. And the more he dares the more realistic he becomes, and the more audaci- ously he treats the preternatural like the merest ordinary commonplace the more powerful is the effect he produces. Ares, wounded by Diomede with the assistance of Athena, bounds up to heaven with a howl like that of ten thousand mev, Pallas flies down, to lend Achilles divine strength, in the shape of an osprey. She actually ig an heron that meets Diomede and Ulysses by the wayside at night, and the latter recognises the goddess by the bird’s cry. She and Apollo meet on the road “ by the fig-tree” outside Troy. 52 THE AUTHOR. The gods drink, and squabble, and cheat each other, and worse : ~ « , , Tdvra Oeots avéOnxav “Opnpos “Hoiodds re A \ , \ "Ocoa rap’ dvOpwroiow dveidea Kal Woyos éoriv, , , Kérrew, porxevew te, Kal dAAjAovs arrarevev * But Homer recks nothing, and—here is the wonder—forces conviction all the time. Perhaps no other author ever wrote with such power to carry irresistible conviction in_ telling the impossible. But then he himself believed all he related. There is something of the same spell in the “ Nibelungenlied,” and the ‘‘ Thousand and one Arabian Nights” come still nearer to it. But the present lovers of preternatural romance do not (alas!) read Homer; nor “The thousand nights and a night.” If asked ‘‘Why not ?” their answer would be ready. They cannot believe such stories. Here, then, is the secret of the preternatural tale which the author offers, and the reader acceptsas true. It may be written in one word—conviction. And if it be asked what pleasure do people find in being convinced of the truth of quaint preter- natural incidents, the reply seems to be first, that man’s natural love of the marvellous is pleased, and also something deeper gratified, which lies behind the love of the marvellous, an ever restless craving for wider and wider existence, and in existence for wider and wider possibilities. The young love these tales for this reason: because they still believe in possibilities for which their elders have ceased to hope. Besides, if the truth could be ascertained, it would be found that in every case the zealous readers of histories of ghosts, and astral influences, and what not else do secretly cherish a dim persuasion that they may themselves some day perchance have the luck to meet with a small preternatural adventure: which is only the old story of Don Grazia, who, Un braccio, un piede, un occhio avria pagato Per fare anch’egli un sol miracoletto. Consequently, those who can be convinced by the stories of the supernatural find in them some fascination which nothing else can equal. To others, unable to arrive at this degree of con- viction, these tales are as insufferable as the “ Arabian Nights” to the admirers of , the reader may supply any one he pleases of half a dozen names. When the power of convincing exists, it would seem, judging from Homer, that the more daring the realism, the more completely absent any art of supernatural presentation, the more powerful will the effect become. And it may be that those authors will win the largest audience who can best succeed in persuading * Xenophanes Colophonius. their readers that something preternatural may some day befall themselves. The essence of the first sort of preternatural story is, then, that it seems true. The charac- teristic of the second is that it is avowedly false. Here Lucian excels. His “true history ”’ has been a model for imitation for ages; and he him- self, in the preface to that queer story, admirably describes the sort of work it is, and its intention —to offer a light entertainment, by the relation of various falsehoods credibly and vivaciously narrated, hinting too in a comic manner at certain passages in authors who have written about wonderful and mythical things. This is plainly playing with the preter- natural. Nothing is farther from the author’s intention than to convince. His only aim is to entertain—and to ridicule the preternatural tale. In Lucian’s hands this kind of story becomes a burlesque with occasional serious import. The nearest thing to it in our own literature is ‘The Travels of Baron Mun- chausen,” that book of lies beyond all imagina- tion. But to this second kind of preternatural tale, the preternatural tale that lays no claim to truth, belong, in modern literature, many stories constructed with preternatural elements of purely graceful fancy. Here may be classed all artificial “ fairy-tales,” written to amuse small folk; not, however, real folk-lore; there the preternatural element is generally of the Homeric order. What fine work the artificial fairy-tale can be is proved by ‘‘ Alice in Wonderland.” Also, how inept it can be everyone knows. In this class must a'so be placed all those stories in which fine imagina- tion has created other beings not unacquainted with man’s passions, and other worlds not quite unlike his world—the literature of man’s wishes, and misgivings and dreams. It is hazardous to quote any work as the masterpiece of this or that sort of literature, but of this kind “ Undine,” if not the best, must come very near being so. And a study of “‘ Undine” reveals that in this sort of tale the method of the successful author is the precise contrary of that of Homer. Homer succeeds where Virgil fails, because Virgil uses art and Homer does not. A comparison of De la Motte Fouqué with any of his many unsuccessful imi- tators shows that Fouqué’s triumph is a triumph of most consummate art; art in the selection of every detail; art in the proportion and presenta- tion of every incident, in the management of every particular, and in the composition of the whole. In this kind of preternatural story, which is a pure jeu d’esprit, art is everything. The result is an appearance of truth which renders the reader oblivious of the fact that he has neither been  THE asked to give, nor is giving credence to a single word. What he feels is that, if such things could be, this is how they would happen. Thus, then, of the preternatural story that makes no pretence of being true there are two sorts. One is a farrago of audacious falsehoods, and the bigger the lies the better the story. The other is a dream, and the nearer the dream approaches a vision, the finer its illusion becomes. Both demand consummate art. In the third kind of preternatural tale Rabelais excelled. Here all is parable, and the pretence of preternatural incident either thinly covers something the author has not dared to say openly, or is used to give stronger point to truths which, if plainly stated, touch the imagina- tion less forcibly than they should. In these stories everything is true and nothing true at the same time; and the reader must discover, “ par curieuse lecon et meditation frequente, rompre Vos, et sugcer la substantificque mouelle.” Of this kind are “ Gulliver’s Travels,” imitated of course from Gargantua’s voyages, as they in turn had been, partly, suggested by Lucian. Probably no fiction of any kind demands gifts so great. Its earliest form is the Msopic fable of talking beasts. And now appears what the writers of preter- natural tales seem often to overlook, that the essential characteristic of all preternatural romance is—truth. For the intrinsic quality of the Homeric story is conviction. The tale of lies is admired because it ridicules the incredible. The story of the Undine type depends for success upon its appearance of truthfulness, and the Rabelaisian parable, is merely truth told in figurative speech. Tales such as “Undine” and “Gulliver’s Travels” will be appreciated by all possessed of cultivated imagination and philosophic thought. The tales, however, that ask to be believed, and those which ridicule the marvellous, have narrower audiences. The latter are far too difficult of composition for many to attempt them. Of the former there are just at present plenty. Those who write them must probably make up their minds to please a certain section of the reading public, at the price of being carefully eschewed by others. But that, in a greater or less degree, is the fate of all authors. That preternatural stories demanding credence should be the fashion, may be considered one of the social phenomena of the day. Literature takes its colour from its age. A Hellenic world profoundly religious, and simultaneously materi- alistie to profanity, great-minded, and equally simple-minded, listened to the rhapsodies of Homer, whose poem has nota trace of the empire- VOL. Iv. AUTHOR. 53 building spirit of the Epic of Virgil. Ariosto’s theme was another, Le donne, i cavalier, l’arme, gli amori, Le cortesie, l’audaci imprese io canto. The romances of knight errantry reflected the humour of their day as completely as ‘‘ The Senti- mental Journey” and “The Man of Feeling ” that of the sentimentalists of the latter half of the last century. Whatthe popularity of the preter- natural novel indicates it would perhaps be rash to say. This however, is certain in literature : everything very pronounced portends a reaction. Henry CRESSWELL. Sec ——— OMNIUM GATHERUM FOR JULY. — Subjects for Books or Articles.—A definition of “religious education” ; a comparison of Pusey’s and Stanley’s treatment of scepticism, as detailed in “ Through Storm to Peace” ; the amenities of the English, Scotch, and Irish Lakes; Second Marriages ; an English translation of La Bruyére ; Quarantine; the substitution of Roman for German and Greek characters in the printing of German and Greek; Prorogation, Adjournment, or Dissolution of the present Parliament? with a few words on the more celebrated dissolutions of the present century. Giving away Books.—Surely in no case should an author give away a copy of his book to a stranger on asking for it, and even unsolicited presentation copies should be very sparingly distributed. The Coining of Words.—Mr. W. H. Shee, in his pleasing “ My Contemporaries,” complains (in 1870) of “colliding” and “stores” and other then new expressions. I must respectfully differ from him. Fingere cinctutis, &c. Why not,e.g., “irregulate,” “ polyglottist,”” and for “Hadn’t I better?” “ Bett’n’t 1?”? And why not ‘“ Ameri- canisms,” if they express something, as “ fall” for autumn, better than we can? Biographies.—Perhaps the best modern field for literature is biography, but the subject should be interesting, the biographed should have been dead some ten years, the biographer should have known him well, but not be either his wife or child, the biography should disclose some new facts, the whole truth should be told, and scarcely a letter should be printed at length. The best modera biography I know is that of Miss Austen, by a nephew; and that of Macaulay by Sir George Trevelyan—again a nephew—ranks very high. F 54 THE AUTHOR. The best thing in Literature—Carlyle twice committed himself to naming the best thing in all literature, naming, oddly enough, a different thing each time. His selections were, first, the Francesca narrative in the “Inferno” (how mangled by Cary !) ; secondly, without any refer- ence to his first selection, the description of the war-horse in Job. Had he attempted the impossible? Or is the Nausicaa episode in the Odyssey better than either of Carlyle’s selections ? Title —There is very much in a title, and titles have been frequently changed before publication. There is no copyright in a title, as was shown by the “Splendid Misery” case. Should there not be? The Second Mrs. Tanqueray.—It is impossible for dramatic art to treat this subject more finely than Mr. Pinero and Mrs. Patrick Campbell have treated it. But it may, perhaps, be hoped that the subject will in this country be relegated to the pages of the philosophical historian (see, e.7., the eloquent words of Mr. Lecky, in the “ History of European Morals,’ vol. ii., at p. 299) :—tkat Niniche, with or without variation, is not about to invade our stage :—and that the genius of Mrs. Campbell will soon be displayed in another play as “strong” as that which has made her name famous, but less unpleasing. A two-page Preface.—I have to thank my learned friend Sir Frederick Pollock for pulling me up in the last number of the Author. No loubt I put my case too high in the May number. Brevis esse laboro, &c. Howbeit, Savigny’s “Vorrede’” in its two last pages contains all the essentials of a preface, and both Mr. Hunter and Mr. Sandars are two-page men. J. M. Leuy. NOTES FROM PARIS. Paris, June 23, 1893. HE hot weather, a certain amount of laziness, and a periodical fit of discouragement have kept me away from the Author for two months past. As to the discouragement, it is what I suppose everybody connected with the noble profession of letters is more or less accustomed to. I hope, however, that few of my readers are ever exposed to such a number of tuiles, as the French call them, as have been falling of late on my devoted head. Entin . I had heard a good deal about the sweating to which translators were subjected, but I did not know that things were as bad as they appear to be. A day or two ago I received a letter from a French publisher who is about to produce in England, at his own expense, and published on commission, a translation of a successful French novel of a highly moral order, and in which he informed me that my name had been mentioned to him by the Paris agent of the house which is to publish the book in London as a possible translator of the work. I saw the agent in question, and he informed me that the publisher intended to produce a first edition of two thousand copies at six shillings each, which, allowing for expenses and author’s fee, would put from one hundred to one hundred and thirty pounds in his pocket. I then called on the publisher and was shown the book. It was a volume of about three hundred and twenty pages, of close type, amounting altogether, I should say, to close upon ninety thousand words. He said that he should like to have the translation in hand towards the end of July. He then explained that this was an experiment, and that he was obliged to be very economical, and could not spend much money on the translation, I then asked him what he pro- posed to pay for a literary translation of this ninety thousand word novel. He said ten pounds, but then corrected himself and said that he would pay twelve pounds. I did not say anything except to wish him good morning. I suppose, though, that there are plenty of poor people who would be glad to accept these terms of one farthing a line for a literary translation of a difficult French novel. I am very sorry for them. I was delighted with the déjeziner that Messrs. Charpentier and Fasquelle gave to artistic and literary Paris on Wednesday last in celebration of the conclusion of Zola’s Rougon-Macquart series. There were about two hundred guests, and the déjeiner was held on one of the islands in the lake of the Bois de Boulogne. Zola looked very spruce ina black frock coat, light grey trousers, and a pair of varnished boots. I sat just behind him, next to Jules Jouy, the chansonnier, and opposite to Yvette Guilbert, who, during Char- pentier’s speech, where reference was made to the days of misery which Zola and Madame Zola had passed through, burst into very genuine tears. Zola’s speech in answer to Charpentier was a very touching one. He called his publisher “my old friend,” and said, “if I have not ceased writing you have not ceased publishing,” so that, in sort, as much of the honour was due to the publisher. It was a pleasant sight to see author and publisher sitting side by side united by such bonds of affec- tion. Catulle Mendés made a_ very literary  @ 2 i of the most illustrious glories of France. THE AUTHOR. 55 speech, in which he complimented Zola on his triumph and glory, referred briefly to the old quarrel between the Parnassiens and the Réalistes, and concluded by saying that, whilst he must be allowed to consider poetry as “ wonder- fully superior” to any other form of literature, he was the first to acknowledge that Zola was one Other speeches followed, Zola replying each time. He insisted on the necessity of work, repeating what Balzac wrote in “La Cousine Bette” on the sub- ject of “le travail constant.” The lunch was followed by an open-air concert, at which Jules Jouy, Yvette Guilbert, and Kamhill performed. Clovis Hugues, in conclusion, recited some very sonorous verses in honour of the hero of the day. It was a very Parisian féte, and one was glad to have been present. Zola seemed in fine form, and to be full of work. Still, I thought that one of the orators went rather far in saying that in days to come the production of the Rougon- Macquart pyramid would appear but a charming episode in the author’s career, in face of all the other books that he would eventually produce. I should like to introduce to the notice of English authors who may be desirous of having their works produced in America, the name of a publishing firm, which has only recently started, but which is working on principles which should recommend it to every author’s heart. This is the Cleveland Publishing Company, of 19, Union-square, New York. The principal member of this firm is a lady named Mrs. Cremers, who desires to bring about a revolution in the arrange- ments existing between authors and publishers. The firm pays the highest royalties paid by any firm in America, and has arranged for monthly payments of accounts instead of quarterly or half-yearly settlements. I saw a nasty attack made against this firm in a Scotch evening paper, under the following cir- cumstances. In sending over copies of a book which the firm wished to be reviewed in the English press, a letter was addressed to the editor of each paper to which a book was sent, asking that it might be handed to the critic. This was done because it was thought that the book coming from abroad—it not being tle practice of American firms to send books to English papers for review—it might be overlooked. Nothing, of course, was said in any of these letters to imply that a favourable notice was hoped for. It seemed to me, therefore, very unjust on the part of the correspondent of the paper referred to to qualify a simple act of courtesy on the part of the American firm as “ confounded impudence,” “sharp practice,” “a stale trick to try and obtain favourable notices,’ &c. This was all the more untrue and unjust that the book in question is not for sale in England, and will not be. The next number of La Plume is to be entirely devoted to Victor Hugo, on the occasion of the publication of that magnificent volume of poems, “Toute La Lyre,” which has recently been issued by his literary executors, and in honour of which a banquet was given the other day at Lamardelay’s restaurant. The following number will be devoted to Jules Chéret, the designer of those artistic posters which make the hoardings of Paris the delight of all artists and the envy of the world. I don’t think that a novelist can make a greater mistake than to live out of his country ; and the writers of fiction who do live away from home and who succeed, are most certainly very rare exceptions. To interest one’s public, one must be in touch with their way of thinking, must be able to write of the things and the people that interest them, and to describe the scenes that they wish to hear of. A writer living in a foreign country cannot do this. He is out of sympathy with the people whom he would interest. It is true that he can write about the people in the country which he inhabits, but how very little do foreigners and their ways interest the large public of another country. Ask the average English- man to whom he would rather be introduced, a nice French family or an equally nice English family, and in nine cases out of ten he will vote for his countrymen. It is quite natural. R. H. SHERARD. >< ———__————- TO ARRIGO BOITO. O poet among poets, from a land Where poetry and music take their birth, I, but a humble minstrel, kiss thy hand To greet thee as a king in bardic worth. Thou whose great name, in music and in verse, Is wedded to the greatest names we know, By inspirations lofty, noble, terse, Through which the flashes of thy genius glow. Thou, who hast given Goethe’s soul to song And roused great Verdi to sublimer youth, Shalt fine a royal welcome to prolong Thy praise in peans of surpassing truth. Among the triumphs by thy genius wrought, One here shall chiefly to thy fame be sung, For thou hast clothed our Shakespeare’s wondrous thought In Dante’s musical and magic tongue. Mowsray MARRAS. <6 THE NOTES AND NEWS. Sprigge, the delegates of the Society, sailed in the Etruria on June 10, and arrived off Sandy Hook June 18. It is announced that the Etruria was placed in quarantine. No communications have been received. \ R. WALTER BESANT and Mr. S. S&. _— IT wonder that no enemy of our Society—if our Society can have an enemy outside of Newgate—has pointed out a certain famous Association apparently, but not really, similar to our own, founded, but not firmly established, by Uncle Jack in “ The Caxtons”’ : “From time immemorial,” said Uncle Jack, ‘‘ authors have been the prey of publishers. Sir, authors have lived in garrets; nay, have been choked in the street, by an unex- pected crumb of bread, like the man who wrote the play, poor fellow!” “ Otway,” said my father, “the story is not true—no matter.” “ Milton, sir, as everybody knows, sold ‘ Paradise Lost’ for ten pounds —ten pounds, sir. But the booksellers can live in houses—they roll in seas of gold. They subsist upon authors as vampires upon little children. But at last endurance has reached its limit—the fiat has gone forth— —the toesin of liberty has resounded—authors have burst their fetters. And we have just inaugurated the institu- tion of ‘THe Granp ANTI-PUBLISHER CONFEDERATE Autuors’ Socimty,’ by which, mark you, every author is to be his own publisher ; that is, every author who joins the society. The author brings his book to a select committee appointed for the purpose. They read it; the society publish, and after a modest deduction which goes towards the funds of the society, the treasurer hands over the profits to the author.” In the discussion which follows, all three dis- putants show themselves totally ignorant of the real points at issue. The Society issues a list, and, as everybody remembers, after a_ brief existence, collapses altogether. Lytton may have taken this idea—for it was before the days when Respectability—to use a Lyttonian capital — believed in Co-operation— from the Society of British Authors of the year 1843. Of this miserably abortive attempt Lytton, with. Dickens, Thackeray, Miss Martineau, and other excellent writers, was an original member. But as the measures proposed by the committee were ludicrous in their uselessness they all with- drew. The society never attempted an ‘ Anti- Publishers Confederate Authors’ Society.”” They never even got so far as to inquire into the cost of production, nor to ask whether an author should dare to approach a publisher except as a mendicant. It is quite possible, however, that there was a good deal of wild talk about what AUTHOR. authors could do and should do, but no one ventured to formulate the real grievances of the situation. In less than a year the society ceased to exist. ——— Next, one would like to ask, how far. Bulwer Lytton continues to be popular? I do not suggest, or wish to suggest, that his works are not still popular. But this question is part of a much larger one, viz., how far the changes in ideas and views of things affect the popular novelist in the one or two generations which come after him? Many changes, for instance, have taken place in social matters since Lytton wrote “The Caxtons.’ Things are done and tolerated which were not then permitted—the word “ society,” except in certain circles of which the world knows little, has become greatly en- larged in meaning; the use of the dress coat has been largely extended, as may be seen any evening by a visit to the Empire Theatre; retail trade does no longer, in the eves of some, derogate from gentility. One has only to turn over the leaves of such a social novel as “The Caxtons’’ to become aware of a distinct change in the atmo- sphere. Those of us whoremember that atmosphere are not displeased to be taken back to it. Those who cannot remember it are perhaps irritated by it. Tn the same way and for the same reasons Dickens is said to be losing his hold on the younger gene- ration. One can understand that a novelist may be very popular in his own generation, may lose most of the popularity when the next two genera- tions consider his views old-fashioned, and may recover some of it when they have become historical. There is also, besides the change of manners, a certain staginess about some of the work of the forties and fifties; and there is an affectation of virtue about some of them which, to those who know the life and conversation of the time, is either amusing or irritating. For instance, who in these days—particularly, what man who reads French novels—could write the following ? “Oh,” said Vivian carelessly, “French novels; I don’t wonder you stayed so long. I can’t read your English novels—flat and insipid; there are truth and life here.” “ Truth and life!” cried I, every hair on my head erect with astonishment, ‘then hurrah for falsehood and death !” This brought down the gallery formerly— would it now? Would any young man now pre- tend that his hair was erect with astonishment at such words? In the name of Mr. Burchell, “Fudge!” But as an attempttowards the solution of this question, it would be well to inquire what is the present demand in libraries, compared with that twenty years ago, of the following writers : a = 4 THE AUTHOR. 57 Scott, Marryatt, Lytton, Dickens, Thackeray, Kingsley, Ainsworth, and George Eliot? Not many English readers know of Lucy Larcom, American poet. She died on the 17th of April last at the age of sixty-eight having been born in the year 1825. She was a native of Beverley, Mass., and began life as a mill hand at Lowell. It will be remembered that Charles Dickens spoke with admiration of the activity and courage of the Lowell girls, who, after a day of twelve hours in the mills, could sit down in the evening to study and to write. These girls ran a magazine of their own, to which Lucy Larcom contributed. The Lowell Offering con- tinued for many years. Charles Knight pub- lished a volume of selections from it called “ Mind among the Spindles.” Encouraged by Whittier the girl gave up the mill and taught in a school. Nota great writer, her verses are full of sweetness and delicacy. Here is an extract from “The Prairie Nest: ” Nature, so full of secrets coy, Wrote out the mystery of her joy On those broad swells of Ilinois. Her virgin heart to Heaven was true ; We trusted Heaven and her, and knew The grass was green, the skies were blue. And life was sweet! What find we more In wearying quest from shore to shore ? Ah, gracious memory! to restore Our golden West, its sun, it showers, And that gay little nest of our, Dropped down among the prairie flowers! —=<=—=— The most valuable possession of publishers is the Past. All the old books belong to them. Their authors, from Homer down to Dickens, have no claim or rights in the property they have created. No jealousies are caused by their suc- cessful manipulation of dead and gone authors ; they are only rivals with each other in the exploita- tion of this property ; but the world takes no heed of trade rivalry ; all we are concerned with is the presentation of the property for sale. After this preliminary of commonplace, it is pleasant to recommend altogether the reproduction by J. M. Dent and Co. of “Some Famous Novelists of Bygone Years.” The works of Jane Austen and Thomas Love Peacock are already before the public. They are to be followed by those of the Brontés, Maria Edgeworth, Fielding, Fanny Burney, and Oliver Goldsmith. Miss Edgeworth tells us that her father’s most regular correspondence was with the late excel- lent Joseph Johnson, the bookseller—the man of whom the poet Cowper speaks so frequently in his letters with strong regard. It is worth while to quote a short paragraph from the letter of Johnson’s nephew, announcing his uncle’s death to Mr. Edgeworth: “A short time before he died, he dictated the following words, and soon after expired: My uncle is so afflicted with the spasms and asthma, that he has desired me to write to you, to say, that he should ill deserve your confidence, if he were rigidly to adhere to the contract, which he made for the last work ; the sale of which has enabled him to double the original purchase-money, and to place the sum to the credit of your account.” After Johnson’s death, his nephews sent Edgeworth a copy of his portrait, and Edgeworth wrote these lines under the print : ‘ Wretches there are, their lucky stars who bless Whene’er they find a genius in distress: Who starve the bard, and stunt his growing fame Lest they should pay the value for his name. But Johnson raised the drooping bard from earth. And fostered rising genius from its birth ; His liberal spirit a profession made Of what with vulgar souls, is vulgar trade.” IT have to thank Mr. Alfred F. Robbins for a copy of his article on the “ Writing of Local History,” contributed to the Western Antiquary. In another part of this paper (p. 48) will be found his concluding remarks. Local histories should be multiplied, if they can be written by scholars and antiquaries. Most local histories are perfectly usele-s for any antiquarian or historical purposes. Mr. Robbins points out that there are immense collections of documents hitherto almost untouched. Where they have been only partly examined, as by Prof. Freeman or by Ryley, the past becomes at once changed— changed and glorified. For instance, who has ever examined the Episcopal Registers, the Registers of the Consistory Courts, the wills deposited in the county towns, the Manor Court Rolls? Then there are the MSS. in the Bodleian, in the Record Office, the Domestic State Papers, the masses of private letters, and many other collections at present almost un- known. These all remain practically untouched ; and in them lies the real history of our country. Of one thing we may be quite sure—that the most important branch of literature of the future, from my point of view, will be that of history, for the whole of history will be entirely re-written when these documents have been read, —— The New York Critic has been taking a vote on the ten best American books. The following is  58 the list, with the number of votes which each book attained : Emerson’s Essays, 512 Irving’s Sketchbook, 307 votes votes Hawthorne’s ‘“ Scarlet Lowell’s Poems, 269 votes Letter,” 493 votes Whittier’s Poems, 256 votes Longfellow’s Poems, 444 Wallace’s“ Ben Hur,” 250 votes votes “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” 434 Motley’s “Rise of the votes Dutch Republic,’ 246 Holmes’s “ Autocrat,” 388 votes. votes — ret CORRESPONDENCE. I. Tur Srock-1n-TRADE OF CRITICS. | | NDER the heading, “‘ Attack and Defence,” in the issue of the Author for May, “©. L.” complains with truth of the careless fashion in which so-called reviewers accomplish their duties. In confirmation, he quotes examples of personal injustice which verify his contentions beyond dispute. I have at my elbow scores of notices—by no stretch of leniency can they be called criticisms or reviews—fully bearing out ‘“‘C. L.’s” expe- riences. Without being unduly sensitive, most scribes would, I apprehend, smart under such blows dealt across their long-suffering backs. My literary skin is somewhat tender after much of this anonymous chastisement. I am not, by nature, vindictive; but I do yearn for a tilt against these cruel assailants. Will you open your arena to me fora space? I promise that my thrusts shall be prompt—if possible, deadly. Should they only succeed in knocking up the visors of my opponents, the encounter will not have been without profit. Now, examiners of fiction persistently sneer at the stock-in-trade of us poor novelists. That is the very weapon I would seek to turn against themselves. Does it never occur to these irre- sponsible censors that their own range of style and vocabulary is not immaculate? But for their serious results, the exhibition of slipshod English, tautology, and attempted facetiousness, which trip each other up with quite rollicking inconsistency, would be distinctly humorous. As for cacophony, one’s teeth are set on edge by sentences which would disgrace the constructive abilities of a charwoman. Here are a few examples of the stock-in-trade of critics, taken at random, with which I throw down the gauntlet :— _ “Neither better nor worse than the majority of its competitors;” “A wholesale slaughter of adjectives ;” ‘ Perfectly innocuous;” “A novel THE AUTHOR. with a purpose;” “An insipid production ;” “Nothing, if not conventional ;” ‘Trash ;”’— what would the fault-finders do without that word !—* Padding ;” “ Lack of interest ;”” “‘ Most of the characters are too good to live;” “No concensus ef opinion ever did, or will, put down a good book;” “To gratify the author's vanity,” and so on ad nauseam. : The scorpion’s sting can scarcely be more venomous than this last unkindly gibe. Is not the “vanity” of wishing to see one’s work go forth pardonable when brains, time—alas! some- times money—have been expended in the, at least, praiseworthy endeavour to produce a read- able volume ? What if a novel pleases, Mes- sieurs Snarl? We are not all fashioned in the same mould of criticalacumen. Somebody once genially remarked of one of my efforts, that it might prove an acceptable book to read, though not to criticise. That is the sort of prophecy I like. The great, seldom-at-fault Public is, after all, the true discriminator. Permit me to give a parting lunge of a per- sonal character at an irritating mistake made by many critics. I happen to possess a Christian name which is occasionally, but most rarely, in this form of spelling, common to both sexes. Why, therefore, am I the victim of a foolish blunder which constantly attributes my work to female origin ? That seems to mea genuine author’s grievance which I trust your friendly columns will allow me to ventilate. Crecin CLARKE. Authors’ Club, Whitehall-court. May 17, 1893. Il. THREE CRITICISMS. The editor of a provincial paper writes: “T have successfully written stories for and con- ducted a paper which has become a property. A long story of mine was published in book form, and sold sufficiently well from a second-rate pub- lishing house to pay all expenses and leave a margin of profit during the first twelve months. Here are three specimens of the reviewer's art as published in four leading London papers: The story is garrulous and Here we have a story of jejwne. good rank. It is sufficiently sensational to sustain inte- Murder, madness, and rest, though the author has treachery of all kinds are rampant in the story, and if Mr. Blank would curtail his dialogue and story altogether by one-half, his readers would be more likely to reach the end. not fallen into the error of sacrificing literary and artistic dignity to a desire to be thrilling. The plot is good, the narrative uniformly pleasing and _ occasionally very admirable, and the sketches of character are in every case excellent. Lt THE AUTHOR. 59 By many papers the tale was so unmercifully slated that I wondered how I could keep an ex- pensive family for ten years upon money earned by my pen; buta larger number of reviewers praised the story, and so I was consoled. My next MS. was submitted to the unknown critic of our Society of Authors, and secured the “ slating” prior to publication, with a satisfactory result. That criticism, however, was only educational. I would suggest that the Society’s opinion as to the commercial value of a story should be given in cases where the educational criticism is fairly good. Writing with most of us is a business, and the council of the Society of Authors would do well to recognise this.” IIT. Macponatp v. “ Natrionan Review.” Some of the dailies, in commenting upon the recent suit of Author v. Editor—Macdonald v. New Review—prophesy that publishers will have to come to the American system of paying for manuscripts upon acceptance. Allow me to say, as a contributor to American periodicals, that this payment upon acceptance is by no means the invariable case. The American publishers who pay before publication are the very élite of their profession, and in high honour among contributors. The Century, Harper's, North American Review, Scribner's, the Indepen- dent, and Youths’ Companion, not only pay upon acceptance, but accept (or decline) within two months of receiving a MS. The Atlantic, New England) Magazine, Outing, Frank Leslie’s, Chantangnan, Home Maker, &c., pay upon pub- lication. It is to be said, however, that even in America certain publications are a snare and a delusion to the inexperienced. A “religious” paper in New York accepts MSS., and never pays for them. A periodical in San Francisco, with every pretence of respectability, does not “accept” or yet decline S., but often publishes after many years, and pays—Heaven only knows when ! As an offset to this, let me name the New York Art Interchange (edited and managed by a woman), which every Christmas sends its regular contributors a little “box” of ten dollars. Ishould like to know if there is another such periodical in the world? Certainly La Nouvelle Revue (also managed by a woman) is unlike it. Madame Adam pays five francs the page, and has no knowledge of Christmas-boxes. —Yours truly, Marearer B. Wriaur. IV. REVIEWING. Mr. Halcombe’s letter in the June number of the Author sets one a-thinking about criticism. Is there such a thing as a standard of criticism ? Mr. Halcombe’s experience is, I imagine, that of most authors. Some reviews are favourable, others the reverse. Is criticism a matter of taste or judgment—is it always exercised as a medium for a true opinion, or is it sometimes regarded as an occasion for sarcasm—for a flippant or a well-weighed verdict? Criticism, it appears to me, should be deemed a work of responsibility in which a just judgment should be pronounced, not only in the interests of the author and pub- lisher, but also in the interests of the reading public, It seems strange that if there be a true standard of criticism that a book should be noticed favourably by one critic and unfavourably by another—the favourable and the unfavourable criticism cannot both be in accordance with truth. I speak feelingly, for a volume of poems of mine recently published (“ Poems Old and New”’), reviewed at some length with appreciation in the Atheneum, the Record, and the Globe, &e., 18 very superficially, hastily, and curtly noticed in a late number of the British Weekly. “The poems are imitative,” says this latter publication, “but not unpleasant” (how flattering!), and in proof of his dictum the critic quotes one stanza from a poem called “ Hie.’ (Chis. he says, “is a reminiscence of ‘ Bertha in the Lane,’ the well-known poem by Mrs. Browning.” Now, the only resemblance between the two poems is in the metre. Mrs. Browning’s poem is the pathetic story of the sacrifice made by one sister to secure the happiness of another, told with all the power of the authoress, whereas “Effie” is simply the lament of a father on the death of a child. Can the adop- tion of a certain metre be called “imitative”? Then what poet may not be accused of “imita- tion”? Was Tennyson “imitative” when he used in “In Memoriam” the metre that Rosetti had employed before him in “My Sister’s Sleep”? Is such a criticism in the British Weekly fair or true, and is it not calculated to damage the book, which is thus almost contemptuously noticed, in the eyes of the reader? Hoping that you will permit me to give in the pages of the Author what Mr. Halcombe calls “a downright hearty growl.” CGuarues D, Brix, D.D. Vv. An EXPLANATION. I shall be glad to correct a misapprehension to which my letter in your last issue appears to lend itself. The question between Professor Sanday and myself is not, in its primary aspect, one of theology at all. It is simply one of law. The views which Professor Sanday champions, however generally held, confessedly leave the Gospels, so far as their historical authority is concerned, ‘‘ wounded and half dead.’ On behalf of the Gospels, it is urged that a hearing for the views by which they have been thus discredited, has only been gained by their advo- cates excluding from court the one witness capable of bearing overwhe’ming evidence in their favour. Thus the question is—not as to the character of the results which might follow from the admission of St. John’s evidence, but —whether what is alleged to be such over- whelmingly important evidence can be lawfully excluded, and whether in the meantime accusa- tions against the Gospels—nineteen out of twenty of which must, from the nature of the case, be erroneous—are entitled to the collective value which at present attaches to them. On this point I have no need to seek the appointment of a referee. Already, at length, and under their own names, four persons, as capable and inde- pendent as any referee who could be named, have recorded their verdict on the subject in the pages of one of the first critical journals of the day. I need hardly point out that this is pre- eminently a case in which the opinion of a single competent critic who has taken the trouble to go into the facts of the case, may well outweigh the opinions of a whole theatre of others, who have not cared to resist the vis inertie of a not unnatural incredulity. I submit, then, that whilst it is perfectly open to Professor Sanday to resign the position of a specially retained defender of the Gospels, it is not open to him to retain that position, and yet so to yield to his own theological pessimism as, in spite of all remon- strance, to refuse to them a measure of justice which the law of the land would compel him to accord to the humblest person living under its protection, J. J. Hatcomss, VI. “Tn Puan Fiauregs.” It would be of great convenience to those who purchase books if the price could be marked, as well as the publisher’s and author’s names; and especially to those part of whose duty it is to re- commend books. It is a matter of frequent THE AUTHOR. occurrence to read the review of a book, or even the book itself, and to have no idea of what the price is. It is not likely that booksellers will put up with frequent inquiries on the subject of prices without frequent purchases, succeeding as as agreeable corrective ; nor, in fact, can provin- cial booksellers always answer such inquiries. The method of resorting to postcards and impor- tuning the publishers is open to many objections. If “literary property resembles all other pro- perty,’”’ it has the best chance of a market when its price is put in plain figures. While on this subject, the question of discount is one that authors should enter into; at present it varies rather more than the bank-rate, and not with the market, but with the experience of the pur- chasers. How many who buy books know of dis- count; how many are told, “ We can’t give dis- count on this series’? Writing in one of the biggest libraries in England, established for nearly a century, I believe they still only get 2d. in 1s, discount. Cannot authors mark their books, “ Credit price, 2s.6d.; Discount price, 1s. 11d.” ? Where profits are cut so very fine, booksellers as well as publishers should be dealt with on busi- ness principles. Keneum D. Cores. VII. “ Art THE Epes Git, PLEASE.” The taste for claret, tobacco, olives, caviar— and it would appear for books with rough edges— has to be acquired. When ‘ London City” was published quite a number of letters, couched in language curiously alike, were received from indignant subscribers, complaining that the binding was unfinished, the top edge only being smooth and gilt, while the other edges were in a disgracefully rough state, in fact, quite un- finished. Thad almost forgotten this amusingly irritating correspondence until the other day, when the launching of the companion volume, ‘“ London City Suburbs,” brought in its wake similar complaints, involving elaborate explanations which I felt might be neither understood nor believed. The Leadenhall Press. ANDREW W. TUER. VIII. Tue Ricut oF TRANSLATION. I am much obliged to “H. G. B.” for his explanation of the discrepancy between Article V. of the Berne Convention and Clause 5 of the International Copyright Act, 1886, but am still in doubt and difficulty. The latter clause makes  100% Aah THE AUTHOR. 61 the right of forbidding unauthorised translations co-extensive with copyright in the original work ; but the Order in Council (Nov. 28, 1887) provides that an author shall enjoy no longer term of copyright than he enjoys in the country in which the work is first produced, or in that one of the countries in which it is simultaneously produced wherein the term is shortest. I should be glad to know, under these circumstances, what the boon conferred by the Act in the matter of translations amountsto. Of course, our Act can- not confer on me rights abroad without the con- sent of foreign nations. If I publish an English book in England, have I the right, for at least forty-two years, to forbid the publication here, or - the importation into this country of any transla- tion? Is this right limited by the obligation to produce an authorised translation within ten years? If so, where must I produce it? Further, will my right after ten years to forbid a French translation depend on my having published a French translation? My right to forbid a Dutch translation on my having pub- lished a Dutch translation, and so on? And, if it does, what English author, I should like to know, ever desires, or ever will desire, to produce a translation of his work for circulation in England only? The whole thing seems nonsen- sical. It is astonishing that solemn legislative documents should be drawn so vaguely. F. T. eas “AT THE SIGN OF THE AUTHOR'S HEAD.” T the monthly meeting of the Association A of American Authors, held on May 10, the matter of holding a special meeting to welcome Mr. Walter Besant to America was considered, and was eventually left to the Board of Managers. On June 13 a new literary society was born; a society for the publication of manuscripts and rare old works relating to the navy. A provi- sional committee was appointed to consider what name should be given to the bantling, and to draw up rules for its conduct. They are to report to a general meeting at the Royal United Service Institution, on Tuesday, July 4,at5 p.m. The provisional secretary is Professor J. K. Laughton, who will be glad to give further information to anyone interested in our old naval literature. His address is Catesby House, Manor-road, Barnet. “Lyrics” is the title of a little volume of poems by J. A. Goodchild, which has just been published by Horace Cox. Dr. Goodchild’s verses are distinguished by fluency and grace beyond the majority of modern verses. His rhythms are very varied, and his rhymes ad- mirably accurate. Perhaps the thought is not always entirely worthy of the polished setting. But, now and again, the author strikes a note of strong and definite individuality, as in the following lampoon in the form of a sonnet, upon the vivisectionists : An age of doubt and cavil seeks a sign, Oh! toiler for mankind look back and see Where down the barren slopes of Galilee Soars black the shrieking cataract of swine. Forth from those summits shines the Man Divine, The healed demoniac crouches at his knee. This sign is given to thy day and thee, And Christ performed that duty which is thine. Also, thou hast thy further help ’gainst hate, And fear, andignorance. Watch still that scene. The swine and herds flee, the crowd pours from the gate. The man is naught beside their beasts unclean. Christ is thrust forth. Be not intimidate For any terror of the Gadarene. Another piece worthy of attention is ‘A Deathbed,” in which Dr. Goodchild dramatises a simple scene of unfailing human interest with much simple force. “The Prospects of Irish Literature for the People,” an address delivered before the Irish Literary Society of London, by the Hon. Sir Chas. Gavan Duffy, K.C., M.G., has been reprinted. Mrs. Trench Gascoigne, the author of “La Fenton,” has just completed a new three-volume story, which, under the title of “A Step Aside,” will shortly be published by Horace Cox. “Qyprian Cope,” the author of “Grey of Greysbury,” “ Mad,” “A Traveller’s Notes in the Salzkammersgut,” has written a new novel, which will bear the title of “ At Century’s Ebb,” and will also be published by Horace Cox. Mr. Poultney Bigelow, who has recently made a most successful voyage in his famous canoe, Caribée, down the Moldau, which he joined at Budweis, has been staying at Belleville for the last few weeks. He has proceeded to Gmunden, where he will make a stay of some months. Mr. Bigelow has undertaken to write a sketch of a canoe cruise about Berlin for the Pall Mall Magazine. “A Colony of Mercy; or, Social Christianity at Work,” has just been published by Hodder and Stoughton (crown 8vo., 6s., cloth). The authoress is Miss Julie Sutter. The book has been well received, having had some favourable criticisms in the daily papers. It deals with some of the burning questions of the day.  62 “Mona Maclean, Medical Student,” by Graham Travers (Messrs. W. Blackwood and Son, Edin- burgh), is now in its sixth edition. It is a novel of distinct merit, and should appeal, not only to the ordinary novel reader, but to the thinking public generally. The heroine is a delight ful character, and a thorough gentlewoman. Mr. F. H. Cliffe has a play accepted which will be produced in the autumn at a West End theatre. Another play by the same author will shortly be touring in the provinces. A new volume of verse, by Mr. F. B. Doveton, is in the press, and will shortly be published by Horace Cox. We have to announce the publication at Cheltenham of the “ Portraits of the People,” by J.J. Nunn. The book is nicely printed on good paper, and is altogether a creditable perform- ance. The printer and publisher is Horace Edwards, of High-street, Cheltenham. Annabel Gray has received the following from Mr. Balfour: “Mr. Balfour presents his compliments to Annabel Gray, and begs to thank her. for the article which she has been good enough to send him and which he has read with interest.” The article alluded to is the “ Genius of Wisdom,” which appeared in the Professional World for June. Florence Marryat’s new book, “ Parson Jones,” which Griffith, Farran, and Co. have just published, is the sixtieth work of fiction which she has written since she began in 1865 —twenty-eight years ago. Considering the fact that, during these twenty-eight years, Miss Marryat has been on the stage and on the plat- form, both in England and America, and has done a great deal of work on the press, this is not a bad record of a busy life. Mr. C. Adley, the author of “ Lovely Homes,” &c., has in the press a new poem, “The Einherjai,” which will shortly be published. Miss Jean Middlemass is bringing out a serial story, entitled “In the Shadow of Crime,” in a syndicate of press papers. Dick Donovan, of detective fame, has written a serial for George Newnes, Limited, entitled “Hugtne Vidocq: Tramp, Thief, Adventurer, Galley Slave, Detective.’ It deals with the life and sensational adventures of the notorious Frenchman, who, beginning his career as a thief, became one of the most noted detectives of his day. He subsequently turned lecturer, and there are those still living who will remember the sensation he caused at the London Cosmorama, where thousands flocked to see him. He died as THE AUTHOR. recently as 1857, at the age of eighty-two. We understand that Mr. Donovan has had access to special sources of information. The story will commence publication almost immediately in Tit-Bits, and will be subsequently issued in book form -by George Newnes in this country, and by Harper Bros. in America. Mr. J. E. Muddock is engaged on a new novel, entitled ‘“Hester’s Triumph,” the scenes of which are laid in India during the Mutiny, and deal with some of the most exciting episodes of that terrible period. The author writes from personal experience, as he was stationed in India as a cadet during the Mutiny years. The work will appear first of all in a number of weekly newspapers. Mrs. Stevenson has written a three-volume novel, entitled “Mrs. Elphinstone of Drum,” which has just been published in three-volume form by Messrs. Richard Bentley and Sons. Mr. William Tirebuck, the author of “ Dorrie,” has written a story entitled “ Sweetheart Gwen,” which has just been published by Messrs. Long- mans. “Sweetheart Gwen,” is a Welsh idyll in prose, highly delicate and graceful. Mrs. V. S.Simmons, who, under the pseudonym of V. Schallenberger, wrote the very successful story, “Green Tea,” has just published, through Messrs. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., a new novel, entitled ‘‘Men and Men.” oct Errata. On page 442 in the Author for May the following errata occurred: No. 12, the helpful “live” for “love” in the present; No. 238, “mystical” for “mythical;” No. 28, ‘Silent ” for “silently; No. 32, Science “saves” for “ serves.” In the last line of stanza one of Mr. Doveton’s “The Theft” in the Author for May, the word “summer ” should have been deleted. oo NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. Theology. Home devotions, or praise and Compiled by. Sunday Bartram, RIcHARD. Prayer for use in families. School Association. 2s. Benson, Rev. R. M. ‘The Final Passover: A series of Meditations upon the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascen* Vol. 4. The Life Longmans. 58. sion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Beyond the Grave. Fourth edition.  dat 1 git A wet epi cseeercnmristasai THE AUTHOR. 63 Dr VereE, AUBREY. Religious Problems of the Nineteenth Century. Essays by. Edited by J. G. Wenham. St. Anselm’s Society, Agar-street, Charing-cross. Dunn, Rr. Rev. A. Hunter. Holy thoughts for Quief Moments. Second edition. R. Sutton and Co. 2%. EXELL, Rev. J. S. and Spence, DEAN. mentary, edited by. Kegan Paul. Eyton, Rospert. The Search for God, and other sermons. Kegan Paul. 3s. 6d. GOLDEN TREASURY PsaLTER, THE, being an edition with briefer notes of “ the Psalms Chronologically arranged by Four Friends.” Macmillan. 2s. 6d. net. Hoxsson, Rev. Epwin. From Strength to Strength, a manual of private prayer for home use, compiled, with a preface by the Bishop of Wakefield. Second edition. R. Sutton and Co., Ludgate-hill. ts. Ineram, Rey. A. F. W. 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Exceptional, if not unique, is the ‘ nice little college’ of St. Neot’s. Cambridge men will have little difficulty in recognising this snug refuge of the ‘ploughed.’ . . . An ingenious plot, clever characters, and, above all, a plentiful seasoning of genial wit. . The uxorious master of St. Neot’s is charmingly conceived. If onlyfor his reminiscences of his deceased wives, ‘A Stumble on the Threshold’ deserves to be treasured. . . . We turn over Mr. Payn’s delightful pages, so full of surprises and whimsical dialogue. . . .” Daly NEws: “The dramatic story is told with an excellent wit. It abounds in lively presentation of character and in shrewd sayings concerning life and manners. ‘That study of mankind which is ‘man’ has furnished a liberal educa- tion to this genial humorist. The men and women he pourtrays move before us, as do our friends and acquaintances, distinct individualities, yet each possessed of that reserve of mystery a touch of which in the delineation of human nature, is more convincing than pages of analysis. Needham, Fellow of St. Neot’s, Cambridge—simple, loyal, gently independent—is a beautiful study. The story alternates in its setting between Bournemouth, Cambridge, and some charming spots near the Thames. The description of life in the Alma Mater on the banks of the Cam gives Mr. Payn opportunities for humorous sketches of professors and students, and he shows himself in the light of an excellent raconteur. This part of the narrative furnishes some delightful reading; we seem to be listening to the best talk, incisive, racy, and to the point. Space will not allow us to quote some of the wise and witty sayings, tinged it may be with cynicism, which are the outcome of Mr. Payn’s philosophy of life, and which are not the least entertaining part of this attractive novel.” DAILY CHRONICLE: ‘‘Mr. James Payn is here quite at his usual level all through, and that level is quite high enough to please most people. . . . The character drawing is good. The story of the master sounds strangely like truth. . .« A book to read distinctly.” DAILY GRAPHIC. ‘ . , . The dramatic unity of time, place, and cir- cumstance has never had a more novel setting. . . .” SATURDAY REVIEW: “A very interesting story, and one that excels in clever contrast of character and close study of individualism. . The characters make the impression of reality on the reader. Extremely pleasant are the sketches of University life.” THE WORLD: “The most sensational story which the author has written since his capital novel, ‘By Proxy.’ . - Never flags for a moment.” BLACK AND WHITE. ‘© |, , Ingenious and Original. Mr. Payn knows how to invent and lead up to a mystery.” LEEDS MERCURY: ‘Three more distinctive characters have, perhaps, never been drawn by Mr. James Payn than in Walter Blythe, Robert Grey, and George Needham, Cambridge undergraduates, who figure prominently in ‘A Stumble on the Threshold.’” GLaAsGgow HERALD: “, . , . Mr. Payn’s latest invention in sensational episode; but wild horses will not drag from us a statement of the mystery. It is new and thoroughly original, and worthy of the ingenuity of the loser of Sir Massingberd.” BATLEY REPORTER: “, , . . Is most attractive reading.” HAMPSHIRE TELEGRAPH AND CHRONICLE: ‘‘Mr. James Payn’s latest story, ‘A Stumble on the Threshold,’ which has been the chief attraction in the ‘ Queen’ during the last few months—where, by the way, it was most admirably illustrated—has just been issued in two handsome vols. by Mr. Horace Cox. The story is written in Mr. Payn’s happiest vein; it sparkles with wit, the characters are most unconventional, and the old, old theme is worked out on quite novel lines.” HEREFORD TIMES ‘*‘ With all their sparkle and gaiety, Mr. Payn’s novels would not be complete without the dread Nemesis, mysterious in operation, and casting suspicion for a time on every side but the right one. The novel is thoroughly attractive, and a credit to the practised hand which penned it.” THE OBSERVER: “, . . . Is a characteristic story, remarkably quietly told, always pleasing and satisfying, and pro- viding a startling incident at a moment when everything seems serene.” London: HORACE COX, Windsor House, Bream’s Buildings, H.C. ESR | i a : i jopiecanecor arn 1 72 ADVERTISEMENTS. MESDAMES BRETT & BOWSER, TYPISTS, SELBORNE CHAMBERS, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR. Authors’ MSS. carefully and expeditiously copied, from Is. per 1000 words. Extra carbon copies half price. Refer- ences kindly permitted to Augustine Birrell, Esq., M.P. THE AUTHOR’S HAIRLESS PAPER-PAD. (Tue Leapenuatt Press Lrp., H.C.) ee Contains hairless paper, over which the pen slips with perfect freedom. Siepence each: 58. per dozen, ruled or plain. MIss R. V. GILE, TYPE-WRITING OFFICES, 6, Adam-street, Strand, W.C. $$$» es ———__—_ Authors’ and dramatists’ Work a Speciality. All kinds of MSS. copied with care. Extra attention given to difficult hand-writing and to papers or lectures on scientific subjects. Type-writing from dictation. Shorthand Notes taken and transcribed. FURTHER PARTICULARS ON APPLICATION. MRS. GiLegE, TYPE-WRITING OFFICE, 35, LUDGATE HILL, E.C. (ESTABLISHED 1883.) Authors’ MSS. carefully copied from 1s. per 1000 words. Plays, &c., 1s. 8d. per 1000 words. Extra copies (carbon) supplied at the rate of 4d, and 8d. per 1000 words. Type-writing from dictation 2s. 6d. per hour. Reference kindly permitted to Walter Besant, Esq. Miss PATTEN, TYPIST, 44, Oakley Street Flats, Chelsea, S.W. Authors’ MSS. carefully transcribed. References kindly permitted to George Augustus Sala, Esq., Justin Huntly McCarthy, Esq., and many other well-known Authors. Hire- Proof Safe for MSS. Particulars on Application. TICKPHAST- BUY, BEG, } PASTE. 6d. and 1s. BORROW, or STEAL. LITERARY PRODUCTIONS OF EVERY DESCRIPTION AREFULLY REVISED and CORRECTED on Mode- rate Terms by the Author of ‘‘ The Queen’s English up to Date” (see Press Opinions), price 2s. Address ‘“ Anglophil,’ Literary Revision Office, 342, Strand, W.C. TWENTY-FIFTH ISSUE. Now ready, super-royal 8vo., price 15s., post free. CROCKFORD'S CLERICAL DIRECTORY E'OFe Being a Statistical Book of Reference for Facts relating to the Clergy in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and the Colonies, WITH A FULLER INDEX RELATING TO PARISHES AND BENEFICES THAN ANY- EVER YET ‘ GIVEN TO THE PUBLIC. 1893. LONDON HORACE COX, WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM’S BUILDINGS, E.C. “? COX’s ARTS OF READING, WRITING, AND SPEAKING. LETTERS TO A LAW STUDENT. Byr THE DATS MR. SHRIBANT COX. RE-ISSUE (SIXTH THOUSAND). PRICE 7s. 6d. LONDON: HORACE COX, ‘LAW TIMES” OFFICE, WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM’S BUILDINGS, E.C. Printed and Published by Horacz Cox, Windsor House, Bream’s-buildings, London, E.C. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 04 Issue 02 (July 1893) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 04 Issue 02 (July 1893) Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1893-07-01-The-Author-4-2 publications The Author https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/453/1893-08-01-The-Author-4-3.pdf fadae7a5f249311b04f3b521a3d10d9a PDF Text Text ������������������������������������ Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em> Description An account of the resource A digitised run of the Society of Authors' monthly periodical, <em>The Author</em>, 1890<span>–</span>1914, made available together for the first time.<br /><br />Currently users can browse issues and <a href="https://historysoa.com/items/browse?search=&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&amp;advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Index&amp;collection=&amp;type=&amp;tags=&amp;exhibit=&amp;date_search_term=&amp;submit_search=Search+For+Items&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle">indices</a> (not available for all volumes). Full text search for all issues, and other additional search functionality, will be added in 2022. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1890–1914 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context The-Author-Issues Publication Date The date of an event (in YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD format) 1893-08-01 Volume 4 Issue 3 Pages Page range in volume 73–108 Ngram Date Version of the date in YYYYMMDD format for use by the Ngram plugin 18930801 Ngram Text Version of the text with no HTML formatting for use by the Ngram plugin The HMutbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vou. IV.—No. 3.] AUGUST 1, 1893. [PRicE SIXPENCE. CONTENTS. PAGE | PAGE Warnings and Notices See es ee as oe ee age Guy de Maupassant ... ae oe ies a cas ae ise eae: Lterary Property— Feuilleton. ‘tA Method of Advertisement” ... ae os ae UE 1.—Editor and Contributor ... ies ee Ae gee Shean So-So Sociology aes ee a Sg ae Se oe en 206 s ; 2.—Editorial Announcements ae ea er we wets A Bridesong of Britain Bs tbe tee aes ay oy yee OF 3.—The Ethics of Mutilation ... ‘ a oa eae Ses ke Correspondence— 4.—Authors and Editors See are see oe eae see oO 1.—Payment for Interviews... oe SS a wae ee 8 A Hard Case. ‘The L. P. A. Limited” a es se 00 2.—Copyright in New Zealand i ne ise ane wee, C98 Omnium Gatherum for August ... ees aes ae ae tee SOE What the Papers Say— American Notes and News. By the Editor ... acs ses Bee. | 1,.—The Preternatural Story... oe Ses ae fe sae 90 The Congress of Authors ... cae ae te ace ee ce oe 2.—Withdrawn from Circulatien ... ay ar cue ces oo Notes and News te cae se aye nee eee oe Gow (ae At the Sign of the Author’s Head oe ae Lae Ses ne 99 Notes from Paris... ne ag ots ee as sre ae 0 New Books and New Editions... BE ue ae oon wow LOT PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. The Annual Report. That for January 1892 can be had on application to the Secretary. 9. The Author. A Monthly Journal devoted especially to the protection and maintenance of Literary Property. Issued to all Members. 3. The Grievances of Authors. (The Leadenhall Press.) 1s.. The Report of three Meetings on the general subject of Literature and its defence, held at Willis’s Rooms, March, 1887. 4. Literature and the Pension List. By W. Morris Coxxss, Barrister-at-Law. (Henry Glaisher, g5, Strand, W.C.) 3s. 5. The History of the Société des Gens de Lettres. By S. Squire Spricex, late Secretary to the Society. Is. 6. The Cost of Production. In this work specimens.are jiven of he most important forms of type, size of page, &c., with estimates showing what it costs =, --- ‘xe more common kinds of books. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 2s. 6d. 7. The Various Methods of Publication. By S. Squrrz Sprices. In this work, compiled from the papers in the Society’s offices, the various forms of agreements proposed by Publishers to ‘Authors are examined, and their meaning carefully explained, with an account of the various kinds of fraud which have been made possible by the different clauses in their agreements. Henry Glaisher, 95, Strand, W.C. 3s. 8. Copyright Law Reform. An Exposition of Lord Monkswell’s Copyright Bill now before Parlia- ment. With Extracts from the Report of the Commission of 1878, and an Appendix containing the Berne Convention and the American Copyright Bill, By J. M.Lrny. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1s. 6d. 9, The Society of Authors. A Record of its Action from its Foundation. By Water Besant (Chairman of Committee, 1888—1892). 1s.  74 ADVERTISEMENTS. The Society of Authors (Sncorporated). PRESIDENT. GHORGH MBREDITHEH,. COUNCIL. Sir Epwin ARNOLD, K.C.LE., C.8.1. ALFRED AUSTIN. J. M. BARRIE. A. W. A Beckett. RoseErt BATEMAN. Sir Henry Berens, K.C.M.G. WALTER BESANT. AUGUSTINE BIRRELL, M.P. R. D. BuAcKMORE. Rev. Pror. Bonney, F.R.S. Rieut Hon. James Bryce, M.P. Hatt CAINE. EGERTON CASTLE. P. W. CLAYDEN. EDWARD CLODD. W. Morris Cougs. Hon. JoHN COLLIER. W. Martin Conway. F. Marion CRAWFORD. Austin DoBson. A. W. Duzsoura. EpMuND GossE. Tuomas Harpy. J. M. Lety. OswALD CRAWFURD, C.M.G. THE EARL or DEsaRT. J. Exic Exnicusen, F.R.S. Pror. MicHasEt Foster, F.R.S. Rieut Hon. HERBERT GARDNER, M.P. RICHARD GARNETT, LL.D. H. Riper HaGearp. JEROME K. JEROME. RupyYaRD KIpPuina. Pror. E. Ray Lanxestsr, F.R.S. Rev. W. J. Lortie, F.S.A. Pror. J. M. D. MEIKLEJOHN. Herman C. MERIVALE. Rev. C. H. MippLETON- WAKE. Lewis Morris. Pror. Max MULLER. J.C. PARKINSON. Tue Ear. oF PEMBROKE AND Mont- GOMERY. Sir FREDERICK PoLiock, Bart., LL.D. Wa.rerR HERRIES POLLOCK. A. G. Ross. GEoRGE AUGUSTUS SALA. W. Baptiste Scoonzs. G. R. Sms. S. SqurrE SPRIGGE. J. J. STEVENSON. Jas. SULLY. WiuurAm Moy THOMAS. H. D. Traut, D.C.L. Baron HENRY DE WoRMS, F.RB.8. EpMuUND YATES. M.P., Hon. Counsel—E. M. UNDERDOWN, Q.C. Solicitors—Messrs Freu~p, Roscor, and Co., Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Secretary—G. Herpert THRING, B.A. OFFICES. 4, Portugan StrEEet, Lincoin’s Inn Freips, W.C. Now ready, Third Edition, with Additions throughout, in demy 8vo., 700 pages, price 15s. AN ANECDOTAL HISTORY OF THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT, From the Earliest Periods to the Present Time. WITH NOTICES OF EMINENT PARLIAMENTARY MEN, AND EXAMPLES OF THEIR ORATORY. CoMPILED FROM AUTHENTIC SOURCES BY GHORGEH BBW ERY JEN NiNGe. CONTENTS. Part I.—Riseand Progress of Parliamentary Institutions. Part II.—Personal Anecdotes: Sir Thomas More to John Morley. Part III.—Miscellaneous. 1. Elections. 2. Privilege; Ex- clusion of Strangers; Publication of Debates. 3. Parliamentary Usages, &c. 4. Varieties. Apprnprx.—(A) Lists of the Parliaments of England and of the United Kingdom. (B) Speakers of the House of Commons. (C) Prime Ministers, Lord Chancellors, and Secretaries of State from 1715 to 1892. Opinions of the Press ‘¢The work, which has long been held in high repute as a repertory of good things, is more than ever rich in doth instruction and amuse- ment. ’—Scotsman. ‘Tt is a treasury of useful fact and amusing anecdote, and in its latest form should have increased popularity.”—Globe. ‘“‘Tts advantage to those who are seeking seats in Parliament, or who may have occasion to assist as speakers during the electoral campaign, is incumparable.”—Sala’s Journal. of the Present Edition. “Tt is a work that possesses both a practical and an historical value, and is altogether unique in character.”—Kentish Observer. ‘We can heartily recommend this work to the politician, whatever may be his party leanings.”—wNorthern Echo. ‘Here we have the whole company of Parliamentary ge siege past and present, reduced to puppets, so to speak, and made to repeat their best and most approved rhetorical performances for our leisurely entertainment, which is not less enjoyable from being allied with edification.” —Liverpool Courier. = Orders may now be sent to HORACE COX “Law Times Office,” Windsor House, Bream’s-buildings, E.C.  cuaaatal The HMutbor. (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.) CONDUCTED BY WALTER BESANT. Vou. IV.—No. 3.] AUGUST 1, 1893. [PRIcE SIXPENCE. For the Opinions expressed in papers that are signed or initialled the Authors alone are responstble. None of the papers or para- graphs must be taken as expressing the collective opinions of the committee unless they are officially signed by G. Herbert Thring, sec. 1. Secretary of the Society begs to give notice that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post, and requests that all members not receiving an answer to important communications within two days will write to him without delay. All remittances should be crossed Union Bank of London, Chancery-lane, or be sent by registered letter only. FP Oe AGREEMENTS. T is not generally understood that the author, as the vendor, has the absolute right of drafting the agree- ment upon whatever terms the transaction is to be carried out. Authors are strongly advised to exercise that right. Inevery other form of business, the right of drawing the agreement rests with him who sells, leases, or has the control of the property. pe WARNINGS. EADERS of the Author and members of the Society are earnestly desired to make the following warnings as widely known as possible. They are based on the experience of nine years’ work by which the dangers to which literary property is especially exposed have been discovered :— 1. SeriaL Ricurs.—In selling Serial Rights stipulate that you are selling the Serial Right for one paper at a certain time only, otherwise you may find your work serialized for years, to the detriment of your volume form. VOL. IV. 2. Stamp YouR AGREEMENTS. — Readers are most URGENTLY warned not to neglect stamping their agreements immediately after signature. If this precaution is neglected for two weeks, a fine of £10 must be paid before the agree- ment can be used as a legal document. In almost every case brought to the secretary the agreement, or the letter which serves for one, is forwarded without the stamp. The author may be assured that the other party to the agree- ment never neglects this simple precaution. The Society, to save trouble, undertakes to get all the agreements of members stamped for them at no expense to themselves except the cost of the stamp. 3. ASCERTAIN WHAT A PROPOSED AGREEMENT GIVES TO BOTH SIDES BEFORE SIGNING 1T.—Remember that an arrangement as to a joint venture in any other kind of busi- ness whatever would be instantly refused should either party refuse to show the books or to let it be known what share he reserved for himself. 4. Lirerary AGENTS.—Be very careful. You cannot be too careful as to the person whom you appoint as your agent. Remember that you place your property almost un- reservedly in his hands. Your only safety is in consulting the Society, or some friend who has had personal experience of the agent. Do not trust advertisements alone. 5. Cost oF PrRopucTion.-—Never sign any agreement of which the alleged cost of production forms an integral part, until you have proved the figures. 6. CHoiIck or PuBLISHERS.—Never enter into any cor- respondence with publishers, especially with those who ad- vertise for MSS., who are not recommended by experienved friends or by this Society. 7. FUTURE Worxk.—Never, on any account whatever, bind yourself down for future work to anyone. 8. Royaury.—Neyer accept any proposal of royalty until you have ascertained what the agreement, worked out on both a small and a large sale, will give to the author and what to the publisher. g. PersonaL Risx.—Never accept any pecuniary risk or responsibility whatever without advice. 10. Resyectrep MSS.—Never, when a MS. has been re- fused by respectable houses, pay others, whatever promises they may put forward, for the production of the work. 11. AmeRicAN Riauts.—Never sign away American rights. Keep them by special clause. Refuse to sign any agreement containing a clause which reserves them for the publisher, unless for a substantial consideration. If the publisher insists, take away the MS. and offer it to another. G2 ti ti AES EE SSRIS 76 THE 12. CEssion oF CopyRigHT.—Never sign any paper, either agreement or receipt, which gives away copyright, without advice. 13. ADVERTISEMENTS.—Keep control over the advertise- ments, if they affect your returns, by a clause in the agree- ment. Reserve a veto. If you are yourself ignorant of the subject, make the Society your adviser. 14. Never forget that publishing is a business, like any other business, totally unconnected with philanthropy, charity, or pure love of literature. You have to do with business men. Be yourself a business man. Society’s Offices :— 4, PoRTUGAL STREET, Lincoun’s INN FIELDS. pec HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY. 1. Every member has a right to advice upon his agree- ments, his choice of a publisher, orany dispute arising inthe conduct of his business or the administration of his pro- perty. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion frem the Society’s solicitors. If the case is such that Counsel’s opinion is desirable, the Committee will obtain for him Counsel’s opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publisher’s agreements do not generally fall within the experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not seruple to use the Society first—our solicitors are continually engaged upon such questions for us. 3. Send to the office copies of past agreements and past accounts with the loan of the books represented. This isin order to ascertain what has been the nature of your agree- ments, and the results to author and publisher respectively so far. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The infor- mation thus obtained may prove invaluable. 4. If the examination of your previous business trans- actions by the Secretary proves unfavourable, you should take advice as to a change of publishers. 5. Before signing any agreement whatever, send the pro- * posed document to the Society for examination. 6. The Society is acquainted with the methods, and—in the case of fraudulent houses—the tricks of every publish- ing firm in the country. Remember that there are certain houses which live entirely by trickery. 7. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the indepen- dence of the writer. 8. Send to the Editor of the Author notes of everything important to literature that you may hear or meet with. 0 AUTHOR. THE AUTHORS’ SYNDICATE. EMBERS are informed : 1. That the Authors’ Syndicate takes charge of the business of members of the Society. With, when necessary, the assistance of the legal advisers of the Syndi- cate, it concludes agreements, collects royalties, examines and passes accounts, and generally relieves members of the trouble of managing business details. 2. That the expenses of the Authors’ Syndicate are defrayed mainly out of the commission charged on rights placed through its intervention. This charge is reduced to the lowest. possible amount compatible with efficiency. In consequence of the immense number of MSS. received, it has become necessary to charge a small booking fee to cover postage and porterage expenses, in all cases where there is no current account. 3. That the Authors’ Syndicate works for none but those members of the Society whose work possesses a market value. : 4. That the business of the Syndicate is not to advise members of the Society, but to manage their affairs for them. 5. That the Syndicate can only undertake arrangements of any character on the distinct understanding that those arrangements are placed exclusively in its hands, and that all negotiations relating thereto are referred to it. 6. That clients can only be seen personally by appoint- ment, and that, when possible, at least four days’ notice should be given. The work of the Syndicate is now so heavy, that only a limited number of interviews can be arranged. 7. That every attempt is made to deal with the corre- spondence promptly, but that owing to the enormous number of letters received, some delay is inevitable. That stamps should, in all cases, be sent to defray postage. 8. That the Authors’ Syndicate does not invite MSS. without previous correspondence, and does not hold itself responsible for MSS. forwarded without notice. 9. The Editor will be glad to receive the titles of pub- lished novels available for second right serial use. It is announced that, by way of a new departure, the Syndicate has undertaken arrangements for lectures by some of the leading members of the Society; that a “Transfer Department,” for the sale and purchase of journals and periodicals, has been opened ; and that a “ Register of Wants and Wanted ” has been opened. Terms on application to the Manager. There is an Honorary Advisory Committee, whose services will be called upon in any case of dispute or difficulty. It is perhaps necessary to state that the members of the Advisory Committee have no pecuniary interest whatever in the Syndicate. NOTICES. HE Editor of the Author begs to remind members of the Society that, although the paper is sent to them free of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 6s. 6d. subscription for the year.  THE The Editor is always glad to receive short papers and communications on all subjects connected with literature from members and others. Nothing can do more good to the Society than to make the Author complete, attractive, and interesting. Will those who are willing to aid in this work send their names and the special subjects on which they are willing to write? Communications for the Author should reach the Editor not later than the 21st of each month. All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish. Members and others who wish their MSS. read are requested not to send them to the Office without previously communicating with the Secretary. The utmost practicable despatch is aimed at, and MSS. are read in the order in which they are received. It must also be distinctly under- stood that the Society does not, under any circumstances, andertake the publication of MSS. The Authors’ Club is now open in its new premises, at 3, Whitehall-court, Charing Cross. Address the Secretary for information, rules of admission, &c. Will members take the trouble to ascertain whether they have paid their subscriptions for the year? If they will do this, and remit the amount, if still unpaid, or a banker’s order, it will greatly assist the Secretary, and save him the trouble of sending out a reminder. Members are most earnestly entreated to attend to the warning numbered (7). It is a most foolish and a most disastrous thing to bind yourself to anyone for a term of years. Let them ask themselves if they would give a solicitor the collection of their rents for five years to come, whatever his conduct, whether he was honest or dishonest? Of course they would not. Why then hesitate for a moment when they are asked to sign themselves into literary bondage for three or five years P Those who possess the “Cost of Production” are requested to note that the cost of binding has advanced 15 per cent. This means, for those who do not like the trouble of “doing sums,” the addition of three shillings in the pound on this head. In other words, if the cost of binding is set down in our book at eight pounds, to this must now be added twenty-four shillings more, so that it now stands at £9 4s. The figures in our book are as near the exact truth as canbe procured; but a printer’s, or a binder’s, bill is so elastic a thing that nothing more exact can be arrived at. Some remarks have been made upon the amount charged in the “ Cost of Production” for advertising. Ofcourse, we have not included any sums which may be charged for inserting advertisements in the publisher's own magazines, or in other magazines by exchange. As agreements too often go, there is nothing to prevent the publisher from sweeping the whole profits of a book into his own pocket, by inserting any number of advertisements in his own magazines, and by exchanging with others. Some there are who call this a form of fraud; it is not known what those who practise this method of swelling their own profits eall it. Oe AUTHOR. 77 LITERARY PROPERTY. I. Epiror AND CONTRIBUTOR. HERE is one point touching literary pro- perty which is of great importance, and which has never been satisfactorily settled, namely, the return or non-return of rejected manu- scripts. On many occasions both parties are in the wrong. The editor screens himself behind a notice hidden away somewhere among the advertisement columns of his paper. The contributor is careless in sending up his name and address or the necessary stamped envelopes. In a properly organised business establishment there should be no difficulty. It seems to be entirely and absolutely unfair that a contributor should be bound by a notice that he has never seen. Many contributions are sent without any reference to the columns of the paper. Under these circumstances, is a contri- butor bound? It is to be hoped not. Tf a contribution is sent wittingly and with full information, there can be no doubt on whom the onus lies. Take, however, another not uncommon case. An editor writes, saying he would be glad to read any contribution forwarded from A. B.—this editor having a “ no-responsibility ” notice in his paper.—A. B. sends a contribution and does not get it returned. On repeated application, the editor retires behind the notice. Is he respon- sible ? This is the editor’s weakness. It is counter- balanced by the contributor’s carelessness. He forwards an MS. under a pen-name. He writes under his own. No stamped and ad- dressed envelope is inclosed. Worse still, the MS. is forwarded without name, without address, no stamped envelope is enclosed, and often no stamps. Under these circumstances, notice or no notice, the editor’s responsibility is enormously lessened, but is he not still liable as the most irresponsible of legal bailees, however such an individual may be defined ? The following is thrown out as a suggestion: All MSS. received by an editor with insufficient or no address should be carefully and orderly placed aside (not in the paper basket), and upon application being made by a faulty contributor, he should pay a search fee, say of 2s. 6d.,and the stamps for postage in addition, if the MS. is found. Seeeaenee eer i 18 THE AUTHOR. This fee would cover any expense the editor might be put to, and would save many and many miserable disputes as undignified on the part of the editor as they are irritating to the author. Another suggestion would be an MS. clearing house. This, however, requires combination, and, from a chemical point of view, editors and pub- lishers are not combinable. Il. Epirror1aL ANNOUNCEMENTS. It might be of some advantage to the readers of the Author to have a few of these notices placed before them. The subjoined are a promiscuous collection from all sorts and conditions of periodicals, and may therefore be of more use from their variety than if they had been more carefully gathered and assorted. It will be observed that some notices, while inviting the contributions, at the same time state that the Editor is not and will not hold himself responsible. Some papers will not be responsible for acci- dental loss. Others will not be responsible at all. Others only if certain conditions are regarded. There are a few that acknowledge MSS.—a courteous avowal. The reader is, however, left to judge for himself. The Times, To CoRRESPONDENTS.—No notice can be taken of anony- mous communications. Whatever is intended for insertion must be authenticated by the name and address of the writer, not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. We cannot undertake to return rejected communications. Advertisers are requested not to send stamps. Post-office orders to be made payable to Mr. George Edward Wright, at the Chief Office. The Lancet. Eprroriat Norice.—It is most important that com- munications relating to the Editorial business of the Lancet should be addressed exclusively “To the Editors,” and not in any case to any gentleman who may be supposed to be connected with the Editorial staff. It is urgently necessary that attention be given to this notice. It is especially requested that early intelligence of local events having a medical interest, or which it is desirable to bring under the notice of the profession, may be sent direct to this office. Lectures, original articles, and reports should be written on one side only of the paper. Letters, whether intended for insertion or for private information, must be authenticated by the names and addresses of their writers, not necessarily for publication. Local papers containing reports or news paragraphs should be marked and addressed “ To the Sub- Editor.’ We cannot undertake to return MSS. not used. Saturday Review. Noricz.— We beg leave to state that we cannot return rejected Communications ; and to this rule we can make no exception, even if stamps for return of M8. are sent. The Editor must also entirely decline to enter into correspon- dence with the writers of MSS. sent in and not acknow- ledged. The following note is now added to all proofs. ‘‘ Please note that the sending of the Proof does not carry with it any Contract that the Article will either be accepted or published.” Athenzeum. No notice can be taken of anonymous communications. Daily Graphic. Sketches have been received from J. S. N., Croydon ; F. D., Limerick; T. H. L., York; J. J., Newcastle ; W. Cc. M., Dublin; A. G. W., Barbadoes; A. D. MedJ., Stirling; L. E. L., Greenock; H. S., Leeds; F. A. F., London Wall, B.C.; R. J. C. T., Lancaster ; J. MeM., Bel- fast; A. E. H., Edinburgh ; R., Brighton; M., Bros.,, Cheapside, E.C.; J. M., New Bridge-street, E.C.; H. W., Upper ,Norwood, 8.E.; E. C. M., Birmingham; P. O., Bristol; M. D., Paris; M. I., Cowes; S. and Son, Read- ing; C. H. M. J., Cannes; E. A. §5., Blandford; C. R., Gateshead; G. G., Tunbridge Wells; T. J. B., Ashbourne ;. F. W., Crouch End, N. Notice To ConrripuTors.—The Proprietors cannot: hold themselves responsible for loss of or damage to MSS., sketches, or other contributions arising from any cause: whatever. A sufficiently stamped and directed envelope must accompany contributions where their return is. desired. The Strand Magazine has no notice. London Society. Notice To CoRRESPONDENTS.—MSS. sent to Editor should bear the name and address of the writer, and must be accompanied in all cases by a stamped directed envelope, for their return if unsuitable. Copies should be kept of all articles. Every care is taken of the papers forwarded by correspondents, but no responsibility is assumed in case of accident. The Editor cannot undertake to return rejected poems. All communications should be addressed to the Editor of London Society, to the care of Belgravia. To CoRRESPONDENTS.—All MSS. should be addressed, prepaid, to the Editor of Belgravia, 31, Southampton-street, Strand, W.C. Every MS. should bear the writer’s name and address, and be accompanied by postage stamps for its return if not accepted; but the Editor cannot hold himself responsible for any accidental loss The editor cannot undertake to return rejected poems. Answers. “Pur Monry IN THY PursE.”—One guineaacolumnispaid for original contributions to Answers. Short, bright articles, dealing with strange occupations and curious phases of life, are the most acceptable. No copied matter of any kind is. required. Payment is made immediately upon acceptance. MSS. are not read unless they are accompanied by a large fully stamped addressed envelope for return, and in no case are MSS. returned unless this rule is complied with. <A de- claration of originality must be enclosed with every contri- bution. Contributors must write on one side of the paper only. The full name and address of the author must be written upon the MS. itself. Short contributions are much more frequently accepted than long ones. Articles must not exceed 1400 words in length. All contributions to be addressed to Answers, Manuscript Department, 108, Fleet- street, E.C. Wuy Don’r you ComprTs ?—One guinea is sent every  THE AUTHOR. 79 week to the person who sends in the best “storyette,” written on a postcard. The anecdote may be original or selected ; but, if not original, the source from which the story is copied must be named. No religious anecdotes will be accepted. The name and address of the sender must be written plainly at the bottom of the postcard. Answers reserves the right to use any anecdote sent in. Westminster Gazette. Notice To Conrrisurors.—The Editor of the West- minster Gazetle cannot hold himself responsible in any case for the return of MS. or sketches. He will, however, always be glad to consider any contributions, literary or pictorial, which may be submitted to him; and when post- age stamps are enclosed every effort will be made to return rejected contributions promptly. Piccadilly. The Editor cannot be responsible for the safety or return of manuscripts forwarded for approval. Subscribers are particularly requested to forward all communications con- cerning changes of address or additional copies to the Publisher. All communications for the Editorial Depart- ment of Piccadilly should be addressed to the Editor, 248, Craven-street, Strand (end of Northumberland Avenue, opposite the Hotel Métropole). Black and White. Notice To ContriputTors.—The Editor of Black and White does not in any case hold himself responsible for the return of rejected contributions. He is, however, always glad to consider MSS. and sketches; and, where stamps are enclosed, every effort will be made to return rejected contri- butions promptly. Sala’s Journal. The Editor cannot undertake to return unsolicited contri- butions ; therefore all authors forwarding MSS. to Sala’s Journal are earnestly requested to keep copies thereof. The Idler. To Conrrisutors. — Contributions are invited, and receive immediate consideration. Stories and articles sub- mitted should be short. All MSS. (type-written preferred) should be addressed to the Editors, Talbot House, Arundel- street, London, W.C. Every MS. should bear the writer’s name and address, and be accompanied by stamped envelope for its return if not accepted. The Editors cannot hold themselves responsible for any accidental loss. The Builder. All statements of facts, lists of tenders, &c., must be accompanied by the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for publication. We are compelled to decline pointing out books and giving addresses. Note. — The responsibility of signed articles, and papers read at public meetings, rests, of course, with the authors. We cannot undertake to return rejected communications. Letters or communications (beyond mere news-items) which have been duplicated for other journals, are not desired. All com- munications regarding literary and artistic matters should be addressed to the Editor; those relating to advertise- ments and other exclusively business matters should be addressed to the Publisher, and not to the Editor. The Hospital. Noricz To CoRRESPONDENTS.—AILl MS., letters, books for review, and other matters intended for the Editor should be addressed The Editor, The Lodge, Porchester-square, London, W. The Editor cannot undertake to return rejected MS., even when accompanied by stamped directed envelope. St. James’s Gazette. The Editor cannot undertake to hold himself responsible for the return of rejected contributions. The Rural World. Norice.—All communications of a literary character for publication in The Rural World should be written upon one side of the paper only ; be addressed to the Editor, 95, Colmore-row, Birmingham; be accompanied by the name and address of the writers, and reach that office not later than the first post on Wednesday. The Guardian. The Editor is not necessarily responsible for the opinions expressed in signed articles, or in articles marked ‘“ Com- municated ”’ or ‘‘ From a Correspondent.” Novice TO CoORRESPONDENTS.—The very frequent dis- regard of our rule about the return of MSS. compels us to restate it in a slightly different form:—No MS. can be returned unless a stamped and addressed envelope is sent in the same cover as that which contains the MS. Stamps alone, or a stamped and addressed envelope sent afterwards or in another cover, are not sufficient. ‘Health. Notice TO WRITERS OF ARTICLES.—AII articles sent to the Editor of Health must be accompanied by stamps to ensure their return in case of rejection. It must be dis- tinctly understood that the Editor and Proprietor do not hold themselves responsible for the loss of rejected commu- nications. ITI, Tur Eruics or Mvuriiation. An author, of the sex usually victimised in such cases, had a work accepted some years ago by a “religious sweating establishment,” and received for it the modest sum of £10. It sold well, which presumably benefited its publishers, though it made no difference to her; but, not content with their profits from its production m its original form, they have since republished it with a new title and in a totally different cover, the author not being either consulted or remune- rated further. We are not concerned with the position of a purchaser of the work in question who, already owning it, parts with his money under the impression that he is buying a new book, that is a matter which rests between him and the publisher. As to the position of the lady, we can only say that, if she has parted with the copyright of her book without securing any dis- tinct agreement as to the conditions under which it was to be published, she has acted in exact con- trariety to the advice which we unceasingly reiterate in these columns. It seems clear, from the judgment given in the case of Lea v. Gibbings, that an author thus circumstanced has only one remedy, and that is, damages in a libel action for detriment to reputation. If, however, the book is published anonymously, it would be very difficult to show direct damage. The conclu-  sors secs 80 THE AUTHOR. sion must, it seems, be drawn, therefore, that, under the above circumstances, the writer has no redress. — IV. AvurHors AND EpITors. The late Auguste Barbier wrote a sort of ‘one book” (among several others) called ‘“‘ Iambes,” which was all the rage in Paris about 1830. chiefly, of course, for its political acridity of satire. Dentu was the publisher of these Tambics, and the poems were republished by him in 1837, 1864, 1872, and so on. But Dentu’s being defunct, the business was bought by Capel, Goupil, et Cie., who proceeded in ordinary course of trade to bring out another edition, on their own behalf, upon the occasion of Barbier’s death, which occurred not long since. But the poet’s heirs objected, and pleaded that, in default of any stipulation to the contrary, an agreement between author and editor has a character strictly personal to each of those par- ties thereto. This view has now been confirmed by the French commercial courts, and the con- tract of Barbier with Dentu is classed under the exceptions in Art. 1122 of the Civil Code ; one of the grounds of the judgment being that the author chooses his publisher, for his own personal reasons, aS a quasi-collaborator ; whereas the reputation and acts of any substituted publisher might be morally and materially damaging to the book and its success. Another equitable point laid down, is that it would be impossible to subject any author and his works to all the successive transfers to which the business of a publisher is commercially ex- posed. The court decided, therefore, that Auguste Barbier only treated intuitu persone with Edouard Dentu; and the latter’s successors are enjoined not to issue any new edition or any new print (tirage) of Barbier’s “Iambes”’ on penalty of £8 for every ascertained contra- vention. This is a most important decision, as bearing upon the often-canvassed case of a publisher’s bankruptcy. Until something definite be done here for the protection of the only property the law deserts, perhaps it would be well for each agreement to be made personal to A. B. and C. D., the author and his chosen publisher, sub- ject to the subsequent power of the author to continue the contract with the publisher’s suc- cessor. J. ON. A HARD CASE. «Tye L. P. A. Limrrep.” CERTAIN Literary Publishing Associa- A tion Limited is engaged in the production of a monthly journal. As the journal ig not of much interest to the public, it natu- rally does not pay, and is soon on the verge of failure. The L. P. A. Limited thereupon looks round on the gullible and irresponsible body of would-be authors, and with the view of choosing an editor for the paper, iuserts an advertisement in some well-known literary review. In a short time the answers come pouring in, and a young lady who has got a spare £100 to invest is duly elected to the position on a salary, provided she takes up 100 £1 shares. Young authors with £100 to spare are rarz aves. But there are not a few people who, fancying they have a literary tendency, and fascinated by a literary connection, will produce some spare cash for investment. The case is all the more probable when the investment is painted in glowing colours, and rich rewards in the shape of dividends and a salary are offered to the too easy dupe. The money is paid. The shares are subscribed for and allotted. Limited companies are delightfully irrespon- sible bodies; there is no vulnerable point im the armour; fighting with them is like fight- ing with thin air. You waste your own energy without any tangible result. As a con- sequence the young lady of literary aims and unbusinesslike qualifications, loses her £100, and never gets a farthing by way of salary or dividend. The Authors’ Society is implored for advice and assistance, but alas too late. The shares are allotted. The directors cannot pay a dividend if there are no profits. No fraudulent statement has been made, and the manager has perhaps drawn cheques for the £100 as salary. An action is useless. It is an expensive luxury to go to law against an insolvent body. So the L. P. A. Limited “ drags its slow length along.’”” No doubt when it wants another £50 or £100 it will start another paper, or find another editor, or perhaps get a fresh director on the board. Who knows? Men must live, and there is no better method of facing the battle of life to the initiated than clad in the armour of a limited liability company. eh Lo THE AUTHOR. 81 OMNIUM GATHERUM FOR AUGUST. Subjects for Books or Articles.—The curious curse of the 18th Article; the Excesses of Des- criptive Reporting, with a few words on the use and abuse of the Interview; the Rivalries of Colleges, Schools, and Watering Places; Com- pulsory Swimming Lessons for Girls and Boys in Elementary Schools; Wedding Presents; One Parliament, One Session; August in Ireland. Publication by Subscription—This mode of publication was the rule and not the exception in the last century. Now it has become the exception and not the rule, but the exceptions seem to be on the increase in the case of county histories and the like, eg., Mr. Cranage’s “ Architectural Account of the Churches in Shropshire” is being brought out in parts, with a notification that it will be impossible to proceed with it “unless a certain number of names are guaranteed.’ Such a very safe mode of issue might perhaps be more widely tried. Illustrations. — Quality before quantity is wanted here more than in any branch of pro- duction in connection with literature. Really good illustrations, such as those of, I think, Turner to Roger’s “Italy,” are too rare, and instead of such we have far too frequently good letter- press choked by pictures little wanted. The Vacant Laureateship. — Mr. Gladstone has announced in the House of Commons, in answer to Mr. Cobb (see the morning papers of the 22nd July), that “there is no intention at present of making any appointment” to the vacant Poet-Laureateship. Lord Tennyson died on the 7th October last. The honorarium attached to the post is about £100 a year, the annual butt of sherry having been commuted on the death of Southey for an annual £27, or, as some say, £29, so that about £80 has been already saved. But does the appointment rest with the Sovereign or the Prime Minister? If with the Prime Minister, how is it that the late Prince Consort offered it to Rogers (who at the age of eighty-seven refused it) before its accept- ance by Tennyson. The Dead Languages.—The resurrection of the dead languages is nowhere better accomplished than by the representation of Latin plays, suchas the Westminster play, and Greek plays, such as that of “Andromache,” so finely given by the ladies of Queen’s College in Harley-street, nor, as I humbly think, can the languages themselves be more encouragingly taught. Copyright.—No less than three Consolidation Bills of importance, dealing with copyhold law, VOL. Iv. the law of the administration of estates, and the law of trustees, have been in this session sub- mitted to a joint committee of both Houses of Parliament. Would it not be possible for the Government to introduce, and submit to this joint committee, a Copyright Law Consolidation and Amendment Bill? The amendments of sub- stance would be few, though important, and the controverted points very few indeed. Or perhaps an amending Bill might come first, and a consoli- dating Bill afterwards, in the fashion of the Lunacy Acts of 1889 and 1890. However this may be, it is to be hoped that those in authority have read and marked the indignant denuncia- tions against the form of copyright law which were transcribed from a recent judgment of Mr. Justice Chitty in the St. James’s Gazette of the 21st of last month. Mr. Justice Chitty’s words were these : I could wish, if I am at liberty to express a wish, that the Legislature could devote some time to the consolidation and amendment of the mass and congeries of statutes which represent the result of the legislative mind in such a manner that it is difficult to understand their meaning. I think it a matter of great importance to all interested in international copyright that those statutes should receive attention, and the statutes placed before, I will not say the courts, but Her Majesty’s subjects in such a manner that an ordinary man could understand them. Handwriting. — Bad handwriting increases labour and cost of proofs, and decreases the chances of acceptance of MSS., besides its waste of the time and temper of editors and such like. I respectfully suggest that those of us who write badly should take lessons in handwriting, but if we can’t stomach this, we at least take the trouble (a) to dot our i’s, (6) to cross our t’s, (c) to loop our e’s, (d) to put in at least our full stops, and (e) to write our own names and the names of others with perfect legibility. Advertisement of Review Notices.—The plan (see, e.g., some of the advertisements of ‘ Dodo’’) which prints unfavourable as well as favourable notices is much to be commended. It is fair to the public, it checks careless reviewing, and I cannot help thinking that it greatly helps a book if really good. J. M. Lety. H SEE 82 THE AUTHOR. AMERICAN NOTES AND NEWS. Buffalo, July 2. a following remarks are for novelists alone. Tf the bookstall may be accepted as an indication of popularity, it will be useful to note the books offered for sale at the bookstall of a reat American hotel. Everybody knows that a bookstall forms part of that little world, com- plete in all its parts, known in American as a hotel. Moreover, if we consider that the hotel in ques- tion belongs to Boston, and is one of the best and largest of that intellectual centre, the works offered may be accepted as some indication of the taste of the higher average. The catering is, of course, only for a passing crowd: visitors at hotels are literary butterflies; they only hover ; only the lighter works are wanted by them ; help to pass an hour is all they ask of Literature Here, then, written in alphabetical order, is a list of the authors whose books are on the stall of the Brunswick Hotel, Boston. One or two foreign writers appear in translation. Grant Allen. John Harberton. Robert Appleton. Fergus Hume. Duke of Argyll. Rudyard Kipling. J. M. Barrie. H. O’Meara. Paul Bourget. J. MacAlpine. Rhoda Broughton. A. McLeod. Mrs. Campbell-Praed. Fitzgerald Molloy. Christabel Coleridge. Alan Muir. Marie Corelli. Mrs. Needell. Robert Drake. Gilbert Parker. Alex. Dumas. Albert Ross. A. Finlay. Clark Russell. A K. Grew. Paul Schobert. Gunton. This list contains, you will observe, eleven American, thirteen English, and three French writers. But it is a very short list. If we look into the long rows of books exposed at the stall of a great railway station, we shall find the propor- tion of native to foreign authors somewhat changed. There are a great many American novelists of popularity whose very names are un- known with us. One of them, Mr. Albert Ross, is represented in the above list. It is, however, difficult to form from the bookstalls any trust- worthy conclusion as to the popularity of an indi- vidual writer. For this reason, that books and authors offered for sale vary in the most remark- able and unexpected manner ; but of the thirteen English writers in the above list perhaps one alone—Kipling—or two—Barrie and Kipling— may be found on some other stall. These two writers seem to me the two British authors most popular this day in the States. At the same time, one may meet the books of Conan Doyle, Hardy, and others almost as often. So far as one can judge, and speaking generally, all those novelists who in Great Britain enjoy popularity, large or little, are in corresponding demand in America. As to the question of American rights and their value, novelists may take note (1) that serial form is very difficult to secure, for reasons which it would take too long to explain; (2) that, never- theless, they must most carefully reserve their American rights in their agreements; (3) that they must remember the blessedness of expecting nothing ; and (4) that American publishers, like their British brethren, are men of business—some of them, like some of our brave Britons, “ sharp,” which means—what we know. A Buffalo paper in a literary letter gives what professes to be the opinion ofa librarian. Now the opinion of a librarian can only be of value if he isa large librarian, and if he knows the demand. upon the works in other libraries. This opinion has a “journalistic” flavour, #.e., I rather believe thatthe writer invented his librarian. However, he places Hardy and Conan Doyle at the head of contemporary novelists in point of American popularity. It must be owned that the American public might do worse. Edna Lyall is very popular. Mary Wilkins, however, is the most popular of all the women novelists in America to-day. “Latterly there has been a revival of Mark Twain’s books.” Did Mark Twain, then, ever fall off in popularity? Of modern poets who are in the greatest demand? Tennyson, Swinburne, Browning, Shelley, Wordsworth ? Presumptuous islander! Eugene Field, Will Carleton, and James Whitcomb Riley; while Longfellow, Whittier, and Holmes are still in steady demand. Nothing is said about other branches of literature. We have already more than once spoken of the tradition or the prejudice that the British people do not buy books, while the Americans do. I do not believe that this belief has any basis whatever in fact. The Americans, from all that I can hear, do not buy more books than we do. Perhaps they buy the dime novels, from which will now be excluded all the best new books. But books to keep; books to put on shelves; books as friends and companions, they do not buy, I am quite convinced, in anything like the same proportion as our own people. There are sixty millions of them as against our thirty-six millions. Those who live in the towns are much  THE AUTHOR. 83 richer in proportion than those who live in our towns. There ought to be a demand for books, considering the excess of numbers as well as of wealth, nearly double our own. Is there? Certainly not. You can see, down below, that an American publisher considers 5000 is a very large circulation of a popular book. Yet, with us, a very popular book at 6s, runs into tens of thousands. I think that cultivated Englishmen and women buy all the books they can afford. They cannot afford to buy allthey read; therefore cir- culating libraries must exist ; their shelves are not large enough to contain all that they would buy, but they buy all that they can affordto, They buy all that they can find room for, and, so far as I can learn, the Americans as a rule, do not. Yet, so far as my inquiries have led me, more books are read here than at home. A book-shop, whether in America or at home, may reveal many things and suggest points for reflection. I have seen two very good book- shops indeed—that of Little, Brown, and Co., in Boston, which I take to be one of the best book- shops—or stores—in the whole world, and that of Judd’s, in Newhaven, which is an admirable example of what a book-shop in a university town ought to be—that is, it reminds one exactly of Macmillan’s, of Cambridge. From these two shops one may understand the position of living English writers of the better sort in America. I have no hesitation whatever in saying that either the publishers, or the booksellers, or the public of America, possess wider sympathies, or greater intellectual curiosity, than our own. For here, side by side with the American authors, are all— actually all—whom we ourselves have selected for honour. Let us remember that there is a vast mass of American literature which never gets to us at all; that there is a period—1620-1775—when what is American is British also ; that the history of the colonial times, forgotten and neglected by ourselves, is full of human and of political interest ; that there are men belonging to that period whom we simply cannot afford to forget, if we are to maintain the continuity of our national life, and to understand our own development ; that since the Year of Independence there has been carried on an experiment—an example—in government and society unlike anything ever seen before in the world’s history, and productive of results which can only be understood, and that most imperfectly, on the spot; that the colonial his- tory, the national history, the ways and thoughts of this Republic of the present; the hopes and fears of its best men—because they are almost as full of fears as of hopes—are all to be read in VOL. Iv. its modern literature; that in such a place as Little, Brown, and Co.’s, one sees all the books in which these things are written; and that in no English publisher’s lists; in no English book- seller’s shop; in no Englishman’s house, can these books be found. Of course we get the novels and the poetry; but the graver books, the biographies, the histories, as a rule we do not get. It may be contended that all that is really best in American literature comes to us. Perhaps, best for purposes of opinion, of right under- standing, of forming a just conclusion of the nation. We want more than the really best; we want some of the second and third best. For the function of literature is not always to present reason, opinion, fact, and fancy, in its best and noblest form, but reason, opinion, fact, and fancy as they exist, and as they can be presented by the average writer. For example, in the reign of Queen Anne the opinions of the average citizen are far better illustrated by John Dunton—plain bourgeois—in his “Athenian Oracle” than by Addison ; and the present tendencies of America drift and opmion may be more fully revealed by the third-rate essayist, poet, or novelist, than by Lowell or Holmes. “ Then the talk drifted to the always fascinating topic of the profits of authors, and one of the company asked of a publisher present : “ What do you call a successful novel, nowadays? How many copies should be sold, and what does it mean to the author P” “‘ Well,” said the publisher, ‘“‘ a very successful novel will sell 5000 copies, but the average successful one means about 2000. A novel must sell the latter number before it pays either publisher or author. Of course, I speak now of a novel bound in cloth that sells for a dollar. Take a sale of 5000 copies of such a novel. The entire proceeds of such a book will fall considerably under 5000 dols., for it must be remembered that a dollar book is not always sold for 100 cents. A 12mo. novel contains about 250 pages, or 75,000 words. Ona rough estimate such a book will cost the publisher about 30 cents a copy. This includes composition, printing, and binding. The entire expenses, including a royalty of 10 per cent. to the author, the usual rate, and the advertising, will amount to 50 cents. For this book, which costs the publisher 50 cents, he gets from 60 to 65 cents, leaving him a profit of from 10 to 15 cents. This profit is generally increased somewhat by the retail sales of the publishing house. Publishers are bound—and this is for the protection of the bookstores—to sell a dollar book for a dollar. Enough books are sold by them at this price to bring up the average profit, say to 15 cents. Thusa publisher who sells 5000 copies of a novel will make about 750 dols. out of the transaction—not a very large profit for the capital invested and the risk involved. The profits of the author at 10 per cent. will amount to 500 dols., that is to say, his labour of writing and revising and his time, for which he is not certain of any return, not to mention the mental wear and tear, will bring about seven mills a word. Magnificent pay, and yet he is a successful author. Of course, there are some books, but they are very few, which make a phenomenal success, and these are the ones which mu 2 eRe PD GR Re 84 THE AUTHOR. are read about from one end of the country to another. Most publishers say that it hardly pays in this present era of cheap paper-covered novels to publish the more expen- sive cloth-covered editions.” —Bufalo Courier. The above is interesting, as it affords some in- sight into the American cost of production. A book of 250 pp. @.e., 153 sheets, of 300 words to a page, costs, including advertising, 40 cents a copy. Remark that this means 500 dollars, or £100, spent in advertising the average book. Are the exchanges and “our own publications,” which cost nothing, inciuded in this estimate? In other words, the publisher’s initial liability on an average sale of 2000 copies is £160—less the minimum number of copies he knows he can place. The difference is the “risk,” which, as usual, is duly trotted out. If 5000 copies are sold, the author gets, at 10 per cent., £100; the publisher £150—“ not a very large profit for the capital invested and the risk.” But why the investment of the publisher should produce half as much again as the investment of the author is not stated. In England the publisher would invest in the case of a successful author just nothing at all, except, perhaps, some of the adver- tising charges, and there would be no risk. Niagara Falls, July 5. The stalls, both of the railways and the hotels— for in this country literature is not left to be found but is offered—show piles of American magazines—so do the railway stalls at home. But where are the English magazines? They do not exist; they are not apparent ; no one inquires for them. The “thoughtful” magazines — are there no thoughtful readers in the States? Apparently not, unless they are satisfied with their own thoughtfulness as illustrated by the Forum and the Arena and the Atlantic Monthly. But what does it mean that the American magazines have obtained so firm a hold in Great Britain, while our own wholly fail and are never seen on this side? It is a question admitting a great deal of explanation. Perhaps this may indicate the nature of the answer. An American magazine means business. It is provided with a highly-paid editor, and, in the case of successful magazines, a highly-paid staff of servants. The editor and his assistants are supposed to give their whole time, their thoughts, their strength, to the interests of the paper. They must be always thinking of it—providing material well ahead ; engaging writers at rates of pay which would make some (so called) first-class English magazine editors to jump ; they think of their readers, you see, and lay their lines and set their bait to attract and to catch them. Compare this with the casual editing of an English magazine. Where is there any thought for what is wanted ? Where do we find continuity of subject, serial papers (not serial fiction only)? Papers of the moment, papers of passing interest, there are in plenty. But these are not what the reader wants ; he gets them already in the daily papers ; he knows beforehand all that the writer in the monthly or the quarterly can tell him ; nor does he care twopence for the opinions of Lord A. and the Right Hon. B. about questions of the day which are decided for him every morning. It is not true, as some Americans say, that they have killed our magazines, but they are inflicting deadly injury upon them, and they will continue to do so until our people change their ways. The autograph hunter has hit upon a new and most creditable dodge. Audacious invention is, I find, called by the American Press “nerve.” This inventor, therefore, must be owned to have a wonderful nerve. He writes: “ May I trouble you, my dear Sir, to send me the present address of your aunt, Mrs. Maria Brown (sister to Thomas Carlyle), if she is still living? I might obtain her address elsewhere, but in order to save time I address you personally. Thanking you in advance, &c.” Dear me! Is it possible that the world credits me with being the nephew of Thomas Carlyle, upon whose face, in the flesh, I have never gazed? Alas! the poor man is mistaken, he must be undeceived. Let me sit down and write a letter of explanation: “My dear Sir,—The lady whose address you ask, Mrs. Maria Brown, sister of Thomas Carlyle, is not my aunt, nor can I claim the honour of any kinship with that great man. Nor can I give you her address, or any information concerning her. I remain, &.’’ Here follows the auto- graph. Oh! hunter of signatures—Nimrod of letters—wonderful is thy craft. Behold! the net is spread; the trap is set; and the silly fowl is caught. Albany, July 17. I have just learned from the New York Sun that Mr. Buchanan is having a “ quarrel” with me. It generally takes two to make a quarrel, and I am not one of the two, However, I hope that Mr. Buchanan is thoroughly enjoying him- self. When I get home I dare say I may find a few remarks to make. But that cannot be for some weeks to come—not, so far as the Author is concerned, until the September number. cman, Water BaEsant. pee  ¥ t | & THE AUTHOR. THE CONGRESS OF AUTHORS. T is hardly possible, at a date when the Literature Congresses have but just com- pleted their work to take anything like a a philosophical survey of the week s proceedings. We have. however, thought it best, even at the risk of offering our readers an incomplete and imperfectly {digested report, to summarize the series of events that have made the week just ended noteworthy in the intellectual history of Chicago. If we may not tell the whole story, and if our coign of vantage be too near the object for realisation of the proper perspective, our report may at least embody the salient features of the Congresses, and point a possible moral here and there. As has already been stated in these pages, Congresses to the number of five were planned for the week ending July 15, their subjects being Literature proper, Philology, Folk- lore, History, and Libraries. They have provided an intellectual repast, bewildering in variety, and quite beyond the assimilative powers of such rash mortals as may have attempted to partake of all the courses. They have been characterised by many notable contributions to both general and special culture, as well as by many of those dis- cussions and comparisons of diverse views from which a subject often receives more light than from some more formal method of treatment. The Congresses were happily opened on Monday evening, July 10, by a general recep- tion given to such of the participants in the week’s work as had at that time reached the city. The reception began with the usal introduction and handshakings, and ended with a few speeches of welcome by representatives of the World’s Con- gress Auxiliary. followed by responses from some of the more distinguished guests. Under the latter category come the remarks made by Mr. Charles Dudley Warner, Mr. Richard Watson Gilder, Mr. George W. Cable, Mr. Walter Besant, and Dr. Max Richter. In the course of Mr. Warner’s remarks, a tribute was paid to the beauties of the World’s Fair, and the speaker concluded with these words : I fear all the time that the Fair will disappear, and, as I say, I grudge every moment spent away from it, for it will go, like everything else that we have created by hand. And when it has gone these poor scribblers who have not money enough to create it, and many of them not imagina- tion enough to put it into poetry or into romance even— because I don’t know anybody, except St. John in the Apocalypse, who has hit it off at all so far—these poor scribblers will have to take up the task of perpetuating this creation of beauty and of splendour, and the next generation that wanders about Lake Michigan looking at the ruins of Chicago—the distant generation of course—will have to depend upon some wandering bard—who even then won't be 85 half paid, I dare say—for the remembranee, for the descrip- tion of the great achievement of this city of Chicago in 1893. Mr. Gilder, in a few well-chosen words, contrasted the literary art with the arts of form and colour, pointing out that the very subtlety of the former makes its discussion difficult. Hence the speaker concluded that a Congress of Authors must of necessity for the most part deal with the physical side of literature, with “ the relation of that art to its presentation through books to the public.” Probably the most noteworthy incident of all this speech-making was to be found in the applause that interrupted Mr. Gilder when he said: “I, for one, would not have the countenance to stand up before a World’s Congress of Authors if within a short time we, as a nation had not wiped out the unbearable disgrace of international piracy.” The sentiment thus expressed by Mr. Gilder had many an echoin the subsequent proceedings of the Congress of Authors. The Tuesday session of this Congress was devoted to the general subject of Copyright, and it was pecu- larly fitting that Mr. George E. Adams should serve as the presiding officer. The enactment of the Copyright Law of 1891 was, as our readers will remember, largely due to the efforts of Mr. Adams, then a member of the House of Representatives. Major Kirkland, who introduced Mr. Adams to the audience, gracefully alluded to this fact, as did also Mr. Gilder, when his turn came to share in the general discussion. That the services of Mr. Adams had been appreciated, and were still re- membered by those present, appeared in the applause that followed every allusion made to them. The discussion was opened by the pre- siding officer himself, who read an admirable paper upon our copyright legislation, past and future. He took an eminently sane and practical view of the question, making clear the funda- mental distinction between a copyright and a patent (a distinction too often neglected), but still averring that our future legislation is sure to be based upon the broad considerations of public policy rather than upon purely theoretical grounds. “The question of the so-called moral right of an author in his book is not likely to arise in any future movement in this country for the enlargement of authors’ mghts by Congress. Such legislation will be supported on the ground of public policy rather than on the ground of just protection of property.” Dr. 8. S. Sprigge, late secretary of the London Society of Authors, followed Mr. Adams with a brief paper on “The International Copyright Union,” sent to the Congress by Sir Henry Bergne, the British Commissioner at the Berne Conference of 1886.  86 Dr. Sprigge also read a paper of his own upon the present complicated condition of copyright legislation, English and international. The re- mainder of the session was given up to an informal discussion, among the participants being Mr. Gilder, Mr. George W. Cable, Mr. Charles Dudley Warner, Professor T. R. Louns- bury of Yale, President C. K. Adams of the University of Wisconsin, and General A. C. McClurg. There was general agreement among the speakers in deprecating the necessity of the “ manufacturing clause” of the Act of 1891, but there was an equally general agreement in the admission that the law, with all its defects, is vastly better than no law at all. Even Professor Louns- bury, who proclaimed himself one of the irrecon- cilables, admitted the justice of this view. The injury done to writers by the condition of simul- taneous publication also came up for discussion, as well as the inadequacy of the term at present provided. “Nearly all our great American authors have outlived their copyrights, which is a ridiculous perversion of justice,’ said Mr. Gilder; and Mr. Warner, echomg the opinion, allowed his wit to play upon the thought, greatly to the delight of h's hearers. The copyright question was again brought for- ward, at the Wednesday session. by Mr. R. R. Bowker, editor of the Publishers’ Weekly, who read a carefully prepared paper upon “ The Limi. tations of Copyright.” We may also mention in this connection, as an illustration of the interest taken by foreign countries in the work of the Congress, that a representative of the French Syndicat pour la Protection de la Propricté Litté- raire et Artistique, placed in the hands of the committee, for distribution among the members of the Congress, a pamphlet, ‘‘ Note sur l’Acte du 3 Mars 1891,” especially prepared and printed for the purpose. After congratulating the Copy- right League upon the successful outcome of its labours, the pamphlet adds: “Il ne saurait se présenter une occasion plus favourable que celle de la réunion du Congrés de 1893 pour exprimer les remerciements des intéressés & tous ceux qui ont eu confiance en l’esprit de justice du peuple Américain.” The special subject of the Wednes- day session. “The Rights and Interests of Authors” was introduced by Mr. Walter Besant, who also presided over the ses- sion. Myr. Besant’s paper summarised the history of the London Society of Authors, ex- plaining also the reasons for its existence and the difficulties with which it has had to contend. A recent editorial in the Dial, upon the subject of the Society, gave the principal facts embodied in Mr. Besant’s statement, and it is unnecessary to repeat them here. To the majority of those who THE AUTHOR. heard them upon this occasion, they were doubt- less new, and, as presented by Mr. Besant, they were given the added force that always charac- terises a man’s spoken words upon some subject to which he has devoted years of active thought. The following is one of the passages of more general interest contained in Mr. Besant’s paper :— We have made a careful and prolonged inquiry into the very difficult subject of the present nature and extent of literary property. A writer of importance in our language may address an audience drawn from a hundred millions of English-speaking people. Remember that. never before in the history of the world has there been such an audience. There were doubtless more than a hundred millions under the Roman rule around the shores of the Mediterranean, but they spoke many different languages. We have now this enormous multi- tude, all, with very few exceptions, able to read, and all reading. Twenty years ago they read the weekly paper ; there are many who still read nothing more. Now that no longer satisfies the majority. Every day makes it plainer and clearer that we have arrived at a time when the whole of this multitude, which in fifty years’ time will be two hundred millions, will very soon be reading books. What kind of books? All kinds, good and bad, but mostly good; we may be very sure that they will prefer good books to bad. Even now the direct road to popularity is by dramatic strength, clear vision, clear dialogue, whether a. man write a play, a poem, a history, or a novel. We see magazines suddenly achieving a circulation reckoned by hundreds of thousands, while our old magazines creep along with their old circulation of from two to ten thousands. Hundreds of thousands? How is this popularity achieved P Is it by pandering to the low, gross, coarse taste commonly attributed to the multitude? Not so. It is mainly accomplished by giving them dramatic work stories which hold and interest them—essays which speak clearly—work that somehow seems to have a message. If we want a formula or golden rule for arriving at popularity, I shoulé propose this: Let the work have a message. Let it have a thing to say, a story to tell, a living man or woman to present, a lesson to deliver, clear, strong, unmistakable. * The demand for reading is enormous, and it increases every day. I see plainly—as plainly as eyes can see—a time—it is even now already upon us—when the popular writer—the novelist, the poet, the dramatist, the historian, the physicist, the essayist—will command such an audience —so vast an audience—es he has never yet even conceived as possible. Such a writer as Dickens, if he were living now, would command an audience—all of whom would buy his works—of twenty millions at least. The world has never yet witnessed such a popularity—so wide spread—as awaits the successor of Dickens in the affections of the English speaking races. The consideration must surely encourage us to persevere in our endeavours after the independence and therefore the nobility of our calling, and therefore the nobility of our work. But you must not think that this enormous demand is for fiction alone. One of the things charged upon our Society is that we exist for novelists alone. That is because literary property is not understood at all. As a fact educational literature is a. much larger and more valuable branch than fiction. But for science, history—everything—except, perhaps, poetry— the demand is leaping forward year after year in a most surprising manner. Now, in order to meet this enormous demand, which has actually begun and will increase more and more—a demand which we alone can meet and satisfy— & 4 od 3 4 i ; i] : )  THE AUTHOR. I say that we must claim and that we must havea readjust- ment of the old machinery—a reconsideration of the old oo new appeal to principles of equity and fair play. The remainder of this session was taken up by a paper on “ Syndicate Publishing,” sent by Mr. W. Morris Colles, of London, by ‘Some Con- siderations of Publishing,’ a paper sent by Sir Frederick Pollock, and by a discussion in which part was taken by Mr. Besant, Mr. Charles Carleton Coffin, Mrs. Mary Hartwell Catherwood, and Mrs. D. Lothrop. The general subject of ‘Criticism and Litera- ture” occupied the Thursday session of the Con- gress. Over this session Mr. Charles Dudley Warner presided, and read the opening paper, his subject being “The Function of Literary Criticism in the United States.’’ Mr. Warner’s paper is so sound and so suggestive that we feel justified in reproducing a somewhat lengthy extract :— There seems to be a general impression that in a new country like the United States, where everything grows freely, almost spontaneously, as by a new creative impulse, literature had better be left to develop itself without criticism, as practically it had been left—every tree to get as high as it can without reference to shape or character. I say, as practically it had been left. For while there has been some good criticism in this country of other literatures, an application of sound scholarship and wide comparison, there has been very little of this applied to American literature. There has been some fault-finding, some ridicule, a good deal of the slashing personality and the expression of individual prejudice and like or dislike, which characterised so much of the British review criticism of the beginning of this century—much of it utterly conventional and blind judgment—but almost no attempt to ascertain the essence and purport of our achievement and to arraign it at the bar of comparative excellence, both as to form and substance. I do not deny that there has been some ingenious and even just exploiting of our literature, with note of its defects and its excellences, but it will be scarcely claimed for even this that it is cosmopolitan. How little of the application of universal principles to specific produc- tions! We thought it bad taste when Matthew Arnold put his finger on Emerson as he would put his finger on Socrates or on Milton. His judgment may have been wrong, or it may have been right; matter of individual taste we would have been indifferent to; it seemed as if it were the universality of the test from which our national vanity shrank. We have our own standards; if we choose, a dollar is sixty-five cents., and we resent the commercial assertion that a dollar is one hundred cents. It seems to me that the thing the American literature needs just now, and needs more than any other literature in the world, is criticism. In the essay by Matthew Arnold to which I have referred, and in which, as you remember, he defines criticism to be “a disinterested endeavour to learn and propagate the best that is known a 1 thought in the world,” he would have had smooth sailing it he had not attempted to apply his principles of criticism to the current English literature. And this application made the essay largely an exposition of the British Philistine. The Philis- tine is, in his origin and character, a very respectable person, whether he is found in Parliament, or in Exeter Hall, or in a newspaper office; he is incased in tradition. 87 The epithet, borrowed from the German, would not have stung as it did if Arnold had not further defined the person to be, what Ruskin found him also in England and Wagner in Germany, one inaccessible to new ideas. Now, we have not in the United States the Philistine, or Philistinism, at least not much of it, and for the reason that we have no tradition. We have thrown away, or tried to throw away, tradition. We are growing in the habit of being sufficient unto ourselves. We have not Philistinism, but we have something else. There has been no name for it yet invented. Some say it is satisfaction in superficiality, and they point to the common school and to Chautauqua; the French say that it is satis- faction in mediocrity. At any rate it is a satisfac- tion that has a large element of boastfulness in it, and boastfulness based upon a lack of enlightenment, in literature especially a want of discrimination, of fine dis- cernment of quality. It is a habit of looking at literature as we look at other things—literature in national life never stands alone—if we condone crookedness in politics and in business under the name of smartness, we appiy the same sort of test, that is the test of success, to literature. It is the test of the late Mr. Barnum. There is in it a disregard of moral as well as of artistic values and standards. You see it in the Press, in sermons even, the effort to attract attention, the lack of moderation, the striving to be sensa- tional in poetry, in the novel, to shock, to advertise the per- formance. Everythingisonastrain. No, this is not Philis- tinism. I am sure, also, that it is not the final expression of the American spirit, that which will represent its life or its literature. I trust itis a transient disease, which we may perhaps call by a transient name—Barnumism. Another paper of importance, sent by Mr. Hamilton W. Mabie (who was unfortunately absent), had for its subject ‘‘Criticism as an Educational Force,” Speaking of the change that has of late years come over the spirit of criti- cism, Mr. Mabie writes : It was not until criticism passed into the hands of men of insight and creative power that it discovered its chief func- tion to be that of comprehension, and its principal service that of interpretation. Not that it has surrendered its function of judging according to the highest standards, but that it has discovered that the forms of excel- lence change from time to time, and that the question with regard to a work of art is not whether it conforms to types of excellence already familiar, but whether it is an ultimate expression of beauty or power. In every case the artist creates the type and the critic proves his competency by recognising it; so that while the critic holds the artist to rigid standards of veracity and craftmanship it is the artist who lays down the law to the critic. As an applied art, based on induction and con- structing its canons apart from the material which literature furnishes, criticism was notable mainly for its fallibility. As an art based on deduction, and framing its laws in ac- cordance with the methods and principles illustrated in the best literature, it has advanced upon a secondary to a leading place among the literary forms now most widely employed and most widely influential. Mr. H. D. Traill, of Oxford, sent to the Con- gress a paper upon “ The Relations of Literature and Journalism,” from which we quote the open- ing paragraph :— There never was a more promising subject for people who are fond of a good discursive debate, not likely to be brought  88 to an abrupt and disappointing close by a sudden agreement between the disputants, than the subject of the relations between Literature and Journalism. A discussion of it combines almost every possible attraction—ambiguity of terms, indefiniteness of area, uncertainty of aim—everything in short that the heart of the most ardent controversialist could desire. I have been privileged to hear many such discussions and to take part in some of them, and on no occasion can I remember to have met with any debater so pedantic as to ask for a definition either of Literature or Journalism, at any stage of the argument. A sound instinct seems to warn people that if they were to do that the particular debate engaged in would immediately branch off either into a prolonged and probably technical inquiry into the precise meaning and limits of the term Journalism or into an interminable and almost certainly violent dispute as to what constitutes Literature. The latter question in especial is full of “ excellent differences ” for those who care to discuss it, because, according to some theorists on the subject, there would seem to be scarcely any written or printed matter—when once you have risen above the Post Office Directory—which is not literature; while, with the very superfine class of critics, the difficulty is to find any- thing that is. Literature begins for the former almost where it began with Dogberry. Anyone who could have ‘pleaded his clergy” in the middle ages would, in their view, apparently have been a literary man. Between this estimate and that of the superfine critic who claims to confine the name of literature to some limited class of com- position which he happens himself to admire, or perhaps affect, the gap yawns enormous, and I for one have no intention of attempting to bridge it. The true definition of literature no doubt lies somewhere between them ; and will be fixed on that auspicious day when it is found possible to determine the exact proportions in which form and matter enter into the constitution of literary merit. In the mean- time we must content ourselves with admitting that form is certainly, if in an undefined degree, the more important of the two. It would be dangerous to admit any more than this in a day when so many m‘nor poets are abroad ; for a considerable number of these, while particularly careful of form, have reduced the value of their matter to a vanishing point, and any encouragement to them to carry the process yet further is to be strongly deprecated. Still, this much, as I have said, must be admitted: that it is primarily form rather than matter which constitutes literature. Among other papers presented at the Thursday session was that sent by Mr. Henry Arthur Jones, who took for his subject “The Future of the English Drama,” and forecast it with an optimism quite excusable in the writer of so many serious and successful plays. While this session was in progress, the subject of “ Litera- ture for Children’? was under consideration in another hall of the building, and papers were read by Mrs. D. Lothrop, Mrs. Elia W. Peattie, and Mr. Hezekiah Butterworth. In the after- noon, a programme of authors’ reading for chil- dren was carried out in the presence of a very large audience, composed mostly of young people. “ Aspects of Modern Fiction” was the general subject of the Friday session of the Congress. Mr. George W. Cable was asked to preside, and the choice was no less happy than that of the chairman for the three preceding sessions. Mr. THE AUTHOR. Cable followed the example of his predecessors in the chair, and read the opening paper, his sub- ject being: ‘‘The Uses and Methods of Fiction.” We extract a passage from the close of this paper : We live in a day unparalleled by any earlier time in its love and jealousy for truth. In no field of search after truth have we been more successful than in science. Our triumphs here have kindled in us such energy and earnest enthusiasm, we have been tempted, both readers and writers, to forget that facts are not the only vehicle of truth. In our almost daily triumphant search, through the simple study of facts as they are for the human race’s betterment, we have learned to yield our imaginations too subserviently to the rule and discipline of the fact-hunters, and a depiction of desirable but as yet unrealised conditions across a chasm of impracticability is often unduly and unwisely resented. The world will do well to let its story-tellers be as at their best they have ever been, ambassadors of hope. The fealty they owe is not a scientific adherence and confinement to facts and their photographic display, however benevo- lently such an attitude may be inspired, save in so far as they may help them the more delightfully to reveal the divine perfections of eternal truth and beauty. Yet if it is true that there is no more law to compel the fictionist to teach truth than there is to require the scientist to be a poet, there are reasons why in more or less degree, and in the great majority of cases, he will choose to teach. One of these reasons lies on the surface. It is that in fictional literature, at least, Truth, duly subordinated to Beauty as the queen of the realm, is her greatest possible auxiliary and ally. No page of fiction ought ever to contain a truth without which the page would be more beautiful than with it. As certainly when truth ignores beauty as when beauty ignores truth, a discountfalls upon the value of both in the economy of the universe. Yet, on the other hand, beauty in the story-teller’s art, while it may as really, can never so largely and nobly, minister to the soul’s delight without the inculcation of truth as with it. Hence it is that fiction’s peculiar ministry to the human soul is the prose depiction, through the lens of beauty, to the imagination and the emotions, of conflicts of human passions, wills, duties, and fates; a depiction unaccom- panied by any tax of intellectual labour, but consistent with all known truth, though without any necessary intervention of actual facts. Or, more briefly, it is the contemplation of the truths of human life as it ought to be, compared with the facts as they are. Tf this is the fictionist’s commission, is not his commis- sion his passport also in the economist’s world? It would be easy to follow out the radiations of this function and show their value by their simple enumeration. In the form of pure romance it fosters that spirit of adventure which seeks and finds new worlds and which cannot be lightly spoken of while we celebrate the discoveries of Columbus. In all its forms it helps to exercise, expand, and refresh those powers of the imagination whose decay is the hectic fever and night-sweat of all search for truth and beauty ; of science and invention, art, enterprise, and true religion. Often it gives to the soul otherwise imprisoned by the cramped walls of the commonplace, spiritual experiences of life refined from some of their deadliest risks, and cuts windows in the walls of cramped and commonplace environ- ments. At its best it elevates our conceptions of the heroic and opens our eyes to the presence, actuality, and value of a world of romance that is, and ought to be, in our own lives and fates. Mrs. Mary Hartwell Catherwood followed Mr. re THE ‘Cable with a paper on “ Form and Condensation in the Novel.” We print a portion of Mrs. Catherwood’s remarks, regretting that we have not space for them all. Whoever attempts a novel is supposed to have a story to tell ; and the manner of his telling it is almost as important _as the story itself. It is always—whatever variations the theme may take—the story of a man and a woman; often a sad, often an absurd story; but one which is as fresh with every generation as new grass with the spring. The dear little maid whom you now call the light of your house will soon reach her version of it. She tells you in confidence, and with a stammer on the long word, that she has a prejudice against boys, and you know what that prejudice in the course of a few years will do with the incipient men who are hanging May-baskets or doing sums for her. It seems to me the best form for this story is the dramatic form. We want intensified life. “It is the quality of the moment that imports,” says Emerson. Of what interest are our glacial periods, our slow transitions that change us we know not why? Everyone can look back on many differing persons he has been in his time. And everyone is conscious of undeveloped identities hampered yet within him. The sweetest and sincerest natures have repressions and conc eal- ments. Itis the result of these things which makes the story of life. You may put a microscope over a man and follow his trail day by day ; but, unless he reaches some stress of loving, suffering, doing, you soon lose interest in him. I delight in Jane Austen for the quality of her work. In the same way I enjoy the work of Mr. Howells. It is ‘their dramatic grasp on the commonplace which makes these realists great. The most dramatic treatment cannot wholly present the beauty of one human soul, and the sternest analysis cannot reach all its convolutions of evil. Shakespeare knew his human soul. When we are very young we complain that he pictures us unfairly ; but when we are older we know. He took the great moments that counted, and presented his men and women intensely alive. I have heard there are authors who do not rewrite and condense, who set down at the first stroke the word they want to use; the word which creates. But I never abso- lutely laid hands on one. The growth of a story is usually slow, like the growth of most plants. It is labour and delight, pain and pleasure, despair and hope. You cannot escape a pang. You must absolutely live it through; and then try it by the test of ridicule of common standards, by the gauge of human nature. I heard a judge say when he was a college student he kicked all the bark off a log in the campus, and wore out the backs of a new pair of trousers, trying to write a poem; and he made up his mind he was no poet. If the spirit of art had really been in him, he would have recognised these agonies. It is not easy to speak the word—except when it is easy; when you have those moments of clear seeing and that condensing grasp of your material which sometimes pay for days of worthless labour. The remaimmg papers of the session were as follows: “The Short Story,’ by Miss Alice French; “The New Motive in Fiction,” by Mrs. Anna B. McMahan; “Local Colour in Fiction,” by Mr. Hamlin Garland; and “ Ebb- Tide in Realism,” by Mr. Joseph Kirkland. The Friday session of the Congress seemed to arouse a more general public interest than any of the others, and was distinguished from them by the VoL. Iv. AUTHOR. 89 fact that all the papers presented upon this occasion were read by their authors. Our account has thus far dealt almost ex- clusively with the special subject of the Congress of Authors. When we consider the fact that this Congress has been the first of the sort to be held by writers in the English language, and the other fact that there existed in this country no definite association of literary workers to take charge of the arrangements, there is reason to congratulate the committees in charge upon the outcome of their enterprise. To the non-resident Committee of Co-operation, and particularly to its secretary, Professor George E. Woodberry, who laboured long and strenuously for the success of the work, a special and hearty word of recognition is due. It is true that there have been many disappoint- ments—that some who should have taken part in the work declined the invitation to do so, and that others who had promised their help aud their presence failed to come forward at the final moment—but, with allowance for all these mis- haps, it must be admitted that the Congress achieved a distinct success, that its sessions were dignified and thought-provoking, that it attracted the serious attention of a considerable and influential public, and that it has paved the way for a better organisation of authorship, and a better understanding of literature both in its commercial and its artistic aspects. The pro- ceedings of the Congress of Authors will have many echoes in the periodical literature of the coming weeks; and, if they shall be subsequently published, as is hoped, in permanent form, their effect will be felt far beyond the moment, and is likely to make itself apparent both in predicable and unpredicable ways. Of the four remaining Congresses of the week we have not, upon the present occasion, space to speak in detail. We must be content with say- ing that they brought to Chicago exceptionally large gatherings of the four classes of specialists to whom appeal was made, including many Euro- pean scholars of the first rank; that their pro- grammes covered a very wide range of original research; and that, in spite of the tropical temperature of the week, and the counter attrac- tions of the World’s Fair, they were attended by audiences commensurate with the interest and importance of what the proceedings had to offer. —From the Chicago Dial, July 16.  NOTES AND NEWS. HE publication of the Author has been delayed, in order that the Report of the Chicago Conference should appear. Only a resumé can be published for this number. So There wasa pleasant gatbering at the Author’s Club on June 26 to welcome the Dutch writer, Mr. Maarten Maartens. Mr. Oswald Crawfurd C.M.G., was to have presided, but, being un- avoidably absent, Mr. Spielmann took the chair, surrounded by a company of about sixty authors and their friends, amongst whom were P. W. Claden, Barry Pain, J. E. Muddock, Dr. Todhunter, Sidney Lee, James Baker, Raymond Blathwayt, Moncure D. Conway, Fraser Rae, and Douglas Sladen. The toasts proposed were but two—‘ The Queen,” by Mr. Spielmann, and “ The Guest of the evening, Mr. Maartens,” by Mr. Douglas Sladen. In_pro- posing Mr. Maartens’s health, Mr. Sladen introduced the author by his real name, Van de Poorten Schwarz. Mr. Maartens, in rising to reply, said he should be afraid to make a speech to them, but, as he had always heard that authors were not good after-dinner speakers, that took away the one fear which might have dulled his joy at their kindly reception of him; a joy which was now as unclouded as their London sun—this summer. He felt that he had proved that English literary men were always heartily glad to w.leome those who tried to do their best; and, in concluding, he said he must commit what he had been told in England was an indiscretion—he must not only respond, but propose a toast, “ Suecess to the Authors’ Club,” which was drunk heartily by the guests present. No other pen than that of “the anonymous writer in the Azthor,’ who has so curiously moved Mr. Andrew Lang to wrath, can worthily reply to Mr. Lang’s strictures, but we venture to call the attention of members who have not seen Longman’s for July, to some of Mr. Lang’s facetie. ‘‘ When,” says Mr. Lang, ‘an author has written a book, he sends it to his friend the publisher. The publisher replies, ‘Dear Smith,—Thanks for your MS. We are prepared to produce it in such and such a shape, on such and such terms.’ Then the author either says ‘ All right,’ or he says ‘ You offer too much, Til take so and so,’ or he says he would rather have better terms, and the pair agree or disagree ; in the latter case the author tries somebody else.” Is there not something inimitable in that ‘ You offer too much” ? THE AUTHOR. It may, perhaps, be further permissible to point: out that Mr. Lang has, in the heat of the moment,. been betrayed into a slight inaccuracy. “ The critic in the Author,’ he says, “ decides that there is a prejudice against literary men “‘as a set of needy mendicants.” The critic in the Author decided nothing of the kind. His words were: “There is no doubt that some of the contempt which has been freely poured upon the calling of letters, and is still poured upon it is due to the prejudice which regards literary men as a set of needy mendicants.” It is not exactly fair to quote the contributor to the Author as responsible for a libel against which his remarks were a vigorous protest. The renovation of the grave of Dr. William Maginn in the churchyard of Walton-on-Thames —if it can be be identified, and Mr. Michael Macdonogh has thrown some doubt on this detail —is a cause which must commend itself to all those who are associated with the literary life. Maginn was not, perhaps, a great genius, but he was a genius, and few of the Fraserians achieved so many-sided a reputation. At once a poet, a satirist, a critic, and a scholar, Maginn deserves to have his memory kept alive in spite of his follies and foibles. If the spot where he lies buried cannot be placed beyond doubt, it is to be hoped that the movement which has been set on foot will not be allowed to rest until some memorial has been raised elsewhere. ee NOTES FROM PARIS. Paris, July 19, 1893. E were sitting on the terrace of the house that overlooks the park and the Seine beyond. It was after dinner and quite dark, just the time, over the cigarettes and the coffee, to listen to strange stories. And Daudet was telling them as he can tell them. I presume that there is no man less superstitious than Alphonse Daudet, or one who less believes in supernatural phenomena, yet he declared himself unable to explain what happened to him one night as he was walking out in the woods of Meudon with his friend Alfred Delvau. That night they were pursued for hours by a horrible laugh. Daudet imitated the laugh, and one of the men who were listening to the story said, “It must have been the laugh of a mad woman.” “ We first heard it,” said Daudet, “as we were walking along a hedge-side. It startled me, ; ;  THE AUTHOR. gI coming in the silence of the night, and I asked Delvau if he had heard it too. Just then it came again. Delvau cried out to know who was there, but there was no answer. We walked on, and again and again we heard the laugh close to our ears, but coming us it were from the other side of the hedge. Unable to stand it any longer I dashed through the hedge cutting my face badly in so doing. But there was nobody to be seen, though I searched carefully for a long time. No sooner had I returned to my friend, and we had begun walking on again, when once more we heard the ghastly ‘“He-he-he-he-he.” Delvau reminded me that there was a lunatic asylum for females in the neighbourhood, but that explained nothing, as no woman was in sight nor to be foun’ by the most careful searching. And, though neither Delvau nor myself were at all supersti- tious, we got thoroughly frightened, and the end of it was, the laugh continuing, that we simply took to our heels and ran for miles as though a pack of evil spirits were at our heels. I have never been able to explain to myself whose laugh it was.” Daudet then told us of an adventure, which he had in Germany when on a foot excursion, with Delvau, along the banks of the Rhine, and how they happened into a murder-inn. Daudet had imprudently shown some hundred-frane gold pieces, the sight of which had excited the cupidity of the people of the house. After they had retired te their room, Daudet standing at the window overheard some people in the next room, who were also standing by the open window, talking together, and though he could not under- stand all they said, he heard enough to warn him that an attack was being planned. He acccrd- ingly awoke Delvau, who, by the way, always used to go to sleep directly after the evening meal, to noctambulist Daudet’s despair; a barricade was thrown up, and the hunting-knives unsheathed and held in readiness. When a few minutes later the thieves entered the room, the sight that met them so appalled them that they ran shrieking thence. “We did not go to.sleep again,” said Daudet, “as you may imagine, but left the inn, without being troubled for our score, as soon as day broke.” I was saying how rarely it is that nowadays romance, though earnestly pursued by many of us, ever comes our way, and how this had been a fortunate adventure, when one of the ladies, I think it was Jeanne Daudet, the granddaughter of Victor Hugo, came from the drawimg-room and said: “ De Maupassant is dead.” We had all been chatting merrily till then, but this piece of news thus proclaimed in the dark struck silence down upon us, and there was a long pause while we waited for Daudet to speak. But he said nothing, and it gradually impressed itself upon us—from this very silence of his—that, being an invalid himself, this shadow of death had chilled his heart. Someone at last broke the painful silence, saying: “It is perhaps a mercy.” Another said: “ One might almost say, ‘ What, again?’?”’ But we were all ill at ease, and we felt that this was a catastrophe on which no com- ment could be made. But then the New Jour- nalism broke in upon our reverence. An able editor on hearing the news had at once despatched a man down to Champ Rozay, and a letter was handed in, brought post haste from Paris, praying the dear and most honoured master to write an article on the man and on his death. I shall not forget Dandet’s face, as, by the light of vestas which we struck and held for him, he read the letter. Of course he refused. “I have nothing to say ; I can write nothing. What can be said ? Poor De Maupassant. Did we not bury him two years ago?” Emile Zola has been made an officer of the Legion of Honour. This distinction has pro- voked a great deal of spiteful attack against him. Rochefort, in the Jntransigeant, on the morrow of his promotion, “went for” him in true Rochefortian style. He said that it was shame- ful that a man of letters should accept such a decoration from the hands of the people who govern France, and he went on to criticise Zola’s work in no kindly spirit. He said, to begin with, that he would give every line that Zola ever wrote for Daudet’s one book ‘ Sappho,” an opinion shared, it may be mentioned, by many. He also said that Zola’s books had no heart in them, and resembled a gallery of lifeless wax- work figures. He then pointed out—and I thought it petty on his part, a Saturday Review process at the best—a number of mistakes which Zola has made in his books, as where he speaks, in the “Faute de VAbbé Mouret,’ of the “lizards hatching their eggs,” and similar little slips, which are all too pardonable. Edouard Drumont, the same day, attacked Zola most ferociously in his Jew-baiting paper, La Libre Parole, in a three-column article, headed “Zola, or the Reward of the Pornographer.”. I had not patience to read Drumont’s article, which smelt of hysteria, and I only mention it to show that there are in Paris many whom Zola’s hard- earned laurels vex. oe THE AUTHOR. I personally was very glad that Zola should te so distinguished, not that I attach any impor- tance to decorations, but because the public does, and because if ever a man deserved distinction it is Emile Zola. Leaving the literary merits of his books out of question, no one can fairly deny that there is a hero in this little man, who has fought successfully such a fight, and has come out victorious. Every man of letters should have Zola’s bust or his portrait in his study, even if his taste has banished Zola’s works from his bookshelves. His patience, his industry, his courage, are qualities which should be taken as examples, all the more so that they have brought him to so splendid a victory. Zola was created a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1888, and was severely criticised for his acceptance of this honour by his so-called “school,” who drew up, and sent in to the master, a protestation. I saw him at the time, and asked him what he had to say about this protestation, which, if I remember rightly, was to the effect that it was treachery on the part of the head of a school of freelances, fighting against all recognised standards, to accept official patronage, this being tantamount to surrender. Zola told me that he had decided to take the red ribbon because it was a great triumph for the literary ideas he had fought for, ideas which had been reviled and persecuted from one end of Europe to the other. Personally he did not care a fig for any ribbon, red, blue, or yellow, but he was delighted to show the idiots in France (this with a growl), and the idiots out of France, that the Government appreciated the literary value of his work, As to the protestation of the school, he said: “I have no school. I never pretended to have any. Icannot help people imitating me. I am completely independent, and I intend to re- main so.” It was then that he first spoke of his contesting a seat at the Academy. Just ten years before that, at the mstance of Gustave Flaubert and of Alphonse Daudet, the red ribbon had been promised to Zola by a Minister named Bardoux. It was Daudet who, dining with Bardoux, and being consulted by the latter as to whom he should decorate, had pro- posed Zola’s name. Bardoux was delighted. with the suggestion, and said that the matter might be considered settled. Zola, in consequence, was invited to call upon Bardoux, and, after his call, everybody, himself included, expected to see his name figure on the honour-list of July 14. It did not, however, appear, nor on Jan. 1 following. Bardoux had probably been worked upon by Zola’s too numerous enemies, and so changed his mind. Zola used to say, when decorations were spoken about in his presence: “ I was very nearly decorated by Bardoux, and that suffices.” ‘To- day he is officer of the Legion of Honour. It ig true that Quesnay de Beaurepaire is com- mander. Here is a little story about Emile Zola which shows his kindness of heart Some weeks ago a young student named Zimmer was arrested and locked up in Mazas on the charge of trying to break into a room, the door of which had been sealed up by the Russian consul and a French magistrate, pending the settlement of a dispute as to whom the papers, left in that room by its former tenant, a Russian student, who had com- mitted suicide, should be handed. The papers were of a nature to gravely compromise a number of Socialists living in Paris and in Russia, and had been claimed by the Russian consul fora very obvious purpose. It was alleged by the authorities that a conspiracy had been formed amongst a certain number of students to get possession of these papers and to destroy them. Anyhow, Zimmer and another student named Julien were caught by the detectives set to watch the house, near the attic where the compromising papers were stored, and it was alleged that they had already broken one of the seals upon the door. It may be recorded that, thanks to the efforts of a very brilliant young barrister, Mr. Raymond Daly, who, by the way, has succeeded poor Child as Paris correspondent to the New York Sun, both Zimmer and Julien were acquitted. Well, whilst Zimmer was in_ his cell at Mazas, finding prison life very dull, and having nothing to read, he wrote to Emile Zola, and, telling him of his ennui, asked him to send him a copy or two of his books to help him while away the time. The next day a huge packet was delivered to Prisoner No. so-and-so, which was found to contain Zola’s complete works, together with a kind letter bidding the young man keep up heart. Zimmer told me this himself on the night of his liberation from Mazas, and I could not help wondering how many distinguished English novelists would have responded in the same way to a letter from an unknown person lying in durance in Holloway under a charge of burglary. I think it should be a point of etiquette in the literary world that no person engaged himself in the production of books should write criticisms on the works of others, and that editors of news- papers and reviews should not employ critics who are authors at the same time. What would be | i | i | i i  THE AUTHOR. 93 thought of a man who, wanting to have an opinion on a parcel of tea put on the market by one importer should hand it for examination to another importer, who has no dearer wish at heart than to see his own packets of tea univer- sally accepted as the best and only valuable. The opinion of the critic, who is also an author, cannot but be biassed by his own interests, and it is quite natural that he should use the weapon wrongfully placed in his hands to destroy, as far as in his power lies,any and every competitor that may come his way. I know one or two gentlemen who eke out incomes derived from the production of literary wares by commenting on the literary wares of fellow authors, and I am sorry to say that in every case they show them- selves as ferocious as does a dog fighting for his Lone. Let there be critics certainly, but let these be critics only and not competitors of the people upon whose productions they pass judg- ment. It may be noted that in no other profes- sion but the literary profession is the critic the competitor of those whose works he criticises. Rosert H. SHERARD. GUY DE MAUPASSANT. —_—__— ()' the many sad events which it has been one’s fate—in this world of sorrow—to see, I do not know of any more sad, more poignant than the long agony and most unhappy death of our dear and great master. These are a tragedy so appalling that to express its horror one should have the pen of Aeschylus or of Sophocles. Let Guy de Maupassant be conceived in these last bitter days. Let one remember how he, reluctant, was inexorably driven down, down, from a fair sun-lit pinnacle, into the valley of the shadow of death ; how, recoiling from the hideous spectacle of this valley of night, and knowing that he might never retrace his steps to the lofty, pleasant eminence from which he had come, he essayed with a sudden stroke—I refer to his attempt at suicide—to enfranchise himself, and with reason to abdicate life also. But it was not to be, and into the night he was plunged, and, away from our eyes, who, wandering on the borders of the pit, could only hope, and against hope, that he who was lost down there, might have no recollection of aught in the world above from which fate the Furies had hounded him. Oh, the pitiful groping of his in that shadow land, the dumb wonder that must have been his at his environment, the poor aching head throbbing to remember, to understand, the eyes straining to pierce the night. In God’s goodness in time the end came; the sounds of the pitiful struggle in the night became fainter and fainter, and the rest was silence. It was a long agony, but for the divine mercy it might have been prolonged and with it our un- availing sorrow. The night has closed in on him, but his work remains in luminous and splendid testimony of the master that he was. This aristocrat of letters will be remembered in the days of democracy to come. He will be looked back upon, when literature also has succumbed to trade, the typewriter having supplanted the quill, the noisy newspaper having, by bribing these and starving those, robbed the muse of the last of her sons, as we look back on the artificers in other walks, the workers in metal and glass and leather, the weavers, the carvers, and gold- smiths, and regret, in the shoddy in which we are set, that the cunning of commercial specula- tion has taken the place of the cunning of glorious hands. When vulgarity is everywhere, he will be remembered as one of the last in whom not anything was common. Just as we finger with admiration tinged with regret the brocade found in an old armoire, which, in the days of Louis the King, was worn 'y a great marquise, and compare it with the lewd passemen- terie of B.rmingham or of Leipzic-on-the-Elbe, so shall we admiringly turn over these pages of his, and sigh for the days when the man of letters had a lofty ideal of style and the consciousness—akin to heroism—to realise it. Not one sentence shall we find in which this ideal was forgotten; from first to last the work of de Maupassant is that of a master. This entire refinement of style, this utter loathing of vulgarity, explains his choice of subjects. This was a gentleman running tilt at the vices of a vulgar and an unchivalrous age. The cowardice, the cruelty, the meanness of men, the degradation of women, who have always been in harmony with their natural mates and influ- enced by them, so that in knightly days we had heroines, and in cunning days we have tricksters, are all the outcome of the substitution to the high ideals, first of physical force, of personal courage, of ambition, of glory, which charac- terised the days of aristocracy, of the low ideals of the days of democracy, of cunning and com- merce, and all the petty meannesses of the shop and the counting-house. There was something of the Don Quixote in de Maupassant’s attitude towards his contemporaries. He was a gentle- man, and he scourged the want of gentle quali- ties in an age where money has replaced honour. His habits might be described, and conversations  94 quoted which would confirm this view of what prompted him in his choice of subjects, but for that space is wanting. And it is moreover—in the freshness of our sorrow—no pleasant task to dwell upon him, even in warmest eulogy. Paris, July 21. Rosert H. SHERARD. oc FEUILLETON. A Meruop or ADVERTISEMENT. HEY were friends, and lived together in f3 dirty chambers, in a dirty Inn, and quar- relled o’ mornings, and o’ nights became confidential, and would sonorously narrate what they had done, and shrilly swear what they would do, and would rail at the timidity of editors, and the purblindness of the reading world. For they had literary designs, though as yet they had not found the road to public recognition. When, therefore, one of them, Mr. Joshua Jones (I refer to the now celebrated historian), burst in upon his companion, Mr. Robert Treves (for a brief period much be-paragraphed as Robin Trefusis, the minor poet), and exclaimed, “I saw my chance and took it,” he excited in his friend’s mind only a languid curiosity, much disappoint- ment having made the bard sceptical as to the value of any chances likely to fall to either of them. “Been to the club, and sneaked a new umbrella ?” he asked, looking wearily from the pages of a parchment-covered book, and twisting up the tip of his flaxen beard. “No,” replied Jones. ‘“ This is a real chance.” “Mr. Sims has given you a thousand pounds to write a melodrama without a baronet in it? No? Going to index a book about Rameses II., or to catalogue the MSS. in a brewer’s library ? No? Hold on! Utknow your limits, and must guess it soon. It is literary—eh?”’ “ Yes—I suppose so.” “Then you're going to do the historical serial for the Family Gazette—‘ Count Robert of Roc- Amadour’ or ‘Eugene, the Cavalier: a Tale of the Civil War’? No? Well, what?” “T’m going to do the poetical T’s for the New Literary Biographical Series. It looks like a long job. You've no idea how instinctively people whose names begin with T drop into poetry or ”—noticing his friend’s bow’’—er—into maudlin slush. I’ve just ordered all the books that have ever been written about Tennyson, Thompson, Tupper, and similarly obvious people. But there’s a heap more of them, and I’ve got a free hand to THE AUTHOR. put in and leave out as I like. And T’ll tell you what—I’m going to give poor old Robinson Taylor a show. He shall have his say at last, poor dear old chap! I shall swear right out that he was a thundering fine poet. He really wasn’t bad, you know.” « Robinson Taylor! Why he couldn’t write a cent! He had a trick or two, and that sums him up. What can you say about him?” “T’m going to say something, anyhow. Poor old Taylor! I remember his first effusion. He was about fifteen, and very cherubic, all dimples and smiles. And he brought me a piece of black introspection beginning, ‘I am a man fulfilled of sin and shame.’ And we roared over it. No! He never got a show while he was alive, and Tm going to give him one now that he’s dead.” “Robinson Taylor! Well, you're a staunch friend. You're prepared to record a heap of lies in a standard work because you rather liked a mediocre man as a schoolboy. It’s a prize _per- formance in log-roling. I wish I was dead. Perhaps you’d boom me. It might be worth my while to commit suicide. Would you boom me, if 1 did? I’m as good as Robinson Taylor.” “Better, my dear chap. I can say that con- scientiously.” « And I’ve been waiting a dreadful long time.” “ But you’ve never done anything.” “ Why, that’s true,” assented the poet musingly. “There’s deuced little of me in print. But. doesn’t that make what there is more precious? This is a commercial age, and the scarcity of my wares should enhance their value. 1 have a. notion that that is what is called political economy. And I’ve got a book ready, you know. Tt’s not my fault that it has not yet been pub- lished. All that is wanted now is the common publisher to reimburse me for my risk, in giving up so much time to what is probably going to be an unremunerative task. And all that could be worked, if I died, and you boomed me.” “Yes, it could” (absently). “ My book, I say, would be printed and would go, if I died and you boomed me.” “ Yes, it would” (indifferently). ; “My book” (beginning again very slowly, and stopping as Jones at last looked attentively at him) “What do you mean? ”’ said Jones. “Nothing,” said the poet hastily. “ Nothing. I’m only a little mad.” And he burst into laughter as the full development of his idea became manifest to him. * * * * * Mr Rutherford, the famous publisher of small editions, was an enterprising man, and Treves entered to him, knowing that he need not scruple i! 4 ay { i  THE AUTHOR. to lay bare his plan, because it was a flighty and irregular one, while he could show that the chances of practical success were fair. Mr. Rutherford listened politely, smoking slowly as his visitor talked, and then replied promptly— “Yes. It’s a goodish idea—quite a good idea in fact. But,I must not be mixed up in anything of that sort. Understand me there. I shall be innocent, brightly radiantly innocent. But the chance of selling sufficient copies to pay me for putting the book on the market is so good, if you can really secure an advertisement of that sort, that I am willing to print your poems. You’ll be reviewed everywhere. I do not offer you any money for them, for you are a new hand, and it would be absurd to do so. But I refrain from charging you anything. And if you like to tell any one that I gave you a hundred pounds or so, why do; I shall not contradict you. The statement would reflect great credit upon both of us. AndIJ’ll help you to work the fake, if you are quite sure that you will be discreet.” “Tm not likely to talk,” said the poet. ‘Tm ashamed of the dodge. But I’m going to do it, because J will be talked of.” “Do you tell your friend, the biographer? Or is he to genuinely mourn a deceased friend in our “Ql to.” “Yes. Well it would certainly be injudicious, to keep him in the dark. If he stands in with us, only pretending to think you dead, he will say nothing of you except the good. But if he thinks you are really out of the way, and that you can never reproach him for his virtue, he might be tempted to do his duty—to be exactly honest—and so on.” “‘That’s the man!” said Treves. ‘‘ He would swagger about his honesty, and would slate me right and left, and take credit to himself for the pain he was causing himself. I'll tell him.” And this is how it came about that Robert Treves’s book was published, and this is why some six months later the poet disappeared on to the Continent laughing, while the following para- graph appeared in the New Literary Biographical Series : “ Treves, Robert (Robin Trefusis). Born July, 1862, at Ovington Manor, Norfolk. Died May, 1893, at Davos Platz. By the premature death of this young singer, England has lost a poet who, as his voice grew stronger—more certain in execution and more extended in range—would have done her high honour. His youth, in as great a degree as his fastidiousness, accounts for the scantiness of the work he has left behind him; but by none of our recent verse-makers I shall tell him. It would be brutal not 95 has his dexterity of treatment been excelled, and few have been inspired with loftier themes. The brevity of our notice has been dictated not by the obscurity of the poet, but by the fact that a biography can take cognizance only of perform- ance, and not at all of promise. But if the per- formance here has been small, it has been good, and the promise very great. No record of the poets of the Victorian era can be considered complete, without mention of the name of Robin Trefusis; and some of the more individual and characteristic portions of his one slender volume will be found to constitute a valid claim to his admission into this Series.” * * * * * “And now,” said Mr. Rutherford gleefully, ‘* it’s time for me to work the racket.” So he sent letters to all the literary papers explaining the fact that Mr. Treeves was still alive, and that his name had got into the bio- graphical series by a culpable error that was likely to give great pain, not only to Mr. Treves’s immediate friends, but to all lovers of English literature. Then the erring biographer was ordered by his employers to make an abject. apology in all those literary papers for’ his egregious carelessness, and he did so. And the incident furnished copy to journalists of all sorts for many days, while the book received serious attention from every review of note in the kingdom. So that it is not surprising that in the absence of Mr. Treeves his bed-maker was inter- viewed in a society paper, and the great British public were duly aroused to the fact that the new poet wore side-spring boots, read the Daily Telegraph, and threw cigarette ends all over the floor. “Tt’s working beyond my expectation,” said Mr. Rutherford, and he prepared a second edition, with a black cover to it. ‘I begin to wonder the chap does not come and ask for some money.” Then an omniscient and an indefatigable statesman, who was sparing time from the government of the Hmpire to deliver a lecture on the “ Evolution of Poesy” to the Asiatic Society, quoted from the book. Immediately two school- fellows of Robert’s wrote to the papers about him. One gave anecdotes to prove that he was a morose and stupid boy. The other described him as a perpetual ray of clever sunshine, the darling and despair of his tutors, the tyrant and idol of his companions. And thirteen requests for his autograph were sent to his chambers. And a parody of one of his poems appeared in Punch. And a man who knew him at Cambridge called to borrow a trifle. Briefly, Robert Treves was on the road to fame. “ Now Ido wonder he doesn’t turn up,” said  96 Mr. Rutherford. “If he doesn’t want the bread, surely he would like the butter.” And he got a cheap edition in paper covers with the sub-title, “ From beyond the bar,” and an édition de luxe in white vellum, limited to two hundred and fifty impressions, with a copper-coloured etching of the poet as a frontispiece. And still there came no news. “ Where the deuce is he?” said Mr. Ruther- ford, at last, with a little irritation in his voice, addressing Mr. Joshua Jones. “ He can do me another book if he likes. He can’t really write very much—at least I don’t think so, and he would soon wear thin—but he’s a safe draw just now. Write to him, and ask him about it. Tell him I'll pay for the next one—and stretch a point and give him something on the old one too, if he likes. Where is he Te “< FIe’s in Paris,” said Jones. “ He telegraphed this morning from there, saying that a letter wo 1d follow.” “Capital! Then there’s no bother about it at all. Write to him and tell him so. If he hasn’t got anything by him, let him set to work and translate some of those new French beggars —Sensitivistes and Hystériques—you know. And let him use the simplest and oldest ballad metres, particularly when the sentiment is com- plicated and new. He might take ‘ Old Mother Hubbard’ as a model. I can sell him. Tell him that. I can sell him. I know a man who draws vile clumsy things on the wood, with Durer’s perspective and Bouguerau’s faces, and he’ll illustrate the book, and we'll get the tail- pieces from tra ings at the British Museum. You write about it to him at once. There’s money in it just now. But he’s got to be quick. You write at once.” * * * * * Mr. Joshua Jones promised, but he never kept his promise. For that evening he received a letter from his friend. “My dear Jones,” it ran, “We have played a dirty trick, and I leave you to repent, for I always shirk a duty. I have read what you said of me, and also what all the critical people have said since. I know that Ihave run into editions, but I also know that I have written nothing par- ticularly good, and that I can never write any- thing so good again. J have decided therefore to restore you to your position as an accurate man by constituting myself a dead poet. Yes, when you read this I shall be a dead poet. You needn’t worry about me, I shouldn’t worry much about you.—Yours very sincerely, “ RoBert TREVES. “P.§,—Tell Rutherford I fancy he will see his THE AUTHOR. way to a new edition upon the strength of my furnishing this new advertisement. “ Second P.S.—I haven’t a relation in the world nearer than the cousin who black-balled me for the Blenheim. Have my things sold, pay your- self for your trouble, don’t pay my debts, give our admirable Mrs. Thompson a fiver for the article which appeared in ‘‘ The Smart Review ” about me—I am sure the editor has not troubled to do so—and send the balance, with my dog, to the Dog’s Home. Good-bye.” O. J. ee $0-SO SOCIOLOGY. 1. Philosophy helps Man to be serene ; science, to be sure ; religion, to be sane; and misfortune, to be strong. 2. Everyone was born, and will die, in debt to human society. 3. There are two main kinds of history—the popular and the precise. 4. Who learns only on authority, believes only by memory. 5. The greatest are those who can, if they must, best stand alone. 6. The rare is equally liable to reverence and to ridicule. : 7. Without pain, no progress; without pleasure, no permanence. 8. Self-conceit differs from self-confidence, as dreams from deeds. g. Contempt is a common compliment from the contemptible. 10 The present seems degenerate to the degene- rating. 11. Who thinks too little of social opinion is a cynic : too much, a slave. 12. Candour is virtue or vice, according to motive. 13. Absence of heart is no sure sign or proof of presence of head. 14. Right religion and sure science are twin phases of true truth. 15. Only the useful ever deserves to be. 16. The highest use of beauty is not to please, but to raise. 17. Nature may often seem hard, but can never be unjust. 18. No one ever broke a natural law; it simply broke him, when unwise enough to try. 19. Nature’s chief function is to grow ; Man’s, to adjust. 20. Who knows character and understands circumstance may foretell conduct. 21. In life, as in light, focus makes for force. i . Vs iS i i H . i i i ] i q 3 i  We THE 22. Cleanliness, as much as courage, is a phase of brain-power. 23. Creed is much more a matter of chance than of choice. 24. Shallowness is as readily mistaken for optimism, as pessimism for poetry. PHINLAY GLENELG. ——— rr A BRIDESONG OF BRITAIN. Sunny of soul is Britain. This day does her heart behold A world spread wide for her goings upon ways by her seers foretold. Faces thereon and thereover shine back on her throne from afar,— Faces of children made bright in the light of her rising Star. Up from their eyes it ascends towards its zenith of hope, and its goal In that Sabbath of kindreds and kingdoms foretold unto man by his soul. One blood, of one speech, one purpose, to her loyalty of purpose fast, Her babes eat fruit of her sowing; yet the stores of her storied past Wane, and are small accounted, by wealth which her sons shall bring, Tilth of the wastes, and tribute of ocean, and garnering Freewill gifts of the soul, all the broad Earth’s hidden store Hoarded of time and chaos from the spoilers who spoiled before. Oh, Crown of the one great kindred, wax mighty! let Earth resound Thy praises, our Island Mother, by thy young lions guarded round In the gates of thy seawalled fortress! Therefrom shall the nations seek Ensample of freedom, wisdom in counsel, aid for the weak *Neath the shield of the ‘‘ Peace of Britain,’ man’s armour of breast and brow, Wherefrom in spray shall the swords be splintered, where- through no blow May shatter the orb she upholds to the sun, or avail to break Her spirit’s purpose, or hinder the thing that her hand would make. To the teeming promise of time heart-awakened by marriage bells, An answer of praise and rejoicing in the bosom of Britain swells : Music above and about her is one with a psalm in her breast Rising on high, carried wide on all winds of the Hast and the West, And of North and of South by her offspring. Oh, hymn of the loyal and free, Oh psalm of our love and our longing, ring ever by land and by sea Increasing in prophecy, valiant, victorious, a song of desire ; Ring proud over palace and city, ring blythe over home- stead and byre. Strong swordsong, attempered of Saxon, of Norman, of Celt and of Dane, Where ploughshares are forged of the swordblades our smithying wakes thee again. AUTHOR. 97 This day thou art thundered by cannon, rung out by the jubilant bells, Our lovesong, our bridesong, our birthsong, a song that forestalls and foretells. In the ends of the earth, and those gates of the foe which are ours, let it rise. Ring it north, ring it south, oh ye bells. ring forth to the skies. Hope of Britain, Tall city belfry, hidden hamlet spire, Ring out, ring out your loudest, proudest chime : Ring hope at dawn, ring joy at eventime ; Ring round your cadences of crowned desire. Land and sea are listening To your merry marriage madness ; Quiring to the chimes ye ring Choruses of loving gladness. Ring for Britain and her Queen, For the world-spread commonweal Basing one far-sheltering throne, Fullest hope the years have seen, Kindliest longings men may feel, Widest bond the world hath known, In kinship, kingship, all our own. Ring; Ring Britain’s marriage peal. Britain calls to this day’s feast Her first and foremost, last and least. On her breast this marriage night Shall her gems outshine the sky, Every hill be tipped with light, Every happy home be bright With a realm’s festivity. Not upon her sleeve is worn Britain’s heart. Her smile and tear, Every hope which she holds dear, Consecrate this marriage morn Of sailor Prince and English Maid, On whom her love and trust are stayed, To all her children yet unborn. Oh, happy bridal pair, To whom all hearts are gathered as ye stand This day to plight your lives, your native land Crowns you with love and prayer. Give back untarnished into Britain’s hand These crowns which all may share ; So, from the unnumbered loyal breasts Whereon our Greater Britian rests, Win ceaseless increase of your love and prayer, as she, Our Queen, hath harvest of our prayer and love From seed of lovingkindness, purity, Womanly wealth of sympathy above, Past record amongst rulers of mankind, And, best resource in need, That Light whereby to find High hope and righteous deed. Such gifts she gives us. Make her gifts your own, That so these buttressed bases of the throne May stand; which through Victoria’s reign have grown To golden strength, beyond each ’dizened story, On warrior-builded tombs where sleeps an empire’s glory. Great is your vantage to have been Our own from birth, and dear to England’s Queen, Beloved in girlhood, wifehood, widowhood, Revered for love of him we name “the Good” ; Mother of Princes whose fair courtesy Is timely helpful to our empire’s wants, Princesses whose nice-fingered charity Lays welcome usury on the gift it grants.  98 THE AUTHOR. With these, with you, with her rejoice, IL. Prince and peasant. Britain’s voice Pours forth her blessings at this festival, Copyricut in New ZEALAND. In faith, in hope, in love, in joy for all. It may interest readers of the Author to know : _ that there is no provision for registering copy- Fly, fly Bridesong of Britain. Flash from her bosom in right of books in New Zealand ; therefore that ares of fire. ae g : f Wing, wing till thy world-girt ring shall cling deep-linked P9 tion of the Act of 1886 which provides that ., |. with her sons’ desire. registration in a colony is sufficient to secure Go where the Sunlands, go where the Norlands greet thee, copyright throughout the British dominions is meet thee with mirth again. strangely inoperative as regards the colony afore- Gather all greetings of Sunland and Norland ; twist them as strands of thy marriage strain. Brood and ’bide upon bridegroom and bride ; ’bide in bless- said. The ‘ Copyright Ordinance,’ 1842 (N.Z.), ing and brood in love ; reads thus :— Sing them a mirth-song; bring them a birth-song ; hold Whereas it is desirable that the copyright of books them and help with thy hymns above. should be secured by law to the authors thereof: Be it Evermore, over sea and shore, bid thy glad hope soar with enacted by the Governor of New Zealand, with the advice her bright wings spread. and consent of the Legislative Council, as follows :— Speed thine own towards the Great White Throne, with the 1. The author of any book which shall hereafter be Psalm of Life which awakes the dead. printed and published, and his assignees, shall have the From the farthest height of thy path of flight let thy light ole liberty of printing and reprinting such book for the be bright unto distant lands. full term of twenty-eight years, to commence from the day Take meet reward as seer and bard in meed of the deed thy of first publishing the same, and also, if the author shall be faith demands. living at the end of that period, for the residue of his Loud be thy song in the strongholds of wrong, yea, loud natural life. and long for the right’s increase, 2. If any person shall during the period or periods Zealous and leal to the whole wor\d’s weal, till the last blast aforesaid print, reprint, or import, or cause to be printed, peal from thy lips in peace. reprinted, or imported, any such book without the consent in Fly, fly Bridesong of Britain, speak with her sons from clime writing of any author or assignee of the copyright thereof, to clime. or shall, knowing the same to have been so printed, reprinted, Warmth of the Sunland, strength of the Norland, blend or imported, without such consent as aforesaid, sell, publish, them, bind them with chime and rhyme. or expose for sale, or cuuse to be sold, published, or exposed Byer to echo, ever to eddy, ever to throb in the breast of for sale, or have in his possession for sale, any such books time. J. A. GoODCHILD. without such consent as aforesaid, every such person shall be liable to an action at the suit of the author or assignee, in which action double costs of suit shall be allowed, and shall also, upon a verdict being given against him in such action as aforesaid, forfeit and pay the sum of fifty pounds CORRESPONDENCE. to the use of Her Majesty, her heirs and successors, for the public uses of the Colony, and the support of the Govern- ment thereof. es L The following is an extract from a letter PayMENT FOR INTERVIEWS. : ‘ : : received by me from the Registrar of Copyrights, Sir,—The interview nuisance has assumed pro- Wellington, dated March 2, 1893 :— portions that seem to call for drastic measures on In reply to your letter of the 27th ult., I beg to say that the part of the interviewed. Not only is every there is no provision for registration in the colony under popular writer expected to grant interviews to the Ordinance of 1842 (quoted), neither is there any Act representatives of all and sundry journals, but under which ordinary letterpress books can be registered a practice is springing up of forwardig an in New Zealand. examination paper in advance of this ordeal. If It may be asked, “Then why doesn’t the New the practice is to continue, I wish to suggest that Zealand Parliament make provision for regis- the least the editors and proprietors of periodicals tering?” That is the point ce Why? can do when they solicit a favour of this character B. R. F. 1. is to intimate the terms they are prepared to pay ————09Oq.< for the privilege. It should be made a matter of i business. This would take away any sense of WHAT THE PAPERS SAY. ungraciousness from a refusal. As it is, one is under a sort of compulsion to comply. Specu- I lative interviewers, too, threaten to become a a : s serious plague to busy writers. XY 2 Tur PRrEerernaturat Story. © HERE is an article in this month’s Author,” the Poet went on, after a pause, E “on the preternatural story, which seemed to me to be full of knowledge and obser-  THE AUTHOR. 99 vation. In it there is quoted the remark of a well- known London publisher, that nowadays people cared for nothing but fairy-tales.” “T should think,’ the Ordinary Man said, “that they must be much harder to write. The limits of the preternatural are much narrower than those of the natural.” He was here told, almost unanimously, that he was talking nonsense, “JT don’t think so,” he cortinued. ‘“ As long as you are dealing with the natural, you may repeat yourself freely and make as many varia- tions as you like on a common theme—the ordi- nary human love-story is an instance. But when we come to the preternatural, repetition is not so easy; it always suggests plagiarism. I have never read a story—since ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’—that dealt with a divided personality without thinking that the author was indebted to Stevenson.” “That,” the Poet said, “ would be an argu- ment in favour of the fairy tale—the story of the preternatural. If it is more difficult, it is more desirable. And I don’t want the ghost story to die out.” “Yes,” the Mere Boy said; “tell me not in Christmas numbers ghosts are but an empty dream. But why are we all getting so literary ? I started by talking about the hangman.” “But surely,” said the Poet, “you couldn’t wish all the rest of us to end with him ?”— Barry Parn, in Black and White. Il. WITHDRAWN FROM CIRCULATION. The relatives of Claude Bernard, the French author, are engaged at the present moment in buying up copies of a book of poems which they think is below the reputation of the celebrated physiologist. This is not the first instance of an author’s works being withdrawn from publication. M. Alexandre Dumas, fils, once published a book called (very appropriately) “‘ Péchés de Jeunesse.” It was in verse of poor quality. M. Dumas never loses an opportunity of buying up a copy. M. de Mazade and Wilkie Collins have done the same thing. So have Feydeau and Sainte-Beuve. Victor Hugo published a satire in 1819 entitled the “ Télégraphe,” which he subsequently sought to suppress. Many works have been practically withdrawn from circulation because their authors subsequently changed their political opinions, and on one occasion the Rothschilds contributed greatly to the success of a book by Toussenel called the “ Juifs rois de Epoque” by buying it up. <A recent edition of the same work passed unnoticed. Louis Napoléon was the providence of publishers. He tried in 1834 to suppress the ‘‘ Révision de la Carte d’Europe,” by himself, as well as many other publications. In more recent days the books of M. Turpin, the inventor of mélinite, and of Maitre Cléry, the eminent Paris barrister, have been suppressed for political reasons. The task of exterminating a book which has once been printed is, however, by no means an easy one. It recalls the Biblical massacres in which one warrior, the sole survivor, always escapes to tell the tale—Pall Mall Gazette. Pec “AT THE SIGN OF THE AUTHOR'S HEAD.” R. WALTER BESANT has prepared for the August number of the Contemporary Review a revise of his presidential address at the opening of the Hoxton Library and Insti- tute. It will bear the title ‘The Associated Life.” “ Round the Red House Farm ”’ is the title of a lengthy sketch of Warwickshire country life which Mr. George Morley has written for the Queen. It deals with the natural history of the landscape lying between two farms near Offchurch Bury, the seat of the Dowager-Countess of Ayles- ford. The Record Press are publishing a book by Mr. Morley, entitled “Rambles in Shakespeare’s Land.” The same writer has written a paper on “Shakespeare Commemorations,’ and also one entitled ‘Literary Islington,’ both for early publication in London Society. Dr. Karl Leutzner, the well-known author, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature of the United Kingdom, at a meeting held in London on the 28th of June. Mr. Frankfort Moore’s novel, “I Forbid the Bans,” is being translated into German by Miss Adele Berger, and Baron Tauchnitz has already added it to his Continental Library. Messrs. Hutchinson have a cheap edition in the press, which will be ready immediately. The large demand for Annie 8. Swan’s new book, “ Home- spun,” will delay the publication until early in July. The Briar Rose, the organ of the Rose Club, a literary society for women, has just been issued. It is edited by Miss Mary A. Woods, and is a publication which appeals to literary beginners. “Dust and Laurels” is the title of a study in nineteenth century womanhood, by Mary L. Pendered, to be published shortly, in one volume, by Messrs. Griffith, Farran and Co.  100 A new serial by Mrs. R. S. de C. Laffan, entitled “Through the Ranks,” will commence in an early number of All the Year Round. Messrs. Jarrold and Jarrold, publishers, Nor- wich, are about to issue a complete uniform edition of the same writer’s works, “ Lewis Draycott” and «Bonnie Kate” being now in the press. Other novels will follow in due course, each work costing three and sixpence. The serial story for boys, now running in the Strat- fordian, will ultimately be published in volume form, illustrated. Miss Amy Reade, the author of the circus story, “ Ruby,” which attracted a good deal of attention a few years ago, and of “ Slaves of the Sawdust,” is engaged upon a new novel, to be entitled “Zerma,” Miss Reade has for collabo- rator, Mr, Alfred T. Story, author of “The Old Corner Shop,” and other novels. Many Inventions, by Rudyard Kipling (Mac- millan'and Co.). It is pleasant to welcome a fresh volume from the hand of the master writer of short stories. No reader will be dis- appointed with the new volume as a whole or will see any falling off from the author’s crisp- ness of expression, vigour of narration, and keenness of observation. He is a true artist. He studies his subject; masters the detail and places it before the reader, so that the veriest dullard can follow him and almost fancy himself as keen an observer as the author. Perhaps the best story in the book, if it is possible to make a choice, is “The Record of Badalia Herods- foot.” Its lurid realism is wonderful, and yet how artistic and pathetic. Again, as in Mr. Kipling’s former volumes of short stories, the variety of subject, apart from the literary and artistic merit, would save the volume from the paper basket. There is no monotony of the oft repeated sentimental love story, or of the as wearisome tale of hair breadth escape. The book is thoroughly true to humanity, though drawn from so many varied sources; as such it is a work of the highest art, and will appeal to the widest public. Songs, Measures, and Metrical Lines, by J. C. Graham (Kegan Paul, Trench, and Co., Limited), is a pleasant little book of verse. Some of the lines about the country and the flowers are particularly fresh. “Summer” has a distinct poetic thought well expressed. Lieut.-Gen. Sir George Chesney, K.C.B., M.P., the author of “The Battle of Dorking,” “The Private Secretary,” “A Dilemma,” &c., has just completed a new novel, which, under the title of “The Lesters,’”’ will be published in the autumn by Messrs. Smith, Elder, and Co. THE AUTHOR. “Dan’l’s Delight,” by Archie Armstrong, which has been running at St. George’s Hall since Easter, was withdrawn on July 8 to make way for a new piece. Mr. Arthur Dillon is reissuing his book of poems, “ River Songs and other Poems,” with Messrs. Eden, Remington. The volume will appear shortly. “Church and Dissent” is the title of a new book by the Rev. Richard Free, B.D., author of “The Decay of Nonconformity,” “ Lux Benigna,” &c., consisting of a series of lectures which will shortly be published in one volume. Miss Peard’s new novel, ‘“‘The Swing of the Pendulum,” will be published this autumn by Messrs. Bentley and Sons. The characters are English, but the scene is chiefly laid in Norway. The Publisher's Circular announces that a Civil List pension of £200 has been granted to Mr. John G. Evans, to enable him to continue his researches in Welsh literature. A pension of £75 has also been granted to Mrs. Minto, widow of Professor Minto, and one of £50 to Mrs. Frances E. Trollope, widow of Mr. Thos. A. Trollope. Mrs. Waugh has translated with marked dexterity ‘The Two Countesses ” of the Baroness von Ebner Eschenbach. The volume has been published by T. Fisher Unwin in his Pseudonym Library. “Gearing and the Economical Transmission of Power,” by M. Powis Bale, A.M.LC.E., has just been published as No. 1 of their Technical Series by Messrs. Wm. Rider and Son Limited. “The Index to Periodical Literature of the World,” covering the year 1892, which has just been issued from the office of the Review of Reviews, is a monument of industry and enter- prise. Not only does it give the contents of the principal periodicals of the world for the year under review, but it gives a classified table of magazines with their editors, addresses, and some extremely useful remarks. Issued at a merely nominal price of 5s., the publication deserves the support of every man and woman of letters, and it would be impossible to find for them a better investment. In spite of the “ bad times,” of which we have heard so much, yet another firm of publishers has commenced business—Messrs. Bliss, Sands, and Foster, of 19, Craven-street, Strand. Mr, Grant Allen has written a new story for Messrs. Raphael Tuck and Co., entitled “An Army Doctor’s Romance,” which will appear in the Breezy Library. i 1 it FS  THE AUTHOR. “ A Man of Mystery,” a novel by Mrs. Har- court Roe, will shortly be published by Messrs. J. Blackwood and Co., price 6s. “ A Splendid Cousin,” the successful story in the Pseudonym Library, by Mrs. Andrew Dean, is to be translated into French, and will appear in the columns of the Débats. Erratum. The title of Mr. Mackenzie Bell’s forthcoming volume of poems is “ Spring’s Immortality and Other Poems,” xot ‘Spring, Immortality, and Other Poems” as announced in our June number. => NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. Theology. CLIFFORD, Dr. Jonn. The Christian Certainties: Dis- courses and Addresses in Exposition and Defence of the Christian Faith. Isbister and Co. 3s. 6d. Hatcu, Epwin, D.D., and Reppatu, H. A. A Concord- ance to the Septuagint, and the other Greek Versions of the Old Testament (including the Apocryphal Books). PartII. '—Ezavos. Oxford, at the Clarendon Press ; Henry Frowde. Card covers, 21s. Howe, Epwarp. Gleaning in Many Fields. Notes on the New Testament. Collected by the late Thomas Hornby, M.A. In2 vols. Liverpool. Simpkin, Mar- shall. Juxes, ANDREW. The Order and Connection of the Church’s Teaching. Longmans. 2s. 6d. KINGsLaAnp, Wm. The Esoteric Basis of Christianity, or Theosophy and Christian Doctrine. Part II. Genesis. Theosophical Publishing Company. Matz, Rev. Epwarp. St. Thomas Aquinas on the Lord’s Prayer. Translated from the Latin. Skeffington and Son. Miter, Rev. J. R.,D.D. Come ye Apart; daily readings in the life of Christ. Author’s edition. Sunday School Union. 3s. 6d. Miunez, Rev. J. R. Considerations of Eucharistic Wor- ship ; or, True and False Doctrine of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Skeffington. Money, Acnes L. Thoughts for the Sick (with prayers and hymns). With a preface by M. E. Townsend. Second edition. Wells Gardner. ts. 6d. Move, Rev. H. C. J. The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon. With introduction and notes. Cambridge University Press. Swetz, H. B. D.D. The Akhmim Fragment of the Apocryphal Gospel of St. Peter, edited, with an intro- duction, notes, and indices. Macmillan. 5s. net. Texts AND Strupies. Contributions to Biblical and patristic literature, edited by J. Armitage Robinson, B.D., vol. Il., No. 3; Apocrypha Anecdota, by Montagu Rhodes James, M.A., paper covers, 6s.; the Philocalia of Origen, the text revised, with a critical introduction by J. Armitage Robinson. Cambridge, at the Univer- sity Press. C.J. Clay and Sons. IOI History and Biography. Aanew, Srr ANDREW.—The Hereditary Sheriffs of Gallo- way: Their “Forbears” and Friends, their Courts, and Customs of their Times. With notes of the early history, ecclesiastical legends, the Baronage, and place names of the province. In 2 vols. David Douglas. Edinburgh: Simpkin, Marshall. BELLAsIs, Epwarp. Memorials of Mr. Serjeant Bellasis. Burn and Oates. 10s. 6d. Bickrorp-SmirH, A. H. Greece under King George. Richard Bentley and Son. BrsHor, CorTLanpT F., Pu.D. Studies in History, Eco- nomics, and Public Law. Vol. 3, No. 1. History of elections in the American Colonies. Columbia College, New York. Brapury, A. G. and Cuampney, A. C. A History of Marlborough College, during fifty years, from its foun- dation to the present time. Illustrated. John Murray, 7s. 6d. Burton, IsaBEL.—The Life of Captain Sir Richard F. Burton. With numerous portraits, illustrations, and maps. In 2vols. Chapman and Hall. 42s. ByGons WARWICKSHIRE. Edited by William Andrews, F.R.H.S. Hull, W. Andrews; London, Simpkin Marshall. CHUNDER BHOLANAUTH. Raja Digambar Mitra, C.S.L His life and career. Hare Press, Calcutta. Epear, Joun. History of Early Scottish Education. James Thin, Edinburgh; Simpkin, Marshall. FELBERMANN, Louis. The Ancestors of Our Fature Queen, Griffith, Farran. GARDINER, SAMuEL R. History of the Great Civil War, 1642-1649, in 4 volumes, vol. 1., 1642-1644. New edi- 6s. Longmans. Hopper Epwin. The Life and Work of the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury, K.G. 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Sampson Low. Trorrer, Capt. L. J. The Earl of Auckland. Rulers of India Series. Oxford, at the Clarendon Press. Henry Frowde. 2s. 6d. TuckwELL, Rev. W. The Ancient Ways: Winchester Fifty Years ago. Macmillan. 4s. 6d. UnpErwoop, Francis H., LL.D. The Poet and the Man. Recollections and Appreciations of James Russell Lowell. Lee and Shepard, Boston, U.S.A. 1 dollar,  General Literature, AccouNT OF THE FrrE INSURANCE COMPANIES, Associa- tions, Institutions, Projects, and Schemes established and projected in Great Britain and Treland during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, including the Sun Fire Office; and also of Charles Povey, the pro- jector of that office, his writings, and schemes. Com- piled by Francis Boyer Kelton. Swan Sonnenschein. Anppurt, Mrs. Harry. Hints to Horsewomen. Horace Cox. 1s. 6d. Aut THE WORLD AT THE Farr, being representatives of thirty-seven nationalities in gala costume. Designed and engraved by Hare and Co., Limited, 30, Catherine- street, Strand. 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Ediscenda : Passages for repetition, arranged for the classical forms in public schools. Rivington, Percival, and Co. 3s. 6d. Wrxe-Baruiss, R., B.A. Preliminary Algebra. Blackie and Son. 28.  secant ADVERTISEMENTS. 107 NEW NOVEL BY JAMES PAYN. AT ALL THE LIBRARIES, BOOKSELLERS’, AND BOOKSTALLS. In 2 vols., crown 8vo., cloth extra, price 21s. A STUMBLE ON By THE THRESHOLD, ett esos rFPAYN. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. THE TIMES: ‘*Mr. James Payn’s pleasant story contains a startling novelty. . . . The leading actors are a group of undergraduates of Cambridge University. Mr. Payn’s picture of University society is frankly exceptional. Exceptional, if not unique, is the ‘ nice little college’ of St. Neot’s. Cambridge men will have little difficulty in recognising this snug refuge of the ‘ploughed.’ . . . An ingenious plot, clever characters, and, above all, a plentiful seasoning of genial wit. . The uxorious master of St. Neot’s is charmingly conceived. If only for his reminiscences of. his deceased wives, ‘A Stumble on the Threshold’ deserves to be treasured. . . . We turn over Mr. Payn’s delightful pages, so full of surprises and whimsical dialogue. eet DAILY NEWS: ‘“‘The dramatic story is told with an excellent wit. It abounds in lively presentation of character and in shrewd sayings concerning life and manners. That study of mankind which is ‘man’ has furnished a liberal educa- tion to this genial humorist. The men and women he pourtrays move before us, as do our friends and acquaintances, distinct individualities, yet each possessed of that reserve of mystery a touch of which in the delineation of human nature, is more convincing than ages of analysis. Needham, Fellow of St. eot’s, Cambridge—simple, loyal, gently independent—is a beautiful study. The story alternates in its setting ‘between Bournemouth, Cambridge, and some charming spots near the Thames. The description of life in the Alma Mater on the banks of the Cam gives Mr. Payn opportunities for humorous sketches of professors and ‘students, and he shows himself in the light of an excellent raconteur. This part of the narrative furnishes some delightful reading; we seem to be listening to the best talk, incisive, racy, and to the point. Space will not allow us to quote some of the wise and witty sayings, ‘tinged it may be with cynicism, which are the outcome of Mr. Payn’s philosophy of life, and which are not the least entertaining part of this attractive novel.” DAILY CHRONICLE: ‘“Mr. James Payn is here quite at his usual level all through, and that level is quite high enough to please ‘most people. - The character drawing is good. The story of the master sounds strangely like truth. . A book to read distinctly.” DAILY GRAPHIO, ‘ . . . The dramatic unity of time, place, and cir- -cumstance has never had a more novel setting. o SATURDAY REVIEW: ‘A very interesting story, and one that excels in clever contrast of character and close study of individualism. ; The characters make the impression of reality on the reader. i Extremely pleasant are the sketches of University life.” THE WORLD: “The most sensational story which the author has written since his capital novel, ‘By Proxy.’ : Never flags for a moment.” BLACK AND WHITE. “. . . Ingenious and Original. Mr. Payn knows how to invent and lead up to a mystery.” LEEDS MERCURY: ‘‘Three more distinctive characters have, perhaps, never been drawn by Mr. James Payn than in Walter Blythe, Robert Grey, and George Needham, Cambridge undergraduates, who figure prominently in ‘A Stumble on the Threshold.’” GLASGOW HERALD: ‘s., . . Mr. Payn’s latest invention in sensational episode; but wild horses will not drag from us a statement of the mystery. It is new and thoroughly original, and worthy of the ingenuity of the loser of Sir Massingberd.” BATLEY REPORTER: ‘. . . . Is most attractive reading.” HAMPSHIRE TELEGRAPH AND CHRONICLE: ‘Mr, James Payn’s latest story, ‘A Stumble on the Threshold,’ which has been the chief attraction in the ‘ Queen’ during the last few months—where, by the way, it was most admirably illustrated—has just been issued in two handsome vols. by Mr. Horace Cox. The story is written in Mr. Payn’s happiest vein; it sparkles with wit, the characters are most unconventional, and the old, old theme is worked out on quite novel lines.” HEREFORD TIMES ‘* With all their sparkle and gaiety, Mr. Payn’s novels would not be complete without the dread Nemesis, mysterious in operation, and casting suspicion for a time on every side but the right one. The novel is thoroughly attractive, and a credit to the practised hand which penned it.” THE OBSERVER: “.. . . Is a characteristic story, remarkably quietly told, always pleasing and satisfying, and pro- viding a startling incident at a moment when everything seems serene.” London: HORACE COX, Windsor House, Bream’s Buildings, E.C,  108 ADVERTISEMENTS. MESDAMES BRETT & BOWSER, TYPISTS, SELBORNE CHAMBERS, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR. Authors’ MSS. carefully and expeditiously copied, from 1s. per 1000 words. Extra carbon copies half price. Refer- ences kindly permitted to Augustine Birrell, Esq., M.P. THE AUTHOR’S HAIRLESS PAPER-PAD. (Tue Leapennatt Press Lrp., E.C.) - ee Contains hairless paper, over which the pen slips with perfect freedom. Siwpence each: 58. per dozen, ruled or plain. MIss R. V. GILT, TYPE-WRITING OFFICES, 6, Adam-street, Strand, W.C. “re Authors’ and dramatists’ Work a Speciality. All kinds of MSS. copied with care. Extra attention given to difficult hand-writing and to papers or lectures on scientific subjects. Type-writing from dictation. Shorthand Notes taken and transcribed. 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BUY, BEG, BORROW, or STEAL. 5 LITERARY PRODUCTIONS OF EVERY DESCRIPTION (ee REVISED and CORRECTED on Mode- rate Terms by the Author of “ The Queen’s English up to Date” (see Press Opinions), price 2s. Address “ Anglophil,” Literary Revision Office, 342, Strand, W.C. NEW NOVEL BY QUILLIM RITTER. Now ready, crown 8yo., with Illustrations, price 3s. 6d., THE MARTYRDOM OF SOCIETY. QUILLIM RITTER. eee ees London: Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream’s-buildings, E.C. Just published, cloth lettered, price 5s. rYRIcs. BY Dr. J. A. GOODCHILD London: Horace Cox, Windsor House, Bream’s-buildings, E.C. COX’S ARTS OF READING, WRITING, AND SPEAKING. LETTERS TO A LAW STUDENT. Spy THE Late MR. SHRIBANT CO RE-ISSUE (SIXTH THOUSAND). PRICE 7s. 6d. LONDON: HORACE COX, “LAW TIMES” OFFICE, WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM'’S BUILDINGS, E.C. Printed and Published by Horacz Cox, Windsor House, Bream’s-buildings, London, E.C. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Author, Vol. 04 Issue 03 (August 1893) Subject The topic of the resource <em>The Author</em>, Vol. 04 Issue 03 (August 1893) Type The nature or genre of the resource Publication Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1893-08-01-The-Author-4-3 publications The Author